Maddox jerks his head at his dad. “I’ll meet you there,” he tells him, before bending down and pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Your mum and dad are walking over. Stay with them. Okay?”
I nod, startling when my phone begins to vibrate in my pocket. When I see ‘private number’ flashing on the screen, I go to ignore it, but as my finger hovers over the red phone button, something in me screams to answer it.
Sensing something is wrong, Maddox stops, staring at me. “What?”
My hands shake as I answer the call, slowly bringing the phone up to my ear. “Hello?”
“If you want to see your son again, meet me in the car park,” Carol orders, before the phone goes dead.
I bring the phone down slowly, staring at the screen as blood rushes to my ears.
“Amelia, who was that?” Maddox demands.
I tilt my head up, wheezing out, “Carol has him. They’re in the car park.”
“Fuck!”
“They have my goddamn son,” I yell, causing him to flinch.
“Let’s go,” he tells me, pulling me towards the car park.
“How can they do this? Does she have no empathy in that shrivelled up body of hers?” I rant. “If they have hurt Asher, I am going to lose my crap.”
“I think you already have,” he grumbles.
“I’m a nurse. I know things,” I hiss out. “I’m not having another Hudson mess with me or my children ever again. I have lost too much to them. Not anymore.”
“We’ll get him,” he promises, and takes my hand.
Mum and Dad race after us, yelling for us to tell them what is going on. I don’t stop or turn back, too busy needing to get to my son.
We reach the car park, and up ahead, in a group, are Carol, her sister, Karen, Nessa, and the guy Carol was dating the last time I saw her. Beside him stands another guy, this one rougher than the first.
I bite my lip to stop the scream bubbling out when I don’t find Asher amongst any of them.
“Where is my son?” I yell, and Maddox pulls me back at the last minute.
“He’s close,” Carol vows.
“Give me back my son, Carol. You have gone too far,” I warn her. “The police already know he’s missing.”
A flicker of panic flashes in her eyes as they dart to the men standing next to her. “All in good time.”
“Give me back my grandson now, you good for nothing human being,” Mum screeches. “Don’t you think you’ve put my daughter through enough?”
“Nita,” Dad murmurs, pulling her back.
“Don’t, Gareth. I am not in the mood,” she warns him.
The man she used to date—Colin, I think—steps forward. “You’ve been a thorn in my woman’s side,” he declares.
Maddox’s fingers dig into my hip, and when I tilt my head up, he’s looking into the carpark. When I glance that way, I notice Malik jerk his head in our direction before moving off further into the carpark.
“I don’t care what you think or what you want. I just want my son.”
“And I want mine,” she snaps.
The man I don’t recognise turns to Carol. “I thought you said this woman would have the answers to your problems.”
I shiver at the sound of his voice, stepping back into Maddox. “What is going on?”
“Give me Asher, otherwise you’re going to have more problems,” Maddox promises as Landon, Reid, Jaxon, Hayden, Mark and Liam come to stand in our huddle.
The guy with his back to us slowly turns around, smirking. When he pulls something out of his pocket, making a flicking motion with his wrist, I gasp in a breath, stepping back at the sight of the knife.
“I brought my own backup,” the guy states, not a flicker of fear on his face.
“Carol,” I hiss out, as Maddox blocks me from harm. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you sent my son to prison, and you’re the only one who can get him out,” she argues, her voice rising.
“He has a special set of skills,” the guy wielding the knife announces.
“Skills? Beating women?” Maddox asks.
“Don’t talk about my son like that,” Carol snaps.
“We need him out,” Karen, the tragic aunt, bites out.
“And that sounds like a you problem,” Maddox snaps.
“Why? Why do you need him so badly when you didn’t before?” I ask, close to tears. I just want to hold my son. I want to know he’s okay.
When no one says anything, Nessa steps forward, her hand on her rounded stomach. “Mum and Aunt Karen owe this guy money. The only way they can repay him involves Cameron, since Devon won’t get involved. Too high and mighty,” she bites out. “Cameron can pick any lock.”
“W-what?” I whisper, wondering if I’m hearing this right.
“And you’re going to help us get him out,” Carol finishes. “If you want to see your son again, you’ll write a letter to the police stating you lied.”
The ringing in my ears gets louder, tuning out Maddox’s reply. There’s a popping sensation, right before I launch myself towards her. Maddox wraps his arms around me, and Carol takes a step back. “You put my son in danger because you want your son to pick a fucking lock?”
“No, he’s my son too, and he belongs at home, you little fucking slut.”
“You greedy, worthless piece of shit,” I screech. “That’s my son. My son. He isn’t involved in your crap. Nor in your son’s. Give him back. Now!”
“You won’t see him again if you don’t do what we ask,” she tells me, her voice hard.
My heart races when I see Myles step into the group. He was meant to be watching the exit. “She will see him again. Did you really think that with all these witnesses you’d get away with kidnapping a baby?”
“He’s my grandson. It’s not kidnapping.”
“It is when you don’t have any legal rights to him,” he bites out. “Which I happily had confirmed when my nephew informed me about what you were saying.”
“No,” she grumbles, but from her expression, I can see she isn’t sure.
“This is fucking ridiculous,” the guy wielding the knife snaps. “I want my money, Carol, otherwise we’re going to have some serious problems.”
“Again, that sounds like a you problem,” Maddox snaps.
“I want my son,” I bite out, wiping away my tears. “Just give me back my son and leave us alone.”
“He’s with my wife, Amelia,” Malik announces, stepping between Hayden and Reid. “Safe and sound.”
His words echo in my ears over and over, and I collapse to the ground. Maddox lifts me up, supporting my weight.
He’s okay.
He’s safe.
He’s with Harlow.
“Where’s my boyfriend?” Nessa orders, stepping forward.
Malik grins. “Knocked out and tied up in the back of your van. Don’t worry, the police are there.”
“You bastard!” she cries out, taking a step towards him.
Hayden steps out in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest. “Touch him, and I will fucking knock you on your arse.”
Nessa stops, her eyes widening. “You’d hit a pregnant woman?”
“Your face isn’t pregnant,” Hayden retorts. “And you’re the one acting like a lunatic, kidnapping an innocent baby.”
Carol screams at the top of her lungs in a rage. “You silly fucking cunt. You have no idea what you have done,” she yells, rushing forward. She snatches the knife out of the guy’s hand, coming at me.
I freeze, but Maddox doesn’t. He dives in front of me and gets in her way. He knocks her hand sharply, causing the knife to fall out of her grip. When she begins to punch him, I jerk forward, but the chaos erupting around me stops me short.
There are people everywhere, police too.
Colin shoves out of Liam’s grip, reaching for something off the ground, at the same time Maddox pushes Carol away, growling, “I don’t hit fucking women, so don’t make me—”
“Maddox!” Malik roars, and the sound is one of a terrified parent, one I know first-hand. I’ve made the same cry three times in my life now. Once the night Cameron attacked me, then when Jasmine was nearly hit by a car, and today, when I realised Asher had been kidnapped.
Malik reaches for Colin, along with Mark and Liam, and pull him away from Maddox, shoving him to the ground.
“He might not hit women, but I do,” Hayden snaps, punching Carol in the nose. She cries out, falling to the floor.
I race over to Maddox when he begins to stagger. He turns around, sweat dripping from the side of his face.
Something isn’t right. I can feel it.
“Maddox?” I whisper, my heart stopping for another reason.
“Are we going to class this as a first date? Because it sucks,” he rasps.
“Maddox?” I call out quietly, taking another step towards him.
I block out the sound of the fight breaking out as I reach for his hand. He wobbles on his feet before collapsing in a heap to the ground.
“Maddox,” I cry out, falling to my knees beside him.
He reaches up, and my eyes widen at the blood covering his hand. I glance down at his hoody, my body shaking when I see the small tear.
“Son!” Malik cries out.
Something snaps me into action, and I quickly lift his hoody, hissing out a breath when I see the puncture wound. “Call nine-nine-nine,” I demand, and quickly look up, jerking my head at Reid. “I need your top.”
“Fuck no. It’s my favourite, and blood is a bastard to get out,” he tells me.
“I’m fine,” Maddox assures me, trying to sit up.
I push him back down and glare at Reid. “Give me your fucking top right now.”
“Here,” Liam speaks up, throwing me his T-shirt. I press it down on the wound, applying pressure.
“I’m sorry,” I sob out, glancing down at him.
“Not your fault,” he assures me, wincing when I press down harder.
Reid steps closer to Maddox’s head. “Hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it?”
“Yours was barely a scratch, you prick,” Maddox bites out. “And you were crying like a baby.”
“Fuck!” Malik hisses, running a hand through his hair. “Your mum is going to be so pissed.”
“I’m so sorry,” I repeat.
Maddox grips my hand, his facial features pinched in pain. “It’s not your fault.”
“This was my mess.”
“No, it isn’t. This is on them,” he assures me, before forcing out a chuckle. “Bit of a good job I’m not a virgin.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Malik asks, his brows pinched together.
“Don’t the Sanderson sisters sacrifice the virgin?”
I snort. “Only you.”
“I’m not sure there’s a spell or even a plastic surgeon that can make them look young,” Reid pipes in.
“Are you still here?” Maddox snaps.
Reid pulls away from his phone, nodding. “I’m live on Facebook. People are taking bets on whether it was me who stabbed you or your girlfriend.”
“Me?” I screech.
Reid winces. “Maybe tone it down,” he tells me, before leaning in closer to whisper, “I want them to believe it was me.”
“Honey, you can move away now. The paramedics are here,” Mum tells me, her voice soft.
I can’t move.
I hiccup, then take a few steady breaths. “I can’t let go because of the bleeding.”
Malik places his hand over mine. “They’ve got him, Amelia.”
“He saved my life,” I whisper.
“And he’d do it all over again,” he assures me.
“He really loves me.”
Malik smiles softly, something I have never seen him do before, and it takes my breath away. Now I know where Maddox gets his looks. “Like you’d never believe.”
I slowly let go and fall back into my mum’s supportive arms. I watch as the paramedic cuts up his hoody, whilst the other removes the T-shirt.
He’s going to be okay.
Asher is okay.
“Asher,” I whisper, right before my eyes roll into the back of my head, and everything turns black.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
AMELIA
It’s nearing late evening. Jasmine is asleep, her head lying in my lap, and Asher is in my arms, where he has been since I woke up to the paramedics checking me over. I can’t let him go. Every time Mum or someone offered to take him, I couldn’t physically do it. I had to feel him against my chest, to know he was really here and okay. I never want to feel that pain ever again. It felt like someone had taken a rusty, jagged blade and scraped it down my heart.
He’s here, and he is unharmed, which is all I want, yet it still feels like he is gone. I guess once the shock wears off, I’ll come to terms with everything that happened.
Until then, I’m content to have him in my arms.
Everything after I woke up is a blur. I remember the police arresting Carol and her family, and I remember parts of my conversation with the police, but other than that, it’s like there is a smoke screen and it’s hard to grasp the words or actions of others. A part of that is because of Maddox.
We are at the hospital, and I can’t meet the gazes of his concerned family. We have been here for hours with no update from the doctors. His mum is sobbing into Malik’s chest, Lily fell asleep after being inconsolable, and the others are tense yet quiet, waiting for word about Maddox.
Yet, I can’t form a word or offer them comfort. I can’t apologise or leave. I’m frozen until I can hear the words, he’s okay.
I love him.
I really love him.
I love the way he barged into my life like a hurricane and turned it upside down in the best possible way. I love the way he took to my kids, the way he included them in his life. I love that he put us in his life without a thought. One day we were strangers, the next we were the closest friends.
And life without him these past few days had been dull. It was lonely. So many times I reached for my phone to apologise, to tell him I felt the same way too. I let fear take over my life once again, but instead of inviting more toxic in, I let something good, something so utterly pure, go.
The guilt is eating away at me. It’s my fault Maddox is here. If it hadn’t been for my issues, none of this would have happened today. He wouldn’t be somewhere in this hospital, lying in a bed.
Mum, who hasn’t left my side, presses her hand over mine. She’s cold, her hands shaking. “Honey, why don’t you let us take the kids home. You have one bottle left.”
“I’ll keep breastfeeding him,” I whisper, which is something I need to do once he is due a feed. I need that connection. “I can’t leave.”
“At least let your mother get you cleaned up,” Dad comments, he, too, sounding worried.
I glance down at my hands, my eyes watering at the dried blood caking them. “I’ll wait,” I choke out.
“Honey, I’m so sorry I let this happen,” Mum chokes out.
I tilt my head to the side. “This isn’t your fault, Mum, it’s mine. They were there because of the choices I made,” I tell her, my voice breaking. “Why does he keep doing this? He isn’t even here, and he is ruining my life.”
“Everyone makes bad choices,” Malik announces, and when I look up, all eyes are on us. “It’s the way of life. How would you know if you’ve made a good one otherwise?”
“I got your son badly hurt,” I whisper.
“My son is going to be okay,” Harlow tells me. “He won’t be if he knows you’re blaming yourself. Please don’t take that guilt on.”
I don’t know what to say, so I let the tears pour. Even now she’s being kind and good-natured.
“Please, sweetie, let us take you home. You’re dead on your feet and the kids need their beds,” Mum states. “Or at least let me and your father t
ake them home.”
“Mum, I really can’t leave them,” I tell her, letting her hear it in my voice.
Mum begins to sob, throwing herself into my fathers’ arms. “I only turned my back for a moment.”
“Mum,” I rush out, trying to not wake Jasmine when I turn. “It wasn’t your fault. That could have easily been me.”
“She’s right,” Lake utters. “My husband and I had triplets. I can’t begin to tell you the amount of times he forgot one or lost one during family outings. We went to the beach once. We were all there. Still, Hayden got away and we looked for what felt like hours for her.”
“Where was she?” Mum asks.
Hayden groans. “Sat in a cooler eating someone’s picnic.”
Even with the dark cloud hanging over my head, I laugh. I can’t help it. It slips free, and Hayden looks further dejected.
Harlow’s eyes light up. “Can you remember the time the twins escaped the play pen under Malik’s watch?”
Malik chuckles. “I thought you were going to murder me.”
Maverick grins. “Wasn’t that when they were trying to come to mine?”
Malik nods. “Yeah.”
“Family of Maddox Carter?” a doctor calls out. I tense as Harlow and Malik quickly rush to their feet. I gently slide out from under Jasmine and head over to the door. “You can go in and see him.”
Both turn to me. “We’ll come out as soon as we speak to him,” Harlow promises.
“Go. Go. Make sure he’s okay,” I plead.
She leans over, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad he has you.”
Malik squeezes my shoulder before following his wife out of the room. I begin to pace the room, fearing the worst.
Lily stands, and Jaxon reaches for her, steadying her. “He’s going to be fine,” she assures me.
My eyes glaze over with more tears. “How do you know that? It looked pretty deep.”
She shares a look with Jaxon, and he lets her go. She walks over to me and rubs her hand up and down my arm. “Because he’s one of the strongest men I know. Look around you, Amelia. This family is strong. They’ve pulled through so much, and this… this will just be added to the list. Because together we get through it. Now is the time for you to be strong for Maddox.”
Maddox Page 31
