Page 108 of Mad Love

“How could you?” She threw her hands in the air. “You left me. You forgot I existed, and I thought it was all some horrible nightmare that I’d made up because I had such a high fever during treatment. But it wasn’t, was it? The cabin was real.”

Slowly, heartbreakingly, Court nodded once. “What do you remember?”

“Why don’t you just tell me what happened? Or is the truth something so far out of reach for you that you can’t handle the concept?”

Court stared at the ground and exhaled. “Okay. Why don’t we go—”

“I’m not going anywhere with you until you give me answers.” Bex folded her arms under her chest. “What the hell happened?”

Rubbing the back of his neck, Court fumed silently for a beat before lifting his eyes to me. “Did you tell her? Couldn’t you just let it fucking alone?”

“What? No,” Bex retorted, her face twisting in bafflement. “Madelaine was the one who… Why would Maddie know?”

I sighed heavily and stared at Ryan, who looked ready to intervene. I shook my head at him, because we were so far past burying this.

The betrayal in Bex’s eyes was heartbreaking and one hundred percent my fault. “You knew?”

Ryan left the table and came to my side. “I told her.”

Bex looked around, horror on her face. “You all knew? And no one told me?” Her accusing gaze landed on Linc.

“Court asked us to keep it a secret.” Linc shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “To protect you.”

“How kind of him to make all these decisions for me.” The sarcasm in her tone fooled no one; she was hurt and about to start crying.

A muscle ticked in Court’s jaw as he clenched his teeth. “I did what I thought was necessary to keep you safe.”

“And who the hell gave you that right?”

“I gave it to myself after you almost died because of me,” he snapped. “After it became obvious that your pencil dick of a father cared more about his business than keeping you safe, and after it became more than fucking apparent that my dad was willing to kill you if it meant keeping my ass in line!”

Bex stared at him.

“I’d already lost a brother. I wasn’t losing you, too, Becca,” he finished. “Does it make me an asshole? Sure. Fine. Call me an asshole, but you’re alive, aren’t you? He never used you to bait me again, did he?”

“Maybe we should give you two time to talk,” I suggested, my gaze flickering between them.

“No,” Bex finally said, her voice strangled. “You know what? I’m done talking. You guys do whatever the hell you want. I mean, why should things like my feelings or wants be a consideration when you’ve already figured it out.”

“Becca,” Court growled as she turned to leave, “fucking stop.”

“You got exactly what you wanted, Court,” she told him, looking over her shoulder. “No one can use me to hurt you, because I’m out of your life. Let’s keep it that way.”

“Bex,” Linc sighed. “It’s not—”

“Seriously, Lincoln, don’t waste your breath,” she sneered, icicles dripping from her words. “I never meant anything to any of you. That’s pretty fucking obvious, given it was so easy for you to discard me.” Bex paused as she passed me, tears in her eyes. “But I thought you were different.”

I took a step toward her. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve told you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Her gaze moved past me to Ryan. “Because he asked you not to? Ordered you not to?”

I pressed my lips together, unsure what to say to fix this. I knew my silence would come at a cost, but this was beyond what I’d imagined. Her hurt cut deeper than her anger ever could, and knowing that I was part of it sucked beyond the telling.

“Right. Look, I’ll talk to you later, Maddie, but right now I want to be alone.” Her gaze cut to Court. “The way I’m supposed to be, right?” Her mocking stare proved too much, and he flinched away. With a scoff, Bex walked back inside.

“You realize you handled that terribly, right?” Knight drawled from the other side of the space.

“Why didn’t you just tell her the truth?” Bishop asked, frowning at his brother.

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