I wait until she’s set the glass back down and ask, “Do you think relationships can work if there are secrets involved?”

“Ah ha!” she almost shouts, pointing her finger at me.

I rear back in surprise and stupidly look around the room again.

She clears her throat. “Carry on.”

“Okay...” I eye her sideways before continuing. “I guess I’m just wondering how important it is to share absolutely everything. And if the feeling of suspicion will always linger because you know the person is holding back.”

Doctor Aroma sits forward a little, her gaze penetrating mine even more. “I don’t know, Ky,” she says, her eyes thinning to slits. “Depends on what the secret is and if it involves the skanky whore that runs the impound lot at the police station.”

I stifle my laugh and trap my lips between my teeth, watching her eyes widen with her sudden admission. She looks at the clock. “Time’s up,” she says.

“I just sat down.”

“You’re excused.”

“No.” I shake my head and cross my arms, loving the switch in power. “I think I’m going to sit here and talk. You can stay silent if you want. Or you can talk.”

She matches my stance. “Fine.”

“So today I think I’m going take a page from your book and talk about all of my best friend’s crushes when he was in high school. You may know him as Detective Davis...”

***

I wake up the next morning in an empty bed.

Quickly, I get up and search my apartment for Madison, but she isn’t there. Neither is her bag. I check my phone. There are no missed calls. No messages. My heart stops. I dial her number. She picks up on the fourth ring. “Hey babe!”

“Jesus Christ, Maddy where the hell are you?”

“I just checked in on Debbie.”

“You should have sent a text—”

She laughs. “I left you a note.”

“Who the hell leaves notes these days!”

She laughs harder. “I’ll be back soon. You better have calmed down by then because I’m not putting up with Grumpy Ky all day.”

Just as I’m about to respond, there’s a knock on the door. Figuring it was Madison, I open the door in my boxers—half-mast.

“Dude!” Jackson yells, shielding his eyes from my dick. “Put that thing away.”

“I’ll call you back,” I tell Madison, and hang up.

With a laugh, I leave the door open for Jackson and go to the bedroom to put on some clothes. “What are you doing here?” I yell out.

I hear the front door close and then the TV switch on. “I have no idea,” he shouts back.

Once my pants are on and I’ve shrugged on a shirt, I join him on the couch. “What the hell do you mean you have no idea?”

“Your girl messaged me—asked me to meet her here.” He looks around the apartment. “Where is she, anyway?”

“Out.”

He mutes the TV. “She’s not here?”

“Nope.”

He taps my chest with the back of his hand. I face him. “So I have that info you asked for, but I don’t know how you’re going to react to it.”

“Hit me.”

“She doesn’t exist—Madison Haynes—at least not anyone that matches her description.”

I rub my jaw and puff out a breath. “I kind of knew that already.”

“You knew?”

“Well yeah, that’s why I asked you. But I thought you’d be able to find a birth certificate...something.”

“Ky, I searched. I can’t find shit about anyone with that name. What the hell do you mean—”

“I can’t tell you,” I cut in. “It’s not my story to tell, Jax.”

“Fine. But there’s more.”

My attention spikes. “More?”

“So I looked into the lease on her apartment...”

“And?”

“It was paid three months in advance—cash. And the name on the lease? Cash.”

I shrug. “That’s not a big deal. I mean, maybe that’s all she could afford. It’s not like she has a credit history or social security.”

“What are you not telling me, Ky?”

“Like I said, not my story.”

“But it could be dangerous—”

The front door opens and Madison steps in, grinning like the damn Cheshire cat when she sees both of us on the couch. “Good. You’re both here.”

I would respond, if not for the fact that I can’t comprehend why the hell she’s holding a bouquet of white lilies.

She stands in front of the TV, placing a plastic bag and the lilies on the coffee table. And then...nothing. She just stands there smiling at the both of us.

I look over at Jax but he’s focused on her.

Sighing, I stand up and take the steps to get to Madison. I grip her arm and turn my back on Jax so he can’t hear me whisper, “What the hell are the white lilies for? And why did you ask Jackson to come here?”

She pulls back a little so she can look up at me. “Well...” she sings, “the white lilies go with this.”

She reaches over to the bag on the table and pulls out a wooden picture frame—the word ‘MOM’ etched on the top. “Look,” she says, her grin still displayed. She points to the picture of an older woman with two young men standing on either side. “It could be you and Jax.”

Jax chuckles.

I glare at him, then give my attention back to Madison. “And what’s he here for?”

“He’s my back up.”

“Your back up?” I ask incredulously.

“Yes, Ky, we’re going to visit Christine today—”

“No, we’re not!”

She flinches slightly. “And Jackson is here to help me convince you.”

I direct my gaze at Jackson. He holds his hands up in surrender, leans back into the couch, stretches his arms on the back of it, and kicks his feet up on the table. Then he shakes his head and waves a hand at us. “Carry on,” he states.

I drag Madison by her arm into the bedroom and shut the door. “What the hell are you doing?”

She sits on the edge of the bed, a perfect frown on her face. “It’s time, Ky.”

“You don’t get to decide that.”

“Maybe not,” she says quietly, fear in her eyes for the first time since she walked in. “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping.” She hugs her waist. “I just know that I’d give anything to see my mother—or even have one that would want to see me.”

My words catch in my throat. She just stares at me with pity in her eyes. Like I—out of the two of us—is deserving of pity. I sit next to her. “Are you doing this for me or you, Maddy?”

“Neither,” she says. “I’m doing it for Christine and Jackson.”

Her hand moves slowly down my arm, capturing my hand in hers. “We don’t have to go. I just thought...” she trails off.

“You thought what?” I ask, turning back to her.

“Wouldn’t it be nice, Ky? To be able to see them, mend some bridges or whatever. Christmas is coming up. We could spend it with them. You know...as a family.”