Page 39 of A Promise For Tomorrow

“Con has some of his clothes in the closet. He stays here when he’s working the overnight atThe Triskelion. Grab something warm. I’ll get the fire going, you girls can warm up by it with your tea.”

Remembering her way around, Madison starts walking towards my bedroom. It’s a few doors down from the hall bathroom, two other guest rooms, and my office. With haste she books it down the hall. The fire can wait a little longer.

Madison needs me.

I follow her, she’s already trying to undress. The bedroom door was left open and I can see her struggling to get her dress off. The zipper snagged a quarter of the way down. As it is, the dress fits her rather snugly. Frustrated hands tug at the material, hoping it will give.

It doesn’t.

“Ugh!” She stomps her foot, kicking her heels into the air to get them off.

That’s my cue, I jog over to her, dodging a flying heel and take in her disheveled, pre-melt down. In an instant I’ve got her curled into my arms as I cradle her head.

“It’s the adrenaline hangover. It’s like a panic attack, sweetheart. You’re okay. I’m right here.“

“Get this fucking dress off me right now. I can’t breathe, Liam.Please, I can’t fucking breathe,” she sobs. She’s hyperventilating. Her breathing has turned staccato.

Spinning her around, I rip the dress at the zipper seam and pull it down her body. She steps out of it and backs into me as my arms come back around her, my head resting on top of hers.

“Breathe, baby.” I inhale deeply, having her mimic my movements. Tremors shake the both of us as her body tries to calm down.

“Breathe. I’m right here. I’m not letting you go,” I say soothingly.

Her head bobs against my chin as she nods. Slow, even breaths replace the erratic, panicked ones.

Good girl.

Christ. I hate seeing her like this. She did good. Lexi is absolutely wrong. I am proud of her. But this is where Madison and I differ. If she still wants to be my woman, as I want her to be, she needs to be protected at all times.

She is always going to be a target.

It’s unfortunately the nature of our lives. Even in our own damn club it can happen. It happened in our home last year.

From here on out she will have someone with her. I was lenient tonight because she’s been asking me to trust that she can handle herself.

And she can, I know she can—I fucking trained her.

That doesn’t mean in situations like tonight she won’t end up traumatized and physically hurt. Seeing blood on her skin and redness around her neck has my hands balling into fists around her.

“Let’s get you in the shower. I want to take a look at that lip, baby.” I clench my teeth with enough pressure to snap my jaw, just barely able to get the words out.Cue the tension headache.

The anger coursing through me is like a pressure cooker. At any moment it will blow. It needs a release, an outlet.

Con better get that son of a bitch to the shed soon.

Dropping my arms to cup her under the legs, I carry her feeble body to the shower. It’s a walk-in, there is no glass. I place her down on the bench and turn the water on, testing the temperature. Like most women, she prefers it practically scalding, so I crank it up a notch until thick steam permeates the room. Completely zoned out, she pulls her legs up and wraps her arms around them, laying her head on her knees.

Fuck. Not giving a damn about my clothes, I walk under the spray and sit next to her. Steam swirls around us as she tilts her head to look at me.

“He said I should have been dead by now,” she mumbles groggily, her voice horse from nerves and asphyxiation.

The organ in my chest skips a beat causing my own adrenaline to momentarily spike.This was personal.It wasn’t a threat towards me or Diego. This was a direct threat towards Madison.

Godfuckingdammit.

The girl comes home for a few days and already she has a threat against her.

“Did he say anything else?” I ask, my voice coated with too much ire.

---