She stared at me in what I figured was disbelief.  “They were together?  And he killed her for leaving?”

I loosened my hold on her and stepped back to give her some space.  “Now we’re getting somewhere.  Yes, from what we’ve heard he raped her and let his guys take a go as well before slitting her throat.  They dumped her body outside our clubhouse.”

Madison’s hand flew to her mouth and she let out a sob.  Fuck, I hadn’t wanted to have to tell her all that but she’d left me no choice. I knew that shocking her into letting me stay was the only way she would cave.  She had tears streaming down her face now and I pulled her close to comfort her.  I was surprised as shit when her arms wrapped around me but I hugged her back and let her get her grief out.  We stayed like that for about five minutes and it felt good to have her in my arms again but I knew that once she got herself together she would push me away.  Fuck, she’d probably slap me again.

We were interrupted by the ringing of my phone.  Madison pulled away, wiped her eyes and reached in her purse for a tissue.  I focused my gaze on her as I answered my phone.  “Yeah?”

It was Scott.  “You got her?”  He was always to the point; I appreciated that about him, no fucking about.

“Yeah.  I think we’ve just come to an agreement.”  I raised my eyebrows at Madison, waiting for her acknowledgement that she was going to go along with this.  She nodded her head once and I knew it pained her to do so but I was fucking relieved.

“Good because Nix just killed Georgie.  This shit is really fucked up now.”

“Fuck!”  I roared.  Georgie was Bec’s fifteen year old son.  Nix and Bec had been together for a year before she recently left him.  Now he had taken them both out, so his agenda was pretty clear.  “You’ve got Crystal?”  That poor kid; Bec’s ten year old daughter had lived through some ugly shit and now she was alone in the world.

Madison’s eyes were wild; she’d picked up that something bad was going down and she snatched the phone out of my hand.  “What’s happened?” she screeched.

Scott spoke to her and I figured he was telling her about Georgie because she started crying again.  I reached out and touched her on the shoulder; it was an automatic movement and she didn’t flinch.  It reminded me of a time when things were good between us, but that love didn’t exist anymore, we had killed it.

She finished her conversation with Scott and handed me back my phone before turning around and walking back towards the restaurant.  I could tell she was wiping the tears from her face.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Without turning to look at me she replied, “I’m just saying goodbye to my friends.  I’ll be right back so wait here.”

I let her go and pulled out a smoke.  This day had completely turned to shit.  And yet, it was fucking good to see Madison.

Shit.

Chapter 5

Madison

As I entered the restaurant to say goodbye, Blake’s eyes met mine from across the room.  He was mingling with his customers but left them to come to me.

“You okay?” he asked.

I shook my head, tears threatening to spill again, but I pulled my big girl panties up and said, “Not really, but I will be.  It turns out that Scott wasn’t kidding when he said that there was some bad shit going down.  I just found out an old friend of mine was murdered by Nix.”

He sucked in a breath.  “Fuck, babe.  Why?”

I shrugged.  “Who knows why Nix does anything he does, but the club thinks it is because she tried to leave him.”

His eyes widened in understanding.  “So, they think he will come after you now because you left him.  Is that what this is all about?”

“Yes, I think so.  Knowing Scott and J though, there’s most likely more to it that they aren’t telling me.”

“What are you going to do?  Go home?”

“I need some time to think it through, but maybe.  My friend’s daughter is all alone now so I want to check on her.  She’s only ten, Blake.  How the fuck could someone do that to her?  Take away her family like that,” it was really hitting me now, “I can’t believe I dated him.  It makes me feel sick.”

He pulled me into a hug.  “There are some twisted people out there, baby girl.  I’m here for you.  You know that, right?”

Nodding, I answered, “Yeah, honey.  I know I can always count on you.”

Stepping out of his embrace, I turned to the table where our friends were.  They were all watching us intently, probably wondering what the hell was going on.  I smiled at them and left Blake to go and see them.

Serena stood up and came at me with a huge hug.  “You’ve been crying.  What the fuck did he say to you?” she was mad on my behalf and I loved that about her.

“I’ll fill you in later, okay?” She nodded and I continued, “I’m leaving with J now, so I’ll see you when you get home.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” she asked.

I smiled at her, “No, I’m okay with him.  Besides he looks exhausted and will probably just go to sleep.  I need some time alone to think.”

“Fair enough, but I won’t be home too late.”