Page 41 of A Promise For Tomorrow

“Save it,” she snarls, pointing the brush at me before continuing her task. Fiery eyes meet mine in the mirror before continuing. “That’s twice tonight you stopped. In our past weneverwouldhave stopped. Becausenothingcould have prevented me from being with you. Especially after moments like that. It’s how we heal each other.” Her voice is raspy and full of fire. “Don’t you remember the night at Declan’s pool house? Our shower?”

She flips her head forward as a few drops of blood drip onto the tile. Securing a hair tie around her messy bun, she side-steps me into the bedroom and out the door.

Goddamnit. She’s absolutely right. Why am I being so cautious around her? So gentle.

This isn’t me.

And this certainly isn’tus.

The real reason is because she doesn’t feel like mine anymore.My woman.Certainly not in the romantic sense. She’s the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. The same woman I fucking proposed to before she married another man. That fact has me scrubbing a hand down my face and releasing a sigh before heading out after her.

Snip.

Whistle.

Crackle.

“There. All done. Only needed five stitches,” Lexi sighs her satisfaction.

“Only.” Madison rolls her eyes at her best friend. “That’s one too many.”

“It’ll heal. The mouth heals pretty quickly.” Lexi says, dabbing antibiotic ointment onto it.

My eyes drift off the two of them to the kettle on the stove. I grab the handle, pouring water into the two mugs on the counter. Shuffling over to the refrigerator, I hit the ice button, dispensing two cubes and placing one in each mug. It crackles like the fire, taking the heat out of the beverages.

A man can only hope to do the same with Madison.

She’s currently fuming.

The ladies are sitting by the fire. I can only see Maddy’s profile, but her body language screams pissed. Thankfully, the anxiety attack has subsided to be replaced with hatred towards me.

Ya know what? I can’t even blame her. Here I am catching the Hail Mary she threw, only to fucking fumble it, just to watch Diego recover it and regain possession.

I approach them, placing the mugs down on the brick by the fire. “Make sure you both drink up. Your bodies need to warm up.”

“Thanks, Liam,” Lexi says gently, smiling up at me.

Madison doesn’t say a damn thing, she just takes a sip, scalding the taste buds right off her tongue—as usual.

“Con is on the other end of my property. I have a shed where I take care of…situations like tonight. I’m going to head over there. I’ll be gone for a while. At least a few hours.”

As if snapping out of a trance, she looks up, placing her mug back down. “Okay. Can I come?”

Lexi looks as appalled as I am.

“Abso-fucking-lutely-NOT. Stay here. You need rest, sweetheart.”

“No. Stay with me,” she demands, her voice holding a hint of neediness to it. And trust me, I want to. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing right now.

Confliction hits me hard.

I need to extract information out of this guy.

He was after Madison. We need to know why and if he is working with anyone else. I don’t want to scare her, so I don’t say any of those things.

“I…Madison, I can’t. Things have changed now that I’ve become leader. I need to go, I’m sorry, love,” I say with authority.

Avoiding the pained look in her eyes, I spin on my heel and head to my room to change.

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