Page 92 of The Last One You Loved
“I guess you could say she chose me,” Maddox said, a hint of emotion peeking through his tone, showcasing the love he felt for Mila.
“And she reminded you of McK? You couldn’t save her, so you were determined to save her sister.”
“Maybe,” Maddox admitted, and it did funny things to my heart and soul. The sweetness of it. The huge sacrifice he’d made for me when I’d basically told him to get lost. A lump formed in my throat.
“You took four years off my life,” Trap said to Maddox, and I inhaled sharply.
“I wasn’t the one showing off stolen rifles to everyone in Willow Creek. Not my fault I was the unlucky bastard who happened to be on duty,” Maddox said.
“Wait. You’re the one who arrested Trap?” I said, mouth falling open a little.
Trap chuckled. “Didn’t tell you? That’s interesting. Yep, your dear ol’ friend here arrested me, made sure I got jail time, and then had the audacity to buy the damn house I’d saved for you. Pretty much dismantled every damn thing I had in Willow Creek.”
If Trap expected me to be angry on his behalf, he’d lost any touch with reality. In fact, the entire thing had my lips twitching, making me want to laugh. Only in a small town like Willow Creek could all those things be possible.
Trap saw my attempt to hide my laughter, and his lips lifted in return.
“It is kind of amusing,” Trap said, a rumble of a half-laugh escaping him as he tugged on the beard that almost reached his belt buckle.
Maddox’s body loosened ever so slightly.
“If I had to guess,” Trap said, “I’d say Chainsaw is the daddy. Sybil had been putting the moves on him for a while. They both wanted to make me jealous for different reasons. I think Sybil convinced him she knew more about me and my business than she did. The whole thing backfired on him though, because Sybil doesn’t know shit about me. I was glad to wash my hands of her years ago. She’d been nothing but a bad omen since I picked her up, thinking she was legal when she was really only fifteen.”
It was my turn to stiffen. Bad omen was what Mama had always called me. Had he hurt her by calling her it, so she passed it along to the person who couldn’t strike back? The lump returned, growing until I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to talk around it again.
“Chainsaw says he wants nothing to do with her either,” Maddox said.
Trap laughed dryly. “Anyone who gets a taste of Sybil wants to spit her back out.”
As much as I hated Mama for the hell she’d put me through for years, I couldn’t help feeling the tiniest prick of sorrow for her. That she’d lived a life where no one saw her worth. First in foster care, and then from the men she’d loved—or at least, she’d said she loved Trap. I wasn’t sure she actually knew what the emotion really was.
For a long time, the lack of love and emotion had made me wonder if there was something wrong in her DNA that she’d passed along to me. I’d never really loved Kerry. I’d just wanted his life to be mine. But the man sitting next to me? The depths I felt for him? I knew it was love. Not only because I’d gladly give up my life for his but because bringing a smile to his face every day seemed more important than anything else I could do, including my time in an emergency room.
“What’s Sybil got on him?” Maddox asked, returning my mind to the conversation.
“Chainsaw?” Interest flared in Trap’s eyes. “Why do you think she’s got something?”
“He was hiding her.”
Trap tugged again on his beard.
“If she thought she was losing him, like she did with me, she might have tried the same bull, poked holes in the condom. And when the kid didn’t work, tried to blackmail him into staying. Sybil ain’t stupid. She’s just unpredictable.”
My stomach lurched as the reality of his words hit me. I was the result of a hole in a condom. My chest tightened, and tears hit the backs of my eyes that I refused to shed in front of Trap and his men. I bit my cheek, fisting the hand that wasn’t in Maddox’s. Trap’s gaze landed on me, and it softened a little, a flash of regret wafting over him. “Sorry, darlin’, that had to sting. Doesn’t mean I ain’t right proud of you and the life you’ve made for yourself. Doctor and all that shit. Even him.” He tilted his head in Maddox’s direction. “He’s good for you. Can keep you safe.”
My heart flipped over. I’d been responsible for my own safety for so long, keeping quiet and still so as not to make Mama mad, and running when it was the only choice open to me. I’d had to keep myself safe, but it was also true that Maddox had shown up and protected me in the only way a teenage boy could, by helping me flee when it was the only choice. Now, he wouldn’t want to do either?run or hide. Instead, he’d help me face my demons without flinching.
“I heard a rumor about the Gears and the Lovato cartel. What do you have to say about it?” Maddox asked.
“Chainsaw has gone off his damn rocker,” Trap said, the first real sign of anger entering his voice. “The West Gears were never mixed up in cartels and drugs when I was in charge. We were just a gang of men, living our best lives. Freedom of the open road, enjoying our brief time on this shitty planet before it was gone.”
“And stealing to support it,” Maddox added in.
“You want help or you wanna talk ethics, pretty boy?” Trap asked with a grunt.
It was my turn to squeeze Maddox’s knee.
“A big wig in the Lovato cartel is coming into town because Chainsaw owes them money. A mil at least, if not more,” Trap said. When Maddox didn’t respond, didn’t even seem surprised, he continued, “Some say it’s gone missing. I didn’t know Sybil was in the picture, but if he’s protecting her, it may be that she happens to know where the money ran off to.”
