Chapter 30
MADDISON
“ W hat are you doing?” I touch my fingers to the back of my head, where the painful throb comes from as I look up at the man pacing the floor in front of me.
“Paul, what are you doing here?” My lips tremble as I rest my hand on my stomach protectively and try to focus, my vision is still a little blurry and there's a ringing in my ears that won’t go away.
“I’m taking matters in hand. Your parents have been far too lenient with you.” He stops pacing to look at me, and I can tell from the way he’s shaking too that he’s become unhinged.
“Paul, shall we call Clarissa, or maybe Adam?” I suggest, slowly attempting to drag myself up on my feet.
“Stay there, don’t move!” I gasp when he holds a gun up in front of him, and clutch my stomach a little tighter.
“Paul, please put the gun down. I know you don’t want to hurt me.” I manage to smile at him through my fear.
“Hurt you…? I want to kill you, you selfish, little bitch,” he half-laughs, and half-cries as he takes a seat on the stairs beside me, keeping the gun in his hand and resting his arms over his knees.
I remind myself to breathe and stay calm, panicking right now, isn’t going to help.
“My son would have loved you, he would have treated you right. All you had to do was marry him.” He shakes his head in disappointment, and despite the situation I’m in, I feel a huge relief when a hard kick comes from inside me and lets me know the baby’s okay. Now I just need to get us out of this.
“I’m sorry, Paul, I really am.” I talk as calmly as I can. “I never meant to hurt him.”
“You never meant to hurt him?” He laughs at me bitterly. “You think this was about love? You're even more stupid than I thought.”
I have no idea what's happening here but what I do know is, that I’m alone. Mom knew I was coming, why isn’t she here?
“Where is my family?” I ask him, hoping he hasn’t hurt them. For all I know they could be locked in the basement, or worse. I look at the gun in his hands and blow out another nervous breath. My ass is numb and my back still aches, so I shift myself into a better position.
“They’re in Asia, Mary asked Clarissa to stop by and take care of the plants,” he explains.
“No, they don’t leave until tomorrow. I’ve been texting Mom. She knows I’m visiting today; she could be here any second.” I cling on to that hope until he takes my mom’s cell out of his pocket and tosses it on the floor in front of me.
“Your mom’s therapist told her she needed to completely switch off.” He smiles to himself. “She told Clarissa she was leaving her phone at home.” He sighs looking worn out and disgruntled.
“ You were texting me?”
“Well done, Maddison, aren’t you a smart girl?” He stands back up and I scream when he takes a fistful of my hair and uses it to pull me onto my feet. He marches through the hall, dragging me behind him and when we get to the living room, I just manage to brace my fall when he tosses me at the couch.
“I don’t know about you, but I need a drink.” He makes his way toward my dad’s liquor cabinet, and when I look between me and the front door, I think about making a run for it.
“If you're thinking about running, I wouldn’t waste your energy,” he calls out as if he can read my mind. “I’ve locked all the doors, you're not escaping here, not until we come to a resolution to all the mess you caused.” He places a glass of scotch on the table in front of me and takes a sip from the one he’s got in his hand.
“Go ahead, it’ll take the edge off.” He slides the glass closer to me.
“I can’t…I’m…”
“Ahhh. That's right, you're expecting.” He looks down at my round tummy sarcastically, “You let that good-for-nothing cowboy knock you up.” He shakes his head and retrieves the gun from the back of his trousers.
“Paul, please put that away, it’s scaring me.” This man in front of me is not the man I’ve known since I was a child. Paul was always so put together. Friendly but at the same time firm. He’s one of my dad’s best friends.
“Where are Adam and Clarissa?” I ask, trying to create some kind of link between what's happening in here, to reality.
“Clarissa’s at home, clueless to what mess we’re in, and Adam…well, he’s probably drunk somewhere.” He knocks back what's left in his glass and slams it on the table. Taking the one he poured out for me, he holds it up and ‘cheers’ me, before knocking that back too.
“Let’s talk, explain to me what this is all about, and maybe I can help.”
I need to take some control over this situation. I’m too far away from Jace for him to come to my rescue. Keeping myself and our baby safe is all on me.
“You can help, Maddison, and that's why you're here.” He seems calmer as he takes the armchair beside me.
“Your parents have always loved you, you’ve always been the spoiled, little apple of your daddy's eye. Even after you ran away to be a whore to that Sullivan guy. You know, your daddy wouldn’t have a bad word said about you.” He laughs to himself as he stares into the bottom of the glass.
“Roger wanted the best for you, a life where you’d want for nothing, and he knew Adam was the best fit.”
I want to argue and tell him that only I should have been in control of that decision, but I allow him to continue.
“He’d already made Adam a partner at the firm but after the wedding, he was going to take it further.”
“I don’t understand.” I stare at him, trying to figure out what he’s telling me.
“Roger wants to retire, he was going to hand his entire firm over to Adam. Do you know how much that firm is worth?”
“What?” I had no idea this was happening, I know my Dad has slowed down the past few years but he loves his job. I never envisioned him retiring so soon.
“All you had to do was put the ring on your finger, and it would have ended all our troubles.” He closes his eyes and when I notice a tear slip from the corner of them, I reach my hand out to touch his knee.
“Mr Handley, why don’t you tell me about those troubles?” I whisper, praying that talking will keep him calm.
He may be holding me against my will, but watching as he breaks down and starts to sob makes me really sad.
“I can’t. I can’t tell anyone.” He covers his face with his hands.
“That’s not true. You can tell me. I won’t judge you.”
He drops his hands and stands up in a rage, throwing his glass at the wall and placing the gun to my head.
“You stupid, fucking whore!” His spittle lands on my face. “You fucked everything. I have nothing left. Nothing! ”
“Paul, you're really scaring me, Please, don’t hurt me,” I beg him as my eyes fill up with tears, and I feel my little boy wriggling inside me. Jace tells me that he picks up on all my emotions and right now, he must be petrified.
“I can fix this, whatever help you need. We can find it.”
“You are marrying my son,” he tells me, the gun shaking as he presses the barrel deeper into my temple. “Your mom told everyone that you were ill and getting help, we can work with that.”
“ What? ” My shock extinguishes my fear.
“She made up one of her lies and said you were staying at a facility, recovering from a breakdown with Adam’s full support,” he explains.
“Don't you see? It’s all going to work out perfectly. You can have your child, we can find him or her a good home, and then you can marry Adam.” He’s smiling now, almost as if he’s assuring me that everything is going to be okay.
“Mr Handley, I’m not giving my baby to anybody . You need to get some help. You're not being rational.” I don’t know if it’s a good idea for me to tell him that while he has a gun to my head, but I’m all out of words.
“I’m not being rational?” he bellows at me. “ I’m not being rational!?! How is running away from the perfect life you were gifted rational, Maddison?” He places his face so close to mine I can smell the whiskey on his breath. “You did this, you spoiled, little whore. You destroyed me!”
I scream out when he smacks the base of the gun against my cheekbone and as I stroke my wound, he looks over me and shakes his head like I disgust him. A loud thud on the door distracts both of our attention and when I hear Adam’s voice call out, I’m surprisingly relieved.
“Dad…? Maddison!” He calls over the pounding on the front door and when I scream as loud as I can manage, his father immediately covers my mouth and presses his gun to my stomach.
“Scream again and you won’t have a baby to give away.” He presses me back against the couch by my mouth, and all I can do is hope that Adam heard me.
I close my eyes and picture myself being back at home on the porch, waiting for Jace to come home. It’s always my favorite part of the day, especially when I see how pleased he looks to see me.
“Maddison…Oh shit!” I open my eyes and I see Adam on the other side of the glass patio doors, the terrified look on his face giving me no confidence.
“Dad, get away from her! We can fix this.” His voice comes out muffled through the glass,
“I am fixing this, and I’m doing it my way. Look what giving her space and time did.” He releases me and steps aside so his son has a full view. “Do you see what this is?” He prods my stomach with the barrel of the gun. “This is the work of a man who knew how to get the job fucking done.”
“Dad, none of this is going to help the situation. It’s over. Mom already knows. The debt collectors are at the house. She really needs you, and you can’t be there for her if you're in jail.”
“Did you hear that?” Paul’s wild, bloodshot eyes turn to look at me, and when he drops the gun from his hands, for a split second I feel relief. “ You did this.” His hands wrap around my throat like they did when I opened the door, only this time they throttle me as well as squeeze.
“Dad…DAD!” Adam bangs on the glass as I feel my head start to spin and the limbs I’m using to fight him off seem to get heavy and weak. My vision goes blurry, I can’t hear myself choking anymore and when I hear a loud crash, I can’t keep my eyes open long enough to find where it came from.