Helios Awakened (The Helios Chronicles #1) (21 page)

“Let me walk you out.”

They both fixed their clothing and then Andrew bent down to pick up his sketch books, placing them on his dresser. Madison smiled as she started for the door. Andrew glanced at the books and then pulled out the six that Madison hadn’t seen yet. He ran up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist and handed her the books.

“Are you sure?” Madison asked, feeling a tad bit guilty that she had coaxed the books out of him.

“Yeah, it’s alright,” he said with another gentle kiss to her forehead.

As they entered the living room, they saw that his aunt was sitting on the couch with the television on high volume. As they walked further into the room, she immediately turned it down. Madison and Andrew looked at each other and grinned mischievously as they realized they must have been a lot louder than they thought they were.

“I’ll be at the house by 8:00 a.m., Madison,” Olivia said, trying to mask the embarrassment she felt at hearing Andrew and Madison’s lovemaking.

“That will be wonderful. I have a couple of things made for you so you won’t have to cook."

“Don’t be silly, I’m sure I can cook for your grandmother.”

“Oh, I know, I just want to make it easy for you, plus Grans wanted lasagna so I have one in the fridge that just needs to be heated up. You know, Olivia, Grans talks highly of you. She is looking forward to your visit,” Madison said enthusiastically. “In fact, I am sure she would love to have a visit from Aaron as well.”

“Well, thank you, Madison. And, lasagna happens to be Aaron’s favorite dish so I’m sure he will be over for dinner that night.”

Madison smiled and waved at her as she and Andrew headed towards the door.

“Are you leaving as well, Andrew?” Olivia asked, curious why he would be going over so early.

“No, just walking her to the car.”

Olivia smiled as she watched the two young lovers walk out the door. She was so immensely grateful to Madison for seeing past the stigma of Andrew’s conviction and time in prison and seeing the caring and gentle man he was inside. She only hoped that Monday when they went to court that everything would go the way they had hoped it would. She felt confident in Mr. Bennett. Andrew had met with him several times already. There was a part of her that had hoped that the District Attorney wouldn’t file charges against Andrew but he did. She supposed that was to be expected considering who Andrew had fought. At least now she had a good feeling about court and truly believed things would work out as they should.

As Andrew walked back into the living room, his aunt was giving him a questioning look. In truth, Andrew felt the need to talk to someone about the situation with Jimmy. He had been trying to wait until Aaron got home but seeing Madison just now had brought out every fear he had about it. He couldn’t lose her, of that he was certain. With a heavy heart, Andrew walked to the large oversized chair and sat down, avoiding eye contact with his aunt.

“Jimmy threatened Madison,” he said in a casual tone.

Olivia gasped. She knew something was going on as Andrew seemed distracted and upset when he came home that morning. Generally, he was all smiles when he came through the door each morning. It was as if he was floating on air, as a man in love would be. But this morning he said very little and walked straight to his bedroom. She had tried to engage him but he had shut her down. Now she understood why.

“What do you mean he threatened her?”

Andrew spent the next several minutes explaining what had happened in the bookstore yesterday with Madison, how he had been upset with her for not telling him sooner and that it was taking everything in him not to hunt down Jimmy and kill him. Olivia listened attentively, noting on several occasions that Andrew had balled his fists. She had no doubt that he could cause serious harm to someone if he so chose and she feared the worst if he actually came in contact with Jimmy.

“Andrew, you must tell Mr. Bennett. In fact, you should both go see him. This is very serious and, with court proceedings on Monday, he needs to know. What if Jimmy just said those things to rile you up and get you to do something that would send you back to prison?”

She arched her brow at Andrew who was looking at her with a pained expression. Something told Olivia that he had already heard this reasoning but wasn’t buying into it or at least he didn’t want to buy into it.

“That’s what Madison thinks, but what if it isn’t? I can’t take a chance with her safety, with her life.”

“All the more reason you need to see Mr. Bennett. He’s your attorney, Andrew, and must know every detail of your life if he is to protect you.” She stood up and walked over to him so that she could rest her hand on his shoulder. “I know that you love Madison and want to protect her. Trust me when I say that I love Madison as well but I want to protect you more. I can’t stand the thought of them sending you back to prison after you have worked so hard to change your life. To rise above the things that happened to you.” She leaned down and kissed the top of his head lovingly. “I couldn’t bear to lose you again,” she whispered, her voice tight with emotion and unshed tears.

Andrew was thrown back by not only her words but her act of tenderness. He cared about Olivia but it never dawned on him how his actions could affect her as well. After some hesitation, Andrew nodded his head and closed his eyes.

“Thank you, Auntie. I’m going to call Mr. Bennett and see if I can come by,” Andrew said, standing abruptly.

“You’re welcome Andrew.”

~*~

Andrew had called Mr. Bennett’s office and wasn’t able to see him as Mr. Bennett had court that morning and was in meetings that afternoon. His assistant had said she could set him up to see someone else in the office but there was no way Andrew was going to do that. He trusted Mr. Bennett and had no desire to tell anyone else the story, yet he felt antsy about waiting. As he walked to Madison’s house later that evening, he became even more resolute in what needed to be done, so by the time he reached her home and Madison opened the door for him, he had already made up his mind.

“What’s the matter?” Madison was immediately concerned seeing the determined look on Andrew’s face.

“We need to go to Jayden’s place and talk to his dad.”

“Oh.” Madison exhaled loudly.

“Madison, I need to tell him because I swear to you if Jimmy lays one single hand on you I will kill him. I need someone to know why.” Andrew could tell by the stunned expression on her face that she believed his words to be true.

Madison turned around. “Grans, I will be back in a few minutes. Will you be okay?”

“Of course I will. I’m not an invalid, Maddie,” her grandmother said from the living room.

“I know, Grans.” She turned to Andrew. “Hold on.” She went inside and grabbed her things and then kissed her grandmother goodbye.

“So why are we going to their house?” Madison glanced at him as they drove to Jayden’s.

“Because I couldn’t see him in his office and this needs to happen today since we’re leaving tomorrow,” Andrew said matter of fact, watching the scenery pass by him.

“Are they expecting us?” Madison asked, suddenly concerned about just 'dropping in' on the Bennett’s unannounced.

Andrew sighed and shook his head. The thought didn’t occur to him to actually call them and ask if it was alright.  Andrew was silent throughout the drive, hyper vigilant of his surroundings, taking in houses and cars, making sure they were not being followed. When they arrived at the house, Andrew was out of the car the minute she had it in park. Madison watched as he eyed an approaching vehicle. He kept his eyes trained on the car as it passed and when it was far enough down the street, he got out and opened her door. Madison became even more concerned as he grasped her hand in his firmly and with purpose. Andrew continued to look around as Madison stumbled to keep up with his brisk pace. Andrew knocked on the door and glanced at her with a forced smile. They both turned as the door swung open and Liam appeared in a pair of running shorts and an Under Armour tank that was clinging beautifully to his chest. He had a towel around his neck and a bottle of water in his hand. 

“Andrew, Madison. Jayden didn’t say he was expecting company,” Liam said, running his fingers through his obviously sweaty hair. “Come on in.” He turned. “Jayden, you have guests.”

“Actually, we want to see Mr. Bennett.,” Andrew said, causing Liam to smile. “Umm, the other Mr. Bennett,” Andrew said, slightly uncomfortable.

“Have a seat. I’ll go get El.” Liam smirked and turned while wiping his face with his towel.

Andrew walked Madison to the couch and sat down. She immediately leaned into Andrew who gently kissed the top of her head. A few minutes later, Liam returned with both Elias and Jayden. Elias was barefoot but still wearing dress slacks, his dress shirt was unbuttoned at the neck and his tie was off. He gave Andrew and Madison a curious look as he sat down across from them and crossed his legs. Jayden took a seat near his father and also crossed his legs. Madison almost giggled at the sight of the two of them because in that moment they bore the same exact expression and body posture, clearly Jayden was Elias’s son.

“Mr. Bennett, I’m sorry for coming to your home without calling you first but you weren’t available today in your office and something happened that you need to know about,” Andrew said, gripping Madison’s hand firmly.

Elias looked between them and nodded. “What happened, Andrew?”

Andrew turned to Madison. “Madison, tell them about the bookstore.”

Madison sighed. “First off, I know I should have said something earlier. Callie told me to tell both Andrew and you but I waited to tell Andrew until last night and well, I am about to tell you.”

All four of them were now staring at her. It was in that moment that she realized that Callie had not said anything to Jayden. She hoped that Callie wouldn’t be in trouble because of it. Madison closed her eyes for a moment and then recalled the events at the book store. Repeating, word for word, what was said, answering questions Mr. Bennett asked and then demonstrating how she and Jimmy had been standing using Liam as a stand in for Jimmy. She was hesitant but she knew that she had to tell them everything and as she told them that Jimmy had kissed her ear, she could almost feel the energy being sucked out of the room. Madison turned sharply to the couch, noting the lethal expression that was now on Andrew’s face.

“I’m sorry,” she mouthed to him.

Andrew had been fine up until the point that Madison demonstrated just how close Jimmy had been to her and then when she said he kissed her, Andrew’s blood boiled. He stood up, paced for a minute and then practically darted to the door. Elias glanced at his son who was already up and following Andrew outside. Andrew pulled out his cigarettes the minute he stepped out the door. He began inhaling rapidly as he paced the length of the driveway, almost praying that Jimmy would appear so he could take care of him once and for all.

“Andrew, don’t do it, man.”

“Do what?” Andrew said with a calmness that was frightening.

He exhaled a long cloud of smoke and walked to the garage door leaning against it as he brought his cigarette to his lips once again; watching as a car passed by the house, disappointed that it wasn’t Jimmy.

“Don’t go after Jimmy.”

Andrew let out a sound that made the hair on Jayden’s neck stand straight up. He could see in his friends face that he was not the happy-go-lucky guy he was the other day. He feared that Andrew was planning something, something that he would not be able to take back.

“Jimmy’s not worth it,” Jayden said calmly, hoping to ease Andrew’s mind.

“It would be worth it,” Andrew said coolly, stomping his foot on the discarded cigarette before lighting another one.

“Would it?” Jayden walked over to him and also leaned against the garage. “Losing Madison, losing the life you have with her, losing family and friends. That would be worth it?” Jayden asked with passion.

Andrew closed his eyes; his heart and mind were at war with one another. His desire to hunt for Jimmy was suffocating him yet what Jayden had said was resonating in his soul. The thought of losing Madison was causing him unbearable pain. Pain worse than anything his mother or father had ever inflicted on him.

“Guys like Jimmy think they can do whatever they want but they can’t.” Andrew took a long drag and began speaking as smoke escaped his mouth. “Because she’s with me he thinks it is okay to threaten her, he said that he would rape her.” Andrew opened his eyes and turned his head, showing Jayden a steely expression. “If something happens to her it will be my fault. I would rather kill him now and know that she’s safe than live with the knowledge that something bad happened to her because she fell in love with me.”

“Doesn’t she have a say in this? Do you really think she wants you to commit murder in her name?”

Andrew dropped the cigarette on the ground and ran his fingers through his hair, trying hard to calm down and decipher his varying thoughts and feelings. In the past, he would have done whatever it took to protect himself. He had never truly cared enough about anyone else to feel the need to protect them. But now he had several people he had grown to care about, Madison, Olivia, Aaron, Jayden and Callie. He knew that he couldn’t be frivolous with his life. He needed to think about others and not be selfish. He took another long, deep, and cleansing breath before lighting up another cigarette.