Detonate: Chapter 25

After a long, scolding hot shower, I have to say I feel better. Since the second Grayson left the apartment, my mind hasn’t stopped thinking about him. At one point, I cried with laughter thinking about the fact I held a gun up to a professional hitman. What the hell was I thinking? Then my body heated up when I thought about what he did with that gun after.

I have no idea where I stand with him right now. We’ve both fucked up. We aren’t right for each other. I drop into the leather sofa, covering my hands with the sleeve of my hoodie. Flicking the TV on, I scroll through and click on the news. I have about twenty minutes until Sienna arrives.

I don’t even hear the front door open as Sienna wraps me in a warm embrace. She grabs the phone out of my trembling hands.

“Maddie, are you okay?” She cups my face in her hands and studies me. I sniffle and shake my head.

“Right, I’m going to make us a hot chocolate with extra cream. And then you are going to tell me what’s been going on. I’ve just left Grayson at mine with Keller, and he looks just as awful as you do.”

The tears fall harder the second she mentions his name.

She hands me a tissue and strokes my hair. “I promise you. Everything is going to be okay.”

A few minutes later, a steaming hot chocolate is thrusted under my nose. “Thank you, Si.”

She sits beside me, crossing her legs on the chair as she blows into the drink.

“So, spill. From the beginning.”

I take a deep breath. For the next few minutes that feel like hours, I let it all out. From the kiss we had last year, all the way up to this morning. I don’t need to leave any details out; Sienna is more than accustomed to the mafia lifestyle.

“Maddie, do you think maybe it’s not so much about what the other person can offer you. It’s about how much you love each other. It’s pretty obvious that you’re madly in love with one another, disguised under the fighting. You have a man who would literally burn down the earth to be with you. To love you? Underneath all that craziness, he’s obsessed with you.”

I squeeze my eyes together to ease the throbbing headache forming at my temples.

“Just think about it. It’s your life, and only you can decide. Not me, not your mother, or your family. Only you. Go with your heart. I just want you to be happy. And I think this hunt for Prince Charming is getting in the way of what you really want. Who you really want.”

She’s right.

This whole obsession boils down to my quest to please my mom.

For once, I didn’t want my mom to look down on me, I wanted her to be proud of me. And the only way I knew how would be to find a respectable husband.

“Come here,” she says, opening her arms out to me. I launch myself into her arms, and she squeezes me tight, stroking my hair.

When everything else goes to shit, I’ll always have my best friend.