Maddox

by Lisa Helen Gray

  It’s no longer about keeping our family together. I lied to myself in thinking I could. Each time I forgave his transgressions was me giving him more power. Power to hurt me, to hurt us.

  Right now, it’s about protecting my little girl. I should have left him sooner.

  I hoped he would change. He hasn’t. And now I’m taking a stand, something I should have done the first time he hit me.

  “I’m asking you to move, Cameron. I need to take Jasmine to the hospital,” I tell him, trying to keep my voice even, calm.

  A scream bubbles from my throat as he reaches out for me. I try to jump out of his reach, but it’s too late. He grabs me by my hair, and with a rage I didn’t know existed inside of him, he attacks.

  The next thing I remember, apart from the excruciating pain, are flashes of blue lights as my head rolls to the side. A man in a green paramedic uniform sits forward, gripping the bar of the bed I’m lying on.

  Memories come flooding back, and I begin to struggle, needing to get to Jasmine.

  “Amelia, you need to calm down. You’ve got extensive injuries,” he orders gently, pressing down on my chest to get me to lie back down, which isn’t hard as the pain is too much for me to bear.

  My gaze darts around the ambulance before going back to him. “J-Jasmine,” I croak out, my lips swollen and cracked. I try to say more, to tell him she’s in danger, that she’s not well, but I can’t open my mouth.

  “Jasmine is the little girl?” The small room blurs when I nod. “She’s in the other ambulance. She’s being taken care of.”

  Relief courses through me as I let the pain take over, falling into a deep slumber.

  CHAPTER ONE

  MADDOX

  There is nothing like doing a food shop when you’re starving. The possibilities are endless. The only trouble is, I want everything for dinner tonight. I can’t pick just one meal. I’m craving everything I lay eyes on.

  There is always a midnight snack, I muse to myself.

  And those chocolate bars will go down a treat once I’ve had dinner.

  I grab the BBQ sauce off the shelf, grinning. This will go great with the potato wedges I picked up before.

  The pickles are looking tasty too.

  Decisions.

  “This isn’t fucking Tesco,” Dad barks, slamming the cupboard door shut, nearly taking my nose off.

  “Watch the face.” I pout, stepping back. “Mum said I could come back any time.”

  “Not to steal my food, kid.” Dad drops his work bag down by the backdoor before turning to lean against the counter. “Put it back.”

  “Maddox, baby, you’re here,” Mum gushes, leaning up to kiss my cheek.

  “Mum,” I whine. “Dad said I can’t have this food. I’m starving and I’ve not had a chance to go shopping.”

  Mum glares at Dad. “Let him take some bits. I’ll go to the shop tomorrow and grab us some things,” she tells him, before turning to me. “I’ll grab you some things too and will unpack them at yours tomorrow.”

  I grin, winking at Dad, who growls low under his breath. “You are the best, Mum.”

  “I know. Now, what has brought you here?”

  “Our food,” Dad growls, pulling a cup down from the cupboard and flicking the kettle on.

  Trent, my younger brother, walks in, glaring. “Are you stealing my food again?” he snaps.

  “My food,” Dad grumbles.

  “Can’t your son just come by to say hi?” I tease before arching my eyebrow at Trent. “Still jealous she loves me more?”

  “You wish,” he mutters, grabbing a Snickers out of the bag of food I have near my feet.

  “Hey, they’re mine,” I snap, snatching it out of his hand.

  “Mum,” he whines.

  She rolls her eyes, opening another cupboard. Dad takes a step forward as if to stop her, but it’s too late. She pulls down a Bueno and hands it to Trent.

  Dad, seeing me eyeing the shelf I missed, glares at me. “Don’t even think about it,” he warns.

  “Play nice,” Mum scolds. “I’m just going to get the bedsheets out of the tumble dryer, but I’ll be back. No fighting.”

  Once she leaves, Dad clips me around the head. “Next time I’ll be coming to yours to steal your food.”

  Laughing, I push his hand away. “Like there’s any food to steal.”

  Trent chuckles, jumping to sit on the side. “Dad, you won’t have to do anything to get payback. Madison will.”

  Dad’s glare doesn’t waver. “Yeah, speaking of, Madison is pissed at you.”

  I glance through the window, over at next door. It used to be our grandparents’ house, but now a few of the family stay there. Madison is one. I forgot about yesterday. Still…

  “In my defence, she knows who I am. We’re twins. And the chick was hot.”

  Trent snorts, rolling his eyes. “They’re all hot to you.”

  “What can I say, women are beautiful,” I tell him, reaching up for a Bueno, ignoring Dad’s snarl.

  “You owe her money.”

  “I’ll give her the money back,” I assure him.

  Me, Madison, Hayden, Clayton, Lily, and Jaxon went out for a meal. Stupidly, in a drunken stupor, I offered to pay the tab. When the others left, leaving me and Madison, I went to break the seal. That’s when I bumped into Sophie, or Chloe. It had an ‘E’ in it, I’m sure. “In my defence, I got distracted. She had a rocking body.”

  “When are you going to settle down? You’re twenty-two years old now, Maddox. You’ve got a successful business whereas most guys your age are still figuring out what they want to do with their life.”

  I narrow my gaze dangerously. “Would you be having the same conversation with Madison?”

  “No, because she’s my daughter and she’s the sensible one,” he tells me straight.

  “And the thought of a man touching her makes you want to commit murder,” Trent adds, hitting the mark.

  “All this ‘cause I took your food?” I argue.

  He rolls his eyes. “This is like talking to Max. I’m just saying. Maybe if you stop sleeping around, you’ll find someone to cook and clean for you.”

  I muse over it for a minute. The thought holds merit but… “Dad, stop worrying about me. I have too much going on in my life to have a relationship.”

  “It’s because he can’t get one,” Trent taunts, arching an eyebrow at me.

  “I could totally fucking get one.”

  Dad grunts. “Women aren’t chocolate bars you get to pick off a shelf. You have to work to get one and then keep them.”

  “Whatever,” I grumble. I could totally keep a girlfriend. I just don’t want one. I have a lot to give, and it’s a waste to women all around the world to settle down now with just one. I still have years of being a bachelor left in me before I pick one who is worthy. Right now, I’m happy being the best part of a woman’s night. I make their dreams come to life and their fantasies come true.

  Who the fuck would give that up?

  Trent, still sniggering, jumps off the side and looks at Dad. “Your life savings to be left to me when you die says he never settles down and dies of some sexually transmitted disease.”

  “Have you even had a sex education lesson yet?” I ask bitterly.

  “Probably know more than you,” he taunts.

  “Like you know what to do with it,” I reply, opening the fridge. I pull out the milk carton, unscrew the lid, and gulp down a quarter of the contents.

  Dad, a cunning look in his eyes, gives Trent a smirk. “Nah, some girl will knock him on his arse, and she’ll reject him. He’ll regret ever being a player and will come crying to his mum for help.”

  “Like you were a saint,” Mum tells him, stepping into the room. She gives him that ‘I love you’ smile as she cuddles up against him.

  Frowning down at her, he gives her a kiss, making me groan. “None of them were you.”

  Sighing dreamily, she says, “No, they really weren’t.”

&
nbsp; “I’m going out,” Trent groans. “Jacob texted me earlier.”

  “I need to go too,” I hastily rush out, grabbing the bags off the floor before giving Mum a pointed look. “See you tomorrow.”

  “I won’t forget.”

  “She will,” Dad calls out, but I shut the door, blocking out Mum’s reply.

  Dad’s words hang in the air. Will someone knock me on my arse? The pregnant chick from a few weeks ago comes to mind. As quick as the image comes, the quicker it leaves.

  I am never settling down. I feel happy for those in my family who have, but that damn curse they’ve projected onto the Carter line isn’t reaching me.

  Dad said it started with him. Once he found Mum, the rest of them followed, finding the love of their lives.

  It seems history is repeating itself, because until Faith found Beau, not one of us had a desire to settle down. Now, Lily is married, Faith is engaged, Aiden has a kid and a missus, Hayden is shacked up with her guy, and Landon is loved up.

  Landon.

  He is the one person in my family who I thought would never settle down again after his ex, Freya, died. Now he is with a Hayes, of all people. Though Paisley isn’t so bad.

  I shudder. Yeah, definitely not settling down. No one has ever grabbed my attention or interested me enough to even contemplate it.

  If they couldn’t garner that, then they weren’t worth another fuck, let alone a relationship.

  *** *** ***

  My truck bounces over the potholes on my road. I put the car back into second, slowing down until I pass them.

  When I bought the house here, I had high hopes. It had been a quiet street, and at eighteen, I didn’t know how to look beyond the silence of the morning. Even when I was doing the house up, it had been peaceful here. After growing up around such a large family, I needed that tranquillity.

  It was all a lie.

  Once the work had been done and I slept in my home for the first time, I hated every second of it. A new family had moved in next door and the music blared all through the night. And it has been like that for a few years now.

  Instead of being able to sleep in after those long nights, I got woken up by dustbin men who thought people woke up at six every morning, or I had to get to work.

  The first night it happened, I blew up. It was around five in the morning that time, and in anger, I cut their power off. I had a new business to run, jobs to start that I needed to make a good impression on, and I wanted to prove to my mum and dad I’d be okay. They were proud of me for taking on college early, working on the side for construction companies to learn the trade, and taking a night-time business course.

  Now I dread coming back here each evening. And with Lily’s place now out of bounds, I have nowhere to go for silence, somewhere to just sit back and relax.

  Pulling onto my drive, I put my truck in park. I grab my phone and wallet out of the pocket in the dashboard before making my way out of the car.

  Strolling around to the back, I check the new lock I installed, not wanting my personal work tools to be robbed again. It’s locked.

  Ready to grab the bags of food I robbed from Mum and Dad’s, I’m stopped by a noise that comes from across the road. I look up to see the new tenant Uncle Maverick rents the house to.

  She is stunning. Beautiful. And every time I get a glimpse of her, she is on her own; her rounded stomach a reminder of why I have to stay away.

  It looks like she’s moving in today, what with her car filled with more boxes. Her red polka dot dress blows around her knees as a light wind travels down the street. Her generous cleavage is out on show, probably giving every man she comes into contact with a hard on.

  I can’t look away.

  She lifts a box out of the back of her car, wobbling back on her feet, which nearly causes the box to slip from her grip.

  I’m going to regret this, but my mother didn’t raise a fool.

  I jog across the street, coming up behind her. “Let me take that,” I offer.

  She screams, dropping the box to the floor. The sound of ceramic smashing has me wincing.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” I rush out, bending at the knee to pick up the contents that have fallen out.

  I look up when she doesn’t speak. Her head is tilted down, her lips parted and her eyes unblinking as she stares me. Her pale complexion begins to pinken slightly, giving her cheeks a rosy colour.

  The sun glows behind her, and when her body sways to the side, making the light reflect off her hair, something stirs inside of my chest.

  “Mummy,” is cried in excitement, and I fall back on my arse, staring at her stomach in horror.

  It’s not until the tiny pitter-patter of feet approach the side of the car that I exhale, getting up off the floor. I dust off my jeans, along with my dignity.

  A little girl with black hair as glossy as her mum’s bounces to a stop at her side. Snapping out of her daze, the woman runs her hand over the dark locks, a smile on her face.

  Fuck, she is stunning.

  It’s a shame she’s taken, because for her, I’d rethink my rule not to go after single parents. I could look past kids for that face and body.

  When I first saw her, I never got a good look at her, but up close, she is even more beautiful. Her hazel eyes hold flecks of emerald green. It’s hard to look away.

  “What is it, baby?” she asks, her voice like velvet, sliding down my spine.

  “My room is pink,” the little girl gushes. She goes to say more but jerks when she finally spots me. She moves closer to her mum, wrapping her arms around her legs.

  How I want those legs wrapped around me.

  I swallow past the lump in my throat at the look she gives me and put on a brave face. I grin, winking at the little girl. “Hello.”

  “Who are you?” she asks bluntly, making me chuckle.

  “I’m Maddox. I live across the street.”

  Her nose scrunches up as she eyes the house across the street that has music blaring. “You should turn your music down. It’s not very good and it’s really, really loud.”

  I chuckle; I can’t help it. The kid is okay. “I don’t live there but you are right. They should.”

  I turn to her mum, arching an eyebrow. She has yet to address me, and I don’t like how much it’s bugging me.

  “That’s good then. They were saying naughty stuff to my mummy.”

  That has me tensing. “Did they?”

  She nods, but before she can speak, the woman composes herself, rushing forward with her hand reaching out to me. “I’m Amelia. And this is my daughter, Jasmine.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Amelia,” I greet, letting her name roll off my tongue as I wrap my hand around hers.

  When she tries to pull her hand away, I tighten my grip, not wanting to let go. Her gaze locks with mine, her tongue running along her bottom lip as something inside my chest tightens.

  “Um, my hand,” she tells me.

  I clear my throat. “Uh, yeah, sorry.”

  She wipes sweat off her forehead, pulling her white cardigan around her as if it’s a protective barrier.

  “I’m sorry for screaming earlier. I didn’t hear you approaching, and it startled me.”

  I give her a firm nod then glance at the car filled with boxes. “You really shouldn’t be picking up heavy stuff.”

  Jasmine leans forward, her fingers curling in indication for me to bend down. “Grandpa said to wait until they were back to do it, but Mummy didn’t listen.”

  “He did, did he?” I muse, straightening.

  Amelia fiddles with the cuffs of her cardigan, looking anywhere but at me. “I’m just trying to get as much done as possible before the baby comes.”

  I don’t look down at her stomach, but instead ask the question I’m dying to know. “Where is your boyfriend or husband?” I ask, even though I already clocked her bare ring finger.

  “We shouldn’t talk about him,” Jasmine whimpers, curling into
her mum’s legs again.

  I tense at how pale she gets, and although it’s none of my business, I still look to Amelia for an answer.

  “He, um…” She pauses, closing her eyes, but not before I see a flash of pain behind them. “It’s just us.”

  Had he died? Is that why she is here moving heavy boxes by herself?

  “Well, I’m free for the evening. I can help carry these into your home,” I offer, not giving her an option. I can’t let her carry them inside by herself.

  “That’s okay, I’ve got it,” she tells me, reaching for the box.

  I take it from her, hoping she gets my warning look. “I’ll do it. It will save me from listening to my neighbours’ obnoxious music.”

  Amelia giggles. “Still… we don’t know you.”

  “You should let him. He can see my room,” Jasmine orders. “He’s my new best friend, Mummy.”

  I bristle but cover my reaction before she can see it. I shrug at her mum, grinning wide. “See, we’re best friends now and friends help friends.”

  “Not mine,” she mutters under her breath, grabbing a stack of pillows.

  When she goes to walk off, I reach up and slam her boot closed. She gives me a questioning stare. “Never leave it unlocked. Some people have sticky fingers.”

  Her gaze goes across the road and she gives me a single nod, not saying anything more.

  CHAPTER TWO

  AMELIA

  My fingers gently part the blinds to give me enough space to peek outside. Mum has popped to the shop, and I’m telling myself I’m watching out for her. Really, I’m watching Maddox clean his truck.

  It’s a Friday night. He should be out clubbing with his friends, not cleaning his truck. My tongue runs along my bottom lip as I watch suds of soap cover his naked and muscled chest. My fingers play with the necklace around my neck, my chest rising and falling at the sight of his muscles glistening. I’m riveted by the sight of him—have been since the first time I stopped by to see what decorating needed doing to the house. He was with another girl who looked a lot like him. At first, I was jealous, seeing the beautiful couple laughing and joking as they walked down the driveway. He was every girl’s fantasy. It wasn’t until I saw the familiarity in features that I realised she wasn’t his girlfriend, and I found myself giving him a longer look. He was beautiful, strong features with a sharp jawline and exceedingly good looks.