Startseite / MM Romance / Sweet Unhappy Heart / Kapitel 111 – Kapitel 120

Alle Kapitel von Sweet Unhappy Heart: Kapitel 111 – Kapitel 120

205 Kapitel

111

Third person's POVJackson pushed through the hotel's front doors, the cool blast of air conditioning hitting him like a wall after the evening outside. His mood was still shit from the phone call with Richard, but he forced himself to take a breath and shove it down. The woman behind the front desk, Janet's mother, with her warm smile and eyes that saw too damn much, looked up from her computer. They have finally gotten her a computer. Guess, Janet did a great job teaching her through what she needed to about the hotel's management site. Though she do more it"Evening, Jackson," she said, her voice carrying that maternal warmth that made him uncomfortable because he'd never really had that growing up. "Janet's in the lounge. She's been waiting for you.""Thanks, Mrs." He managed something that resembled a smile and headed toward the back of the lobby.The lounge was mostly empty this time of night, just a couple sitting in the corner nursing drinks and pretending they weren't having

112

Third person's POV Astor Sinclair's hand was already on the key before his ass left the leather seat. The Mercedes roared to life, a purr that cost more than most people's annual salary, and he peeled out of the shadowy spot like the devil himself was on his heels.Which, considering what he'd just arranged, wasn't far from the truth.He grabbed his phone from the center console at the first red light, thumb moving across the screen with practiced ease. The message he typed to Avery Maddox was short, direct, the kind of text that said everything and nothing all at once.Astor: I'm getting your request done. I hope you will fulfill mine too, Avery.He hit send and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, jaw tight as he accelerated through the intersection. The city lights blurred past his windows, streaks of color in the darkness, and he didn't think about the man he'd just paid. Didn't think about the photograph currently burning a hole in some stranger's pocket.His phone sat sile

113

Third person's POV Across the Metropolitan Uptown SideThe uptown side of the city was a whole different world from where the glass towers and corporate giants lived. No Sinclair Corporation here. No Maddox headquarters casting shadows over lesser buildings. No Sheers Ltd with their pretentious water features in the lobby, or Limux Shining Maxi with their gold-plated fucking everything.Nope. This was where real people lived. Where the buildings had character, which was code for "old as hell and falling apart", and where the rent was almost affordable if you didn't mind cockroaches the size of small dogs and plumbing that worked when it felt like it.Jackson's Range Rover looked completely out of place parked on the street, shiny and expensive among the beaters and rusted-out sedans that lined the curb. But he didn't give a shit. This was where the building they wanted was located, so this was where they were.The four of them, Jackson, Liam, Janet, and Elena Martinez, followed the b

114

Third person's POV The Range Rover cut through the evening traffic like a hot knife through butter, Jackson handling the luxury vehicle with the kind of casual confidence that came from having money and knowing how to use it."I still can't believe Randy fucking Kowalski has a radio show," Janet said from the passenger seat, scrolling through her phone. "Like, who gave that man a microphone and thought 'yes, this is a good idea'?"Liam snorted from the back. "The same people who think reality TV is quality programming.""Fair point." Janet pulled up something on her phone and started reading. "Oh my God, listen to this. Someone posted on his show's forum: 'If gay love is a disease, then I hope it's contagious because the world could use more love.'""That's actually kind of sweet," Jackson said, taking a turn that had Janet grabbing the oh-shit handle."Could you not kill us before we get dinner?" she asked dryly."Where's your sense of adventure?""I left it back at that building th

115

Third person's POV Avery Maddox sat in the waiting room of Dr. Victor Michael's office, her leg bouncing with nervous energy that had nothing to do with the pregnancy and everything to do with the fact that her life was currently a dumpster fire that someone kept dousing with gasoline.The office was nice, too nice, really. The kind of place where the magazines were current and nobody had drawn dicks on the celebrity photos. Soft music played from hidden speakers, something instrumental and soothing that was probably supposed to make her feel calm but instead made her want to punch something.Her name was called by a nurse who looked like she'd never had a bad day in her life, all perky smile and perfect posture. Avery wanted to hate her on principle."Ms. Maddox? Dr. Michael will see you now."Avery stood, smoothing down her dress, one of the few that still fit properly now that she was creeping into her second trimester. Her body was changing in ways that pissed her off, her jeans

116

Third person's POV Avery's hands were white-knuckled on the steering wheel, her BMW eating up the highway like it had somewhere important to be. Which it did. Away from that doctor's office, away from the ultrasound images that made her feel things she didn't want to feel, away from the whole fucking mess her life had become.Her phone rang through the car's speakers, the sound making her jump.The caller ID showed a number she didn't recognize, but the area code was local. She almost didn't answer, but something made her hit the button."What?""Ms. Maddox?" A woman's voice, young and nervous. "This is Bethany from Dr. Michael's office. I probably shouldn't be calling you, but I thought you should know."Avery's stomach dropped. "Know what?""There was a man here. After your appointment. He didn't have an appointment scheduled, but Dr. Michael saw him anyway. His name was Astor Sinclair."The car swerved slightly before Avery corrected it. "What the hell was he doing there?""I don'

117

Third person's POV The thing about tragedy is that it never announces itself. It doesn't knock politely on your door and ask if now is a good time to destroy your entire fucking world. It just shows up, unannounced and unwelcome, and tears everything apart while you watch helplessly.Liam had been standing inside the restaurant, checking his watch for the third time in five minutes, wondering where the hell Jackson was. He was never late. Never. The man was pathologically punctual, probably because Richard Maddox had beaten the concept of "time is money" into him since childhood.But tonight, Jackson was ten minutes late. Then fifteen. Then twenty.Liam had just pulled out his phone to call when he heard it.The sound of metal crunching, glass shattering, people screaming. The kind of sound that makes your blood run cold and your stomach drops because you know, you just know, that something terrible has happened.He was moving before his brain caught up, pushing through the restauran

118

Third person's POV Officer Mackenzie held the USB drive like it was evidence in a presidential assassination. Which, in a way, it kind of was. Jackson Maddox wasn't the president, but he was rich and connected and currently fighting for his life in an ICU somewhere, which made this a whole different level of shitstorm.Torres was already in the driver's seat of their unmarked sedan, engine running. Steph climbed into the back, her laptop bag slung over her shoulder because she was the kind of cop who brought work home and didn't see anything wrong with that."Back to the station?" Torres asked as Mackenzie slid into the passenger seat."Back to the station," Mackenzie confirmed. "We need to get this footage to tech, run it through facial recognition, pull traffic cam footage from every street within a five-mile radius. This asshole's on camera somewhere else. Has to be.""You think this is connected to the civil suit?" Steph asked from the back, already pulling out her laptop because

119

Third person's POV.Liam sat in one of those plastic chairs that seemed specifically designed to be uncomfortable, his leg bouncing with nervous energy that had nowhere else to go. Janet was next to him, her hand on his knee trying to steal the movement, but it wasn't working.They'd been waiting for three hours. Three hours of watching the clock tick forward with agonizing slowness while Jackson was somewhere behind those double doors, his life hanging in the balance.Finally, the doors swung open and a doctor emerged. She was in her forties, with tired eyes and surgical scrubs that were spattered with blood. Jackson's blood. Liam stood so fast his chair scraped against the linoleum floor with a sound that made everyone in the waiting room look."Family of Jackson Maddox?" the doctor asked, her voice professionally neutral."I'm his boyfriend," Liam said, his throat tight. "This is Janet, his business partner. How is he?"The doctor's expression softened fractionally. "He's alive. T

120

Third person's POV The ICU was cold. Not just temperature cold, though the air conditioning was cranked up high enough to make goosebumps rise on exposed skin. It was the kind of cold that came from being surrounded by death and machines and the desperate hope that modern medicine could cheat the reaper one more time.Richard Maddox stood beside his son's hospital bed, hands shoved deep in his pockets because he didn't know what else to do with them. Jackson looked small in the bed, which was wrong because Jackson had never been small. He'd always been larger than life, confident and strong and infuriatingly stubborn.But now he was pale. Too pale. Tubes ran from his arms, his chest, his nose. Machines beeped steadily, monitoring vital signs that Richard didn't fully understand but knew were important. Jackson's face was bruised, swollen on one side where he'd hit the pavement."You stubborn idiot," Richard muttered, his voice rough. "I warned you. Told you this gay stuff would bring

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