The waitress came over and brought me a glass of scotch before she disappeared.
Maddox slowly turned his gaze on me, his expression deflated. His shoulders slumped with fatigue, and he seemed to be in a solemn mood. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and his emotions were very theatrical. When he was mad, he was really mad. When he was happy, he practically giggled. And right now, he seemed down.
I refused to ask him about his feelings. That implied I cared…and I didn’t. “I need to leave for a few weeks.”
After I spoke the words, Maddox gave me his full attention. He looked at me with crystal-blue eyes, eyes so bright they made the sky look black. Whenever he stared at me, he always seemed mesmerized, like he’d never really looked at me before. “Where?”
I hated answering to anyone. I wasn’t going to start now. “Doesn’t matter.”
Maddox grabbed his water and took a drink. Instead of taking a sip like most people, he chugged half of it, like he’d just run a marathon. He set it down again with a heavy thud. “It matters to me.”
“Personal reasons. Leave it at that.”
“If it’s personal, then you confide it to me. That’s what friends do, right?”
If only I had the audacity to grab a butter knife and shank it up his rib cage. “I’ll confide in you when you confide in me.” He never shared anything with me, not that I ever asked. I’d made the statement just to prove a point and get him to leave it alone.
“Alright.” He rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward, regarding me like a lover instead of a partner. “You killed your father, right?”
The blood slowly drained from my face.
“I killed my mother.”
I didn’t ask for the details because I assumed they were disturbing. There was an innate creepiness in the air around us, like his mother’s wounded spirit had entered the room to haunt him. But evil couldn’t be haunted.
“I feel so much closer to you now.” He said the words matter-of-factly, but there was a slight hint of threat to his tone. “Now, will you answer me?”
Out of principle, I refused to.
“I assume you intend to spend your vacation time with your new son in Rome. I suppose that’s fine. If something comes up, I’ll let you know.”
I shouldn’t be surprised he knew that information, but I still felt violated by it. This man knew everything about me. He probably kept tabs on me when I was off the clock. Every time I visited Sofia, he knew about it. He probably even knew I fucked her too.
He tapped his fingers against the table as if he were playing a song. But the music was chaotic and unpredictable. If anything, it just sounded like noise. Is that what he heard inside his brain every day? Noise?
“Aren’t you going to thank me for saving your life?”
“I don’t understand why you did.”
His fingers stopped drumming. “I think it’s obvious. And I would hope you would do the same for me.”
I couldn’t stop myself from shaking my head.
“When are you going to leave the past behind you? Hades, it’s time to move on. We’re partners now.”
“No, I’m a hostage.”
Maddox smiled like it was impossible to take me seriously. “You should look up the meaning of hostage because you clearly don’t understand it. None of your rights have been revoked. You are paid handsomely. And you are protected.”
He made it sound like I’d won the lottery. “Why did you save me?”
He cocked his head slightly.
“Why?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Answer me.”
He leaned forward again and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Would you rather me not save you?”
“Yes.”
He slowly leaned back, his body sagging with devastation. The pain entered his eyes, and it was the first time he actually seemed wounded. Up until that point, he’d seemed invincible. But something about my words hit him right in the heart.
He rose from his chair and didn’t look at me again. He slowly moved through the tables and exited the restaurant. He didn’t come back for me. And a moment later, I saw him walk past the windows, his hands in his front pockets…like he was just another person on the street.
I stood on her front doorstep and waited for her to come to the entryway. I was in jeans and a t-shirt, surprised summer had come so soon. Last summer, I married Sofia. That felt like a lifetime ago. I still remembered the way she looked in her