18. Madison
Madison
“I swear to God, this better be good, Derek—” Un-fucking-believable.
I told Dean I wanted nothing more to do with Adrian and this case, but he practically begged me to come into the CIA office, stating that Derek wouldn’t let up with his pissy attitude until I confronted him myself.
“And what the fuck are you doing here?” I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyes caught Eli Wilder sitting in the far corner of the room.
“Nice to see you too, Mads. How’s the new boy toy?” He mocked as he sank back, making himself comfortable in his chair.
I fucking hated Eli. He was constantly meddling in shit he shouldn’t be in and getting far too close to Alexis for my liking. If I remember correctly, Eli had been working with Anathema for at least the past several years—a secret society Chyler and I had tried our hardest to keep Alexis out of.
I never disclosed to either of them that Adrian had taken over…
Anathema was relentless in recruiting. We burned so many of their letters to keep Alexis in the dark, protecting her from the one thing we knew she would be too easily influenced by.
The secret society didn’t just take you in; they took your soul. There was no way out once you signed your life over to them—they fucking owned you until the end.
When we discovered that one of her closest hacker friends was working for them, we did the only thing we knew best—threatened his life to keep his fucking mouth shut.
Eli knew not to mess with us, or we’d kill him where he stood. Still, he continued playing games and chasing after Alexis while our backs were preoccupied with other things.
“That’s none of your business. How’s your precious Monika?” I met him with sass of my own.
Monika was a woman I could give two shits about, but I knew he was close with her. It was entirely obvious just how infatuated Eli was with Alexis, and yet he still strung poor Monika along, most likely imagining he was fucking Alexis instead of her. Gross .
Eli launched himself at me the moment Monika’s name left my lips and wrapped his hand around my throat. I sucked in a sharp breath with the sudden and aggressive movement before my eyes snapped to Dean’s—a silent gesture not to interfere.
This was my fight and mine alone.
“You keep her name out of that cock whoring mouth of yours.” Eli sneered with venom as his grip tightened with a firm squeeze before releasing me .
I choked as air flooded my lungs, wrapping my hand around my throat. Seems as though Monika had become a touchy subject for Eli. I wonder what had happened between them ...
Perhaps she finally figured out that he was only ever going to use her for an easy fuck while he waited for his shot at Alexis, and she finally left him. Wishful thinking.
I massaged my neck, which I was sure would bruise later with his fucking fingerprints, shifting my attention over to Derek, standing behind his desk.
Once Eli had sat back down in his time-out corner, Dean approached me from behind, and I held a hand up to stop him.
I wasn’t in the mood for coddling, and if anything, now was when I needed to show just how vicious and unforgiving I could be.
Eli fucking Wilder…
Walking through the front door, I was surprised to find all the lights off and a trail of candles leading towards our bedroom from the foyer.
“Adrian?” I called out, looking around for any sign of him being home.
Before I left for work this morning, Adrian had mentioned that he was leaving town on a business trip and wouldn’t be home for the next few days… so he shouldn’t be here. “Hello?”
When no answer came, I dropped my backpack to the floor and followed the path of candles, grabbing a knife from the kitchen as I passed by the butcher block.
I knew Adrian, and his attempts at romantic gestures and lighting candles were not one of them—not unless he was using them to hurt and maim.
I gripped the handle tightly in my right hand, the blade lying flat against my forearm as I tiptoed down the hall and lightly pushed on the bedroom door.
“Adrian?” I tried again before slipping into the bedroom and staring in awe as I focused on what was scattered across the bed—red and black rose petals.
Strong hands slipped around my waist, pulling me back against a hard body, and I spun myself around, the blade of the knife millimeters from his neck.
“That’s my girl,” Adrian murmured, ignoring the sharp metal pressed up against his skin as he leaned forward to press his lips to mine.
I pulled away, dropping the blade to my side as I eyed the thin line of blood that dripped along his neck.
“What is all this?” I breathed in shock and surprise.
This wasn’t like him—an over-the-top display of affection—an attempt at romance for a man who had given up on that notion long ago.
“I have a surprise for you, sweetheart.”
Adrian pulled me towards the bed, gesturing for me to sit on the edge as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a black velvet box.
“Adrian, no—”
“You don’t even know what I am going to ask.”
I knew well enough what came in a ring-sized box to understand what he was about to do.
“You’re going to propose…” I uttered, my eyes fixed on his.
“I’m going to offer you the world,” Adrian grinned, opening the velvet box as he fell to one knee and presented the most captivating engagement ring I had ever seen.
The band was white gold with a woven branch design, inlaid with sixteen scattered ruby accents that highlighted the marquise-cut black sapphire stone in the center.
The ring itself was stunning; it was—
“A ring fit for the future Queen of an underground empire.” Adrian finished my thought, and I almost forgot how to breathe.
“Adrian,” I spoke breathily, unable to take my eyes off the ring he held.
My hands started to shake at the thought of giving him the last piece of me—the single thin thread I had been trying so hard to hold on to.
I loved Adrian—but did I want him to have all of me? Could I?
“Underground empire?” I questioned as I snapped out of my daze and returned my attention back to him.
“Anathema. It’s ours.”
“What did you do…” My voice was barely a whisper as I swallowed the bile that had started burning the back of my throat at his words.
I knew all about Anathema and what they were capable of, but what I didn’t know was that the man standing before me was working for them—and evidently was now their leader.
“I did what was necessary to ensure our future.”
His words were like poison—a loaded gun held against my head.
Adrian was a man of all things destructive.
He would see this world burn before letting anyone get anywhere near what he felt he rightfully deserved.
His future.
Ours.
What did he do…
Derek stormed out of the office moments after Eli spilled his shit on Alexis— fucking Alexis . I swear that woman was becoming as reckless as she could possibly get, and this was just the tip of the goddamn iceberg with her.
“You!” I snarled in Eli’s direction, Dean already positioning himself to stand between us as fury started to fuel the fire within my soul .
“I told you, I didn’t fucking do anything!” Eli barked back as he shot up from his seat and stepped towards Dean, who had already managed to block me.
“You’re right, you didn’t, but you also did nothing to fucking stop her. A man who has been pining over her for fucking years.” I wanted to scream.
If it wasn’t for being stuck in this tiny office, I’d have screamed loud enough to shatter glass.
“Mads.”
“Don’t fucking Mads me, Dean.” I scoffed, shoving him aside. “This fucking prick could have stopped her the second she came to him and mentioned the name, Anathema. Why the fuck didn’t he?” That was the most pressing question.
Why? Why didn’t he stop her? He knew who they were— he fucking knew.
Dean’s strong arm wrapped around my waist as he pulled me against him, his lips just barely grazing the shell of my ear. I froze, feeling my insides twist and breath hitch from the contact. It was as if his touch triggered a surge of lust to rush through my veins and up my thighs.
“If you kill him now, you’ll never find out, Darling,” Dean whispered through clenched teeth before releasing his hold on me, and I wanted to whimper at the loss of his touch when he let me go.
“So he’s the new toy. I don’t know why I would have expected any less from you.” Eli mocked with a dark laugh.
“You mother—”
“Enough!” Dean growled, wrapping both of his arms around my waist and squeezing me tightly against his hard body just as I had launched my whole self at Eli.
I was ready to maul him to shreds like a rabid fucking animal.
“Eli, get the fuck out of here until we need you…” Dean glared daggers at him, not even remotely loosening his grip on me.
I could feel my chest rise and fall against his with how heavily I was breathing.
“ If you need me,” Eli added as he casually strolled past Dean, not even so much as glancing at me.
I could feel my eyes setting fire to the back of his skull with how hard I was glaring at him. If only Dean would fucking release me.
Dean finally let me go when Eli had exited the room, only to cup my cheeks in his hands, immediately capturing my attention.
“Don’t let him get to you.”
“You haven’t the faintest idea of what that man is capable of—what he just fucking did, do you?
” I searched Dean’s bright green eyes as I attempted to control my breathing and come to my senses.
I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate the longer I thought about Alexis and the danger she was now in. “If what Eli said is true—”
“Derek will fix this.”
“Derek can’t do fuck-all!” I shouted, nearly breathless, as I dug my nails into his forearms.
My skin burned from all the emotions racing through my veins. Anger, fear, and guilt were at the forefront of my mind. What could Derek possibly do to fix this ?
Dean’s phone went off, and he pulled it from his back pocket; my knees threatened to buckle under the weight of what was happening.
Anathema…
Adrian…
Alexis…
I locked eyes with Dean as he frowned while talking to who I assumed was Derek on the other side of the call.
“What do you mean they—hold on…” Dean sighed, looking at me with pleading eyes as he stepped back and out of the room, leaving me to stand there alone in the dimly lit office.
“Lock your shit up, Madison. You’re not this weak and pathetic woman anymore.” I hissed as I wrapped my arms around myself, digging them deep into my sides and pulling at the fabric of my tank top.
Strong. Strong. I am strong.
Vicious. Resilient. Chaos.
Emotions are for the weak . That’s what Adrian would always say whenever I asked him why it was impossible for him to give me the affection I craved so badly, why I had the nerve to tell him no when he proposed to me.
I was never a greedy woman. I never asked for much, but he couldn’t even give me the bare minimum in return.
All he knew was pain and manipulation.
I let him manipulate me .
There was a stinging sensation on my side, and I could feel that my nails had broken through my skin from the seething anger rising within me.
I was jolted from my thoughts when I heard the door handle click and open, Dean returning to the room with a grim look on his face.
“What is it?” My eyes widened as I released my clenched fists, and my arms sagged at my sides. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good…
“It’s Derek.” He blew out a heavy sigh as he pocketed his phone. “Alexis is missing…”
No…
FUCK!