Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Matt lurched forward, reaching out to catch her. Todd got there first and grabbed her by the shoulders. The audience twittered and gasped. Todd all but shoved Madison upright, then pasted on a smile as he leaned into the microphone. “She’s fine, folks. The heat just got to her. It’s a hot day…”
The audience nodded, every eye seemingly on Madison as Matt stepped away from the microphone, behind her.
“You okay?” Matt asked in a low voice.
She turned and opened her mouth but no words came out. She looked flushed and confused. Her pupils constricted before her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Then her entire body collapsed in his arms.
The crowd gasped again, this time louder. Matt fucking tried not to panic, but his heart started gonging a thousand miles an hour. What was going on? What the fuck had Todd done?
“Holy shit. Is she okay?” Ethan whispered.
Fear razing through his system, Matt lay her on the stage and tried to assess what was happening. “Madison?”
No response. Nothing. Not a twitch. Not even a hint that she heard him.
“Madison!”
“Told you that you should have taken me up on my offer,” Todd drawled in his ear, then stooped over Madison dramatically, like the terrified husband.
It hit Matt then. She wasn’t passed out from the heat or nerves. She’d been drugged. And he had no idea what the fuck Todd had given her.
He was going to kill the son of a bitch. No waiting for the system to do its job or hoping the voters weren’t duped by this shit. Matt resolved in that moment that Todd would die, and he’d be the one to off the bastard. Soon.
“We need paramedics,” Matt yelled as his CPR training kicked in and he made a terrible discovery. “Her heart stopped beating!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Madison became aware of scratchy sheets, of beeping, of her pounding head, of a heat and a pull she couldn’t place, demanding her attention. She lifted her heavy lids slowly. Where the hell was she?
“Wha…?”
“Madison?”
That voice. The deepness of it. The command. The way it filled her with warmth and safety while insisting she give it all her attention.
Matt. She gathered her strength, opening her eyes to a fuzzy room and the man she loved hovering over her with wild eyes, looking half-ready to crawl out of his skin.
“Are you all right?”
She blinked again, trying to bring him into focus, and nodded. “Head hurts.”
He pulled her hand under the cover and clasped it with his own. “The nurse was just here. She says the doctor is coming. Just a few more minutes. Water?”
“Please. What happened?”
“Heat exhaustion to start.” He dropped his voice and leaned closer.
Now that her vision was clearing, his abject fear was obvious. He’d been terrified for her. He still looked ready to tear apart the hospital and beat up the world if it would heal her.
She tried to smile. “The girl from Louisiana can’t handle the heat. Figures…”
“Did Todd say anything to you before you two walked out on stage?”
That was an odd question. Madison tried to remember, but her memories were muddled. She recalled the canned food drive, then her relief when she finally got inside, followed by exhaustion. Someone had brought her lunch while the makeup artist had touched her up, but the heat had sapped her energy. Queasiness had killed her appetite. Vaguely, she recalled Matt bringing her water and something to eat. She had fuzzy memories of struggling to read the teleprompter on stage…then nothing.
“I don’t think so. I don’t…” She shook her head. “Honestly, I don’t remember.”
Matt’s face hardened.
“Don’t be angry. I’m sorry. It’s just…everything is hazy, and I—”
“It’s not you I’m pissed at.”
Then who? But even her sluggish mind pieced it together. He was asking questions about Todd, about what he’d said to her. “You think he had something to do with this?”
“I know he did. He all but told me.”
Madison gasped, searching the room. She didn’t see other people in the giant, private suite, but that didn’t mean this place didn’t have ears. “Shh. People might be—”
“I swept the place when I got here. Clean. We can talk.”
She let out a relieved breath. “What did he tell you?”
Matt hesitated, looking out the window at the people coming and going, some peering in too curiously. They’d be gawking if it wasn’t for Ethan outside the door, passing out the glowers left and right. “Give me a minute.”
Then he rose and shut all the drapes, enclosing them in total privacy. This time, when he took her hand again, he pulled it close to his heart and kissed her fingers, like he was so fucking relieved mere words couldn’t express how much. “Night before last, he tried to bribe me into walking away and leaving you here with him. It wasn’t the first time, and I told him to go fuck himself again.”