Liar (Madison Kate, #2)

by Tate James

"You ran. I'm more than capable of handling myself, and you know it. We all are. You used it as a convenient excuse to hide from the fact that you'd started letting us in. You'd started letting me in, and it terrified you. So you ran." His words were cold and biting, and it tore me up inside to hear. But... he wasn't wrong. That was the most painful part. "Then on Halloween, when we tried to give you the truth about your mom and Zane, when we tried to show you the falsities within your own memories, you ran again." He sucked a breath, his nostrils flaring and his mouth a tight slash across his face. "You ran and you nearly fucking died, Madison Kate." His voice cracked over that last part, and a gut-wrenching flash of vulnerability passed across his face. Words failed me, and silence filled the room as he stared at me with his eyes like storm clouds, turbulent and mysterious. "You checked yourself out of the hospital four days ago, and you didn't even try to call and tell us you were okay. The cops must have told you we weren't responsible for what happened, but you still ran. Again." His voice was softer now, lacking the heat of his initial anger, and instead soaked in hurt and bitter disappointment. "I'm hurt and angry and so incredibly frustrated," he continued, raising a hand to cup the back of my head. His fingers gripped my hair tight enough to turn it from a tender gesture into something dominant and controlling. "But one thing I'm not, Hellcat, is over you."