Page 28 of These Jagged Edges

"Nothing, and you know it. That man talks up every woman he sees, including Ethel at the grocery store, who's pushing eighty-seven. Now stop deflecting and answer me."

The look he gives me might intimidate others, but I'm not other people. "You started the car before checking to make sure they were buckled up! Do you have any idea how fucking reckless you were?"

"Reckless? For starting the car? I was going to put it in gear after they were buckled up!"

"How was I supposed to know that? Read your fucking mind?" he asks in a flat tone.

"You didn't give me a chance before fisting my steering wheel like Donkey Kong!" We're both breathing hard. Maddox's face is flushed with anger, and I'm shaking with it. Did he really think I'd endanger them like that? Or any of us? After these last few months, is this what he's reduced me to? Reckless? Talk about a slap in the face.

"Go home, big guy. I don't have the energy to do this with you. Thank you for this morning and today. It means a lot to me, but I'm exhausted," I tell him dismissively.

Instead of walking toward the door, Maddox stays rooted to his spot, glaring at me, letting me know he has no plans of doing anything I just said.

"You would rather argue with me than just talk to me to soothe whatever hurt you feel." I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Do you really think I'd deliberately endanger the two things I cherish most? After everything I survived to bring them into this world?"

"YES!" he roars at me, and damn it, I can't help how my body flinches back.

"Why?" I scream back.

"Because I was driving, Evie!" Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. I was driving that night, Evie.

Maddox swallows, uncrossing his arms, not bothering at all to hide the depth of agony and pain he feels. Something I have never seen the man look before. "I don't drive anywhere, Evie. My brothers give me a ride, or I walk. I can't even sit in the driver's seat without that night playing out in my head."

Grief hangs heavy in the air between us, coldly seeping into my bones. Maddox tilts his face toward the ceiling, closing his eyes. I swallow when I notice a lone tear trail down his face. I close the distance between us and gently pull his chin down so I can see those green eyes that always betray him no matter how hard he tries to hide.

His large hands cup my face as he rests his forehead against mine, anchoring me to him. "She died because of me, Evie." His broken whisper mirrors his broken heart.

Chapter Eleven

Three Years Ago

MADDOX

“Alright baby girllet’s get you buckled up, so we can go home and get you fed,” I whisper to my daughter as I cuddle her soft blonde curls. No matter how my day has gone, nothing feels better than holding her close. It’s as if all my worries melt away, and we’re wrapped in our own little world, just the two of us.

Livvy gives me a toothy little grin as we make our way into the cool night air. I didn’t plan on bringing her tonight, but I had no other choice. The guys were great, they all helped out in-between their own rounds of training to help me with Livvy. She naturally enjoyed all the attention. My ex-wife was dust in the wind, choosing drugs over her own daughter. So more often than not Liv was with me everywhere I went.

Tonight, I’m completely wiped out. I had my training session and then helped out a few of the guys. The extra cash is nice, so I can’t really complain. I’m stashing away that money to openmy own boxing center. At thirty, I know I can’t box forever. My dream is to finally get The Boxing Den up and running and train my own fighters.

I buckle my daughter in her car seat and blow a raspberry on her round belly making her laugh.

“Da-Da!”

She just started talking and I want to fucking cry every time she said Da-Da. Nothing made me prouder than hearing her first word be Da-Da. I’m a scary man, but my daughter reduces me to a damn puddle. Livvy sticks her chubby little hand out and I hand her the battered stuffed lion that’s seen better days. She doesn’t go anywhere without the damn thing and Lord forbid you leave the damn thing somewhere.

I laugh shutting her door; she has the damn thing in the tightest hug known to man, if it was alive she’d already choked the damned thing out. I climb in and start the drive home.

I stop at the redlight and look in my rearview mirror to find her already passed out. She looked like a living cherub with her fat cheeks and blonde curls snoring peacefully. The light flicks to green, and I push the accelerator, propelling us forward. Out of nowhere, blinding headlights flood my vision from the right, barreling toward us at an alarming speed. A surge of panic rushes through me as I slam on the horn, hoping to warn the driver and veer us out of danger before it’s too late. Time seems to stretch as I brace for impact, and then I hear it—the horrifying crunch of metal twisting and shattering, the sound echoing in my ears as everything goes dark.

I come to on something hard, disoriented I feel around, trying to figure out where the hell I am. What happened? What was I doing? I open my eyes and realize I’m laid in the middle of the highway. My head is pounding, and I can feel something sticky on the side of my face. Then it hits me like a ton of bricks.

Oh my God. Livvy.

Where the fuck is my daughter.

I rise on unsteady legs, scanning the area for my truck. Then I see it—flipped upside down, about thirty yards to my left, nestled among the pine trees. Panic surges through me as I scream my daughter’s name, racing toward the wreckage where my truck lies overturned.

She’s okay, I tell myself. She’s probably scared, maybe a little banged up, but she’s okay. She has to be okay.

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