Two Bar Mitzvahs (27 page)

A cascade of other images flooded into my mind, naughty innuendo-induced things she could do by herself, and my jaw dropped.

She shook her head as she walked backward out the door and mouthed, “Bad boy.”

Yeah, I was. And she loved it.

I headed over to the photo booth, then popped open the electrical door in the back like the electrician had done earlier. Last time all she did was press the reboot button, so I tried that fix before calling her back in. All the lights in the outer portion of the unit flickered off. I waited a few seconds, then pressed the button again, and the unit hummed back to life.

Satisfied, I walked around to the front and peeked in to find a young boy and girl inside. “Give it a few seconds, then you can try again. She nodded and my gaze drifted down to where she sat on his lap, his hand resting comfortably on her hip. They couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen. “Your parents know you’re here, sitting on each other?”

The girl blushed.

The boy shook his head. “You won’t tell, will you?”

I snorted.
Fuck no.
But I acted gruff anyway. “Keep your hands outside the ride at all times.”

His face turned white as he nodded. “Yes, sir.”

I turned away from them and grumbled, “Sir.” Something way too old for me to be called. Well, maybe by anyone other than Hannah…

I scanned the room, searching for her. At least five minutes had gone by, maybe ten, and she hadn’t returned. There could’ve been a line in the ladies’ room, but I doubted it. The men’s bathroom had half a dozen stalls in addition to a trio of urinals on the wall.

Madison’s glaring absence, along with Hannah’s extended one, choked a sudden cramp into the base of my throat as I watched the closed door leading into the hall. Kiki was hanging out by Darren at the DJ booth. “Kiki, you’re in charge until I get back.”

When I stepped into the corridor, it was empty. I headed toward the lobby area, where the main bathrooms were located. Rounding the corner into an adjoining empty hall, movement flickered in the corner.

“Cade.”

Madison.

As I turned, she stepped out from behind a potted palm. I arched a brow. “Getting your hands dirty gardening?”

“Ha, ha.” A seductive smile crept onto her face.

A scrap of a dress barely covered her body. Her shoes had to be five inches high. Interesting choice for a kids’ party. “You running a party or going clubbing.” My statement fell flat, omitting my loudly thought
or going whoring
. Definitely not hitting a Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting.

“I’m being a good girl.” She stalked forward, her steps weaving a little.

I scoffed. “Impossible.” Not with that outfit or her predatory sexual demeanor.

Instantly, the trauma from my past hit me hard. The vile version of Madison that I’d never known while dating her had come to horrific life before my eyes.

Repulsed as she eased closer, I edged backward, keeping distance between us. My elbow hit a wall when I ran out of hallway real estate.

A corner of her red lips lifted. “As you ordered, I’m staying out of your way. And you’re right. You
know
I do bad best.”

Furious, I exhaled slowly, refusing to let her affect me, even though she’d cornered me against a wall between her body and another damned potted plant. The scent of alcohol lingered on her breath.

As she pressed closer, I held fast—instead of shoving her with the body check I wanted to give to her. But no woman deserved physical abuse, regardless of the form, including Madison. So I kept my reaction chilled and my voice low. “Get off me, Madison.”

A slow smile curved her lips as she raised a hand, brushing her fingers over my forehead. She ran them through my hair.

An angry shudder ripped through me. With measured words, I growled in warning, “Back the fuck up.”

She purred. “Awww, no need to be nasty, Cade. Give in to it. I know you want me.”

I snorted. “You’re delusional.”

“Am I?”

Her hand went straight for my crotch and fuck if my traitorous dick didn’t twitch in recognition as she gripped me there. (Stupid-ass men’s dicks with minds of their own.)

“I’m warning you, Madison. If you don’t step back, you’re gonna get shoved on your ass.”

Her smile widened, and she pressed into me.

Reining in my temper, because I refused to lay a hand on her, I pinched my eyes shut, jaw clenching.

My eyes popped open the second her lips touched mine. I stared into hers; they were wide open, gazing back as if she knew me. She knew nothing at all.

My hands flew to her shoulders, gripping her hard, right as her tongue flicked across my opening mouth. “Stop this game.”

A whimper sounded down the hall.

My head snapped left.

Hannah stood with a stricken expression on her face, her hand flying up to her mouth.

“
Fuck.
”

“Ooopsie.” Madison finally stepped back. She looked anything but sorry.

“Kiss your job good-bye,” I growled. Maybe the attorney had dragged his feet. I wouldn’t. I wiped the back of my hand over my mouth, which left a red lipstick smear across my hand.

Madison had the nerve to laugh. Either she didn’t believe I’d carry out the threat or was too drunk to care.

In a blur, Hannah charged between us and shoved Madison hard, knocking her drunk ass to the ground. “
Selfish Bitch!
”

Madison stared at Hannah wide-eyed. So did I as Hannah leaned over Madison with her hands clenched into tight fists, looking fully prepared to finish what she’d just started.

Tears welled in Madison’s eyes, then she glanced at me. Her vulnerability surfaced. She’d fucked things up royally, but still, beneath it all, was the girl I once knew. The girl who existed beneath all the impenetrable shields only wanted to be loved. She was just clueless on how to make it happen. In fact, her games had pushed
me
right to the edge of violence. Although nothing justified a man hitting a woman, it could’ve happened with a man less in control.

Instead of attacking Madison, Hannah whirled around. She shoved a finger at my sternum, tears brimming in her eyes. “You. Just…” She growled and turned, storming back the way she came.

“Hannah, wait!”

She spun around. “No. Leave me alone.”

Approaching slowly, I shook my head. “I won’t do that. This wasn’t what you think. And neither is Madison. She—”

My mind flashed to Mom’s explanation, news I hadn’t yet shared with Hannah.
Fuck.
Well, it was do-or-die time now. All or nothing. I lowered my voice, “She has more issues than sex addiction, Hannah. I’d forgotten to tell you what my mom shared with me at the Fourth of July party. Madison had an ex-boyfriend in Europe who’d beaten her to the point she had to be hospitalized.”

Hannah’s expression turned pained. Her voice dropped to a fierce whisper as she took a step closer. “You’re defending her? And the list of things you keep ‘forgetting’ to tell me about her keeps growing.”

“No. I’m not defending her. I’m only explaining that Madison isn’t well. And I didn’t realize how messed up she is until just now.”

“She’s crazy.”

“Maybe. Damaged, at the very least.”

Hannah shook her head and pinched her eyes shut. Her tears finally fell.

I moved closer, needed to hold her.

She took quick steps back. “No,” she snarled.

Not wanting to upset her further, I froze in place.

“Don’t. Your instincts ran to keeping me on the outside with everything. All I asked was for you to let me in, make me a part of what you struggle with. But all the little things you ‘forget’ to tell me add up. How can I trust you when you don’t automatically feel that I’m important enough to help you with what you face, what affects you—what threatens us?”

“Hannah, please.”

My heart pounded. A cramp formed in my throat. I’d fucked up. But not as a major event. I’d failed with all the little things along the way while I hadn’t been paying enough attention. And because of it, Hannah wasn’t slipping away—she threw herself with everything she had in the opposite direction.

“No,” she ground out. Her gaze hardened. “I don’t want to be around you now. Plus, you’ve got
her
all over your face. When I see you, I see that.” She pointed back toward Madison. Then she spun and strode down the hall.

When I turned around, Madison wore a shit-eating grin on her face. I glared at her. “All this because you wanted something you could never have?”

“I always believed I could. We were so right for each other back then.” She sniffed as she pushed herself into a seated position, curling her legs to the side.

I let out a heavy sigh, dropping my hands into my pockets as I gave her a hard stare. “The image you have of us back then was a mirage. The real you was hidden from me.”

She stared at her lap on a shrug. “I didn’t have the courage then. Really, I had no idea that I had a problem. That there was a clinical definition for it.”

“Madison, look at me.” When she lifted her face, her gaze locking with mine, I continued, “You have more than a sex addiction. You have a compulsive personality. Obsessive. You never explained why you fucked with our businesses. I’m not even sure you understood. But it all makes perfect sense now.”

Her brows drew together. “It does?”

Yeah. She had no idea. Which made her all the more dangerous. “Sure. You wanted to get close to me. When you had no control over that, you scrambled for anything you could affect. Maybe some twisted part of you wanted to hurt me, like you felt it connected us in some way. I don’t know. Don’t really care now. You need help. And thanks to you, someone I truly care about is in pain.”

“I’m sorry, Cade.”

I didn’t ask what for. In her narcissistic world, she would only be able to have remorse about things not working out in her favor. I pegged her with a warning look. “Just keep away, Madison. From everything.”

She gave me a short nod. “No problem there. You got me fired.”

I stared at her a beat longer. “No, Madison. That was all on you.”

Without another thought, I left her on the rug in the hallway. If guests saw, so be it. After the stunt she pulled, and her blood alcohol level, security needed to escort her ass off the property.

I fired off a quick text to Suzanne.

Send security to the hallway past the lobby. Madison. Drunk.

I needed to find Hannah. She thought we needed space, but we needed to sort it out together. The few minutes of time I’d given her was all the alone time I could afford. I hoped she would realize that Madison had been ambushing us and me all along—not only the business sabotage, but also the other day at lunch and tonight in the hallway. I’d fucked up. I got that. But I hoped Hannah had faith in me, the man beneath all my screw-ups that she’d fallen in love with. That she’d trust in her instincts—trust in me.

In the seconds it took to reach the lobby area, my heart raced. I stopped to scan everyone mingling in the wide-open space and those who sat in the chairs. I passed by a mirror and paused when I caught the damage. Red still stained my lips and smeared off of one corner. No amount of wiping with my hand removed it entirely. “
Goddammit!
”

Searching for Hannah, but not finding her anywhere, I rushed into the men’s room and grabbed one of the rolled wash cloths, wet it, squirted a shit-ton of soap onto it, and washed my mouth, face, and hand off.

Then I crossed the hallway to the women’s bathroom and barged in. “Hannah!” I ignored the indignant looks of two younger guests and one older woman, who seemed shocked but not alarmed.

No one answered. I bent over and peered at the shoes under the only two closed stalls like a pervert, in plain view of the women now washing their hands who eyed me with guarded interest. None of those feet belonged to Hannah.

I stormed back out and leaned a shoulder against the wall, pulling my phone out, texting Hannah.

Where are you?

No text bubble popped up in reply on her end. Nothing. A few seconds later I sent her another.

Please, Hannah. It wasn’t what it looked like.

Which is what everyone says when they get caught, guilty or not.

You know Madison. This was her plan all along.

Impatient, and worried with her nonresponse, I backtracked through the lobby and down the corridors. I approached the two ongoing parties, muted sounds of their competing music filtering out their closed doors. Then I realized I’d gone the wrong way. She’d never want to be around other people when upset.

But she wasn’t in the bathroom. Not in the lobby. We’d driven separately, and she’d parked her car near my Jeep in the front parking lot. I raced out, bursting through the front doors of the air-conditioned lobby into the muggy night air. Five running steps down the pavement, I stopped. Her car was still parked next to mine. Hannah: nowhere to be seen.