Chapter 1 The Weight of the Past

"Oh, I am so done with this town," I muttered, dragging my heels across the cracked asphalt of the underground parking garage. The heavy scent of oil and damp concrete hung thick in the stagnant air. "You have no idea, Noah."

Through the tinny speaker of my phone, Noah’s chuckle was a warm, familiar grounding wire. "Come on, Maddie. You survived the national spotlight and a career hit-piece. I think you can survive a local grocery run."

"I’m wearing velvet pyjama pants in public, Noah. Pyjama pants. A woman who just won a major freelance press grant shouldn't be wandering the aisles looking like a disgraced Victorian orphan."

"You were running on three hours of sleep after submitting a forty-page investigative dossier, babes. Give yourself a break. Besides, it’s a free world."

"I just wanted to feel human for once," I murmured, shifting my heavy grocery bag to my other arm. "No deadlines. No source protection. No suits in corner offices dictating what I can and can't print. For the first time in years, I can actually breathe. I’m finally free of that damn station. And him."

Silence stretched over the line for a beat; the kind of heavy, knowing silence only a best friend can offer.

"At least you finally opened your eyes," Noah said softly, her tone shifting from playful to fiercely protective. "He was a parasite, Maddie."

"Yeah. He was." I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing my eyes toward the sleek silhouette of my sedan parked near the dimly lit far wall. "Look, I’m at my car now. I’ll beep you the second I pull into my driveway. Love you, Noah."

"Love you too. Drive safe."

I ended the call, sliding the phone into the pocket of my oversized jacket. The quiet of the parking garage rushed back in, absolute and suffocating. I reached into my bag, my fingers fumbling through my keys, searching for the key fob.

A shadow detached itself from the concrete pillar behind me.

Before I could turn, a pair of heavy, solid hands slammed against the door of my sedan, trapping me against the cold metal. A broad, warm chest flushed hard against my spine, pinning me in place. The scent of expensive cologne, tobacco, and familiar betrayal hit my senses all at once, short-circuiting my nervous system.

My body froze. I melted against him before my brain could even register the threat.

"Hello, my love," a smooth, dark voice purred directly into the shell of my ear. "It’s been a minute. Did you really think you could just erase me?"

Zack.

Every instinct I had cultivated as an investigative journalist screamed at me to fight, to throw an elbow into his ribs, to drag my keys across his cheek, or to blast his face with the pepper spray tucked in my coat. But my limbs felt like lead. The memory of what we used to be; or what I thought we were, bound me like invisible chains.

I had given this man everything. My trust, my late nights, my heart. I had believed his empty promises when he whispered that he was leaving his wife, that I was the only woman who truly understood him. Instead, he had discarded me the moment things got messy, walking away while I bled out in a back-alley clinic, dealing with the horrifying aftermath of a choice I was forced to make alone.

And yet, as he pressed closer, the unmistakable ridge of his body hard against my lower back, my treacherous physiology betrayed me.

"Baby, look at me," Zack murmured. His lips brushed the sensitive skin just below my jawline, planting soft, lingering kisses down my neck. "We can fix this. I miss you. God, I’ve missed you so much."

His hands slid slowly down my arms, his touch maddeningly light, tracing a trail of fire over my skin. He knew exactly what he was doing. Zack was a master of manipulation, but worse than that, he knew my body better than I cared to admit. He knew how to break down my walls with surgical precision.

Fight back, Maddie, my mind screamed. Look at him. Remember the hospital bed. Remember the silence when you called him crying.

Instead, my eyes caught his reflection in the dark, tinted glass of my driver’s side window. Damn those eyes. Heavy-lidded, smoky, and dangerously intense, they held that same hypnotic pull that had drawn me into his orbit two years ago.

My grip loosened. The heavy paper grocery bag slipped from my fingers, hitting the asphalt with a dull thud. A soft, humiliating gasp escaped my lips.

"That's it," he whispered against my skin. His warm breath coated my earlobes as his mouth worked its way toward my collarbone. "Let me make it up to you, Maddie. It wasn't intentional. I swear to you, I never wanted to hurt you."

His words were smooth silk, cutting through the cold rage I had spent months building. His fingers hooked under the hem of my shirt, sliding upward over my ribs. Cold shivers spiked down my spine as his calloused thumbs found the curve of my waist, tracing skin that hadn't been touched in months.

I hated myself in that moment. I hated that my cycle had picked this exact week to peak, filling my veins with a desperate, heavy ache that demanded satisfaction. I hated that my mind was at war with my body, and my body was losing.

"Mmm..." A low moan slipped past my teeth before I could stop it.

"Yes, baby," Zack breathed, encouragement laced with dark satisfaction. His hands moved higher, softly cupping my breasts through my lace bra, kneading them with a practiced, possessive rhythm that made my knees go weak. I threw my head back against his shoulder, my eyes closing as a battle raged inside my chest.

This is wrong. He ruined you. He left you to drown.

"You still want me," he purred, his teeth grazing the sensitive dip above my collarbone. He pulled at the neck of my shirt, exposing my bare skin to the damp garage air, threatening to mark me as his all over again. "Tell me how much you need me, Maddie. Say it."

"Zack..." I managed to choke out, his name feeling like broken glass in my throat.

"Tell me, baby."

He tilted my chin back, his dark eyes meeting mine in the reflection of the glass. The smirk playing on his lips was pure triumph. He saw my hesitation, but more than that, he saw the surrender creeping into my posture. He thought he had won. He thought I was just another story he could edit, another line he could rewrite to suit his narrative.

His hand slid lower, slipping beneath the waistband of my pants, his fingers brushing against the thin lace of my underwear. I gasped, the sudden heat of his touch sending a jolt straight to my core. I was already wet, demanding, and utterly shameless in my body's betrayal.

"Look at you," he whispered, a dark, arrogant chuckle vibrating in his chest. "You run across town, you claim you hate me... but you're practically begging for it right here in a parking lot."

"Shut up," I rasped, trying to summon an ounce of steel in my voice, but it came out as a breathy plea.

He slid two fingers beneath the lace, finding my centre with practiced ease. My breath hitched, my world narrowing down to the dangerous, rhythmic friction of his hand against my skin. The dignity I had reclaimed over the last six months was dissolving in a wave of dark, addictive lust.

Just a little more, a dark, toxic voice whispered in the back of my mind. Just let him give you this, and then walk away forever.

Then, my pocket exploded with sound.

A loud, obnoxious, heavy-metal ringtone shattered the silence of the garage, cutting through the haze of lust like a bucket of ice water.

"Bitch, pick up your phone or I’ll murder you when I get there!"

The custom voice-tag blared from my phone, echoing off the concrete walls.

Noah.

It was like being slapped in the face. The fog cleared in an instant. The reality of where I was, who I was with, and what I was about to let him take from me slammed back into my chest with crushing force.

I shoved against Zack's chest with all the strength I had left, breaking his grip and stumbling forward against my car door.

"Maddie, come on..." Zack began, his brow furrowing in irritation as he took a step toward me.

"Stay back!" I snapped, my hand trembling as I frantically fished the ringing phone out of my pocket. I smoothed down my shirt, taking a sharp, ragged breath to steady my voice before tapping the screen. "Hi... hi, Noah."

There was a pause on the line. "Gurrrl... what are you up to?" Noah’s voice was instantly suspicious, practically radiating judgment through the speaker. One could think she was watching the whole damn time. "You sound like you just ran a marathon."

"Nothing! Nothing, I swear," I said quickly, backing away from Zack as he watched me like a predator stripped of its kill. "I just... I dropped my groceries. I'm fine. It's sorted."

Zack raised an eyebrow, a cruel, deliberate smirk playing on his lips. Before I could move further away, he cleared his throat loudly, the sound bouncing off the metal doors of the surrounding cars.

My heart dropped into my stomach. My jaw clenched so hard my teeth ached.

"Is someone with you?" Noah’s voice instantly hardened into pure ice. "Maddie, tell me that isn't who I think it is."

Panic and fury seized my chest in equal measure. I didn't answer. I didn't give her the chance to hear the truth.

I ended the call, shoving the phone back into my pocket.

I turned slowly to face Zack, the remnant haze of desire completely gone, replaced by a cold, sharp rage that burned brighter than anything I had felt in years.

"You think this is a game?" I whispered, my voice deadly quiet. "You really think you can just show up and ruin my life whenever you get bored?"

Zack took a slow step forward, folding his arms across his chest with absolute confidence. "I didn't ruin your life, Maddie. I built it. And it's time you came home."