All it took was one moment for everything to change. One moment and three dangerous men who emanated equal parts pleasure and pain.
Following her father's disappearance, Madelyn Adams takes her travels to New York in pursuit of an unlikely yet desp...
I hate that she knows the truth, because now I'm not able to just ignore her.
Most of all, I hate that I want her in a way I've never wanted anyone else.
She's beautiful, she's strong, and most of all, she doesn't let herself get pushed around.
Having everyone terrified of you gets old really quick and while there was still fear to be seen in Madelyn, there was also defiance, confidence, and need.
She challenged my offers and didn't back down when I glared at her.
Despite being well aware of what we're capable of, she refused to break under our gazes.
I want her, and I hate it.
After leaving the three of us behind, Caleb's phone began to ring repeatedly, Jolene's caller ID showing on the screen.
We knew why she was calling and had expected every ounce of her anger too.
While I only picked up on certain parts of the conversation, I knew Jolene was yelling in Italian, something she tends to do when she's highly upset about something.
Not being able to understand the majority of her words, Caleb had to pass the phone to Alec, where Jolene lectured him for a good half hour.
I specifically picked up on her saying, "You three are idiots and I don't care that your fathers will kill me. If you hurt that girl, I will personally make your lives a living hell, starting with castrations."
I mentally winced at the image, knowing fully well she'd do it too.
Thankfully after some time, Alec was able to calm his aunt down, repeatedly reassuring that we had no intention of harming Madelyn in any way.
I don't exactly know why Jolene cares for her so much, but I do know that she stays true to her word.
Her anger returned when we told her Madelyn was going to start working at the club, but she can at least understand why we're doing it.
If we do nothing and this completely backfires on us, we would be screwed in an instant. At least this way, we have her in our sights and can ensure she remains hidden from my father's power.
Plus, as strange to me as it is, I don't hate the idea of having to see her again.
We haven't spoken to Madelyn since our most previous interaction, but I wanted to at least make sure she was okay before the night was over.
I hate that she has to be scared of me, especially when I would never do the things she fears. Well not to her at least.
As much as I enjoy the look of terror in the eyes of my enemies, I don't want Madelyn to have to hate me.
Thankfully, the firework show is about to start soon, and I know I'll be able to see her then.
Exiting the main building, I hold the plate of food I recently gathered from the buffet in my hands.
Caleb and Alec are currently speaking to other friends, while I was scoping out the crowd for Madelyn.
Finally locating her amongst a small group of people, I see that she's playing around with that camera of hers.
She's biting the inside of her cheek again and I've noticed she tends to do that a lot when she's deep in thought about something.
I wonder what thoughts are currently invading her mind?
Making my way over to her, she thankfully doesn't seem as scared to see me as she was last time.
Even though she's not looking at me, I can tell by the way she tenses slightly that she knows I'm there.
I kind of like how attuned she is to me, especially considering we're practically strangers. I don't plan for that title to last for long though.
"Xavier." She addresses my presence, but doesn't say anything further.
"Here." I say, holding out the plate of food to her.
I've never been good at this whole nice thing, and I don't plan on trying it either. I just want to make sure she's fed at least once tonight.
Not having the slightest idea of what she likes, I got a little bit of everything in hopes it would be fine.
Turning around, she looks at the food in confusion before her striking green eyes blink up at me.
Her gaze flicks to my scar, but it's so quick it was almost unnoticeable.
"Carter told me to give this to you." I lie when she doesn't grab the plate.
Does she think I poisoned it or something?
"Oh. No, I'm okay, but thank you. I already ate." She says, trying to cover up her own fib from earlier.
When she looks down to her feet, I allow a smirk to form on my face at her uneasiness.
"You didn't. I recall you were a bit too preoccupied during dinner, so don't be stubborn." I encourage, placing the plate of food in her hands myself.
I have to ignore the warmth I instantly get at the feeling of her skin brushing against mine.
Gauging her reaction, I see that her cheeks have gone pink in embarrassment, and her ears are nearly red.
Another time, I would probably take this opportunity to tease her, but we've already put her emotions through enough today.
I can see how exhausted she is and that's another reason why I don't tell her I'm paying for her photography services tonight as a wedding present to Carter and Jules.
I'd already agreed to pay before I knew Madelyn was the replacement, but I know she'll just get worked up if she found out.
"I—" She goes to deny my words, but we both know what happened in that room.
Caleb and Alec do too, but none of us care as Madelyn does.
She's embarrassed, but for us, it only made us want her more.
I would give anything to know what was going through her mind as she watched them take that girl together. What it would be like if she was in place of the redhead while I stood and observed her from the sidelines.
"It's no big deal," I cut her off mid speech at her denial. "Just eat before the fireworks start, okay?"
Finally giving in, she grabs the fork from my hand, instantly digging into the pulled chicken on the side of her plate.
She lets out a quiet moan at the flavour, and it takes everything in me to keep myself from getting hard right here in front of her.
Another time perhaps, but not yet.
Swallowing, she looks up at me with an appreciative expression.
"Thank you Xavier." She says, and for the first time of the night, I bring a smile to her face.
It's small, but it's there.
A weird feeling passes through me at the sight of it, but I don't hate it.
She looks even prettier when she's happy.
- End of Chapter 11 -
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