Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts) (23 page)

"Hey, John, I can't reach Maddy and Jason has my car. Is there any way I can borrow yours? I just need to make sure that she's okay and I'll come right back."

"No problem. Keys are under the bar."

"Thanks, John!" I grabbed his keys and ran out of the club. I dialed Maddy again to see if I could get her, but there was no answer. I had this feeling in my gut that something was really wrong.

I pulled up to the house and saw Chris's car in the driveway. Fuck! I barely got the car in park before I jumped out and started running toward the house.

When I opened the door, that bastard had her bent over the couch and her hands were tied behind her back. When she turned to look at me, I could see that her mouth was taped too. I was going to kill this motherfucker.

I surveyed her to make sure she wasn't hurt anywhere. That was when I saw her neck and the big bite mark that was tinged with blood. What the fuck? This animal was going to pay. I started to move toward her when Chris stood her up, and lifted a gun that I hadn't seen before.

"Hey, Carter! Did you come to say goodbye to us? That was so nice of you!"

He had the gun held against her side, and I knew I had to choose my next move very carefully. "Chris, I don't know what's going on, but why don't you just put the gun down. I heard you were going to school in New York, and that's great. You can have a fresh start."

"I'm planning on getting a fresh start…" He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and my whole body tensed. "…with my girl."

He started to move toward the door and lifted the gun so it pointed at me. "Move out of our way, Carter."

"You know I can't do that, Chris."

He laughed at me. "Well, then, I'll have to make you move."

Maddy screamed something that I couldn't understand and shook her head. Chris grabbed her harder and started to whisper something to her, and I saw my opportunity.

I rushed toward him, but he saw me. I heard a pop and I felt a burning pain in my shoulder. It made me stumble and the next thing I knew, everything went black.

Madison

Chris started to move toward the door and lifted the gun so it pointed at Carter. "Move out of our way, Carter."

"You know I can't do that, Chris."

"Well, then I'll have to make you move."

I knew what he meant and I screamed for Carter to move. Chris leaned down and started to whisper in my ear. "You better convince him to-" Carter started to move toward us, and I heard the gun go off.

I saw a growing red spot start to form on Carter's shoulder. He stumbled from the impact and when he fell, he hit his head on the coffee table. He landed face down on the floor and didn't move again. I screamed and sunk down onto the floor.

He couldn't be gone. I had to see if he was okay. I started to crawl toward him, which was really difficult with my hands tied behind my back. I was only about a foot away from him when Chris grabbed me.

"Don't you worry about him
.
Let's go."

I just shook my head and kept trying to get to where Carter was lying. Chris picked me up and started carrying me out to the car. I was kicking and doing anything I possibly could to get away from him. Once we got to the car
,
he put me down and punched me in the stomach. "You better stop because you're only going to make things worse for yourself when we get to New York."

He pushed me into the car and slammed my head in the process. My ears were ringing and I started to feel dizzy. Chris buckled my seatbelt and locked it so I could barely move. I noticed headlights and when I looked closer
,
I saw that it was Carter's car. Chris sped out of the driveway so fast that I was thrown back into the seat.

When I looked in the side mirror
,
I saw that Jason was following us
.
I just hoped that Chris didn't notice. "You know, this is all your fault, Madison. I warned you to stay away from him the first day you met him. Now look what happened because of you."

No, this wasn't my fault. I was done letting people make me feel like everything was my fault. This was all happening because Chris was a psychopath.

"Is that car following me?" Shit, he noticed. "All right, buddy, try and follow this."

He sped up and started to race down the city streets. Jason seemed to be keeping up, though, and it was pissing Chris off.

We were coming up to a red light, but Chris wasn't slowing down. Oh my God, he was going to run it!

I was facing toward the passenger window and I saw the truck coming. I don't think Chris did and by the time he did, it was too late. The truck clipped the back of the car and sent us spinning. The next thing I knew, the car flipped a couple times and landed upside down.

There was broken glass everywhere and car alarms were going off. Chris was no longer next to me, and I thought I could hear someone yelling my name. I felt like I was in a tunnel. All the sounds were muffled and everything looked blurry. I could almost feel myself slipping away.

They say that sometimes in life, you reach a fork in the road and need to decide what to do. You can take the safe and normal way that you are used to, or you can take a chance with the road where the ending is unclear. I chose that road with Carter, and I wouldn't change a thing. If I could do it all again I would, but I couldn't believe that this was it.

I couldn't believe that, after everything, this was how I was going to die. I refused to grieve for myself, though, because no matter what, this past year had been the best of my life. I wouldn't trade my time with Carter for anything.

I could care less if Chris lived or died. He caused all of this unnecessary pain.

All I could think of was Carter. I hoped he was okay because he was my everything. I didn't know why he chose me, but I'd be forever grateful that he did. I wasn't worried about dying. The only things I was mourning for were Carter and our baby.

I was going to tell him tonight, but now I'd never get the chance.

About the Author

My name is Ashley Piscitelli and
I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with my husband, two kids, and two dogs. On top of starting a writing career, I am a full-time student and a full-time mom. I love spending time with my kids, although I have to hide the computer from them when I am writing! I love being active and being outdoors.

I have always been passionate about writing, and wrote this book in about three months.
I love reading romance books! I feel like being able to lose yourself in a book is one of the more exciting aspects. The books I love to read and write will be ones that make you feel for the characters. You should have an opinion on every character in a book whether you love them, hate them, or think they are up to something.

I have always thought that the most important critic is your reader, so I would love to hear from you. If you read the book and loved it or hated it, tell me. As long as it is in a constructive way, I will always answer and interact with you. I want fans to feel free to tell me what they want for the characters in the story, and what they want to see happen.

I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Please visit my facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/AuthorAshleyPiscitelli

You can also email me your thoughts or questions at:

[email protected]

You can also follow me on twitter at:

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Playlist

I listened to these songs while writing and envisioning the characters:

From the Damage - O-Town

Got Dynamite - Demi Lovato

Ever Ever After - Carrie Underwood