Liar (Madison Kate #2)(12)

"I did not!" I exclaimed. "My stalker took pictures of us and threatened you. I stayed away to keep you safe, you dense, arrogant, pig-headed moron."

His eyes narrowed further, and he advanced on me. The sheer anger radiating from him made me back up a few steps until my back pressed against the door.

"You ran. I'm more than capable of handling myself, and you know it. We all are. You used it as a convenient excuse to hide from the fact that you'd started letting us in. You'd started letting me in, and it terrified you. So you ran." His words were cold and biting, and it tore me up inside to hear. But... he wasn't wrong. That was the most painful part.

"Then on Halloween, when we tried to give you the truth about your mom and Zane, when we tried to show you the falsities within your own memories, you ran again." He sucked a breath, his nostrils flaring and his mouth a tight slash across his face. "You ran and you nearly fucking died, Madison Kate." His voice cracked over that last part, and a gut-wrenching flash of vulnerability passed across his face.

Words failed me, and silence filled the room as he stared at me with his eyes like storm clouds, turbulent and mysterious.

"You checked yourself out of the hospital four days ago, and you didn't even try to call and tell us you were okay. The cops must have told you we weren't responsible for what happened, but you still ran. Again." His voice was softer now, lacking the heat of his initial anger, and instead soaked in hurt and bitter disappointment. "I'm hurt and angry and so incredibly frustrated," he continued, raising a hand to cup the back of my head. His fingers gripped my hair tight enough to turn it from a tender gesture into something dominant and controlling. "But one thing I'm not, Hellcat, is over you."

His lips came down on mine in a bruising, furious kiss that stripped my soul bare and flayed me from the inside. I whimpered into his mouth, parting my lips and begging for more as I clawed at his body. He was fully in control, though, holding my head still with that iron grip on my hair. Steele kissed me, his piercing teasing my tongue and echoing the hardness of his hands, and my walls all crumbled to dust.

He was right about all of it. I'd been so totally consumed in what I believed to be the truth I'd totally lost sight of what was right in front of my face.

Fucking hell.

"I'm sorry," I whispered when his lips left mine. My cheeks were damp, but I didn't care. I'd hurt him so much more than I'd thought, and he wouldn't feel that kind of hurt and disappointment if there wasn't something a fuckload stronger than a one-night stand between us.

Steele's eyes were still hard and angry as hell, but now at least there was a flame of desire tempering that fury. "Yeah, Hellcat," he murmured back. "So am I. I thought I was doing the right thing, giving you space. But then..."

"Then I had a meltdown and crashed Kody's car and got stabbed by a crazy, masked lunatic who I thought was Archer?" I finished for him when he trailed off.

Steele grimaced. "Yeah. That."

I ducked my eyes away from his, sucking in a calming breath. "I thought it was you guys. I thought all of it... us... I thought it was all part of some fucked up plan to terrorize and then murder me. The cops told me they tested Archer's knife for my DNA and it came back clean, but I didn't totally believe that until..." I bit my lip, facing my own traitorous emotions. "Until he showed up at my hotel last night, I guess."

Steele nodded, understanding. His thumb rubbed reassuring strokes on the back of my neck, and I never wanted him to stop.

"He's still a fucking asshole,” I quickly added, “and I still want to push all his fucking buttons until his head explodes, but I don't think he wants me dead."

Steele gave a soft laugh, stroking my loose hair behind my ear with his free hand, then tilting my face back up to meet his gaze. "Good."

"So, are we okay?" I asked, grabbing onto the lifeline of hope dangling between us with a tentative grip. "You and me, I mean."

Steele stared back at me for a long moment, then kissed me again. This time it was gentler and almost sad, and it sent a ripple of dread through me.

"No," he whispered in a husky voice when we separated. "I'm sorry, but no. I need more time to be okay with you again."

My brows shot up in hurt surprise, and my stomach churned.

"Not..." Steele shook his head, clearly searching for the right words. He let go of my hair, taking several steps away, and I felt the divide between us like it'd been chiseled into my heart. "I'm going to explain this in as few words as possible because it fucking kills me to talk about. But I need you to understand so you don't fucking run again."

I had no clue what was going on, but a roller coaster of emotions held me locked in place. Then again, it was likely a ride I didn't ever want to get off.

Steele blew out a long breath, passing a hand over his face and sinking down onto the edge of his bed. "I don't think anyone would have mentioned to you that I had a twin sister, Rachel."

My brows raised, but I stopped myself before I said anything dumb. Had. He’d had a sister... past tense.

"She died three years ago," he continued, bracing his forearms on his knees and looking at the carpet while he spoke. "She was on her way to see me play with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra but was running late. She and her boyfriend had been arguing, and she got in the car upset and..." He shook his head, and I could see the lines of tension in his shoulders from where I stood. It was causing him so much pain to tell me, and I could already see where the story was going.