Page 81 of Psycho

Chapter 38 – Maddox

Icould feel the way his neck would squeeze and dimple between my hands when I wrung it as I stared at Tamen’s forehead. His spine would crush to dust in my palms until there was finally nothing left of the man on the planet.

It was a long-time fucking coming, after all. But after walking into the hospital room twenty minutes ago, finding him and Liv locked in some silent war fought with dirty glances and menacing glares, I knew he deserved it even more for whatever happened while Dane and I were gone.

There was just no good time to dive into it as we realized that Peyton had woken up right before our return, and all of our attention was on her, rightfully so. But when things settled down, I’d fucking kill the bastard for whatever he did in my absence.

And I was going to kill every fucking guard on my payroll for letting him get near her to begin with. Fucking useless bags of bones.

“And look this way.” The doctor instructed, holding a flashlight over Peyton’s eyes, scanning them as she looked up, down, all around for the fiftieth time since she woke up. Her annoyance was evident, and the doctor didn’t realize how close he was to death the longer he delayed and kept Dane from his wife.

The man looked absolutely feral standing next to the bed, staring at Peyton like she was the Pearly Gates, being granted admission knowing what kind of monster he was in real life.

“Well,” The doctor went on, oblivious, “Everything seems in order, but we’ll keep monitoring you closely for the next few days and make sure that your memory and abilities return as expected.”

“Sure thing, Doc.” Dane replied, nodding to the door behind him, leaving nothing to question and luckily for him, the doctor took his leave quickly.

“I suggest lowering the visitor count,” The doctor looked around at all of us silently lurking around, “To one or two.”

“Got it.” I replied, waiting for him to leave before shutting the door and glaring at Tamen. Before I could even open my mouth, though, Peyton interjected from her inclined position in her bed.

“Get in line, Buddy.” She pointed her finger at me menacingly and then turned to Tamen, “We’ll finish our conversation in a second.” Dropping her finger and angry face, she turned her attention to Liv, who sat in the far chair rocking Rory, and Peyton’s eyes got misty as her emotions kicked in, “Can I meet her?”

Liv nodded silently as her own emotions ramped up, standing and walking over to Peyton, where she sat with a cast on her left leg and a brace on her arm. She was so banged up from the crash, but she was alive.

And for the moment, that deserved to be rejoiced in.

“What’s her name?” Peyton asked, running her fingers over her niece’s brow.

“Aurora Grace Renner.” Liv replied, sitting down next to Peyton so she could be as close as possible to the baby. “We call her Rory.”

“Aw.” Peyton’s shoulders shook, even though a smile crested her face. “I can’t believe I missed it all. She’s perfect, Livvy.”

Dane put his hand on Peyton’s shoulder and kissed her temple, trying to lighten her sadness. “If it makes you feel any better, Maddox almost missed it, too.”

Liv nodded, wiping away her tears, “Dane held my hand in your place.”

Peyton’s eyes rounded as she looked up at her husband with such awe, “You did?”

Dane nodded back gruffly, “Rory came out like a true Renner acting like a drama queen,” He shrugged, “Liv needed a hand to hold until we knew she’d be okay.”

“Yeah,” I snorted, “Had nothing to do with your own fears.”

“Gah,” Dane waved me off, but the damage had been done. His wife’s eyes were all love struck and emotional, seeing her reserved and reclusive husband in a warm light for probably the first time in their entire marriage.

“I love you!” Peyton mushed and Liv rolled her eyes at me as they kissed. “Okay, enough distractions.” Pey focused and her lovely face turned scrutinizing as she stared at the only non-smiling person in the room where he stood against the wall all by himself. “What the fuck did you do to my sister?”

“What didn’t he do?” Dane mused, taking a seat and letting his wife lash into his brother for his actions.

I still didn’t know what had occurred before our arrival, but I chose not to attract Peyton’s anger, so I remained silent and listened.

“He was Damon’s money man this whole time.” Liv answered, after Tamen looked at the floor, clearly intending to ignore the conversation all together. “He held me captive with him and then went along with it when Damon induced my labor to steal my baby so he could sell her.”

Peyton gasped and Tamen groaned, finally joining in, “I was never going to let him touch you.” He leaned off the wall, “I didn’t even know who the fuck you were until right before he went all mad doctor scientist on you.”

“Jesus fuck.” I growled, fighting the urge to pulverize his neck all over again.

“What?” Tamen flung his arms up, turning away from me and facing Peyton head on. “It’s not as if we chat on the phone and tell each other about our days, P.” He argued and she tightened her lips, unimpressed. “I did not know your sister was the hacker girl Damon was hunting. It didn’t matter to me. She was just another—”

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