Page 20 of Between Dusk and Dawn

I took a deep breath. "When she was purposefully put in harm's way, you threw this on me. You took away the world that I was building for myself."

"You fucking ruined your own life over one blowjob, Madison."

I scoffed at his words, knowing it was so far from the truth. "Liar. You are a horrible liar, Walsh. You felt it between us. There was something magnetic. You touched me when you were dating her. You were the one who folded first. I would never have?—"

The tears burned my cheeks, as if they were leaving an imprint behind. "I would have never ruined it. You did, and I need you to fix the problem."

"So you decided to fuck with my family? You’re lucky you haven't met the same fate Cagen did. You hurt my sister, and when you hurt my family, you fuck with me," he spat as he backed away.

I could have sworn I saw a hint of hesitation in his eyes, but as soon as he noticed, it was quickly replaced by his cool, indifferent demeanor.

"You made me your problem," I whimpered.

"It's been crystal clear, Madison." He’d been using my full name—no familiar nickname. "Go the hell home."

"Fine." I glared into his dark-brown eyes, searching for any sign that he meant none of this. That the entire year I spent on what I thought was simple revenge wasn't a total loss.

"You were the one holding the gun, though."

He stayed calculated and cool.

"You ruined my life." I spat at him, a loogy flying from my mouth and landing on his face.

He used two fingers to wipe the spit away, then guided them into his mouth, licking me up.

"Mmm. You taste exactly how I imagined, Madison." He huffed out a breath. "But I must say, it's graduation, and you ruined my suit."

A small wet spot darkened his suit jacket.

"I don’t care."

He inhaled deeply before the corner of his lips twisted into a devilish smile. "Ah, but see, that’s where you are wrong, Madison. You do care. Because while you’ve been plotting this little scheme to, what? Take me down?" He stepped closer. "You’ve been failing mercilessly. Your shield has fallen, and now everyone knows who you really are. They know that the good-girl persona you’ve tried so hard for years to cultivate was bullshit."

He wrapped his hands around my waist, and I swear the oxygen left my lungs as he spoke his final words. "Never ever try to plot against my family again. Because now you see the consequences of your ill-thought-out plan. You fucked up the moment you responded to that ad for my sister."

I knew what I did was wrong, and I shouldn’t have found the apartment, found Ember, been her roommate and allowed her to be kidnapped, branded, and drugged. It's not like I had known that would happen to her. I just brought her to a bar and stopped paying attention to her.

That didn’t make me a better person, though. Just because I wasn’t aware something would happen didn’t justify me ignoring her. When Ash died, I never checked in on her. Like no one had bothered with me after Cagen; I was punishing Ember in the same way.

I thought it would bring me closer to Walsh, that he’d see the pain his sister was going through with Ash and remember me. It was selfish—I was selfish. I lived with so much regret this year, but I was in so much pain.

"I was only trying to make you feel bad about what you did with Cagen—what you did to me."

"And what did I do to you?" He dropped his hands from my waist, knuckles turning white as he clenched his hands at his side.

He knew what I would say. The secret I kept for years between us. "You fucked me and left me out to dry. You told me I wasn’t worth your time, your love because?—"

"I don't love…anyone."

"Bullshit!" I shouted, letting the unfiltered thoughts run rampant.

He snapped, pulling me close and digging his fingers into my hips.

"Ow," I cried as his hands dug deeper, holding me steady, sobering me.

"No, Madison. You fucked up. The moment that you broughtmyfamily into this, you ruined yourself. Because for a moment, I thought you’d be capable of being my queen, but now I know you need a little more…training…before I can make you mine."

"T-training?" Fuck, I didn’t mean to hesitate when the words came out.

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