Page 57 of Tomorrow's Never Promised

“Ohplease, Liam. Spare me thebullshit. Chase and Alan told me about you and Madison. How long has this been going on? Since New Year’s Eve?”

I look at Madison. She looks just as confused and shocked as I. “Kil, we metyearsago. We wanted to tell you, but we were just as shocked to see each other at the gala.” I pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm down and not ream him out. What he did to Madison was deliberate. He purposely had her hear that to hurt her.

“Wait, what the fuck are you talking about—met years ago?” He sounds more alert.

Madison’s eyes go wide, realizing the snakes told him we had some sort of affair after New Year’s Eve. Except they failed to mention our meeting first at Schmitty’s. Or that his gobshite of a son roofiedmy girl.

“She’s the woman I was telling you about, Kil. I didn’t realize you two were dating until I saw her at the gala for the first time. I went to tell her how I felt about her that morning.”

The line is silent as he processes what I just said. “Jesus Christ. Why didn’t you tell me?” he roars into the phone.

“We didn’t want to complicate things, and she had already chosenyou. We kept our distance and hoped to tell you, but then shit hit the fan with Da.”

“Fuck!” he shouts into the phone. I hear a woman whine his name. His voice is muffled as he turns away. “This was a huge mistake, Selena. Go home,” he tells her.

“Selena, brother! Really?”

“She flew here to comfort me. One thing led to another…I was hurting and angry. The memories of us flooded to the surface. It was amistake. I shouldn’t have done this to Madison. She doesn’t deserve it,” he groans.

“I also wouldn’t trust thosesnakesyou call ‘family’, Killian. Chase is the one who put E in the drinks at the bar. He roofied Madison that night.”

“Wait a fucking second. You told me the girl you fell for was named Madelyn.”

I look down at Maddy whose face is pressed against my chest. She’s curled up into a ball on my lap, looking defeated.

“She was using that name on her fake ID. I didn’t find out her name was Madison until after I took her home…that night when I…” I trail off, knowing he knows all too well what I did that night.

Killian sounds like he’s crying now. Sniffling and sighing fill the line. “What a fucking mess. We both fell for the same woman, and I just royally fucked it up. Is she there right now? I want to talk to her. Ineedto apologize to her. She has to hear it from me.”

Madison shakes her head vehemently. “No,” she mouths.

“She’s in the bathroom,” I lie.

“Liam, I fucking love her.What have I done? Just answer me one question. Have you slept together since I’ve been gone?”

I rub my forehead with my fingers. “No, we haven’t.”

He sighs on the other end of the line. “Do you love her?” he asks quietly.

I look down at my girl. “Yeah. I do, Kil.”

The line goes dead. Madison holds me tighter and sobs into my chest. I wrap my arms around her and rock back and forth. “I know. Just let it out, baby.”

* * *

It’s nearly4 a.m. when I feel Madison's hand run up my bare chest and over my nipple ring. I look over at her. She’s laying on her stomach, watching me. The soft glow from the bathroom illuminates her beautiful face. Poor thing, her eyes are puffy and red. She cried herself to sleep in my arms. I eventually changed into gray sweats and stayed awake next to her, praying Killian won’t try and make it up to her.

Her delicate hand travels to the black ravens on my chest. “What do these mean?” She traces the ink with her fingers.

“Ravens represent a lot of things. For me personally, it means surrendering to the truth and letting it set you free. Ravens are about endings, but in turn, about beginnings. They represent transformation—and that all the pain you went through made you stronger.” I clasp my hand around hers.

She slides the covers off her, crawls over and straddles me. Her hands wrap around my face as she lowers her lips to mine. “I need you, Liam,” she whispers against my lips.

“Maddy, I want nothing more than to make love to you right now—but you’re hurt. And that’s okay. I don’t want our first time—well, second—to be tarnished by what happened. I want you to be sure.”

She peels her shirt over her head and places my hands on her breasts.

Fuck.This woman is my undoing.

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