Taking a Chance (27 page)

“Don’t play with me. I’m not going to fall for your sweet and innocent act.”

Maddie swallowed and dug deep to find every ounce of courage and strength she had. Trying to control the shake of her hand she brought her finger up to his lips.

“Shh,” Maddie cooed, “you don’t have to believe what I say, let me show you.”

She could see a glint of softening in his eyes, so she kept going. She moved her hand to the side of his face and gently kissed his lips. She tried to move in his hold, but he was still holding her firmly against him.

“Baby, how can I get our clothes off if you don’t let me move?” She smiled at him and then gave her best pout. She pulled his free hand up to her mouth and kissed the palm, while keeping her eyes steady on his. His eyes darkened further with desire.

She moved her shaking hands down to his pants and began to unbutton them. “Let’s get these off you.”

He still had not loosened his grip but as soon as she dropped his pants and moved her hands inside the waistband of his boxers, she heard his breath catch. He let out a soft moan.

“That’s it, baby,” she continued to assure him. To be sure she could get his full lapse in judgment she kissed him while she pulled down on his boxers. She moved her tongue into his mouth the way she knew he liked it and that was the final straw. He loosened his grip and put both hands under her shirt to lift it off. As soon as he released his hold, Maddie shifted and brought her knee up hard and then shoved him back. She saw the look of confusion just before pain and absolute rage crossed his face.

Maddie dove for the wall and hit the panic button before she felt his hands on her. He gripped her shoulders tight and threw her back against the opposite wall. Hitting the wall hard she somehow managed to stay on her feet. But as she turned toward him, she felt his hand crash against her other cheekbone. That time he had so much force behind the hit she lost her footing and fell toward the hallway table. Unable to get her hands up in time, she hit her head and collapsed to the floor. Her entire face felt like it was on fire and she could feel blood trickling down the side. Darkness began to surround the edges of her vision as she slipped near the edge of consciousness.

George knelt down and ripped her shirt open. Rage filled his eyes.

“Damn you, Madison! Why did you have to go and do that? Now this is going to hurt. You’re going to feel pain over and over, you bitch!”

“Maddie! Maddie?”

Barely aware of Tim’s panicked voice coming through the intercom she closed her eyes to try to regain focus.

“Are you okay? Do you need me to call 911?”

George took a deep breath and gathered his composure before standing to hit the intercom button.

“She’s fine. I accidentally backed into the button.”

“Well, um, I just need to hear it from Maddie, okay?”

“She’s in the shower, Tim. I’ll have her call down to the desk as soon as she gets out.”

“Well, it’s just that …” His voice cut off and George turned his focus back to Maddie. He lifted her up into his arms. Her head rolled to the side, and she felt herself loosing consciousness.

• • •

S
id and Nina walked through the front door holding hands.

“I’m going to tell Maddie tonight. I think I should do it alone. I want her to know the truth before she leaves town. I know she’ll be happy for us, but I wanted to make sure we were both ready before we told her.”

“I know. I understand,” said Sid. “Call me later tonight to tell me how everything goes.”

As he was leaning down to give her a quick kiss goodbye, he heard the panic in Tim’s voice.

“Sid, oh thank God. The panic button went off in Maddie’s condo and I called up and George said he accidentally hit it, but Maddie …” Sid waved a hand to cut him off.

“What do you mean George hit it? What the hell is George doing up in her condo? You know he’s not allowed access!”

“I didn’t let him in. He must have keys, and I d-don’t know how he got past. I m-must have been helping someone else,” Tim stammered. “Oh God, I’m so sorry.”

Sid glanced at Nina and her face had turned stark white.

“I don’t understand what’s happening.” Nina spoke in a hushed tone.

“Have you heard Maddie’s voice yet?” asked Sid.

“No, well, he um, said she was in the shower and he would have her call down when she was out. She just hit it a minute ago.”

“Call 911 now, Tim!”

Sid ran to the elevator and hit the button for Maddie’s floor. A few seconds later, the doors opened and Sid rushed in. Nina started to follow, but Sid held up his hand. “Let me get up there. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I have no idea what this guy is capable of.”

Nina stood motionless and Sid tried to offer a smile to calm her. He nodded to Tim as the elevator doors closed.

Nina was aware Tim had called the police but could not focus. Then, she felt his arms helping her move to the nearest chair.

“Please, Ms. Prince. Sit here. The police will be here any minute. Sid is up there, so Maddie will be safe. I’m so sorry. I had no idea he was here. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

Nina looked at him. She wanted to be angry with him, but how could she be? She didn’t even know what kind of a monster Maddie’s ex-fiancé was. Nina had suspected something was wrong, but she had never imagined it was that bad.
How does Sid know? Why hasn’t he said anything to me?
Nina was angry with herself and all she could think about was her poor daughter upstairs. Even worse, her baby could be lying up there. She couldn’t even finish that thought in her head.

Oh God, how could this have happened?

“Tim, where’s Sid? Why hasn’t he called down? Can you call up on the intercom? I need to know what’s going on!”

“Um, well, I guess.” He made his way back over to the desk.

“Sid?”

She waited, but no response came from Sid. Tim shrugged. Helpless, all she could do was wait for the police or a response from Sid.

• • •

S
id quietly entered the condo. He could hear George’s voice down the hall. He was yelling at Maddie, but Sid had not heard a sound come out of her yet. Dread circled Sid’s thoughts.
Why isn’t Maddie yelling back?

“Shit,” George yelled when Tim’s voice crackled through the intercom and traveled throughout the condo. “Your moment to shine is going to have to wait until I can get rid of your pesky little doorman. Christ, Madison. Your slutty ways bring too many men around. From now on, there will only be one and if I even catch you looking at another man, you’ll regret it. I promise you that, baby.”

Tim’s voice came through the intercom again and George fell silent. Sid glanced down and saw blood on the floor by the hallway table. He knew the police would be there soon, but he had to stand up to George now to make sure Maddie was safe. He pulled one of the umbrellas out of the holder in the front hallway. Not much of a weapon, but he figured it was better than nothing.

Sid heard soft footsteps padding down the hallway along with George’s labored breath. Sid’s heart pounded against his chest. He remained by the open door and waited for George to turn the corner. The moment George rounded the corner, Sid could see his eyes wild with rage. Blood was dried on one of his hands and on his shirt. Sid quickly assessed the blood and did not think it was George’s. Other than his shirt, he was only wearing a pair of boxers.

The faint whine of sirens could be heard in the distance. Sid hoped they would be upstairs soon, but his primary concern was getting George out of the way, so he could find Maddie.

“Where is she, George?”

“I don’t know, old man. Why don’t you try and find her yourself?”

“The police are on their way, George. They’re going to lock you up for a long time.”

As if George had not considered the possibility, his eyes grew even wider. His head turned frantically in search of another way out.

“There’s only one exit, but you know that, don’t you?”

George must have finally registered the words and lunged at Sid pushing him aside. Sid hit the opposite wall, and George ran for the open door. Knowing the police had to be in the building by now, he didn’t bother trying to stop George. Finding Maddie was his number one concern, but he also didn’t want George to get away.

He hit the intercom button. “Tim, George is trying to run, make sure the police don’t let him exit the building.”

Sid ran down the hallway to Maddie’s bedroom. The room was dark, but he could see her motionless body lying in the center of the bed. Her arms were over her head, tied together with some sort of fabric. Her blouse was torn open, but everything else appeared to be in place. He made his way to the bed and reached down to check her pulse. He placed two fingers on her neck and at that moment, her eyes opened slightly. Relief washed over Sid.

“Sid,” she whispered and tried to smile, “I knew you would save me.” Her eyes closed again.

Her words brought tears to his eyes. “Oh, Maddie,” he whispered, “if only I had been on duty tonight.”

Although it was dark, he could see the dried blood around the cut on her forehead and only a bit of fresh blood. It didn’t appear to be too deep. Sid pulled her blouse closed and gently moved her arms forward laying them on her front. He reached for her hand and felt a weak squeeze back.

The next few minutes were a blur. The police came in followed by the paramedics.

“Did you guys get him?” Sid wanted to know that the monster was off the street and Maddie would be safe.

“Yes, sir.”

“Thank you.” It was all Sid could manage right now.

“Oh, and sir, there is a woman downstairs who I believe is this young lady’s mother. She also keeps asking where the hell Sid is.” The officer smiled at Sid. “I’m thinking you might want to get down there to calm her down.”

“Nina.” Sid knew he needed to get downstairs to comfort her. Before he let go of Maddie’s hand, he leaned down by her ear, “You’re going to be fine, Maddie. You’re so brave.” As he released his hand, he realized she was still holding his.

A tear slipped from under her eyelid. “Please don’t go,” she whispered without opening her eyes.

He knew he had to stay with her.

“I won’t, but let me go tell one of the officers to have someone inform your mom you’re all right. I’ll be right here, I promise.”

• • •

S
id was back at her side ten seconds later and held on tight to her hand while they put her on the stretcher. Maddie was still foggy from hitting her head, but they told her she would be fine, at least physically. They also wanted to take her in, so they could take more pictures as there were already bruises forming on both sides of her face.

Sid walked with her as they wheeled her out of her condo and into the elevator.

“I’m so sorry, Maddie. I wish I had been on duty, this never would have happened.”

“It’s not your fault, Sid. But, I knew you would be the one to save me.”

“I just wish I had been here sooner.”

Maddie struggled to open her eyes, “Sid?”

“Yes?”

“Are you dating my mom?”

Sid blushed bright red from ear to ear. Maddie managed a weak smile. “It’s okay if you are, Sid. When I heard them say she was downstairs, I just assumed. As long as you’re both happy, that’s all that matters to me.”

“Well, I will let your mom answer for herself, but as for me, I’m the happiest I’ve been in a long time.”

Maddie closed her eyes as the elevator made its way down. As soon as the doors opened, she could hear the clicking of her mom’s heels as she ran toward them.

“My baby, my poor baby.”

Maddie could see the tears running down her face. Nina looked over at Sid and then back down at Maddie.

“I’m fine, Mom. Sid saved me.”

On the way to the hospital, she convinced the paramedic to let her make one phone call. Austin’s phone went into voicemail. She left a message for him that it was urgent and he needed to call as soon as he could. She followed up with a text message.

E
ven though the police had finished going through her place, Maddie did not want to go back to her condo. Sid insisted Maddie and her mom stay at his place.

Maddie had been released from the hospital after they had monitored her for a few hours. Overall, Maddie was doing fine physically and would recover quickly. The cut above her eyebrow was shallow, and they had determined stitches would probably cause more scarring, so she had escaped with a butterfly bandage. The police had taken pictures of the cut and all other bruising to use as evidence against George.

Sid lived in a much more luxurious building and his apartment was larger than Maddie had expected. He had been a successful executive, but it would have been spacious even for a family. Maddie imagined Sid continued to live in the apartment because it had been home and where he had raised his family with his wife.

“Sid, your place is great. I can’t thank you enough for letting me stay here. I’m sorry about tonight.”

Sid was sitting on the couch across from Maddie. He had his arm around her mom and they looked comfortable. As if they had been that way their entire lives.

“You have nothing to apologize for. We’re just happy you’re safe.”

“I’m exhausted. I’m going to try to get some sleep. I sent Molly a text back to let her know I was with you guys. I’ll call her in the morning and then the three of us can sit down together. I’ll tell you and Molly the whole story, okay, Mom?”

“All right, sweetheart.”

“Are you going to call Scott?”

“I’ll call him tomorrow morning. I don’t want to wake him up now. He already doesn’t get enough sleep.”

Her mom looked exhausted.

“You should go to bed too, Mom.”

Maddie got up to give them both a hug before going to bed. Just then, her phone vibrated. She looked down and saw a text from Austin.

“Finally.”

What the hell is this?
Maddie clicked on the link and fell back into the chair. On her screen was a picture of Austin and Tiffany. Austin had his arm around her shoulder with his face only an inch from hers. The title on the article was “Rock Star Austin Hunter back with Reality Star Tiffany Canyon.” Maddie stared at the picture. It was the same shirt he’d been wearing when he had dropped her off at the airport. The article said they had just finished a romantic dinner together and could not keep their hands off each other the entire evening.