Choosing Happy (Madison Square #2) (28 page)

She stared out her window and watched the scenery pass, lost in thought.

“You okay?” I asked.

She looked at me with a small smile on her lips. She was worried.

“Hey,” I said. “Talk to me.”

She sighed and looked down at our joined hands. “I just…I don’t know where we go from here.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” Her phone started ringing. She looked at the screen and showed it to me. Liam. She swiped her finger across the screen to answer.

“Hey, Liam, now’s not a goo…” she said. “Really? That’s amazing! Congratulations! I’m so proud of you. Oh, Liam you’re breaking up. I can’t…Liam?”

She looked at her phone, her brows knitted together.

“Good news?” I asked.

“Liam got the loan,” she said. I frowned, not quite following her train of thought.

Madison shook her head. “Liam is the new owner of The Den.”

“Seriously?” I laughed. “Shit, the old man finally did it.”

“Yeah, they’re drawing up the papers now.”

“Wow, The Den under new ownership. I never thought it would happen.”

Her phone rang again in her lap, and she answered it quickly, “Liam, I…” She was quiet for a minute. The smile slipped from her face. My attention volleyed between the road and my woman, who’d gone completely pale.

She cleared her throat. “Um, yeah. I’m on my way.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That was Michael,” she said. “He’s been arrested.”

***

I paced the hallway of the fifth street precinct. I still had no idea why we were there, exactly. Madison told me to drop her off at her car, but there was no way in hell I was going to let her bail that fucker out of jail by herself. I compromised by riding with her to the station. If it were up to me, the son of a bitch could rot.

Madison sat rigid in the hard plastic chair, staring at her feet. I sighed, sat beside her, and wrapped my arm around her shoulder as we waited for Michael to be released. Fucker was arrested on a DUI. He blew a point one two in a field sobriety test and tried to pay off the cop to get out of it. Dumbass.

The door buzzed, and Madison and I shot to our feet as a large cop shoved a rough looking douche bag in what was a nice suit through the door. When the guy spotted Madison, he threw his arms open wide and smiled.

“Maddie bear,” he said. “There’s my beautiful wife.”

He took a step toward her, and I blocked him with a hand to his chest. He reeked of piss and bad cologne.

“Who…the fuck…are you?” he slurred. “Get your hands off me. I want to see my wife.”

“I’m not your wife anymore, Michael,” Madison said. Her voice was strong and defiant. Pride swelled in my chest. The strong, feisty girl I loved was coming out.

“Aww, don’t be like that, Maddie bear,” Michael said. “You know you’re the only one I love. Only you, always you.”

The cop handed Madison a large envelope with Michael’s stuff, like his wallet and keys. “Get him home,” he said.

Michael glared at the cop as he disappeared back behind the door. When he was gone, a smile spread wide across Michael’s face. “I knew I could count on you, Maddie bear.” Madison groaned and stormed from the waiting room.

“Wait,” he said as he chased after her with me hot on his heels. Madison pushed through the doors and was halfway across the parking lot before we reached her.

“Come on, baby. Don’t be mad,” he said.

Madison whirled around to face him. “I’m not your baby,” she said. “I’m not your anything!”

A smile spread wide across my face. She was furious and so fucking sexy. She was finally standing up for herself, and it was a beautiful thing to witness. I leaned against the car and let her go at him.

Michael took a step toward her. “Come on, Maddie bear. You’re my everything.”

She stepped out of his reach and he frowned, his lips tight with anger. He looked like a kid who’d dropped his ice cream in the dirt.

“Don’t do this, baby. You know how much I love you. I made a mistake, but we can get through this.” Dumbass probably would have sounded sincere if he hadn’t hiccupped every other word.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “You have some nerve, Michael.
You
left me.
You
decided to fuck some teenage tramp and ruin our marriage.
You
filed for divorce. I signed the papers and I walked away, just like you wanted, but I still can’t seem to get rid of you. What the hell do you want from me?”

“I told you, I made a mistake. I want you back. I want us back.” He reached for her arm and attempted a charming smile, but really it was more of a sneer.

She yanked her arm free. “Well, it’s too late Michael. I’ve moved on.”

“With who?” he asked and turned to me with a look of disgust. “With him?”

I pushed off the car. “I think it’s time for you to go. She said she’s done. Respect her feelings.”

He turned back to her. “You think you’re better than me,” he spat. “You sit on your high horse, judging me, when you’ve been fucking your brother’s friends.”

Madison flinched and ducked her head, that strength I loved fading from her eyes.

Michael turned to face me. “You think you’re fucking special. You’re just a toy.”

My fist clenched at my sides, and I ground my teeth to keep from taking a swing. I needed to be the bigger man, for Madison.

“You know what?” Michael said. “Fuck it. I’m a free man.” He raised his arms in the air as he swayed on his feet. He turned to face her, a look of disgust twisting his face. “You’re just a whore. No one will ever want you.” He laughed. The son of a bitch laughed in her face.

I lost it. My fist slammed into his nose with a sickening crunch. He hit the ground hard, his face covered in blood.

I stood over him. Anger flooded my system as my body shook with pure unfiltered rage. “Never go near her again,” I said.

I looked back at Madison. Her eyes were wide as she looked down at her ex rolling around on the asphalt as he clutched his face in pain. She looked back at me and I saw it, panic. The same panicked look she had the first time she left me.

“No,” I whispered.

“I can’t.” She shook her head and took a step away from me.

“Don’t do this, baby. Please don’t do this,” I begged.

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head. “You punched him! How am I going to explain that?”

“Explain it to who?”

“To everyone, his parents, my parents.” I frowned, confused by why she was so upset. I defended her.

“What was I supposed to do?” I asked. “Did you want me to just stand there and let him talk to you like that?”

“I was handling it.” Anger flashed across her face. She turned and headed toward her car.

“No, he was handling you,” I said as I followed. “Why do you do this? Why do you let people like him control you?”

“I don’t…”

“Yes, you do. Your family, your boss, that asshole, hell you even let your friends tell you what to think.” I stared at her, my breathing labored. I felt like my chest had been torn open.

“Things were finally working with us. We were in a good place, after everything that we’ve been through, and all it takes is one word from this son of a bitch and you are ready to run again.”

“I’m not running,” she said.

“Bullshit, Madison! You’ve had one foot out the door just waiting for a reason to take off. You’ve been running from me since the day we met.”

She looked down at her feet as tears fell down her cheeks.

“Look at me,” I demanded. She lifted her head, and the sadness in her eyes almost brought me to my knees.

“I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. Your strength, your beauty, that fire inside you that only I can see. I’m so fucking in love with you, but you are never going give to us a chance.”

“You can’t save me, Sean.” She turned away from me, wiping the tears from her face.

“Don’t you get it? You don’t need to be saved,” I said. I stepped forward and cupped her cheeks in my hands, brushing away her tears with the pad of my thumb. “You asked me once to make you happy and I would give anything to spend my life doing just that, but the truth is that if you want to be happy, you have to choose it.”

I released her and took a step back. The ache in my throat grew with every step I took. “You have a choice, beautiful. You can live your life by other people’s rules, or you can choose to be happy for yourself, even if it’s not with me.”

She looked up at me. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. Then she got in the car and left.

“Fuck!” I screamed as I watched her taillights disappear.

Chapter 27

Madison

By the end of the week, the papers had been signed and the deal was done. Liam was now the proud owner of The Den. Jack agreed to stay on for a few weeks to ensure the transition was smooth. Liam was over the moon. The pride that lit his face when he talked about that old dive was incredible. I was happy for him, but at the same time I was thankful that I was only a silent partner and could avoid the day to day operations of the bar for two reasons. One, I had no idea how to run a bar or what that entailed, and two, Sean was there.

I hadn’t heard from him since I left him in the parking lot that night. The look on his face as I drove away played on a loop in my head. He looked broken, and sorrow filled his eyes, those beautiful eyes that were so full of joy when we met, so full of life, it was hypnotizing. But that night, that joy, that light, it was gone. I’d snuffed it out. I hated myself for hurting him, for not being the woman he needed, for not being the woman he deserved.

All the quiet gave me time to think, but the only thing on my mind was Sean. His blank, empty eyes haunted me. Just knowing how much I hurt him killed me. I spent the last week crying myself to sleep. I missed him so much, but the reality of us together just didn’t make sense. We were completely different people, from completely different worlds. Leaving was the right thing to do, for both of us.

***

Friday evening, I came home and dropped my bag by the door. I headed toward the kitchen when the phone rang.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, Maddie,” Liam said, shouting so I could hear him over the noise of the bar in the background.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Don’t hate me,” he said.

“Um, okay.”

“The family is coming into town on Sunday. They want us to come to brunch.”

“Demanded, you mean.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “Look, Maddie, I’m gonna tell them about the bar. I need you to be my back up.”

“Liam, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“I’m not going to hide it. For the first time in my life, I have something that is mine, something that I earned with my own blood and sweat. It may not be much, but it’s mine, and I’m proud of that.”

I smiled to myself. “You should be.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, already regretting my decision. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Thanks, Maddie. I owe you one.”

“You owe me a lot more than one, little brother.”

“Eh, add it to my bill.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Okay.” I giggled.

I heard the sound of glass breaking through the phone. “Uh, I gotta go. I’ll see you later.” He hung up before I had a chance to say good-bye.

I dropped the phone down on the couch beside me. The thought of seeing my family filled me with dread, but I had to face them for Liam, even though I knew that in my world brunch was code for family shakedown.

***

“I just don’t understand why you couldn’t make it work,” my mother said for the fifteenth time that morning. I groaned and rubbed my temple. I turned my empty glass with my fingers, all while I trying to search for the waiter without being too obvious.

“I told you, Mother. We are colleagues.” I sighed. “We were never dating.”

“Maybe I should give him a call, arrange for the three of us to have lunch. I’m sure we can smooth things over.”

I caught the eye of the waiter and raised my glass to him. He nodded and scurried off toward the bar.

I took a deep breath and tried once again to explain to my mother that Bryan and I would never be together without telling her the real reason why.

“Mother, like I said before…” I started.

Her face spread into a polite smile as she glanced over my shoulder. “Michael,” she sang through her teeth.

I turned around as Michael weaved his way toward us in a crisp linen suit. The bruising around his nose and eyes had faded, but it was still visible. He smiled and came to a stop behind my chair, resting his hand on the back as he addressed my parents.

“Good morning,” he said. “I heard you folks were in town and thought I’d pop in for a surprise visit.”

He made his way around the table. She presented her cheek to him and he leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “What a wonderful surprise,” she said with only the slightest bit of annoyance in her voice.

Daddy got to his feet to shake Michael’s hand then he made his way back around the table. “Mind if I join you?” he asked.

“Of course,” my father said. He didn’t notice the glares coming at him from the rest of us at the table.

Michael pulled up a chair and squeezed in between Liam and me. He draped his arm along the back of my chair once he was settled.

“So, what did I miss?” he asked.

My mother smiled. “We were just discussing Madison’s new beau, Bryan Townsend. Have you met him?”

I gaped at my mother. A strange sense of pride came over me.

“Townsend, huh?” Michael said. “So that’s his name.” Michael sat up and snapped his napkin before he laid it in lap. “Now I have a name to put on the lawsuit I’m filing.”

“Lawsuit?” Daddy asked, his interest peaked.

“Yes, sir. He assaulted me, broke my nose.”

“Bryan Townsend broke your nose?” my mother asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

I rolled my eyes. “Bryan didn’t break your nose,” I said.

“Would you like to see the X-ray’s? Your boyfriends going to cost me several thousand dollars in reconstructive surgery.” Michael stared at me then his eyes softened and he smiled as he placed his hand on top of mine on the table. “I don’t blame you, Maddie bear. I hurt you. You were only trying to even the score. I forgive you.”

Forgive me? He forgives me? I wanted to punch the smug prick myself, cost him a few thousand more in reconstructive surgery.

My mother’s voice interrupted the ranting in my head. “I find it hard to believe that Bryan Townsend would punch someone without cause.”

“Oh for the love of God.” I tossed my hand in the air. “Bryan Townsend did not punch him.” Michael opened his mouth to object. “Sean punched you because you called me a whore.”

Everyone at the table and a few at the table around us who were listening in gasped. Liam and Daddy clenched their fists and glared at Michael. They looked like they both were about ready to clock him themselves.

“Who is Sean?” Mother asked.

“He’s…he’s someone I was seeing.” I dropped my head and studied my fingers. I fought back the tears that threatened to fall whenever I thought of him.

“What about Bryan?” she asked again, and I groaned.

Michael glared at me. “So what, you’ve been fucking both these guys?”

“Language, Michael,” my mother scolded. “You’re making a scene.”

“Damn right I am. My wife has been sleeping with half the God damn city!”

“She’s not your wife,” Liam, Mother, and Daddy chorused.

Michael tossed his napkin down on the table in front of him. “So what? You’d rather spend your life with some kid barely older than Liam.”

My mother’s eyes bored into me from across the table. “What is he talking about?”

“Oh? They don’t know?” Michael said. An evil grin spread across his face. He laughed. “Her little boyfriend, Bryan, Sean, whatever his name is, he’s Liam’s age.” Michael sat back in his seat, looking more than pleased with himself.

All eyes at the table were on me. My parents gaped at me in shock and Michael watched me, his expression smug.

I took a deep breath, wiped a tear from my eye, and then opened my mouth to speak.

“I bought a bar,” Liam blurted.

Suddenly all the attention shifted to him. He shrugged and shot me a sympathetic look.

“Absolutely not,” My father said as he slammed a heavy fist down hard on the table. The silverware jumped, and my mother squeaked and pressed a hand to her chest.

“It’s done. I signed the papers the other day. I am now the proprietor of The Den, a popular downtown pub.”

“If you think for one second that we will be giving you a dime…” My father started and pointed a finger in Liam’s direction.

Liam cut him off quickly. “I won’t be asking. I had a little money saved, got a small business loan and an investor for the rest.”

My mother and father both turned their attention to me, and I shrank under their cold glares. “You did this,” she spat. My shoulders ached as the tension settled deep within my muscles. “You encouraged this? Have you completely lost your mind? You have done some hurtful things to this family, Madison Sinclair, but this one takes the cake.”

That was when I snapped. “How is helping my brother ensure his future hurtful?” I spat back at her. My eyes narrowed as rage coursed through me fueled by years of her dictating how I should dress, speak, act, and love.

My mother matched my glare as we faced off across the table. “His future had already been decided. He was to get this nonsense out of his system, finish law school, and take his place at the firm.”

I shot to my feet and slammed my hands down onto the table. “It’s not what he wants! Liam doesn’t fit into your perfect little image of what you deem is appropriate for a Sinclair and neither do I. We are different, Mother. We want a life of our own choosing, not one that has been chosen for us. When will you get it? We have the right to choose our own happiness.”

I froze as Sean’s words flew out of my mouth. He was right. I’ve spent my life doing everything to please someone else, to make someone else happy. First my mother, then Michael, each of them manipulating me to become their version of the perfect daughter, the perfect wife, but I’m not perfect. No one is. Only one person in my life has ever encouraged me to be myself, to love myself, and I did nothing but push him away.

“You are making a scene,” my mother hissed. “Sit down before you embarrass yourself.”

“You mean before I embarrass you. I’m not an embarrassment to this family. I have an MBA from Duke. I have a high profile position at the top investment firm on the east coast. I am finally free of this lying, cheating bastard,” I said, pointing at Michael beside me, then turned back to my mother. “And now I am free of you, because your opinion, Mother, no longer concerns me.” I grabbed my bag and pushed my chair back. “I’m choosing to be happy.”

I turned and headed toward the door with a huge grin on my face and a little extra spring in my step. I’d almost made it to the door when Michael grabbed my arm. “Madison, wait!”

I sighed. “Why, Michael? Give me one good reason.”

“Because,” he said, “we can make this work. We can start over.”

“Can you honestly remember a single day that we were ever really happy together? Michael, you were just as trapped in our marriage as I was. This is an opportunity for you to find someone to take your breath away, someone you can spend your life with, but that’s not me. It never was.”

Michael looked at me, his eyes sad, but I could see the acceptance there. “What about you?”

I smiled. “I think I’ll be okay.”