Mad Summer Love

The Truth

Summer arrived to work the next day with a note on her desk. It was from her editor's secretary telling her where she would be meeting Maddox that morning. Thankfully, her editor hadn't asked her how it went the day before or she would have had to lie to him.

She peered out of the big tall building windows and thought about how seeing Maddox had really thrown her for a loop. Ten years ago, it was an emotional rollercoaster ride for her. She tried desperately to reach him. She even came by his house. The same one she was just at. A man was there, the same man who had come to take him at the hotel.

What was his name?

The man claimed he was Maddox's uncle, but Summer thought he looked more like a hitman. He told her Maddox had left for college. She knew it wasn't true and that he was right inside the doors, but she left the man with a sealed envelope, its contents containing her love for him. However, Maddox never attempted to get in touch with her. So, she moved on or at least the best that she could. Seeing him again just threw her back on that ride and all she could do was hold on tight.

Summer sighed and headed down to climb in a cab, praying she could keep it together this time. She had to.

****

Maddox woke early to get ready for his second meeting with Summer. The short ride to the warehouse seemed to take hours. It had been a decade since he had been there. It wasn't much more than a cold concrete box, but those cold walls held the ghosts that changed his life. If he was going to tell Summer his story - his true story - this was where it should be told. This was where it all began. Lighting up a smoke he took a long drag and waited.

****

Summer stepped out of the cab in front of the huge abandoned warehouse. It was not a place that she would ever want to be on any occasion. It felt like the place they go in movies when they kidnap you and hold you for ransom. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew Maddox, even though he had changed, and was certain he wasn't about to hold her hostage, she would have negotiated another location.

She walked through a big door at the front of the building to see Maddox standing there, having a cigarette. She slowly made her way to him, her 4-inch heels clacking against the cold cement and echoing throughout the building. She stopped only a few feet away from him.

“When did you start smoking?"

Maddox looked at the cigarette disapprovingly before dropping it on the concrete floor and grinding it under his shoe. “A while ago. I had a certain image I had to create, but I am getting ahead of myself.”

He walked a circle around her, as though looking for something in the otherwise empty space.

Summer watched him as he circled around her; her eyes studying his features closely. He seemed different, even more so than the day before.

“Here,” he said, pointing to the floor where a dark stain seemed to live on the concrete. “This is where my life changed.” He looked up at her. “Are you sure you are ready for this? It's not too late to turn back.”

Maddox wasn't sure if he was warning Summer or begging her to run.

She glanced down at the stained floor and back up to him. He wanted her to say no, but he should have known her better than that.

She set down her bag and pulled out her notebook. Looking around the room, she saw a lone chair, forgotten in the corner. She walked over and dragged it to him, it screeching along the floor in an unpleasant manner as she did. She took a seat, crossing her legs, her skirt rising halfway up her thigh as she did it.

“Yes, Maddox. I'm ready to finally learn what you should have told me all those years ago,” she replied curtly. She took her pen and pressed it to the paper. “Let's start at the beginning, shall we?”

Maddox nodded. There was no turning back now. The thought of what she might think of him at the end of all this caused a tightness in his gut.

“This is where they found him, my father. He was face down in a pool of blood, two gunshot wounds to his chest. Both his bodyguards were dead. One must have been caught by surprise as his gun was still holstered and the high-caliber round had caught him in the back of the head. The other was able to fire back before they killed him, it was likely what stopped the attackers from making sure they had finished my dad off.”

Maddox paced in front of Summer as she took down his story. He couldn't help glancing at her thigh and the dip of her blouse as he spoke. She was as beautiful as he remembered, even more so, and he longed for her.

“I didn't see the bodies. Someone walked me through the scene later. When Frank took me that day, my father was already in the hospital, dying. His injuries were too severe. Three days…that's how long it took him to die. Three days…that was how long it took to change my life - change me - forever.”

Summer watched him pace and listened to his story. There was no doubt it was heart wrenching, but she kept her face calm and collected. As the words 'that day' flowed from his mouth, her mind flashed back - only for a moment - to watching him being dragged away and the pain she felt, how scared she was. Three days changed his life forever, but it only took one day to change hers forever, too.

Maddox stopped and looked at Summer, trying to gauge her reaction. “Any questions? Or shall I continue?”

“No questions at this time. Please, continue,” she said with a nod.

Maddox's face remained neutral. Summer wasn't going to make this easy on him. “Frank took me straight to the hospital that day. He didn't speak once after we got in the car and I didn't ask. I could feel my eye swelling and it was enough of a reminder that staying quiet was probably a good idea.”

Maddox touched the place Frank had struck him, it was hard to believe it had been ten years. “When we got there, he took me up to the ICU. Dad had tubes and wires coming out of everywhere, but the stubborn bastard was awake.”

Maddox paused, for the first time, emotion seemed to seep into his voice. “He was an evil tyrant, but he was still my father and seeing him like that hit me hard.”

He stopped again, fumbling in his pocket for the pack of smokes and lighter. Tapping one out, he lit it and took a hard drag. It had been a long time since he took himself back there.

Summer watched Maddox curiously as his face showed a range of emotions. If she had been any other reporter, this would have been easier, but she wasn't just a reporter. She knew Maddox and his family. She had met his father on many occasions over the three years they had dated. It was no secret that he was a disturbed man, but she knew it still had to be hard on him. She wanted to hug him, tell him she was sorry that he had to go through that alone, like she did when her mother died, but they weren't those high school sweethearts anymore. He no longer needed or wanted her comfort. He made that clear the day before.

Maddox continued to pace, looking at Summer periodically, but that was just as hard for him as sharing the story. The cigarette waved in his hand as he continued.

“He was in a lot of pain, but he had refused painkillers, so that he could talk to me. I knew my father's businesses were shady, but I never knew how shady. We have had ties to the mob for generations and my father was near the top of the totem pole. His murderers thought if they could cut off the head of the snake, they could take over.” He took another drag on the cigarette. “I told him maybe it would be better that way, we could all move on. Then, I discovered what that meant. My mom. Sophia. Francis. They'd kill them. Me too. He needed me to take his place. There was no choice.”

Summer stirred in her seat, refusing to look up at him. All she could do to keep herself from panicking was to continue writing. Kill him? She gulped as she pictured his body laying on the floor at her feet where his father's blood had been spilled. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

Taking her silence as a cue to continue, he crossed his arms and leaned against a nearby pillar. “When he died, I decided to take over. What choice did I have? The day after, I was face to face with the men who had killed my father. They wanted to meet me, discuss the terms of my surrender. Frank told me that any terms would result in the m******e of everyone I knew and loved.” He crushed the cigarette against the pillar and ran his hands through his hair. “So I killed them. Well, one of them. The others Frank and Thomas killed, but I ordered them to. They weren't the last. I had to. To protect my family. I didn't come back, to protect you from the life…from me.”

It was the first time in his story that he had referenced her - acknowledged that she had in fact been a part of his life. It was at that moment that she looked up at him, her eyes curious as they looked into his.

“So, what you're telling me is that you just cut ties with me to protect me? Or was it because you didn't need anyone else to have to protect?” She didn't speak with anger, but there was a slight saltiness to her questions.

Maddox looked at her, the accusation stung. He approached Summer and crouched so that they were at eye level. “To protect you from the man I had become. From those who would hurt you to get to me.”

Summer looked at the man she had loved...still loved…as he knelt before her. He was so close to her that she could smell him and his scent was just as she remembered. Their past life echoed in her mind.

“You didn't think that maybe I could make up my own mind about that? That maybe, since you were my boyfriend, we should have talked it through? You didn't need to shut me out completely.” Her voice was much softer as she spoke.

Maddox touched her knee with his knuckle, he hadn't thought about doing it, it was as though his body had reacted on its own, yearning to touch her. “I knew you would want to stay. I was afraid. Afraid you'd get hurt. Afraid I would hurt you. This life turned my dad into an animal. He thought living in fear made us safer.”

Summer felt him touch her knee, but she didn't dare look at it for fear he would move it and her body had ached for his touch for the last decade. Instead, she remained focused on him, staring into his emerald eyes.

“You were afraid you'd hurt me, yet you did anyway. I should have gotten a say. You took that away from me and turned me away when I came to see you,” she said as her brow furrowed in sadness.

Maddox leaned closer to her, his hand now open and resting on her knee. “I've killed people. People have tried to kill me. I had to do a lot of very bad things, illegal things. Would you really have wanted to be part of that?”

Summer swallowed hard as she continued to peer in his eyes, his touch was warm on her skin, sending a rush of longing to spread across her body. “I would have wanted to at least have a say. You chose our futures for us.”

Maddox sighed. He was caught in her cool blue eyes, lost in them. He saw a different life there. A life he had thrown away. “I thought it was best for everyone. Second guessing - for better or worse - stopped being an option for me.”

“Maddox, I...,” she began, then shook her head, clearing the thoughts creeping to the surface. It didn’t matter anymore. “Nevermind.”

Summer looked away, breaking eye contact. She couldn't do it. She couldn't keep hoping he would change his mind. It was finally clear to her that he was satisfied with his choice that he had made for his family, satisfied with letting her go.

She stood up, letting his hand fall from her knee, and grabbed her bag. “I think I have enough for now,” she said looking at her watch. “I have somewhere I need to be soon. Let's just continue this later, shall we?”