Page 45 of Mad As Hell

A grimace twisted her features. “And now I’m not. I guess I’m someone who needed to learn that lesson twice.” Bitterness laced her words like acid.

I pulled my legs onto the sofa and faced her. “Bex, come on. I know it meant something to you. And I think it meant something to them, too.”

“Not enough,” she replied tartly. “And I’m the idiot who fell for it.” She wiggled two fingers. “Again: twice.”

“You fell for it? Or him?” The question escaped before I could censor it.

Bex glared at me, but there was little heat behind it.

“Sorry,” I apologized.

She waved a dismissive hand. “It’s fine. And both, I guess. I mean, the Linc thing was new, but Court… I’m so stupid, Maddie.”

I reached over and linked our fingers, giving hers a sympathetic squeeze.

Her head tipped back as she blinked away tears. “It just felt real, you know?”

I nodded morosely, because I could absolutely relate.

She used her free hand to swipe at her eyes. “Shit. I forgot how much I liked just being with him. With all of them.”

“What went wrong?” I asked. Bex had mentioned that she’d grown up with Court, Linc, Ryan, and Ash. Her family and Court’s had been extremely close at one point, until it all fell apart.

“I wish I knew,” she muttered. “One day, Court was my best friend, and the next, he stopped talking to me.” She gave me a pointed look. “I guess I have that effect on people.”

I winced, because my sister had done the same thing.

“Maybe I just naturally repel people,” she joked, but I got the impression she was only half teasing.

“Not me,” I said emphatically. “You’re the only person I can trust. I think I’d be suicidal if you weren’t—” I snapped my mouth shut as what I’d said ricocheted through me like lightning.

Bex’s face went a little ashen.

I dropped her hand, mine suddenly feeling cold and clammy. I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I didn’t mean that.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, her eyes unreadable.

Not, Of course you didn’t, Maddie.

“I’m not suicidal,” I said quickly. I wasn’t. I hated my circumstances, but I was still ready to fight, no matter how weary I was.

“But if Madelaine spent years feeling as trapped as I have for the last two weeks…” I trailed off and looked away. “I don’t know, Bex.”

“I wish she’d told me,” she murmured. “About Adam, about Gary, about everything. Maybe I could’ve helped.”

I was eighteen and couldn’t see a way out of this nightmare, so I could only imagine the toll it had taken on a thirteen-year-old. Especially one being abused and manipulated by the adults who were supposed to protect her.

Anger rolled through me, leaving an icy numbness in its wake.

“They’re going to pay,” I forced out through clenched teeth. “I’m going to make them pay.”

“How?”

“Gary gave me a new phone, but Ash still has my old one. I wonder if he got anything else from the app. Maybe Madelaine had a plan to get out from under them. One that I can use.”

Bex sighed. “I guess that means we’re going to a party?”

I smirked a little. “Of course we are. And we’ll look like walking sin when we do.”

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