I steal a glance at him and see a mixture of emotions on his face, anger, sadness...but, most of all, I see love. He grabs me and pulls me down onto his chest, the way I’d been lying before.
“I’m here, baby. I love you so much. None of this is your fault and I could never be mad at you for it. I promise he won’t lay a hand on you again. I’ll kill him first. You’re safe with me, and I’m not letting you go this time. You can stay with me as long as you need to. Hell, I’d be okay with you moving in. It’s all up to you at this point. You just tell me what you need and I’ll do it. We’ll find a way to get you your things, and I’ll deal with Chris.”
“No, Carter, you can’t! I don’t think I could live with myself if something happened to you because of me. Please, just stay away from him.” I look up at him and he lowers his lips to mine. He kisses me with so much love that it overwhelms me.
“Maddy, listen, I need you to understand that I can’t just drop what this asshole did to you. He needs to pay. If you don’t want me to take care of it, then you need to call the cops.”
“No, I can’t call the cops, Carter. His father is a judge he knows all the cops in this town, he is a straight ‘A’ student from a good family, and I’m just some foster kid who, technically, never told him stop while he was doing it.”
I don’t know what else to say to him, so we just lie there with each other and, eventually, fall asleep.
Chapter Twenty Two
Carter
She falls asleep pretty quickly, but I know there is no hope for me. I can’t get the image of her and Chris out of my head. If she didn’t need me here, I would have left as soon as I heard what happened. The amount of rage coursing through my body is unbearable. I need to get up to punch something and I wouldn’t mind if that something was his face.
I wake up to what sounds like a herd of elephants busting down my door. I know who it is and I am prepared for whatever is about to happen. I slip out from under Maddy, who was still, miraculously, sound asleep. I shut the bedroom door as quietly as I can. If at all possible, I’d like to deal with this and have him out of here before she gets up. As soon as I open the front door and see his face, all of the anger I’d suppressed comes rushing back to me. “You have a lot of fucking nerve coming here.”
“You know exactly why I’m here. Where is she, Carter?” He is looking around me, I am guessing trying to see if she is there. His face is twisted in anger and I can smell the alcohol on his breath.
“Where is who?”
“Don’t fuck with me. I know she’s here. You know what? I don’t even need to ask where she is. I’m pretty sure I can guess.” He pushes past me, taking me by surprise, but I quickly move around him and am prepared to be a barrier between him and the bedroom.
“Get out of my way before I make you!”
I want him to try. All he needed to do was give me another reason. I am already worked up from the night before. “I’d like to see you try. Because, just so you know, that is the only way you’ll ever get near her again. She isn’t yours anymore, Chris, and she hasn’t been for a while now. You need to stay away from her from now on.” He needs to understand that he is not going to get to her. I’d protect her from him and any other asshole that I needed to.
“Aw, how sweet, you love her too? Did she tell you how she fucked me before she came running to you last night?”
That is it. I only have so much control and he crossed the line. Before he knew what was happening, my fist connected with his jaw and he was on the floor. “You’ll never talk about her like that again. You need to go before-”
“Carter?”
I turn as soon as I hear her voice. She surveys the scene and a look of horror mars her beautiful face. I back up toward her, never taking my eyes off Chris. I learned early on that you never turn your back on your enemy.
Once I reach her, I can feel the fear radiating off of her. It drives me crazy that he has this kind of power over her. All I want to do is hold her in my arms and make her understand that she is safe with me. First things first, though, I have to get this asshole out of my house. “You need to leave...now.”
“You know what’s so funny? That you fell for her shit so easy. She left me for you after two years. What makes you think you’re different? A whore is a whore no matter what john she’s with. I just-”
“You need to shut your fucking mouth now!” The power and anger behind my voice surprises even me, and I feel Maddy jump behind me.
“That’s fine. I’ll go for now, but you can’t protect her forever, you know. I don’t hand over what’s mine so easily, especially when I’m not done with it. Make no mistake. You’ll pay for this, Carter. I’ll see you soon, Madison.”
He slams the door and disappears. It takes everything in me not to go after him, but I know she needed me more than I needed to beat the shit out of Chris. I turn around to look at her and she is staring at the floor.
“I’m going to go now.”
WHAT???
Madison
I have to get out of here before Chris comes back. I couldn’t take it if something happened to Carter because of me. I am more terrified than I’ve ever been and, for a minute, I consider going back to Chris if he’ll leave Carter alone. He grabs my face and makes me look at him, but I close my eyes because if I see his face, I might lose all the courage I have to do this.
“Look at me, Maddy!”
I just shake my head. I can’t say anything because I don’t trust my own voice. All of a sudden, Carter’s lips are on mine and all rational thought leaves me. This feels so right. It is unlike anything I’ve ever felt with anyone before. He pulls back and looks me right in my eyes, and the love that I saw in his face diminished any hope I had that I could walk away from him. “I love you.”
“Why did you say you were going to leave, then?” He looks so confused and hurt. The last thing I want to do is hurt him. He means everything to me and is the only person I’ve ever really felt love from. How do I explain this to him?
“I can’t stand the thought of something happening to you because of me. I love you so much that it hurts, and I’m scared to lose you. I don’t know what Chris is going to do, and it terrifies me.”
He takes my hand and leads me to the bedroom. He lays down and pulls me on top of him. I settle onto my side and mold my body to him, draping my leg over his, and laying my head on his chest. This felt so right to me, like nothing in this world would ever compare to it. He held me so tight and made me feel so safe with him. Chris never wanted to lie together, and I usually avoided the bedroom because he always wanted sex when we were in there.
“Maddy, listen.” I look up at his beautiful face. “I love you, and I’ll protect you no matter what. He won’t touch you, and I can take care of myself. I don’t want you to be scared and I’ll do anything I can to help you through this. Just don’t leave me because you’re afraid. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Last night, when I thought you chose Chris, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I felt like my world was caving in and I couldn’t breathe.”
I have to make him understand. I’d do anything for him. I love him more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life, and I can’t stand the thought of him being hurt because of me. “Carter, I just-”
“No, you’re not leaving me because you’re worried about him. If you want to leave me because you don’t love me, that’s one thing. It would kill me but I’d let you go if that was what you wanted.”