Fated Absolution (4 page)

Maddy hung up the phone as soon as Colin did and made a dash to her little dungeon, hoping to get out of the building before Mr. Button had a chance to corner her. She didn’t make it. She was just picking up her bag and turning when he was right there. His hard slap across her face knocked her backward. She hit her head on the corner of her table as she was going down blackness engulfed her.

“I’m telling you, you should have heard him, Aaron. He talked to her like she was trash, way beneath him. And the language he used…well hell Aaron, it made me blush to know she was listening.”

Colin had been talking about nothing else since he’d gotten off the phone with Maddy.

He couldn't abide by them being mistreated, verbally or physically. He loved women all women.

But he especially loved Shade, his mate.

“How did she take it, lose her temper? I would have, I’d of gone right into his office and cut his dick off.” Sam, Tucker’s mate could be a little, well let’s just say she didn’t have a lot of love for abusive men, women either. She was a part of a large underground system that helped get abused spouses out of their homes and into safer areas. She’d been doing it for years, simply using the bakery as a front.

“Nah, if anything she seemed to think it was funny. I could hear her trying her best not to laugh. She’s a gutsy little thing. She’s supposed to come by tomorrow night sometime after six. I hope you don’t mind, but I’m having her meet me here. She said she had a very bad sense of direction and she’d been here before.”

“No, that’s great as a matter of fact. There are a few things I’d like to ask her about anyway. Kyle will be here tomorrow too, but I don’t expect him until after midnight.” Aaron mentally rubbed his hands together. He and Colin needed her help and if Bradley and Kyle were in, they had one hell of a deal for the girl and for themselves.

~~~

‘Turn right at the next stop sign and poof, I should be there, ha!! I said that ten minutes ago. You’d think a house that friggin big would be easy to find, especially since I’ve been there before! But oh no, not for me. Sheesh, Maddy you really could get lost in your own bathroom without a map.’

She still hurt from what Button had done to her last night. She had woke up this morning on the same floor where he’d left her, covered in blood, her blood, and sore as hell. Today her left eye was black all the way down her cheek and her jaw was bruised as well, knowing tomorrow and the next day she be sorer didn’t help. She also had a knot the size of a golf ball on the other side of her head that hurt so bad she had left her hair down because pulling it into a pony tail had hurt too badly.

She saw the blur of movement about ten seconds before she hit it. Or it hit her. The car slammed to a stop and jolted her so badly she hit the window with her sore face. This time her nose bloodied as well.

She staggered out of the car and limped over to the heap of dark clothes. It was big friggin heap of clothes too. She knew it was going to have a body in there somewhere and the way her luck was running, she killed the body too. She started reach out and touch when he moaned. She knew it was a male because unless there was something seriously wrong with this woman’s vocal cords and she’d been on steroids for, well years, then she was a guy. Well, she thought, at least I didn’t kill him, yet.

She fell to her knees beside him, not caring what she was doing to her pants. They were covered in blood anyway. Her shirt was ruined as well; blood from her nose marred the front of it. Her hand had just touched his shoulder when he turned and grabbed her wrist in a tight hold.

“Hey, bones, bones, bones! Well, I guess it’s safe to assume you didn’t hurt your hand.

Let me go, that fucking hurts!”

Maddy started smacking him with her other hand. If he didn’t let her go soon, she’d have a broken wrist on top of everything else.

“You hit me…you tried to kill me, well it won’t work. It won’t be that easy. And you are not going anywhere. I need help.”

The man’s voice was deep and had an accent that made her spine tingle. But that didn’t make her any less pissed off at the stupid man.

“Really? Could have fooled me! I don’t know why I didn’t think the puddle of blood you’re lying in was an indicator of that fact. Dumb ass.” She began searching his pants pockets, then his shirt.

“What the fuck are you doing now, looking for a place to stick a knife? My wallet is in my back pocket. Want me to roll over for you so you can rob me easier?”

She noticed that accent again and the fact that it got stronger the madder he got. She was sorely tempted to really make him mad to see if he’d slip into the language that he was falling slowly back into.

“Look you overgrown prick, do you see a knife? I’m looking for a phone. I need to call you an ambulance. I have insurance, not great insurance, but I have enough to cover your injuries; at least I hope I do provided you don’t linger in a vegetative state for too long. For just another limb and maybe my left eye I suppose I could have had really good insurance, but silly me, I thought that eating would be more beneficial.” She snorted as she was still patting him down when he grabbed her other hand.

“You’re weird. No, no ambulance and no police. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” He said to her still holding onto her hand. He had laid his head back onto the pavement and closed his eyes.

Maddy looked at him, what else did she have to do when he was holding her hands hostage. His hair was a very dark black, almost blue, it was so shiny. His face was tense now, probably from pain, but no less handsome, a jaw that screamed to be caressed, a nose that was narrow and straight. His mouth was full and sensual, sexy and…holy shit, back up girl. Where the heck had that come from? Picking up their conversation where he’d stop talking she went on.

“Oh. Well of course you will. How stupid of me to be concerned. Well, if you’re sure, I’ll take my leave while you bleed to death in the middle of the road. Stop being a macho jackass and let me call someone for you.”

She struggled in vain to get her hands free, but he just tightened his grip. Her moan of pain stopped him short. It was then that he looked at her.

“You are not going to claim that I did that to you. I do not beat stupid women. I know how your types of women are. Well, you won’t get a dime out of me.” His voice sounded so bored as if dealing with her ‘type’ happened to him every day.

Maddy stared at him for all of twenty seconds and jerked her hands from him, his nails tearing into her tender flesh. She stood, staggered for a moment and hobbled back to her car. She was trying her best not to cry. She hurt everywhere. Her nose was still bleeding. Her new pants and shirt were ruined and she had an appointment she was going to be late for. Before she got inside her car, he was already getting in the passenger side. She looked back to where he’d just been to her car again. S
heesh! He could really move fast. Shi
t! Now he was getting into her car.

Oh no. No, no he was not.

“What do you think you’re doing? Get out of my car, you maniacal bastard!
Get out right
now.

He just ignored her and climbed in. He had to adjust the seat as far back as it would go and then he was still squashed in there like he was a sardine. She knew she couldn’t make him budge. She was surprised that he’d even been able to get up. Maddy would have sworn he was hurt really bad. She just got into the driver’s side and started the engine. She resolved to not speak to him all the way to her appointment. And she would not take him anywhere else. She just hoped he didn’t go into shock or anything while in her car. This was all she needed, a dead man riding around with her. Just her luck Schaller and Schaller would probably be the ones suing her for his family.

“Where are you going now? I have a right to know where you are taking me. Are you going to answer me when I speak to you? Hey! Are you in there?”

He had asked that four times now and she still had not said a word to him. It’s not that she didn’t speak, she did, but all to herself. Mostly it was to put her down or to comment on the wrong turn she’d taken but never anything directly to him.

When she pulled up in front of the MacManus mansion gate, he started laughing. He was still laughing when she was trying to make herself heard over his laughter into the speaker at the gate.

“Mr. Duncan, its Madi…its hummm…I have an appointment with Colin Larimore and Aaron MacManus. I don’t suppose you remember me from last week?”

No way was she giving this guy her name. It was bad enough he’d gone through all her trash, making snide comments about the fact that she folded it nice and neatly, and did you do that for her house trash as well. As a matter of fact she did, but she didn’t tell him that. For all she knew he was some sort of mass murderer or a slasher or something equally hideous.

“Oh yes, Miss Harm, we’ve been expecting you.” So much for keeping her name private she thought. She turned to glare at the man next to her when he began laughing in earnest again.

“Did you think I wouldn’t get it? What business could you possibly have here? Aaron is a good friend and I won’t let you do anything to his reputation or his family.” He said this with a sneer and a grin. Who would have thought that was even possible?

“Fucking dick head. All men should all be castrated and left to the wild animals to feast upon.” She had been talking to herself and had lowered her voice a great deal, but he had heard her she knew it.

It was nearly full dark when she pulled up in front of the house. She hated driving at night, but this couldn’t be helped he’d told her he has a problem that prevented him from working with her during the day and she wanted to be as accommodating as possible for him.

She wished now that she had called and rescheduled. She hurt worse now than before she’d hit this man, and she was dizzy too.

As soon as the car stopped he was out and to the door. She was still struggling with her seatbelt when Mr. Duncan was leading the man in. “
Well, he must not have been lying when he
said he knew the MacManus”.
Mr. Duncan came out to help her gather her stuff, but she shooed him off saying she was used to lugging it around. Half way to the door she realized she should have taken his help, she wasn’t gonna make it. Stopping not six feet from the doorway, she just couldn’t go any further, her entire body was screaming in pain.

“Master Kyle said that you had a slight accident and you may need my assistance. He said that you tried to run him down on an otherwise open highway. I do not believe that for a moment, and told him so.”

He simply took her Wal-Mart bag from her in one hand and lead/dragged her inside with the other. It made her happy that someone believed her. But she couldn’t concentrate on that right now. Pain riddled her body like bullets being shot into her everywhere.

They were just inside the open hallway when Duncan turned to take a good look at Maddy. She thought she must look really bad if the expression on his face was any indication.

He nearly fell over in his haste to take the rest of her things from her and have her sit down in the large church pew right inside of the entrance hall. It was too much, within seconds of his kind words, she was sobbing.

“Oh, Miss Harm, there, there, let me get you something to dry your eyes. Do not move. I will return momentarily.” And off he went toward what she could only assume was the kitchen.

She grabbed her big blue Wally World bag and started for the door. She had humiliated herself enough for one night and decided nothing could make her stay. She had the car started and was turning it around when someone slammed on the window next to her. She screamed and jerked around in time to have none other than Master Kyle himself opening her door and turning off her car.

“Get off; what…give me back those keys. I mean it, I’ve had enough of you for one night and I hurt in places you can’t imagine.”

When he simply held them over his head, she shut the door on him, nearly getting his hand. The car was on enough of a downhill swing; she just let it roll and popped the clutch.

When the engine turned over, she put it into gear and started off. But not before she turned to him and stuck her tongue out at him. Childish? Yes, but she wanted to go home. Too bad she didn’t make it much further than a few inches; it was a very nice parting shot though.

Kyle stood in front of her car and she really hoped that she wouldn’t run him down, again.

Instead of running him down like she really, really wanted to, she stopped the car a mere inch from his legs. She missed him falling forward onto her hood, and the heavy sigh of relief that he expelled. He really thought she was going to do it. No, she missed it all because she had laid her head on the steering wheel and started crying harder, harder than he’d ever heard a woman cry before. He hated a woman’s tears.

It wasn’t until Duncan came out to the car to check on her that Kyle raise his head. He was surprised to see her upset, her crying hurting him for some reason, hurt him deep in his chest. He was the one she’d run down for Christ’s sake, what the fuck did she have to be upset about.

“Come now Miss, you must come into the house and let us have a look at these wounds.

Let go of the driving devise please, there’s a good girl.”

Kyle came to lend a hand. He had just reached for her when she turned on him, all claws and teeth. He might have been impressed if he wasn’t afraid of hurting her.

“You fucking stupid jackass! Do you have a death warrant? You dumb fucking jackass–”

“You’ve called me that several times now. You might want to broaden your vocabulary.

Or maybe stop calling me names altogether.”

He didn’t know what possessed him to antagonize her. She was just too beautiful not to, the way her eyes darkened and sparkled. It was everything he could do not to just make her mad to watch them.

“You…why I should…I am going to…shit, I’m gonna pass out.”

And she started to crumble toward the hard driveway. Had Kyle not been as close as he was, she would have a few more bruises to add to the array she already had. Instead he grabbed her up into his arms and held her slight body to his larger one as he carried her into the house just behind Duncan.