Page 20 of Echoes of Temptation

We start our bikes and head back to my brothers. The entire trip back my mind plays the memory of the look in Madeline’s eyes when she looked back at me that final time.

“That wasn’t me,”she had whispered with so much hopelessness. Her whole body screamed with sadness. Of fear. Of heartbreak. Then I pushed her out of my life and made sure she knew I wasn’t and would never be interested in a woman like her.

What the fuck did I do?

***Madison***

I laugh as I flop down on my bed. Everything is going according to plan. Well, almost everything.

“Hey sweetheart, can we talk?”

“Sure, what’s up mom?” I ask sweetly.

“I know there’s this thing going on between you and King. Your father and I think you two need your space to figure it out.”

“I know, mommy,” I sigh dramatically. “I’m in love with the big dummy but I don’t think he will ever forgive me.”

“What if you and he spent some time together, here?” she asks, brushing back a lock of my hair. “Your father was thinking about taking me to dinner for the night to celebrate ourupcoming anniversary. I bet I can talk him into renting a nice hotel for us to stay at for a day. Maybe two if he’s feeling frisky.”

She winks and I laugh.

“Gross mommy, I do not want to know those things about my parents. But I guess that’s okay. When Blackhawk gets back tonight I’ll ask him to take me to visit King before he has to leave and see if he will come over to work through everything.”

“Alright, my sweet darling daughter,” she smiles. “I love you, Maddy. You have our numbers if you need us. We’ll be leaving in an hour.”

“Have fun,” I say.

Well, that takes care of those two. I thought for sure I was going to have to do something drastic to get rid of them. I can’t have them die just yet though. I need their money so their deaths need to look like an accident.

It’s all falling into place. Soon, I’ll have the life I rightly deserve. And I don’t even have to get used to a new name. I just need to get King to stop calling me Madeline. But then again, I could easily get used to it if I had to.

Madeline and Madison. Maddy and Maddi. Damn, our mother is a genius.

Chapter Ten

Maddy

I have a twin sister.

I always knew I was adopted. My parents never hid that from me. But, it honestly hasn’t crossed my mind more than a few times in my entire life.

Mom said it was a closed adoption but they were told that my birth mother had died during childbirth. There was never any mention of a twin.

Maybe that was part of the whole, closed adoption, thing, but in the end, it was all a lie.

“You know, at first I thought I was going to have a hard time telling the two of you apart,” the woman, my birth mother, says. “But I can see it as clear as day. It’s in the eyes. They look the same but there’s something different.”

“Yeah, Madison has your eyes,” I say from where I’m tied to this dang chair. “Filled with evilness and greed. Which is why your stupid plan will never work. They’re never going to believe that she’s me.”

“It will only have to work long enough for those people to crash and die,” she tells me, repeating the part of their plan where they try and take over my life as well as my parent’s money. “Once they’re dead, all of their money will be transferred to Madeline Burton. Luckily identical twins have a close genetic makeup so there won’t be any red flags when they confirm her identity.”

“Has this always been your plan?” I ask, trying not to feel hurt.

“Your dad and I planned for the long game,” the woman laughs. “He’s dead now, your father. Alcohol poisoning. Stupid bastard. But the plan remains the same. We knew that anewborn baby would be adopted by a family with a shit ton of money. And we were right. We had to make sure Maddi did everything to always keep up with you. We have watched you grow. Maddi even had to get fat because of you. She didn’t mind though.”

The woman laughs and takes a puff of her cigarette.

“However, she fucking hated those retarted kids’ classes you took. She sat in the back of the class, always disguised, and slept. She just needed a basic understanding to take over every aspect of your life.”