Motherfucker.
I chew on the inside of my mouth and turn the cup in my hands. There’s no way for me to lie out of this without causing a scene, no way to call his bluff or even argue his point.
I’m still staring at the cup when I ask, “What exactly are you accusing me of, Maddox?”
Just say it.
Accuse me already.
Right now, I don’t know if I can fight back.
“You and I aren’t that different, Gem,” he says as his own trailer door opens, Andi coming into view on the threshold. She pauses to stretch and rub her arms, smiling at Zeb who’s just approaching from his trailer nearby.
“You and I will both do whatever it takes to keep them safe,” Mads goes on. “We get a visceral reaction to them being harmed… What it costs us… that part doesn’t matter.” He gives Andi a small smile, then leans over his knees and peers my way again.
I don’t know how to take the look in his eyes.
It isn’t rage or anger. It isn’t entirely sad.
Whatever it is though, it’s fucking terrifying.
“When are you going to tell her?” he asks.
“Tell her what?” I manage, though my voice is hardly audible.
Mads’ jaw tenses like he’s waiting for me to react in a more defiant manner.
“That you’re her. You’re her shadow.”
I feel my eyes flutter slightly when he finally says it… when he finally accuses me of the thing I’ve hid for nearly a decade.
I want to tell him he’s wrong, argue and claim that he’s obviously still in shock from the shooting, that there’s no way I could possibly be the person he’s claiming I am. I’m just Gemma. I’m looking for her stalker. I’m looking for her attacker. Obviously, I can’t be this person—
Yet when I open my mouth, nothing comes out.
I barely have the energy and willpower to keep myself upright, let alone get in a fight here with Mads, of all people.
Bonnie can’t know right now.
I can’t tell her today.
“Please don’t,” is all I can whisper.
Because I’ll get on my knees right here and beg him to keep it to himself if he needs me to.
I’ll do anything.
Please don’t tell her.
I glance sideways at him, feeling my jaw quiver, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. I’m already a fucking wreck. If he tells her…
“Maddox…”
However, Mads reaches over, takes the mask from my knee, and tucks it into my jacket pocket closest to him. “I’m not heartless enough to bring it up to her now. Not today. Not when she’s been through fucking hell the last twenty-four hours. I have a lot more questions for you, and this is by no means over… Still, I needed to say something.”
I shove a tear off my cheek. “Is this a—”
“Warning,” he says, finishing my sentence. His gaze shifts sideways to Andi approaching us. “Like I said…” He stands just as Andi reaches him and gives her a kiss on her temple. “We’ll talk,” he tells me.
