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...
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Chapter 36 Media Break Maddox
The call ended, Sophia's usually mind-spinning voice fading faster than I would've liked. My own words died in my throat before they ever reached my tongue. But just because I didn't say them didn't mean I didn't feel them—lodged there, heavy, mixing with the bile rising in my chest.
Staring at my phone, I tried to process what had just happened. Jax had been sick all day—all yesterday too, apparently—but hearing that he needed a hospital sent a shock through me. And not only was he sick enough to be there, but Sophia had asked me to come.
I didn't know if I should be grateful or terrified.
What I did know? My blood pressure was through the roof, and at this rate, I'd be needing a damn hospital bed myself. Years of untreated conditions put me at high risk for a heart attack—that's the cold truth. And as much as I should be worried about that...
I wasn't.
All I could think about was Sophia trusting me right now.
It shouldn't feel like such a big deal, but fuck, it was. I didn't have to scheme my way into an invitation. I didn't have to lie or beg. She asked me to come. Sophia—who never let anyone in—just gave me this. And it felt like a privilege. One I wasn't sure I deserved, but one I sure as hell wasn't letting go of.
I wanted all of it with her.
The bad. The good. The boring, ordinary, everyday bullshit. And I wanted this—being here for her, being the person she calls when she needs someone. But before I could think too much about it, reality crashed down, a bomb going off in my chest. Jax was sick. In the hospital. My body reacted before my mind could catch up. I lurched forward, tripping over my PC, barely catching myself before I hit the ground. My hands were already shaking as I grabbed the first jacket I could find, barely able to grip it as I spun toward the door.
My vision blurred.
Fuck. Jax was probably scared.
My room wasn't even big, basic, really, but in the time it took me to cross it, I tripped several times. Every step, every thought was tangled up in Jax—this little boy who shared zero of my DNA. But blood didn't mean shit. Fate doesn't give a fuck about genetics. When your heart belongs to someone, it belongs to them. Period. And Jax was mine—just like his mother. Jax held pieces of my heart in his tiny little hands, and right now, that same, unhealthy heart was racing wildly, seconds away from actually giving out.
I yanked the door open—only to slam straight into Kirsan, who was already standing outside my room.
"Fuck, Madds. You see the news?" he asked, shoving his phone toward me.
I didn't even look at it. I shoved past him. I didn't have time for the news. The market, the latest corporate scandal, whatever the hell was happening outside of this moment—I didn't care.
