Chapter 9

Stunned, I simply stared at him. Wasn’t he supposed to be in prison? That he had the gall to come back here was almost unspeakable. He knocked again and huddled further into his coat.

I walked to the door, unlocked it, and shut it behind me. “I thought you were still in prison,” I began, my arms folded across my chest as I tried to retain some body heat since I’d forgotten my coat.

“Time off for good behavior,” he replied. The smooth sound of his voice took me back to better times, before his duplicity had turned everything to shit.

He’d lost weight. His hair was buzzed short, and his clothing wasn’t the expensive stuff he’d preferred in years past. He almost looked humble, except for the smirk on his face.

“Why are you here, Maddox? Haven’t you done enough?” I asked. The smirk disappeared. I wasn’t the lovesick pushover he’d duped in the past. I’d learned my lesson the hard way.