Page 32 of Waiting to Lose
Jake’s eyes closed, and Madi realized just how fearful he really was. She’d forgotten this side of him. Suddenly, everything fell into place. He was scared he’d lose her. His fear dictated every action he’d ever made, and this was no exception.
“What else do I need to know?” she asked sincerely.
Jake sighed heavily before joining her in her old room and sitting on the bed. Madi followed him and sat down on the floor next to him.
“I’ve had him followed ever since he got out. Tonight he managed to give them the slip. Much the same way you did.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“He went into a bathroom at the mall and came out in completely different clothes and a mask. My guards didn’t recognize him. They thought he was someone else.”
“He was wearing a mask?”
“Yes. Dave called my cell to tell me they’d discovered his clothes in the garbage and that he was roaming free. I was with you and I didn’t want to take the call. When he couldn’t reach me, he called Caleb. That’s what Caleb wanted to talk to me about. He knew you didn’t know, and he couldn’t say anything in front of you.”
Madi nodded as the details fell into place.
“If it makes you feel any better, Caleb, Ang and everyone in my family told me I was wrong for not telling you. I knew they were right, but somehow I justified it all by thinking I was keeping you happy and safe, hoping you would forgive me later. Can you? Forgive me? Because if you can’t, I don’t know what I’ll do, but I won’t give up until I gain your trust again.”
Madi sighed as she played with the edges of her garter belts. She glared down at the floor as she processed all that he had said. “Did they find him?”
“Yes, he went back to his hotel room. He made sure they saw him in his mask and he taunted them, knowing he’d won. He must have known he was being tailed the whole time.”
“He taunted them?” Madi questioned.
“Yeah, he put on his mask and they could see him through the window.”
“What was the mask?” Madi asked.
“A wolf.”
A sudden chill shot through her as a loud gasp escaped her lips. The events of the night rushed through her mind. She suddenly felt frightened, and for the first time in months, all the feelings of the night she was attacked came flooding to the surface.
Jake crashed onto the floor beside her as he grabbed her arms, forcing her to look at him. “Mads, what is it? What’s wrong?”
“At the party…” she started, but the words wouldn’t come. “Wolf… spoke to a wolf. He… It was—I think—him…”
Jake’s nostrils flared as his posture stiffened and his muscles went rigid. “He was there? Are you sure?”
Madi swallowed hard and found her voice. “I bumped into a wolf. He called me Little Red Riding Hood. I asked him if I knew him. He seemed oddly familiar but I couldn’t place it. He wouldn’t respond; he just kept nodding or shaking his head. He said we’d worked together, so I thought he was Curtis. He asked me if I was afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. He pointed out Allison and told me I shouldn’t trust you. He ran his fingers down my back and I felt cold. I turned and he was gone. I went to find you, but Allison stopped me. She was such a bitch, I forgot all about it until now. Do you think it was him?”
Jake jumped up and made a beeline for his phone. As Madi reached him, he was already speaking to Rob, reiterating what Madi had told him. Then he called Dave. Madi sat on the couch and wrapped the blanket around her shoulders once more, watching Jake pace as he spoke, pulling on the bit of length left in his shorter hair. As she watched him, the fear she’d had a few moments before slowly dissolved away, and she was reminded just how safe Jake made her feel.
She suddenly realized that he knew her better than she’d thought, and that maybe, just maybe, ignorancewasbliss.
