“Shut the hell up,” I say. “But thank you so much. Knowing the truth and actually having proof might actually take her down. For the first time, in a long-ass time, I think I might actually be in shock.”
“You owe me, man.”
“I do. I owe you everything. My life, actually. I don’t know how I’m going to repay you,” I admit, feeling so fucking thankful.
By the sound of his voice, I can tell he’s smiling. “I’ll think of something, I’m sure.”
“I’d much rather pay my debt to you than Victoria, but I’m not going to pretend to be married to you,” I jokingly warn. “Seriously, thank you.”
“I know, I know. But I am a catch,” he jokes, and for the first time in weeks, I genuinely smile.
“So Maddie, how is she? Where are you? Where are you going?”
“Hold on, Tonto. Not so fast. She’s right here, and she’s fine, but first, we need to activate the next step in my brilliant plan. You need to get all of the proof I have as soon as possible. Once Victoria discovers we’re gone, no one’s safe until you have your evidence.”
“Got it,” I say. “Tell me what to do.”
“You’re gonna need to go to my apartment and get everything as soon as you can break away. Make sure you’re not followed because I don’t want her to be tipped off when Eric manages to get into contact with her. Once the live feed on the cameras doesn’t return, and I don’t answer her calls, she’ll grow more concerned and send someone out here. You’re a bounty hunter, so you know how to be strategic, but right now it’s going to be so fucking important.”
“I understand,” I tell him, my heart pounding hard. I can’t afford to screw this up.
“I’ll text you the passcode to get into my apartment when we hang up. You’ll need to go into my bedroom and under my bed is a laptop. It has files of photos and audio recordings of her with Mickey. It’s all labeled, so it shouldn’t be hard to find. Once you have that, go through everything and print out the pictures, then send the audios to your phone so you can present it all to her. I have everything uploaded to my iCloud so even if she destroys what you show her, I have backups. If any of that just so happened to make it to Johnny, Victoria would lose everything and be out of the business just as she said she wanted but without her trust fund. I don’t think the mafia princess could handle being in the real world. Most people can’t.” There’s more in his statement than he leads on, considering his past, but I don’t comment. “I’ll keep Maddie safe until all is clear. You need to secure your freedom, so until she signs the divorce papers, none of us can go home.”
I soak in everything he’s just said, my mind spinning as I try to absorb it all. This bitch is about to have the shock of her life once I get my hands on the proof I need. “Thank you so damn much.” I can’t say it enough.
“Now on to your other questions. We’re out of Montana, but honestly, I think it’s best if I don’t tell you where we’re heading just yet. If you don’t know, then she can’t torture it out of you or something. You’ll be the first person she confronts, but I can assure you, Maddie will be more than safe with me.”
My heart races just thinking about her. I haven’t seen her in two weeks, and I miss her so much. “Now don’t go fallin’ in love with my girl.”
“I don’t know. She’s pretty charming.”
Maddie chuckles in the background, which confirms she’s heard the whole conversation.
I groan. “If you weren’t saving my ass, I’d be kickin’ yours.”
“You have nothing to worry about, man,” he reassures me, though I know Tyler would never betray me.
“Can I talk to her?” I ask eagerly.
Tyler laughs. “I’m surprised it took you this long to ask. Just one second.”
It seems as if time stands still as I wait for him to take me off speakerphone and hand it over to her.
“Hi.”
I nearly fall to my knees at the sweet sound.
It takes so much for me not to bombard her with questions. “Mads, are you okay? I’ve been worried sick about you.”
She snorts with a low laugh. “Never been better. Your friend has been taking good care of me.”
“Hopefully not too good,” I tease, causing her to laugh, and it’s music to my ears. “God, I’ve missed you so damn much. You have no idea, Mads.”
A second passes before she speaks. “I’ve missed you too, but I’m still pissed at you for keeping secrets from me.”
“I don’t blame you, and I more than deserve it after this fucking shitstorm I got us in. I’m content with spending the rest of my life trying to prove to you how damn sorry I really am,” I tell her earnestly.
“It might take that long,” she jokes. “Honestly, I’ve been concerned about you too, hoping you were okay with the Wicked Witch of the West.”
Knowing she was thinking about me makes me smile. “We’re gonna get out of this, baby. I’m just so goddamn happy you’re out of there and with Tyler,” I say. “He’ll keep you safe. You can trust him.”
“Yeah, considering he bought me tampons and chocolate, he seems like a good guy.” She chuckles, and then I hear him laugh as if it’s an inside joke between them. I’m jealous she’s been with him and not me, and while I shouldn’t feel that way, I’m envious of anyone who gets to spend time with her.
“He didn’t,” I deadpan.
“Yep, he did, but he’s the chump who fell for it,” she admits, laughing softly.
“Tell him what else you asked for…” I hear Tyler prompt in the background, but Maddie laughs and tells him to stop eavesdropping. Considering they’re in the same car, I chuckle.
“Do I even want to know?” I ask.
“Probably not. It was when I was trying to get under their skin because I was bored as hell,” she says. “Don’t worry, Eric got the brunt of my sarcasm and annoying remarks.”
Memories flash of when Victoria let me see Maddie on camera for the first time, and she and Tyler looked like they were having a great time. I’m glad he was able to ease her fear of being there and let loose a little, but the regret I have fills me deeply. She shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
“Good. Guy looked like a douchebag.”
“Even more than Hunter when I first met him.” Maddie cackles, and I do too.
It feels so easy chatting with her almost as if nothing has changed between us, but I know better. We’re not out of this yet. “Maddie, I’m really fucking sorry about this, for lying to you and ultimately getting you involved when I knew the risks. I never wanted any of this to happen, but I couldn’t stay away from you. I don’t think I can apologize enough—”
“Liam,” she interrupts. “I don’t blame you for this. I was upset and hurt at first, but after I’ve had time to process everything, I understood why you didn’t tell me. If the positions were reversed, I think I would’ve done the same thing to protect you and our relationship. I trust you, Liam. You’ve always had my best interests at heart, always tried to keep me safe and protected as if I’m going to break. I can’t fault you for any of that. I do hate the way things ended between us the last time, though.”