The Formidable

59

"Take Mia to the house today," Madison said at eleven in the morning the following day. Jase raised his brows.

"Today?" he repeated. She nodded. She'd been thinking of the life they could have once everything was dealt with all night and had come to the conclusion that this needed to be dealt with now, rather than later. Why wait any longer? Mia deserved a childhood without chaos and with every day that passed Madison's anxiety grew.

"This ends tonight," she said, watching their daughter from the breakfast bar in the kitchen. She was sat in front of the television, drawing with crayons on a pile of paper. Madison was grateful that Mia was at an age where she couldn't really tell what was going on around her and it would be likely that she wouldn't remember anything.

"Are you going to go get your car?" Jase asked.

"Yeah. I'll get it tonight. Get everyone ready." Jase took his burner phone out, sending the message. A mixture of excitement and apprehension flickered inside him.

It was happening. It was all happening. They'd planned meticulously, every fine detail about how it would all go, even what they would do if it all went wrong but he hadn't expected Madison to want to go through with the things this soon. His phone began to ping with confirmations. At this point, he looked at Madison and saw the woman he'd fell in love with nearly four years ago. She looked focused and determined. And beautiful in all her dangerous fury. If everyone were to die today, he really hoped she wasn't one of them because there was no way he'd be able to carry on without her at this point. It was funny how the roles were reversed. At first, she'd been his prisoner and now he was captivated and cuffed by her mere existence. He made his way over to her, lifting her chin.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked seriously. There was that glint in her eyes again, the fear he'd seen the night she was dragged to the house by Paul and Chris. But through the uncertainty and trepidation, she nodded. They wouldn't get another opportunity for anything so wild and in true Madison fashion, she wanted to go out with a bang.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said, her voice hoarse and nervous. Jase tucked a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her softly.

"If there's anyone that can pull this off, it's us," he assured her. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her ear against his chest and listening to his heartbeat. It was a stark and bitter truth that this could be the last time she heard it if everything were to go south. A lump caught in her throat. They'd been through so much together, so much shit no one should ever have to go through and come out in one piece, willing to fight should they need to.

"Madison, you're about 5'3 and 120 pounds at best. I can bench more than you."

A lump caught in her throat.

"I made my bed."

A tear streamed down her cheek.

"Why did you do it, Jase?"
"For you."

Her hands clung to his t-shirt.

"That's my girl."

Jase's arms tightened around her, one hand on the back of her head holding her securely in a way he knew made her feel safe.

"It's going to be okay," he soothed gently, as he had done so many times before. But this time, neither of them were so sure of his words. They were balancing on a knives edge. Their history was tainted with numerous traumatic experiences, but they'd always had each other. After tonight, that could all change and it was the only thing they weren't prepared for.

"I love you," Madison croaked weakly. Jase kissed the top of her head, scrunching her hair and closing his eyes. Of all the things he'd done whilst working for Benny and in the house, he had never experienced the level of worry that was currently chewing him up inside. The weight of everything resting on his shoulders.

The events of the evening had to go perfectly, otherwise it could prove fatal.

"I love you too," Jase said.