Page 9 of Cook

“No.” I maneuvered in front of Maddie, shielding her behind my back in the corner. “You’re not fucking sticking her with that.”

“Cook,” Doc started.

“No,” I said again. “She’s said no, and you’re not listening. Instead, you, like all the others who’ve taken advantage of her, are telling her what’s best. Did you ever think to ask her? Let her make her own choice?”

The look on Doc’s face and the silence said thousands of words.

“I didn’t think so. She’s not a child. She said no. Respect that,” I said.

“Thank you.” Maddie peeped from behind me.

“Cook, you don’t understand,” began Doctor Richardson.

I glared at the woman. “I understand that I’m looking at a rich bitch who came tomytown in her hoity-toity suits and updos and won’t listen to the very person she’s hell bent on ‘saving.’”

Doc rolled his eyes. “Ava, you’re going to have to learn how to back off with the MC. Cook’s mind is set, and you’re not getting through.”

Ignoring Doc’s spot-on answer, I kept my eyes glued to the woman. “What I do understand is that Maddie is scared, and I know she doesn’t have to be here. This isn’t going to become just another prison for her.”

“It’s not?” asked Maddie, peeking around my shoulder. She held on to the back of my shirt again, wrapping her fingers into the fabric. The weight of her, though not much, pressed into my back. I liked the touch, and I would miss it when she moved away.

I faced her. “No. You are free to leave whenever your pretty little heart desires.”

Gnawing on her bottom lip, she glanced toward the door. “Free?”

It was like she didn’t believe me. After all she had been through, I doubted she believed any of us. But then Maddie met my gaze. Something flashed in her vision. She stood a little straighter. Her eyes had a determined gleam.

“I do want to leave,” she said to me.

I put up my hands, not about to be the one holding her back.

Maddie turned to Doc and the head doc, lifting her chin. “I’m not staying here. I’m leaving.” Her voice didn’t leave room for argument.

Pride shimmered in me before I pushed it away. Why was I proud? I barely knew Maddie, but I wanted to know more of her. For her to touch me again. I wanted her body fitted against mine.

Doctor Richardson shared a look with Doc and then said, “Maddie, I don’t recommend that. You are in need of care. We can offer you that here. You need help after all you’ve been through—”

“You were going to shoot me up,” hissed Maddie. “How is that better?”

Doc capped the needle in defeat, and Doctor Richardson worked her jaw. “Fine. But you’ll have to fill out forms, acknowledging the risks of checking yourself out.”

Maddie glanced at me, and my heartbeat quickened. What the fuck was this woman doing to me? And how? I didn’t do this with girls—women. Maddie was a woman, but one who called me Daddy. My cock twitched at the memory, and I hated myself for the stir of desire over something so fucking sick.

“I want out,” said Maddie.

“Okay,” said Doctor Richardson. “We’ll get the paperwork in order and call Melanie. She can take you—”

“No.” Maddie lurched a step back, almost knocking into the floor.I caught her before she hurt herself. She swayed on her feet and then stood again. “I’m not going with her,” she said to Doctor Richardson.

“You have nowhere else to go,” said Doctor Richardson.

“Yes, she does,” I said before I thought. I really should’ve been thinking, but my cock was basically talking for me. Of course it would. I didn’t have enough blood to operate two heads at once.

Maddie stared up at me. A glossiness had overtaken her vision. I hated to see her sad.

“She can come”—I swallowed hard and shoved a hand through my hair—“She can come home with me.”

I knocked my head againstthe wall. Why the fuck would I take Maddie back to my place? She needed to stay here and get better. I couldn’t help her, but I couldn’t let her get shot up either, with God knew what. Fuck that shit. But seriously, what was I doing?

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