Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Rhodes
The anticipation has been building all day, but so has the feeling of dread. This morning, the three of us had a meeting.
“This ends tonight,” Ace said as he paced his apartment. “We can’t keep doing this. It’s not fair to her.”
Vander simply nodded, and with that we knew he agreed with Ace.
I wanted to argue. I wanted to say that we could keep going, that we had everything under control, and that she was happy. But I couldn’t keep lying to myself. Every time we put on those masks, the guilt ate away at me a little more.
“Tonight’s the last time,” Ace stated with finality.
So here I am, pulling on my black pants in my apartment, pretending that I’m okay with ending it like this, when I know I’m not. If I weren’t her bodyguard, things would be a lot simpler.
My phone buzzes with a text from Ace: Ready?
I type back: Always
Vander doesn’t text, but I know he’s ready—the asshole always is.
The masks are in a black duffel bag under my bed, so I grab them and head out.
I let myself into Maddie’s apartment quietly. It’s dark, but my eyes adjust quickly. I move through the space with ease, as I now know every inch of this place.
Ace and Vander are already in the kitchen. I toss them their masks and pull on my own as I hear the shower shut off in her bedroom.
Maddie emerges a few minutes later, walking barefoot into the living room. She’s wearing an oversized sweatshirt that probably belongs to her brother and sleep shorts, her damp hair pulled up in a messy bun. She has no idea we’re waiting for her.
Fuck, I want her so badly it physically hurts.
Ace shifts slightly, signaling he’s ready, and Vander nods. We move in unison as she reaches for the light switch.
“Maddie,” I say, and she spins around. Her pupils dilate as she takes us in—all three of us, blocking her exits.
“Oh thank god,” she breathes. “I was hoping you’d come back tonight.”
“You missed us?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer, just watches as we move toward her.
I want to tell her it’s me. To rip off this fucking mask and show her my face and tell her I’ve been thinking about this since the moment we met.
I’ve been wondering what it would be like to own her body when she knows it’s me.
But I won’t tell her who is under the mask because Ace is right; it’s not fair.
Instead, I grab her and spin her. Fuck the chase. Tonight, I need to be buried inside her. To feel her, hear her little sounds one last time.
I bend her over the back of the couch, and she gasps as my hands slide under her sweater. Her skin is soft and warm, and when I pull the fabric over her head, she doesn’t stop me. Her bra comes off next, then I’m yanking down her shorts, leaving her in only her panties.
Vander moves behind me, and I feel his hand on my shoulder—a silent agreement that we’re all in this together. He positions himself on her left while Ace takes her right.
I don’t waste time, simply pulling her panties to the side and sliding into her pussy.
Maddie moans, her back arching as I bury myself deep. She’s already wet, wanting this just as much as we do.
“Fuck,” I groan out, one hand gripping her hip while the other tangles in her hair. “You feel so fucking good.”
I set the pace, and she meets me thrust for thrust, her moans growing louder with each movement. Vander’s hand wraps around her throat, tilting her head to the side, while Ace’s hands skim over her waist, her ribs, finally cupping her breast and tweaking her nipple until she cries out.
I want to tell her. Right there, with my cock buried inside her.
Vander’s hand on my shoulder tightens, a silent reminder.
So I remain quiet and instead fuck her harder. When she comes, making incoherent sounds, I feel something crack inside my chest.
Her body trembles, riding the high of her orgasm, and she has never looked more beautiful.
Ace moves in and stands on the sofa, his cock hard and ready, and I watch as she takes him into her mouth. I shift to the side, and Vander steps up behind her, his fingers already working between her legs, causing her to moan around Ace’s cock.
I position myself to watch, to take in every second. Both the way Vander claims her, and the way she responds to Ace.
She comes again quickly, harder this time, her entire body convulsing. Vander groans, barely holding back his found pleasure, and I know he feels it too. The weight of what this means. The finality of this moment.
As Vander steps back, an alarm goes off. The sound is so loud and unexpected we all freeze for a second.
“Fuck,” Ace snaps, sliding his dick out of Maddie’s mouth and shoving it back in his pants.
“Breach,” Vander says, already put back together. He’s nothing if not efficient.
“Masks off. Now,” Ace commands, already ripping his away.
I don’t hesitate. I tear mine off, and it takes Maddie a second to process what she’s seeing. Her eyes go wide, confusion flicking across her face, followed by recognition.
“Rhodes?” She’s looking at me like she’s never seen me before. Her gaze darts to Ace, then to Vander. “No—no, you didn’t . . .”
“We did,” I confirm.
The sound of breaking glass cuts through the apartment, and I don’t have time to explain or apologize. I grab her and move.
“We need to go. Now,” I say, wrapping a blanket around her nearly naked body.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Maddie, someone’s in your apartment. We need to move.”
She’s fighting me, trying to pull away, but I keep my grip firm. Behind us, I hear Ace and Vander fighting the threat. There’s no time for Maddie to process what she’s figured out, and no time to deal with her anger.
I guide her toward the bedroom, to the fire escape.
“Get off me!” she shouts. “How long have you been lying to me?”
“Not now.”
“Every time? Was it every fucking time?”
I get the window open. She’s barefoot and barely covered, which isn’t ideal. I know this is terrifying, but staying here is worse.
“Come on,” I say, while trying to show her I’m still the same person, even if I’ve been deceiving her. “Please trust me.”
“Trust you?” She laughs. “You guys literally catfished me into a sexual fantasy. How am I supposed to trust you?”
I don’t have a good enough answer, so I simply guide her toward the fire escape, one hand on her lower back, the other holding the blanket secure around her.
We’re halfway down when the first shot rings out.
Maddie screams, and I pull her against me, shielding her body with mine as we move faster down the metal stairs.
“What’s happening?”
“I don’t know.”
Another shot echoes as we hit ground level, and I pull her toward the bulletproof SUV that’s parked right where Ace left it this morning. I throw her into the backseat and slide behind the wheel.
Maddie sits up in the back, wrapped in a blanket that’s sliding off her body, and scowls at me with an expression that is angry and scared all at once.
“You used me,” she snaps as I pull away from the curb. “You all used me.”
“We protected you,” I counter, checking the mirrors, making sure we’re not being followed.
“By pretending to be strangers so you could, what, get off on the power dynamic? Rhodes, you’re my fucking bodyguard. You’re supposed to—”
“Supposed to what?” I cut her off. “Tell you no? Tell you that you can’t have what you want?”
“Tell me the truth!” She’s practically screaming now. “You could have asked. You could have said, ‘Hey Maddie, we want to fuck you.’ Instead, you played a sick game and—”
“We kept you safe!”
Ace would say the same if he were here, but he’s not. He’s back at the apartment, helping Vander deal with the man who’s been obsessing over her for months.
I grip the wheel tighter and repeat my truth. “We kept you safe, and we gave you what you wanted.”
“What I wanted?” She lets out a laugh that sounds almost unhinged. “I wanted the fantasy to be with strangers, Rhodes. With men I didn’t know. With men I couldn’t catch feelings for. That was the whole point.”
My hands clench on the steering wheel. It hits different because it makes me question if she has feelings for me.
“Tough,” I say. “The fantasy’s over, and your safety is our priority.”
She’s quiet for a moment, and I use the silence to navigate through the city streets, away from her apartment and toward the safe location we’ve already prepared. The SUV is bulletproof, so for now we’re secure.
“So what now?” she asks, her voice quieter. “What happens now that I know it’s you? Are you going to fire yourself? Are you going to disappear and pretend this never happened?”
I look at Maddie in the rearview mirror. I’ve wanted nothing more than for her to understand that what we did, what we’ve been doing, isn’t a lie. It’s simply a different version of the truth.
But I can’t say any of that right now. Not with the adrenaline still pumping, and her this angry. So instead, I drive.
Maddie wraps the blanket tighter around herself and stares out the window.
Protecting her is easy. Figuring out how to keep her heart from hating me—now that will be a whole lot harder.