Page 35 of The Criminal’s Cure

“H-hello?” My voice breaks as I stand in the darkness, realizing how stupid of me it was to send Ernie away. At least until Roman knew I was home.

I gasp as a dark figure moves toward me. The man who left the picture threatening us is back to finish the job, I’m sure of it.

“Maddie? Is that you?” Right as the figure steps into the light, I recognize Joe’s voice.

“God, Joe.” I let out a heavy, shaky breath. “You scared me to death.”

“Sorry!” He chuckles. He opens the fridge and grabs a beer as if this is his house and it isn’t three in the morning. “I didn’t expect you home. Aren’t you supposed to be in St. Louis until tomorrow night?”

I fidget, not in the mood to get into everything with Joe right now. “My plans changed.”

“You should have called. Roman likes to know when plans change.”

“I did call. It keeps going to voicemail. He’s upset with me, so he isn’t answering.” I fold my arms over my chest. If I’m going to be reprimanded for something like that, Joe should know the truth.

“Uh, I don’t think that’s why he isn’t answering, Maddie,” he deadpans, then lifts the bottle to his lips and drinks deeply.

“What do you mean?”

“Roman is at the hospital,” he says flatly, crumpling up a wad of paper towels left on the counter. No detail. No explanation. Just drops a bomb like that.

“Why? What happened?” My chest tightens as I notice the blood soaking the paper towels in Joe’s hand.

“He’s okay,” Joe says quickly, following my gaze. “An intruder got into the house. There was an altercation and he stabbed Roman. But he’s completely fine, Maddie. Really.”

“Then why is he at the hospital?” If he wouldn’t even take Ty there, then I know there isn’t a chance in hell Roman would go himself unless absolutely necessary.

“Because he wasn’t conscious enough to fight me on it when I got here.”

“Joe!” I burst. “He passed out? Where did he get stabbed? Why didn’t anyone call me?”

“Easy, Maddie. He lost a good amount of blood, but we got him there and everything is fine. They’ve already treated him and they’re only keeping him overnight as a precaution.”

“I want to go see him,” I say, my lips quivering. I can’t believe this happened.

“Yeah, of course.” Joe grabs a bag off of the kitchen table in front of us. “I just came to get a few things for him. Ty is at my house with my wife.”

I nod, having trouble forming words. It’s already been an exceptionally emotional day for me and now Roman’s hurt. We haven’t had a good conversation in days, and now, someone attacked him in his own house while his son slept upstairs.

Joe and I drive in silence, my mind swirling in a million different directions. It’s a relief that Roman is going to be okay, but he should have told me what happened. Even if he was angry.

I shouldn’t have to find out like this. Everything is fine this time, but it’s a harsh reminder of the present danger in our lives. Nowhere is safe.

Joe parks in front of the hospital and we both hurry inside. He shows me down the hall to Roman’s room and I burst inside with Joe close at my heels.

Roman sits in the bed, tapping away at his laptop, and looks up at me wildly when I rush toward him. “Madison?”

Without a word, I throw my arms around his neck, draping myself across his body as I bury my face in his chest. He holds me tight against his body, pressing a kiss to the top of my head as he rubs my back.

Tears stream down my face, every emotion of today converging on me at once.

Defeat. Sadness. Fear. Relief deeper than I’ve ever felt.

“I’m okay, baby,” he whispers gently. “Everything is okay. ”

No matter what’s happening between him and me, the moment I’m in his arms, he’s my lifeline and everything settles.

Breaking for air, I pull back from Roman and sit on the edge of the bed. He reaches out, brushing the tears off of my cheek, and I put my hand on top of his, just holding it there. His touch is already calming my aching heart.

“I found something I thought you might like back at the house.” Joe grins, slinging Roman’s bag onto the bed. “I also smuggled a couple of beers into your bag in case you need something to take the edge off.”

“Thanks, Joe.” Roman gives him a halfhearted grin. “You should get home. Text me and let me know how Ty is, okay?”

“Absolutely, man.” Joe nods. “Get some rest. Looks like you’re in good hands here.”

He gives me a quick hug and then leaves, latching the door behind him.

“You’re supposed to be in St. Louis.” Roman pulls me against him again, making some room on the bed so I can lie next to him in his arms. It’s small and cramped, but right now, it’s the most comfortable place in the world.

“My plans changed. I could have been here a lot sooner if you would have called me, though. I didn’t find out until I ran into Joe back at the house.”

Roman’s eyebrows cinch together. “Wait, you were flying home in the middle of the night for some other reason? I told Joe not to call you, but when you walked in, I figured he must have, but it was something else?”

“That’s not important right now.” I suck in a sharp breath. “Tell me what happened.”

Roman looks like he wants to press me for more, but he doesn’t. At least for now.

“It’s not a big deal, Maddie. I’m fine, I told you. It’s barely a flesh wound.” As tough as he wants to seem, his face is pale and his eyes are sunken in. He looks completely worn out.

“Not a big deal?” I laugh sharply. “Roman, you were stabbed in your house while your son slept upstairs. By a man who has been hunting you down for months. And you lost so much blood you lost consciousness.”

He rolls his eyes, raking his fingers through his hair. “Lost consciousness is kind of dramatic. I was just dizzy and a little out of it.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” I bite my lip.

“Because I figured I’d tell you when you got home tomorrow. I knew you were busy, and you didn’t really want to talk to me.”

“Jesus, Roman!” Part of me wants to reach out and slap him, and if he wasn’t lying in a hospital bed, I might have.

“Even if we’re fighting, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t want to know that you got hurt—attacked!

Do you have any idea how scared I was when Joe told me?

Imagine if that was me and I didn’t tell you. You wouldn’t take that well.”

“You’re right.” He swallows. “I wouldn’t. I’d be fucking pissed.”

“Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual.” I glare, folding my arms over my chest. “Sometimes you can be so impossible. It’s stupid and immature to not tell me about your near death experience because we had a little argument.”

“Hey…” Roman props himself up, brushing a strand of hair off of my cheek. “You’re a hundred percent right. It was dumb. And I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again. Next time, you’re my first call. I promise.”

Next time. Two words have never felt heavier.

Tears threaten to fall again. “I don’t want you to say that just to placate me. I want you to say it because you mean it.”

“I do mean it, baby. I swear.” His hand slips to the back of my neck and he pulls me forward.

His kiss is different. It’s emotional and raw and passionate in the softest of ways.

When he rests his forehead against mine, our noses brush.

“I’m sorry, Maddie. I should have called.

But you know what? This might have been a blessing in disguise.

Dante was able to pull a clear picture of the guy off of my security camera and they’re going after him now.

We’re that much closer to catching him.”

“But at what expense?” I appreciate the way Roman can find the silver lining, because I just can’t see it right now.

“Maddie, baby, you’ve got to relax.” A small smile is on his lips. “It barely even hurts. I got a couple stitches, and the only reason I’m still here is for observation to be sure there’s no infection.”

“Can I see it?”

“Of course.” Roman lifts his shirt, exposing a long wound on his abdomen. I gently run my fingers along it, counting each individual stitch. Twenty-five, which is way more than a couple like he tried to convince me of.

“Does that hurt?” I ask.

“Not at all.” He grins. “In fact, the way you’re rubbing my chest…that’s the best I’ve felt in days.”

“Very funny. You know, three centimeters to the right and he would have nicked your abdominal aorta, and we’d be in a much different situation.

” It’s actually amazing he didn’t. That artery goes directly to the heart.

Roman would have bled out before he could have even made a phone call to get help.

“God, you are so sexy when you use medical words like that.” Roman certainly hasn’t lost any of his spitfire and that’s a comfort.

His banter is starting to calm me down a little, too, and I can almost feel my heart rate slowing.

“Now, can we talk about something else? Like, why you came home early?”

“No, we can’t talk about that,” I say definitively. I’m still processing everything, and I’m not ready to tell the story.

Roman gives me a sympathetic smile. “That bad, huh?”

“I said, I don’t want to talk about it, Roman.” I try to stand, but he catches my wrist and pulls me back.

“Fine. You don’t have to talk at all, because I have plenty I want to say.” His face falls a bit. “Starting with congratulations.”

“Congratulations?”

“Yes. Congratulations on the offer to join the program in LA. It’s incredible, and I know how hard you’ve worked for it, and I am so fucking proud of you. I should have told you that the other night.”

I don’t even know what to say as Roman talks. No one has ever said anything like that to me before, and my emotions are just fraught enough that I might cry again.

“I’m sorry about how I reacted when you told me.

I know you weren’t asking me to quit or anything like that, but it reminded me of so many conversations that I had with Talia where she tried to get me to leave.

It’s not an excuse, but I was scared, because I’m in love with you, too.

And the thought of you leaving fucking destroyed me, so I panicked and went back to pushing you away to protect myself. ”

“Don’t you know by now that you can’t scare me off so easily?” I smile.

“I do.” Roman nods. “And you know what else I know? None of that other stuff matters, because even if you decide to go, we’ll find a way to work this out.”

“Really?” I’m not usually such a crier, but today has completely taken it out of me and I start again. It’s almost pitiful at this point.

“Absolutely. Los Angeles is only like four and a half hours from here. Probably three and a half with the way I drive.” He chuckles.

“But if you decide it’s the best thing for you, then we’ll make it work.

Obviously, I don’t want to go a day without seeing you, but it’s better than losing you for good.

And I’d never ask you to give up something like that for us.

If it’s important to you, it’s important to me and Ty. ”

“Roman, I…” Words completely fail me. No one has ever supported me the way he is, and it is as beautiful as it is heartbreaking.

“I love you, Maddie. I know it’s soon and that we have so much left to learn about each other, but I’ve never felt like this before.”

“Neither have I.” I shake my head. “I love you, too.”

“Good.” He smiles. “Because I’m not going anywhere. We’re going to be right here to support whatever you decide. Whether it’s here or LA or the moon.”

I burst out laughing, wiping the rest of my tears off of my cheek. “Roman, I really appreciate you saying all of that. I needed it after today.” He eyes me carefully. “But I really don’t know if LA is the right thing for me.”

“What are you talking about? Isn’t that your dream program?”

“It was. But I found out while I was home that I only got offered the position because my dad called in a favor. Which means he could have done it at any point. He just didn’t want to help me.”

“What?” Roman clenches his jaw. “Jesus, Maddie. I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t want to get into it all right now. I’m not giving up on it completely. I just think I need to slow down and really think it over. I can’t rush into something like that without being sure it’s the right choice.”

Everything about my career path has been go, go, go from the beginning and maybe a step back is exactly what I need to find a little clarity.

“Whatever you need, baby. I’m here for it.”

I lay back down next to him, my head on his shoulder, and he sweeps a kiss across my forehead.

I know with every fiber of my being that coming home tonight was the right decision.

Lying here next to him is the perfect ending to an otherwise terrible day, and nestled in Roman’s arms, safe and supported, is exactly where I’m supposed to be.

And thank God, so is he.