Chapter 46
Chapter forty-six
Madelyn
Idream of Jackson. Of freedom. A life where we can live in secrecy.
Behind masks and fake personas. Somewhere the cops can’t find us.
Even though our enemies are dead, there’s still a big issue of the law.
Jackson will always be wanted. Probably followed.
I should run, but I won’t. I can’t. He’s got me tied to these crimes too.
But even more so because my heart won’t allow it.
Even as I lay in this dark room surrounded by beeping noises and wires, I feel his presence. As I did yesterday and the day before. Never leaving my side. Never sleeping. Hands on mine. After, of course, he picked all the glass out of it.
My eyes flicker open to meet his staring down at my face. A softness presents itself, and I am quite certain that I am the only one that gets to see it. “Hi,” my voice croaks.
Because of the smoke, my chest still hurts, as does my throat. “Don’t struggle, Little Fire,” Jackson whispers as he adjusts the oxygen tubing going to my nose.
“Feeling better,” I reply, ignoring him. I need to speak. To engage in conversation before I lose my mind.
“I’m glad,” he says while grabbing a tube of ointment. “But I mean it. Don’t stress your voice.”
He squeezes the tube and begins dabbing the ointment on various places on my face where the cuts are deepest. “Before you ask, the girl is making progress.”
I nod, happy to hear the news. When he first told me she had survived, I was skeptical. “Her getting help means a lot to me,” I manage to get out before the pain in my throat becomes too unbearable.
Jackson sighs, “Why I did it. But it also complicates things.”
I force a swallow down, allowing my saliva to coat my raw throat. “She won’t tell,” I whisper, knowing that’s what he’s getting at.
He puts the ointment down and exchanges it for my hand. “You don’t know the girl, Madelyn. Your sweet disposition has caused the girl to be our problem for the foreseeable future.” His thumb rubs the palm of my hand. “Aside from that, there’s more news.”
“Oh? Good I hope?”
Jackson goes still. “Madelyn…Gateley has a job for us. All three of us. You, me, and the girl. I’m going to tell him the only one going is me.”
The beeping on my heart monitor increases to match what I am feeling on the inside. “Don’t leave me.”
Jackson's eyes lock into mine. There’s an intensity that burns behind them, a light designed to take my breath away. “That’s the last thing I want to do.”
“Then why?”
He drops my hand and stands up, turning over his chair. “Because…you deserve better.” He paces back and forth around my bed.
My eyes track him, memorized by his movements. I’ve seen him unhinged. At his absolute fucking worst, wild with a taste of blood and unapologetic. He’s a beast of a man. All those things didn’t affect me the way this is right now. He is afraid.
I shake my head. “I want you,” I say. “To be with you.” Despite all that has happened, I love him.
Not just that but crave him. His voice. His unwavering possession.
And though rare, his smile. I want to be the one he paints and can’t let go of.
Jackson helped me find myself. My voice. My strength even when I barely had any.
He runs his fingers through his hair. “It’s too fucking selfish.
What if next time I can’t save you? Fuck!
” Both fists slam into the wall, causing bits of drywall to fall on the floor.
“Seeing you so frail…” he stutters. “I mean, really seeing you.” He hits the wall again.
“Through the lenses of someone I love. God damn it.” His head rests against the wall with a white dust smearing across his face.
“It’s fucking with me, Little Fire. You thought I was a lunatic before,” he mutters.
“If something were to happen to you again…”
“It won’t.” I attempt to sit up, causing the monitors to go off.
Jackson runs back over and puts his hands on both shoulders.
“Lie still.” He pushes me back against the bed.
“Before you hurt yourself.” He leans over me, inches away, “You understand that this is your last chance of getting away from me?” His finger traces the features of my face, starting with my eyebrows and down to my nose. “I won’t offer again.”
Shivers from his touch travel down my spine all the way to my core. I ache for him to be near. To be in me. There is not one scenario that can play out that doesn’t include him in it. “Then stop bringing it up and tell me about the job.” I smile, knowing deep down I’ve won.
“You and your fucking mouth,” Jackson smiles back, bringing his mouth to mine. He kisses me slowly, allowing moments for me to catch my breath. “I’m going to destroy you once you're well, you realize that?” His voice strains, as if he’s barely able to stop himself from doing it now.
I nod, kissing him back. “I know.”
“Every day,” he says. “For the rest of your life.”
“Hope so,” I whisper, knowing full well he will, and I thank him for it every single time.