Fated Series. Book #2
"Be possessive of me, own me, keep me, because if you do then nothing and no one else can." - Maddox.
My name is Maddox Vallero, and I'm dead.
Well, that's not quite true. I'm alive in the breathing, walking, talking sense-but...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Chapter 9 Will To Fight Maddox
I took a sip of the smoothie, instantly regretting every life choice that led me to this moment. "Pick a flavor, boss. I'll grab it for you," Sophia had said when she was ordering herself one from the shop down the street. So I made the colossal mistake of asking which flavor she was getting, and an even bigger mistake telling her to get me the same thing. Now I'm stuck with a cucumber-spinach-apple monstrosity that tastes like something Kirsan would insist has "health benefits." A drink should never be green.
It was well past seven, and I was finally getting home. I strolled up the stairs, lazily and in no hurry, my mind circling back to the same topic it's been stuck on all week. My iridescent, demanding, and stunning assistant, who sits outside my office every day like my own personal temptation. It's maddening, really, to have her so close and yet so far. It's exhausting trying to keep my eyes off her, to constantly hold myself back from doing exactly what I want. Because I want. I want so much that it makes my hands shake. The fox in me wants to steal every thought, every ounce of her attention, even her sanity. I want to watch it slipping out of those summer-sky eyes and feel it drip onto my tongue. I want her pulse to beat for me, and only me.
I thought a date would help. Like some random woman would suddenly snap me out of this. But sitting across from my date, who was objectively beautiful, the only thing I could think about was how she wasn't Sophia. She wasn't the one I wanted to talk to, or look at, or...hell, even just sit in silence with. My date could've been anyone. She didn't matter.
So I spent the whole night faking interest, listening to someone talk about God-knows-what, thinking about my assistant the entire time. Pathetic, right? I've never felt more ridiculous in my life.
I pushed open the door to the apartment, still chewing on that particular thought, and shut it behind me. Making a beeline for the kitchen, I hoped I'd find something to wash away the taste of this smoothie. The whole cucumber-spinach thing had to be Sophia's idea of a practical joke, and I wasn't falling for it. Not again. I dumped the smoothie into the sink and ran my tongue along my teeth, trying to scrape off the aftertaste, when I heard a soft sniffle from the living room.
I paused. Narrowed my eyes into the dark room and saw a small figure huddled on the couch. I reached for the light switch, and sure enough, there was Lina, sitting alone in the dark, looking...broken.
Soft brown eyes, misted and raw, looked up at me, and I found myself wondering just how long she'd been sitting here, alone in the dark. Would she have even spoken up if I hadn't noticed her? She was curled up into a tiny ball, her face streaked with dried and fresh tears, like they'd carved little rivers down her cheeks, washing all the joy right out of her.
I made my way toward her in a rush, almost tripping over myself. "Hey, what's wrong?" I asked, voice a little too urgent. "Why are you sitting here in the dark? You're not a vampire, sweetheart. I mean, you faint at the sight of blood. Vampires kind of need blood to live, and you squirm just looking at it."
