Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
One month later
EVIE
Allison finally moved out of that seedy ass motel and got an apartment close to the gym, much to Maddox's dismay. While she hasn’t heard any more from her ex-pimp/boyfriend I think she feels safer being close to the gym. After all, she began taking Lucien's self-defense classes twice a week, and while I may have pushed Maddox to let her take self-defense classes at The Boxing Den, I haven't meddled anymore between them.
As Mags and I agreed, only they could come to terms with everything between them in their own way and at their own pace. Ultimately, it’s up to them to come to a resolution that feels right for them. It could happen next week or ten years from now, doesn’t matter.
Maddox’s trying his best to resolve his resentment and move forward. Slowly, he began talking to us instead of keeping everything bottled up. He talks more and more about Livvy, and he can stand being in the same room with Allison for more than a few minutes before storming out. Growth looks good on the big guy, and I’m damn proud of him.
As I sit quietly in the cool night air I take a deep breath. It isn’t often a nightmare rattles me anymore, but when they do it makes me feel so small and vulnerable. Like I’m back there in that house all over again. Back to being the weak version of myself who just accepted the things that happened to her. I shiver just thinking about it.
Funny enough, my nightmares didn't magically vanish because Maddox and I share a bed, but I don’t get them as often when he’s here. Usually, on the rare occasion I have one, I wake up surrounded by Maddox as he holds me and softly talks me through it.
Having awoken tonight to a peacefully sleeping Maddox, I sought solace in the quiet night. Well, almost if it wasn't for the cicadas and crickets. Weirdly enough I find their sounds to be soothing. I guess that's to be expected after living in the South my entire life.
"What’re you doing out here?"
I must have jumped ten feet off the step I was sitting on when I heard Maddox's voice. With my heart racing I find him standing in the dark night with only moonlight illuminating his huge figure.
"What are you, part cat?" I hiss at him.
Maddox isn't a bit bothered he just scared the ever-loving shit out of me, instead, he takes my spot on the step. His big body looks cramped as he sits. Even from this height, I’m just barely a head taller than him.
"Eves, why are you out here?" His rough voice sounds concerned as his warm palms run up the back of my legs.
"I couldn't sleep."
In a knowing look, he cocks his eyebrow. "Couldn't or didn't want to?"
I toy with the hair at his nape. "Didn't want to," I tell him softly .
"Baby, I’m so sorry. You should have woken me up.”
"You've been so tired lately, and I didn't want to bother you."
Maddox looks hurt. "What the fuck does that even mean?"
"I know sometimes my dreams bother you."
"Baby, they bother me because I hate you reliving that shit. It breaks my heart to hear you so distraught and terrified." Maddox gently turns me and pulls me to sit with my back against his chest as we both look into the night sky. I nestle into the crook of his neck as his arms wrap tightly around me.
"You want to talk about it?" he asks after a few moments.
I shudder. "It was that night."
"The night you got those scars?" His strong voice waivers and I know how hard it is for him to ask that question.
I nod. "But it wasn't that part. It was what happened afterward."
"What happened after that, Pretty Girl?" Maddox asks quietly as he begins to slowly rock back and forth.
"He r-raped me. I don't know why it bothers me so much, you know? It wasn't the first time it had happened."
"Oh, baby." Maddox's chest vibrates under me.
"The blood was everywhere Maddox, and he just passed out covered in it."
Trent's sleepy smile as he passed out covered in my blood was the last time I ever saw him. Looking as if he had just eaten a Thanksgiving feast and not torn into my flesh like a rabid fucking animal.
"How'd you get away?" His voice is quiet and drifts with the cool night air making me shiver.
"I quietly cleaned up what I could, I had to superglue a few bite marks closed. Then I went into the study, opened the safe, grabbed a stack of cash, and left." I didn’t do anything to assure he wouldn’t wake up, he could have woken at any moment and caught me, but he didn’t.
Maddox doesn't say anything, he doesn't reassure me or offer me comforting words. He just sits quietly anchoring me to him. We sat out there for so long that I drift back to sleep. I awake to Maddox putting me back in bed.
"Shh, baby. Go back to sleep. I got you." He presses a kiss to my temple before throwing a heavy leg over me and wrapping an arm around me, making me feel safe enough to face whatever awaits me in my dreams.
The next morning I'm making a checklist of all the things I need to get done before the boy's birthday party in two days.
"Did you tell Soph to bring the cake by? I'm going to store it here and get it before the party."
"Yes, Evie. She also made a dozen of those chocolate cupcakes they like so much."
"She's the best!" My boys goes nuts for those chocolate monstrosities she calls cupcakes.
"Well, geez thanks," Lou says rolling her eyes. "Anything you need me to grab besides ice?"
Listen, I love Lou something fierce, but the woman can’t cook. She burns water. So, every year I task her with getting the ice and drinks. One year she tried to make mac n cheese and forgot to cook the noodles. The second Joe took a bite and screamed her name, I almost peed myself from laughing.
"Nope, just the ice."
"I forgot to cook some noodles once, and now y’all never let me bring anything!”
"Girl, it wasn't just the raw noodles you tried to feed my babies," Joe says coming from the kitchen. "It was also the frozen fried chicken."
"I didn't know you had to thaw the chicken out beforehand! "
"And the raw scrambled eggs you tried to feed your poor sister," I chime in.
"You said soft scrambled! You never said anything about having to cook those damned eggs, Joe!" Lou throws her hands in the air, clearly upset.
I cock an eyebrow at her as she sits with her arms crossed looking every bit like a child. "Fine. I can get the ice," she mutters.
"Thanks, babe." I wink at her. "You’re the best!"
After finalizing my checklist, I head off to the grocery store to pick up a few last-minute things for their party. The boys insisted on a pool party since Vic had their pool up and honestly it makes the most sense. I head to the back of the store where the butcher is when a chill runs up my spine stopping me dead.
Quickly looking around I don't notice anything out of the ordinary, but I still grab the pepper spray in my purse just in case. It feels like someone is watching me as I try to get the things I still need from the store. Shaken, I decide to check out and head home.
Maddox and the boys greet me when I pull into the driveway and begin unloading the car.
"Mama, did you remember the water balloons?" Bash asks with hopeful eyes.
"Shoot! I forgot. That's okay, we still have two days before the party. Plenty of time to get some!" I reassure him.
After putting everything away I realize I forgot the water balloons, drinks, ice cream, and balloons and I still can’t shake the feeling of being watched even after being home.
"Hey, you okay?" Maddox asks as he downs a glass of water.
"What? Yes, of course. How's the treehouse coming?" I wipe my sweaty palms off on my shorts.
Maddox and Mercy had a wild idea last night to build the boys a treehouse and have been working since before dawn this morning, even enlisting Henry's help. Trust me, I'm not complaining, I'll take any chance I can to see Maddox shirtless building anything. The man is just as skilled as a carpenter as he is a boxer, and I love to watch him work with his hands.
"What happened?" he demands, trapping me between the counter and his big body.
"It's silly! I felt like someone was watching me in the grocery store, and I panicked. Then I left without getting everything I needed."
"You should’ve called me."
“Well, it was silly like I said. It's just the stress of the party and their birthday." That's all it was. It has to be.
"Baby, if it scares you, it's not silly. Promise me next time you'll call somebody." He gently grabs me around the nape tilting my head up. His green eyes are full of concern.
"I promise."
Maddox flashes me a smile before giving me a quick kiss. Sawdust falls out of his hair as he does.
"Back outside, Maddox! You're tracking sawdust everywhere!" I laugh as he purposely rubs his sweaty head all over my face.
"Yes, ma'am!"
The next day everyone pitches in to help get everything ready for the party. Maddox and Mercy put the finishing touches on the tree house they built the boys, and it looks so good! Like something you'd see in a movie complete with their own rope swing ladder. The boys even got to help build some of it and that pretty much made their whole year. They love to build things and are constantly helping Vic with whatever minuscule project he’s working on around the house.
Vic’s mowing the yard and moving his picnic table over. Joe, Lou, Soph, and I are busy making decorations because even if it’s a pool party there needs to be decor. Lou always says I go overboard but I can remember being the kid who never celebrated their birthday. The only people to ever tell me happy birthday were the school secretaries. My boys will never experience that.
"So, have you ever thought about having more kids? "
I let go of the balloon in my hands, and it shoots across the room deflating. "Who me?"
"No, the damn Pope and Cleo up the street. Of course you, who the hell else?" Joe sasses from the kitchen.
"Honestly, I haven't even thought about it."
Does Maddox want more kids? Hell, do I want more kids? I’ve never even considered it.
"Well, you might want to think about it."
"We haven't even discussed more kids. We just take it a day at a time."
"You know everything that happened with Harold hit Maddox the hardest," Sophie says softly beside me. Joe comes in from the kitchen and sits next to her on the couch.
"I wasn't a part of their lives then. Fucker wouldn't allow them to see me and believe me I tired."
Harold had cut everyone out of Mag's life, isolating her and the boys completely. Joe has never forgotten or forgiven him or Mags for that. I think a part of her still resents the fact Mags couldn't see Harold for who he was and what he was doing until it was too late.
"Harold had Maddox completely under his spell in the beginning, and then when things went south, he blamed himself. He spent more and more time at the gym trying to escape it all I guess."
Maddox never told me any of this, but he did say he thought every woman should learn to defend themselves. I knew Harold had hit Mags, but Maddox never really talked about it. All the boys were fiercely protective of their mama.
"What happened to Harold?" I ask because I don't think I have ever heard anyone say.
"Soph, you were there that night," Lou tells her sister.
Sophie finishes tying the balloon in her hand. "Mercy and I were sitting on the porch when Harold came home angry about something Mags did earlier, I'm not sure what." She grabs another balloon. "We heard the first smack and Mercy went inside, then there was a loud crash and a bunch of glass shattered. I ran inside and realized Harold had thrown Mercy through the China hutch." Sophie blows the balloon up. "Then Maddox showed up and almost beat him to death."
"You're leaving out the part where he slapped you too, Angel." Though I didn't hear Mercy enter the house, I’m not surprised to see him propped against the kitchen counter, arms crossed as he listens in.
"It wasn't important," Sophie says just above a whisper.
"It never is, is it Angel?" Mercy deadpans and for the first time, I see not the carefree man with an easy smile, but a man with so much more going on beneath the surface.
Sophie's flushed face has me looking between them with a huge question mark. What the hell am I missing? I look at Joe and Lou and they seem just as confused as I am. What does he mean? We all wait for Sophie to reply but instead, she ties the balloon and grabs another balloon acting as if she didn't hear a word he said. Mercy scoffs and walks out of the room.
Lou begins pacing the living room and you can see the wheels turning. "Was he the reason?—"
Sophie jumps up. "Well, it's time for me to go! I'll see y’all tomorrow. Don't forget the cake and cupcakes, Evie. I set them in the walk-in cooler next to the butter." She leaves before anyone can say goodbye.
Lou looks at her sister's empty spot deep in thought.
"What was all that about?" I ask.
Lou grabs her purse. "Get your asses up. I need a drink...or fucking five." You know what? That doesn’t sound like a half-bad idea after all.