Chapter 33 – Madeline
I stormed out of the V, my heels clicking against the pavement as I shoved the door open with more force than necessary. The warm night air hit me like a wall, but it did nothing to cool the fire raging inside me.
My hands trembled as I reached up to wipe the tears from my cheeks, the argument with Jaxon replaying in my mind on a vicious loop.
How could he not see it?
How could he still defend Sean after everything I’d told him?
I let out a shaky breath, my steps quick and purposeful as I headed toward the alley behind the club.
I needed to get out of here, needed to breathe, needed to think .
My fingers fumbled with the strap of my bag, reaching for my phone to order an Uber back to Jaxon’s apartment.
Before I could even unlock the screen, a voice stopped me cold.
“Going somewhere in a hurry, sweetie?” Sean drawled, his tone dripping with mockery.
I froze, my stomach twisting as I turned to see him stepping out of the shadows. His face was hard, his eyes cold and furious in a way that made my pulse spike.
“What the fuck do you want?” I said, my voice steady despite the fear clawing at me.
Sean’s lips curled into a sneer as he took another step closer, “What I want,” he spat, his voice low and venomous, “is for you to stop sticking your ass where it doesn’t belong. You’ve been a thorn in my side from the start and now you’ve gone one too far.”
I took a step back, keeping my distance as my fingers tightened around my phone. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my eyes shining with defiance - though we both knew that wasn’t true.
“Don’t play dumb with me, bitch.” he snapped, his voice rising. “Because of you, one of my biggest clients is pulling out. The deals I’ve been working on for months? Gone . Do you have any idea what you’ve done? How much money you’ve not only cost me, but other people? Important people?”
I swallowed hard, my mind racing as I tried to figure out a way out of this. “Maybe you shouldn’t have been making illegal deals in the first place,” I said, my voice sharper than I intended.
His laugh was harsh, humourless. “You think you’re so smart, don’t you?” he said, stepping closer, his presence towering and suffocating. “Digging into things you don’t understand, making trouble for people who can ruin you.”
My heart pounded in my chest, but I refused to let him see how scared I was. “You don’t scare me, Sean,” I said, lifting my chin.
His expression twisted into something cruel, and before I could react, he slammed his hand against the wall beside me, blocking my escape. “You should be scared,” he hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. “Because you’ve made enemies, and trust me, they don’t play nice.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes, refusing to back down even as the fear threatened to choke me. “You’re not going to intimidate me, you piece of shit.”
Before I could react, Sean’s hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, his grip like iron, pinning me in place. My heart leapt into my throat as I tried to yank my arm away, but it was useless — he was too strong.
“You and I are going on a little drive, Madeline,” he said, his voice low and menacing, his breath hot against my ear. “and you’re going to cooperate. Understand?”
Panic surged through me, my mind racing as I twisted against his grip, desperate to break free. “Are you actually insane?!” I shouted - or at least tried to — but before the words could fully escape, his other hand clamped down over my mouth, muzzling me.
“Uh-uh,” he growled, his tone mocking. “We don’t want to make a scene, do we?”
He was too close, his presence suffocating, and my pulse roared in my ears as I struggled harder. But Sean was big, strong, and clearly prepared for this. He dragged me further into the shadows of the alley as I thrashed against him.
“Stop fighting ,” he hissed, his voice a dangerous whisper. “You’re just making this harder on yourself.”
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as fear took hold, my breaths coming fast and shallow against his palm. My phone slipped from my hand, clattering uselessly to the ground as he overpowered me with ease.
Every instinct in me screamed to keep fighting, to scream, to do something — anything — but his strength was overwhelming, and I could feel the helplessness creeping in, threatening to swallow me whole.
“Here’s how this is going to go,” he said, his tone cold and calculated. “You’re going to shut up, get in the car, and we’re going to have a little drive. Because you’ve caused enough problems, and it’s time we fix that.”
Sean’s grip was like a vise, dragging me further toward the car waiting at the end of the alley. Every instinct in me pushed to fight, to thrash, to do anything I could to make this harder for him. My breath came in short, sharp bursts against his palm as I threw my weight against him, twisting and kicking.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it would break through my chest, and my adrenaline was the only thing keeping me moving.
As I thrashed, the chain around my neck caught against his arm. I felt the sharp tug, heard the faint snap as the dog tags Jaxon had given me came loose. My stomach twisted as they fell to the ground, the small clink barely audible over the chaos in my head.
I noticed.
Sean didn’t.
They lay in the dirt, half-buried in shadows, as Sean shoved me hard against the side of the car. The rough metal door bit into my back, forcing the air from my lungs as he pinned me there with his body.
A whole new type of fear came over me in that moment. A primal, all-consuming dread that rooted itself deep in my chest and spread like wildfire.
“Enough!” he snapped, his voice echoing harshly off the alley walls. “You’re going to do as I say, Madeline. You’ve pissed off a fuck tonne of people, and they want this handled.”
Handled. That word hung in the air like a death sentence. My mind spiralled, every terrible scenario rushing to the forefront, each one worse than the last. I knew what happened to girls like me.
Young. Attractive. Vulnerable.
This wasn’t supposed to happen to me. I was careful.
Isn’t that what they all say, though?
It won’t ever happen to me…
Until it does.
I’d read the stories, watched the news, and told myself it wouldn’t be me. I knew the rules — don’t walk alone at night, stay aware of your surroundings, carry protection. I had pepper spray in my bag, for God’s sake.
But none of that mattered now.
None of it stopped him.
None of it stopped this .
Yet, even as I stood there, pinned and helpless, part of me knew that this wasn’t my fault. I knew that, deep down. But in this moment, with Sean’s weight pressing against me, with the stink of his breath in my face and his words slicing through me like knives, rational thought felt like a distant luxury.
I wasn’t thinking clearly. I couldn’t. My mind was clouded with guilt and self-loathing, with every “what if” and “I should have” colliding into one deafening roar.
What if I hadn’t pushed so hard?
What if I hadn’t stayed on this story?
I should have been smarter - but I wasn’t. And now I was here.
Preparing myself for the worst.
I hated myself for that, too — for the quiet, desperate part of me that was already trying to figure out how to endure whatever came next. For the part of me that knew I had to survive this.
Sean’s grip tightened, and I bit down hard on the scream clawing its way up my throat. His words were a blur, sharp and venomous, but they didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I noticed the dog tags lying in the dirt.
Sean didn’t.
It was small. A sliver of hope, buried under the overwhelming weight of terror, but it was there.
I clung to it like it was the only thing keeping me alive.
Because right now, it was.
I gasped against his palm, trying to turn my head, but he was already moving. He yanked my hands behind my back, his grip bruising as he bound them with something cold and sharp — zip ties.
I twisted my wrists, testing the bonds, but they were tight, biting into my skin with every movement. My pulse thundered in my ears as Sean reached into his pocket, pulling out a black strip of fabric.
“No,” I mumbled against his hand, shaking my head desperately, but he ignored me.
Something rough and tight — cloth, maybe? — was forced between my teeth, secured around the back of my head, cutting off any chance of calling for help.
“There we go,” Sean said, his tone mocking. “Nice and quiet.”
The blindfold soon followed, slipped over my eyes, plunging me into darkness.
I struggled harder, twisting my body, but he held me firmly in place. The blindfold over my eyes made every sound sharper, every movement more terrifying. I heard the unmistakable creak of a trunk opening and my heart plummeted.
“No!” I screamed against the gag, the muffled sound barely escaping. My body bucked, desperate to get away.
“Keep going,” he sneered, his breath hot against my ear. “See how far that gets you.”
With one brutal yank, he pulled me away from the car door, dragging me a few steps before shoving me forward. The cold edge of the trunk’s frame hit my thighs, and I twisted wildly, trying to throw him off balance.
I kicked out, my feet connecting with the car’s edge, but it didn’t stop him. My heart raced as he shoved me into the cramped, musty space of the trunk, my back hitting the metal with a sickening thud.
Sean grabbed my ankles, folding me awkwardly into the tight confines. “Settle down ,” he snapped, slamming the trunk lid down hard enough to rattle the car. The sound reverberated around me, cutting off what little light I had left.
I lay there in the dark, my body trembling, every nerve on high alert. The car’s suspension shifted as he got into the driver’s seat, the engine roaring to life a moment later.
The darkness was absolute, pressing in on all sides like a living thing. My breaths came shallow and quick against the gag, my chest heaving as I fought to stay calm. But calm wasn’t coming — not when the reality of what had just happened settled over me.
How did I get here?
Every decision I’d made over the past few months felt like a flashing sign in my head, pointing straight to this moment. Looking into Sean, pushing for the truth, refusing to back down even when the warnings came.
Jaxon told me to stop.
The thought hit like a blow to the stomach. He told me. Had practically begged me to let it go. I didn’t listen. I couldn’t. Because the truth had mattered more than the risks.
Now I was in the trunk of a car, my wrists bound, a gag in my mouth, and no way to know where Sean was taking me.
My stomach twisted painfully as the car hit a bump, jostling me against the hard, unforgiving metal. Every sound — the engine’s low rumble, the tires on the road — felt amplified in the suffocating silence.
This isn’t how it ends.
The thought came sharp and clear, cutting through the haze of panic. I wasn’t going to let Sean win. I wasn’t going to let him silence me, erase me, just to cover his tracks.
But how?
My hands twisted against the zip ties, the plastic biting into my skin. I couldn’t see, couldn’t scream, couldn’t fight back in the space I was trapped in.
The car slowed, the tires crunching over gravel, and my pulse spiked. Wherever Sean was taking me, we were getting close.
And Jaxon…
The thought of him hit me like a fresh wave of pain. He was going to come home and find the apartment empty, no sign of me anywhere. He’d call, text, and when I didn’t answer, the worry would set in.
I could picture him pacing, running a hand through his hair, trying to figure out where I’d gone. He’d blame himself — I knew he would.
He’d think it was because of our fight, because I stormed out instead of staying to work things out.
Why couldn’t I have just waited for him?
The question tore at me, sharp and relentless. I’d been petty, angry, hurt — and I let that cloud my judgment. If I’d just stayed at the club, waited for him to finish work like a rational person, I wouldn’t be here.
God, Jax, I’m so sorry.
Tears burned at the corners of my eyes, hot and relentless as I bit down on the gag. He didn’t deserve this — the fear, the guilt I knew he’d feel when he realized I was gone.
I hated that I was putting him through it, that my stubbornness had led me here.
The tags.
My heart clenched as I thought of them lying in the dirt, the one piece of me – piece of us I’d left behind.
The car slowed further, the tires coming to a full stop. My breath caught, every nerve in my body screaming to fight, to run, to do something. But Sean was in control now, and all I could do was hope that I could get myself out of this before Sean’s plans came to fruition.
Because if I was being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure I could get out of this one on my own.