Page 28 of Echoes of Temptation

“Gross, mother. He’s not asking to have sex with you. He’s probably selling something.”

“Actually, I’m here on behalf of a friend,” Viper smiles. “You see, his woman is pissed at him because he was a dick. Now, I offered to help him get over her via Cinderella style. So, are there any princesses here who want to try on a glass slipper?”

“I mean, if your friend looks anything like you,” Madison laughs. “I’m all in.”

“He is quite handsome,” Viper smirks. “But, you see, the thing is, he’s so caught up on this female. He’s in a rather bad mood so I don’t think he can be gentle.”

“Oh, I don’t mind a little rough play,” she says.

“Good,” Viper chuckles, stepping aside.

Knowing my queue, I step up onto the porch. The woman before me looks so much like my Madeline that it hurts to look at her. But her eyes are wrong. There’s no softness there.

“King,” her face pales as she takes a step back. “What are you doing here? I thought you were going to go back to my parents’ place when you were ready to talk?”

Not bothering to waste my time with the vile woman, I step around her and head down the only hallway. With each door I pass, I force the door open. Bedroom. Bathroom. Closet.

Only one door left.

I open the door and there she sits. Just as Knox described, she’s tied to a cheap office chair. Her skin is pale and clammy and she is covered in burn marks.

“Baby,” I croak.

Madeline slowly raises her head until she’s looking me in the eyes. She looks so tired. Her eyes scream in pain.

“King?” she whispers.

Hurt clouds her face but this pain isn’t from the suffering her physical body inflicted. It’s the pain I caused.

“Shortcake,” Blackhawk says from behind me and it’s only then that I realize I haven’t moved.

Racing to her side, I ignore her flinch as I start undoing the rope.

“Get out of my way, boy,” Venom says, shoving me aside.

The only reason I don’t break his fucking face is because Doc has taken over.

“Damnit Doc,” Ghost grumbles. “Can’t you see that King is on edge?”

“I don’t give a damn if he steps off,” Doc says. “He was in my way. Can you tell me where all you’ve been burned?”

“Just my face, arms, and legs,” Maddy says gruffly, avoiding looking in my direction. “And the bottom of my feet.”

“There are a few that look pretty deep,” Doc says. “We need to get you to the hospital. They’re going to need to be cleaned and you need to be put on some antibiotics to avoid infection.”

“Dillon,” Maddy cries. “My parents?”

“They’re fine, Shortcake,” he answers. “King got them to safety.”

“She was going to kill them and then move away,” she sobs. “No one was going to know I was even missing.”

“We knew, Shortcake,” Dillon says, looking down at his phone. “From the moment King and I stepped into the room, we knew it wasn’t you.”

“Can you stand, baby?” I ask gently.

She nods but still refuses to look at me.

“I’ve been sitting in this chair for a really long time,” she says quietly. “So, I probably stink. My back isn’t doing too well and the bottom of my feet hurt to stand on, but I want to get out of here. Please, get me out of here.”

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