*Maddox*
July 7, 2017
Adelaide laughs as Scott does an odd dance move and a twirl before rolling the ball down the lane. I smile, watching as the girls eat up his performance.
I have to admit, Scott seems like a stand-up guy. He makes Kristy smile, and I can tell he does care for her. He also has a sense of sarcasm, joking with Kristy whenever she gets a gutter ball and exclaiming that she’s costing them the game even though they are currently winning.
Adelaide doesn’t have any sense of competition. She doesn’t have a drive to win or beat them. She’s happy with just enjoying the sport and being with her friends. And, feeding off her energy, I have lost the need to prove myself to Scott.
Adelaide is right. I’m learning more about him by being calm and friendly, than I would have by interrogating him.
Scott is twenty-two: three years older than Kristy. But I have no right to fuss over the age difference, since I am six years older than Adelaide.
Scott actually works for his father’s business, a local attorney’s office. I believe he’s going to law school as well.
“Maddox, it’s your turn,” Adelaide whispers beside me. I shake away from my thoughts and look over at the girl who has changed my life. Her beautiful blue eyes meet mine and she offers me a large smile. My heart beats fast at the thought of finally kissing those lips. I know she understands the prospect of kissing and what it means, but I worry about moving too fast.
I just gained her back, I don’t want to push her away and risk losing her for good.
I stand and place a soft kiss to the top of her head as I go to bowl. I land myself a strike and Adelaide lets out a squeal of happiness, clapping loudly. “Woo hoo! Good job, Maddox!” I turn, and before I can blink, Adelaide’s body is thrown against mine. I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her slim body and holding tight. “Okay…you’ve been carrying the weight. Quite literally dragging us through No Man’s Land with barbed wire wrapped around my legs,” Adelaide says, walking to the ball return and grabbing the purple one. She turns to me as I laugh at her metaphor.
“So, would you mind helping me?” she asks, batting her lashes lovingly. I arch an eyebrow, wondering why she suddenly is concerned about her skills.
I glance back to our table to see that Kristy and Scott are no longer there. I feel my spine straighten and my muscles tighten as panic bubbles within my chest. Where is Kristy? Where did Scott take her?
My thoughts are swarming with different possibilities. If Scott is a man like Nile, Kristy is gagged and in the back of a van, being driven off the grid. The likelihood of ever finding her again is slim.
Images of Kristy being tied up, beaten, and even raped flash through my mind. My skin crawls with anxiety. My breathing becomes raspy as I try to fill my lungs with air.
I can practically see her being delivered a punch that results in a black eye. My stomach churns and I feel sick.
How could I have even been a part of a group like that? How could I have thought that the Cicero Disciples were my family? They’re not. Kristy is my family. And if something has happened to her…
What if Nile wasn’t satisfied with my deeds? What if killing my father wasn’t enough? Or worse…what if he found out that I didn’t kill him? What if Scott is a rat, sent here to watch over my family and when the time is right, to infiltrate Kristy. To take her and use her against me.
I begin to hyperventilate.
“Hey…” A hand touches my shoulder, and upon instinct, I grab the wrist of the assailant. I quickly twist it around into a giving position. One jerk, the bone will snap. I keep a lock on it as I turn and hear the agonizing cry rip through Adelaide’s lips.
As if cold water were thrown on me, I release her and stare with wide eyes as she cradles her hand against her chest. Tears water in her eyes as she looks up at me with trepidation. Her expression is a dagger to my heart.
She’s scared of me.
Of course she is. I nearly broke her wrist and I handled her as I would have a grown man sent to kill me.
“A-Adelaide…I-I am so sorry,” I whisper, my voice merely a breath as I stare at the woman I love, who’s in pain because of me. When I take a step toward her, Adelaide turns to shield her wrist, cowering away from me. “Please, sweetheart. I didn’t know. I…let me see your wrist, beautiful.” I speak to her as if she’s a frightened animal.
How could I have been so stupid?
How could I have let Nile get to me?
“Maddox?” I look over my shoulder to see Kristy standing there with Scott beside her, holding a box of pizza and a pitcher of pop. Shame fills me as I see my little sister is safe.
I acted completely irrationally. Tears well in my eyes as I look back at Adelaide.
No matter how much I wish it weren’t true, there is no denying the fact that Nile actually won. He has chipped away a part of my soul and filled it with darkness. He has me living in constant fear that someone I love will be stripped from me. He has me so on edge that I mistook the gentle touch of Adelaide for an attempt on my life.
“What happened?” Kristy gasps, running toward Adelaide to gingerly grab her coddled wrist. I try to peek around them to see the damage done. How am I going to live with myself, knowing that I harmed Adelaide?
Perhaps it wasn’t safe to return. Perhaps it will never be safe to return. When I joined the Cicero Disciples, I knew it was for life. I wasn’t supposed to get out. And since I did, there will always be repercussions. And I cannot risk Adelaide.
I had convinced myself that if Nile were to ever reappear, I would protect Adelaide with my life. But it seems that I am just another danger to her.
I retreat a step back, ready to flee like a coward since Adelaide is in the capable hands of Kristy. However, I stop by the sound of her voice.
“Don’t you dare. You promised me!” Adelaide says. I look over at her, my eyebrows scrunched together. Adelaide walks toward me and uses her good hand to push my chest. “You promised to never leave me again. How dare you even consider it! I see it written all over your face, Cameron Maddox Steele. You believe I’d be better off without you? Well, you’re wrong. You came back and you made me fall in love with you. If you leave…I will not be able to survive it a second time!”
Adelaide sobs, looking at me with her beautiful tear-streaked face.
My mind tells me to run. To go back to Chicago and keep all danger away from her. To ensure that she lives a life without fear.
My heart tells me to stay. To wrap her in my embrace and finally bestow a kiss upon her. To never leave her and show her how much I truly love her, for all the days of my life.
“Please.” Adelaide’s voice cracks and I let out a guttural growl as I cup her face between my hands and lay my kiss to her lips. Adelaide instantly steps closer to me, angling her face so that I have better access. I gently rub my thumb along her jaw as I carefully claim Adelaide as mine.
This is it. There’s no going back now. Absolutely no chance of me ever leaving, even for her own sake. I have lost all will power to be away from Adelaide, to do the right thing. But I will never stop to ensure that Adelaide will be safe. That the life we live will be filled with nothing but love, laughter, and happiness.