SHE’D HEARD EVERY word. With every single sentence, she could feel the knife pulling from her chest, except when Allison talked about his body. It twisted slightly before she wanted to charge into the room and put her hands around Allison’s scrawny little neck. Ang was right. There was another side to the story. Kendra had watched her face contort, smile, twist and frown as she listened on the earpiece. She kept mouthing,What? What did he say? What did she say?Rob put his hand up to her and Madi heard him whisper, “She can’t talk and listen at the same time.”
Then Kendra said, “I need to know. This is ridiculous.”
Rob whispered, “Have a little patience.”
Then Kendra pounded her foot like a five-year-old and gritted her teeth at him. “Don’t tell me what to do, secret agent man!”
Rob crossed his arms, and Kendra mimicked his movement as they stared at each other. Madi listened to Jake as she watched them. They were adorable together. A little skip in her heart gave her hope that maybe they all could find some form of happiness.
She’d heard Allison’s confession and Jake’s countless professions of love and devotion to Madi. She hated to admit it, but she loved the way he’d refused Allison, even though she’d really wanted him. She actually felt a little sorry for Allison. Madi knew what it felt like to want but not get him. She never wanted to feel that way again.
When he exited the room, Madi removed the earpiece from her ear and handed it back to Rob. Jake stood stiff at the door and stared at her, waiting for some sort of reaction. As she turned from Rob to Jake, their eyes met. He released a heavy breath from his lips as he lowered his head to look at her from the tops of his eyes. She bit her lip as her eyes softened and he smiled, bigger than she’d ever seen. She charged the small space between them and flew into his waiting arms.
He swung her off the floor and twirled her around as she flung her arms around his neck.
“What the fuck?” Kendra said. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
Jake stopped and lowered Madi to the floor, cupping her face in his hands and staring lovingly into her eyes.
“I’d say everything’s fine,” Rob sighed.
Kendra glared at him as her neck twisted. “No shit, Sherlock. I just want to know what she said. Do you always state the obvious?”
Jake’s and Madi’s eyes glazed as they stared at each other, not moving an inch. Madi couldn’t take her eyes off of him. He hadn’t cheated on her. He was still hers.
“I should have never doubted you,” she said.
“I know why you did. The pictures were hard to ignore.”
“You love me, don’t you?” she asked playfully.
“I really, really do,” he responded, placing his lips softly on her forehead. Madi closed her eyes and took a long, lingering breath, taking in everything around her: his smell, which made her weak; his strong hands on her cheeks; and his soft lips on her head. The relief came off her in waves, along with the weight of the world.
Rob cleared his throat. She and Jake turned their heads to see Rob waiting patiently and Kendra tapping her foot with her arms crossed against her chest.
“We need to get out of here,” Rob said as he placed the earpiece back in his ear and glanced from one end of the hall to the other. “What should we do with her?” he asked Jake, pointing to the door.
“Let her go, but have her followed. She knows who set this up. She’s being blackmailed. I’ll tell you everything in the car.”
Jake held Madi’s hand as Kendra wrapped her arm around her from the other side, attempting to pull her away.
Madi smiled and kissed her cheek as they walked.
“Do I have to ride up front with Dudley?” Kendra whispered.
Madi nodded as Jake opened her purse and put the pen back inside.
Kendra sighed and climbed in the front seat. Jake retold the entire story, almost word for word. Rob scratched his chin as he listened, occasionally glancing in the rearview mirror back to Jake and Madi.
“Someone you trust?” Kendra gasped as she turned to face them. “How do you know it’s not soldier boy?” she asked as she shifted her thumb toward Rob.
Rob sighed again.
“He was with us the whole time,” Madi reminded her.
“Hmm…” Kendra said as she eyed him suspiciously.
Jake reminded them that they couldn’t say a word about this to anyone.
