Free Choked (Devoured #3) by Hazel Kelly Page A

waiting to talk to you
for two weeks.”
    Madeline made a face like she had a bad taste in her
mouth.
    “Can we talk?” He gestured to the front step.
    “Not here. Let’s talk in the car. My parents have
heard enough.”
    Madeline’s apparent repulsion only increased when
she saw the inside of the car. There were crumpled fast food bags on the floor
and even a greasy pizza box on the back seat. She sat down on the edge of the
seat.
    “Look, Kirk. You can’t keep coming here. I don’t
want to see you, and it’s upsetting my parents.”
    “Madeline, please come home. You’re my wife. I-”
    “I was your wife, Kirk, but I’m not anymore.” She
kept her arms crossed and one foot on the ground outside the car. “I don’t even
know who you are. What I do know is that you’re not the man I married. You’re
not the man I’m going to spend my life with. And you’re not the man I’m going
to raise my baby with. So really, there’s no reason for me to see you anymore.”
    “I know I made a mistake, Madeline. I know I don’t
deserve you-”
    “Well we agree on those things.”
    “But I love you and I’m sorry and I’ll do anything
to make it up to you.”
    “Too little too late I’m afraid.”
    “You’re the best thing in my whole life.”
    “Turns out that doesn’t count for much.”
    “But I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose you-”
    “I guess you should have thought about that before
you started screwing your student.”
    “But I never loved her. It was just sex. It didn’t
mean anything. And I didn’t know she was crazy.”
    “Were you ever going to tell me Kirk? Are you really
sorry or are you just sorry you got caught?”
    “I’m really sorry. I’ve never been so sorry in my
whole life. Honestly, I wish I could take it back. I hate myself for doing this
to you.”
    Madeline pursed her lips. “Yeah. I really want to
believe you because it would probably make me feel a little better.”
    Kirk rubbed the corner of his eye with the heel of
his hand.
    “Unfortunately, you’re obviously so comfortable
lying to my face over and over again that even if I believed you, I’d be a fool
to accept your apology.”
    Kirk rested an elbow in the bottom of the steering
wheel. “I’ll do anything, Madeline. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
    “Anything I want?”
    “Anything. Anything to make it up to you.”
    “I’ll tell you exactly what I want Kirk.”
    He raised his eyebrows and held his breath.
    “I want you to sign the papers when you get them, I
want you to leave me and my family alone, and I never want to hear from you
again. If you care about me at all, you’ll give me a chance to start over.”
    Kirk shook his head. “No. I love you too much. And
I’m not a bad person. I just made a mistake.”
    “Tell it to the judge.”
    “I have a right to see my son, Madeline.”
    “No. You had a right to see your son before
you became a despicable person, but I’m sure you’d agree that there’s no benefit
to him being around you now.”
    “The boy will want to know who his father is.”
    “Well don’t worry.” She stepped out of the car. “I
won’t tell him the truth.”
    “This conversation isn’t over.”
    “You have something else to say?”
    Kirk stood up and spoke over the hood of the car.
“Don’t you still have feelings for me? Don’t you want to work through this and
give me another chance?”
    Madeline walked around the front of the car. “If
you’re wondering whether I’m heartbroken, the answer is yes, of course I am.
I’ve never hurt so badly or felt so sick in my whole life.”
    Kirk stepped to the side and closed his door so
there was nothing between them.
    “The only thing I can imagine that would be more
devastating would be if I wasted any more of my love or my life on you.”
    “No,” Kirk’s voice cracked. “Don’t do this.”
    And without another word, Madeline walked back up
the driveway and out of Kirk’s life