Toby stumbles backward with a choked curse, and I shove him away from me with everything I have as soon as he loses his balance. He topples and lands on the unforgiving ground with a pained groan, and I snarl down at him, “Don’t ever fucking touch me again.”
The sound echoes across the parking lot, and Toby looks shocked for all of five seconds before that anger comes back tenfold. He scrambles to his feet, still unsteady and a little hunched now, but he’s furious. There’s no denying it. If looks could kill, I’d surely die on the spot. His expression turns ugly enough that genuine fear claws up my spine, the realization that I didn’t know this fucker at all coming with it. Because I never knew Toby would be capable of hurting me, never would have imagined he would stoop to this level, but here we are.
Just as he tries to grab me again, headlights suddenly swing into the lot from the street nearby, stopping his movements suddenly. He freezes, dark eyes morphing from rage to horror in an instant, and before I can do a damned thing, the bastard bolts. Just runs without once looking back, leaving me trembling against my car as the adrenaline continues to flood through my veins.
With a shaking hand, I reach for my bleeding lip, ignoring the pain that throbs in my cheek, arm, and wrist. I’m doing all I can to control my breathing, trying to reduce the hammering beat of my heart, yet it still takes me three tries to finally unlock my car.
The drive home is a little blurry, my mind reeling so fast that it makes me dizzy to try to keep up with it. Instead of heading to my apartment, I take the elevator straight to the guys’, accidentally blanking a concerned Callie as I go.
By the time I’m outside their door, I’m shaking hard enough that my teeth rattle, my hand suspended in the air before I reach for the door handle to let myself in. Normally I would, not thinking about it. But now, with my lip still bleeding, a bruise forming on my cheek, and several parts of my body aching something fierce, I hesitate.
That hesitation only lasts five seconds before the door suddenly swings open, and Ryan startles with surprise. The beginnings of a smile are halted when he looks at me, and he goes still when those pretty hazel eyes look me over. Every bit of warmth disappears, and I swallow hard, still shaking like an angry vibrator.
“Maddie?”
Swallowing hard, I lower my hand just as the others appear behind him, like my name alone draws them near. It’s only then that hell breaks loose.
Caiden swears loudly, green eyes forming a well of horror as he runs them all over me. Rayne’s expression changes in a way I’ve never seen before, something cold crossing his handsome features. Bax is already shoving his way past Ryan before I even realize a single tear has fallen from my eye. When the hell did I start crying?
“What the fuck happened?” Ryan asks sharply, hand gentle against my face while he looks over my split lip with an expression I’ve never seen on his face before.
It takes me three tries and two clearings of my throat before I finally scratch out that fucker’s name. “Toby.”
The atmosphere changes so drastically that I shudder, only adding to my already trembling form. I genuinely can’t seem to stop, and it’s driving me crazy.
“He caught me outside Static,” I explain shakily, voice vibrating with lingering adrenaline, anger, and a heavy dose of fear. “He grabbed me and shouted. He was angry I threw thethings he sent me away. It was him, by the way. I told him he was crazy and caught a hand for it.”
Pretty sure Rayne’s jaw clenches tight enough that I hear his teeth grind.
“He touched you?” Bax asks with a deceptive calm, and I nod in answer, remembering with vivid clarity how tight that fucker gripped my wrist, how hard his nails dug into my arm.
Apparently, that single nod is all it takes before I find myself seated at the police station twenty minutes later, wrapped in one of Rayne’s hoodies while an officer takes my statement. Several photos are taken of the evidence left over from Toby’s sudden attack, bruises already forming in several places, and the headache that has built since my head collided with my car has taken over most of my focus.
My cheek aches fiercely.
My wrist is throbbing.
My lip stings every time I open my mouth to speak, but I manage. All the while the guys wait with me, only Ryan disappearing to retrieve the CCTV footage from outside Static. Rayne is pacing like an angry bull trapped in a pen much too small for him, Caiden sits beside me with his knee bouncing rapidly enough to shake the chair, and Bax keeps checking the hallway like he’s just waiting for a single nod of permission to commit a felony.
I’ve just been kind of sitting here staring at the wall across the hallway, wondering how the hell I got here. Trying to make sense of it does nothing but confuse me more, and I spend far too long sifting through memories of any sign Toby could turn into the man he has revealed himself to be.
Some time later, Ryan finally comes back through the station doors, and for the first time since I appeared at his door, he looks relieved.
“They found the bastard,” he says immediately, and I sense everyone still. My eyes burn into Ryan’s, and he nods. “He was still wearing exactly what you said he was wearing. They found him a few blocks over, heading into a store. Better yet, the footage from Static caught everything.”
My chest loosens so suddenly it almost hurts, and I slump in my chair with relief. It doesn’t mean I’m safe, not yet, but it feels like the first step to achieving that outcome, and I decide that will have to do for the night.
Toby is locked away, and I can finally breathe properly again. That’s all that matters.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Baxter
I’m pretty sure I haven’t unclenched my jaw since last night, clinging to the ache for all I’m worth, because it’s the only thing keeping me grounded enough that I don’t charge back to the station and beat the shit out of Toby fucking Moore.
Maddie notices, obviously, because she notices everything.
“Bax,” she sighs, probably for the tenth time this morning, leaning against the kitchen island with a coffee mug hugged between her dainty hands. “If you grind your teeth any harder, they’ll fall out. Is that what you want? I’ll have to start calling you Toothless, and that’ll make us both look stupid.”
