Chapter 29 Reyna
REYNA
Maddox might be a serial killer, but I’m two seconds away from killing the motherfucker. As they say, the lion, the witch, and the absolute audacity of this fucking bitch.
We’ll never be over.
Kiss. My. Ass.
He broke up with me. Then all of a sudden, he shows up at my dinner with Lawrence wanting to talk and have some alone time with me—and now this?
Please. He’s about two weeks too late.
I slam my books on the desk as soon as the last student leaves the room. “What the fuck is your problem?” I growl, glaring down Maddox Fucking Shaw who’s standing all prim and proper on the other side of the desk.
Fuck him and his stupid tie. And fuck his knitted sweater, his perfectly polished boots, and the annoyingly cute scarf he walked into class wearing too.
Once again, he showed up to a workshop a tutor is meant to run. I thought I’d be free of him so I’d have more than a couple of days to process what happened and come up with a reason why he showed up at dinner. Him being jealous is not a valid option.
His eyes brighten when they land on me. Maddox can’t seriously be happy to see me. “Whatever do you mean?”
Oh. He really wants to play this card?
“Don’t play dumb with me,” I hiss, pointing a finger at his stupid face. “Why the hell did you have to ruin my”—gag—“date?”
I wasn’t sure if I agreed to go to dinner with Lawrence out of pity, as a distraction to forget about Maddox, or to see if I could fish information about the society.
But when he made clear that any information linked to the society wouldn’t be forthcoming—and since it’s not like I’m going to keep poking around Maddox’s crime scenes—I decided I was done entertaining him for good and cut our evening short.
A fact he didn’t take particularly well.
Maddox raises a flawless brow in amusement and scoffs. “Bad breath and dry cake ruined it long before I came along.”
“I don’t understand you,” I say, exasperated. “You told me how you really feel, and I listened. I stayed the hell away, and you’ve been so goddamn persistent with ensuring that you’re the one who can’t leave it to rest.”
Ever since we broke up, I haven’t stopped feeling like I’m being watched, and I’m so sick and tired of it. Worse, I can’t stop thinking that it’s him who’s tailing me. Like, how did he just so happen to “be in the area” of my date? He lives on the opposite side of the city.
Doesn’t he realize that I’m hurting? I can’t get over something we apparently never had if he keeps showing up to remind me of all my misplaced feelings.
I’m grateful for the desk between us. I feel like killing him, and kissing him, and ruining his irritatingly perfect face, then climbing all over him so he can take me against the wall.
I hate him. I hate him. I hate him.
“What do you want, Maddox?” I whisper-yell, throwing my arms out because energy is vibrating through my veins, and I can’t take it anymore: the lies, the secrets, the whiplash.
“If you’re wanting to have someone on call to fuck you, I suggest trying at a local bar.
Or maybe your fiancée.” I feel sick saying the words.
The thought of Maddox being with anyone but me makes me seethe.
We could have been great together. Our lives could’ve been filled with messed-up acts of romance and bloodstained art.
I was ready for the risk. I would have been okay with the knowledge that we’ll forever be outcasts, if it meant we would’ve had each other.
All he had to do was show me that he wanted to commit. But the joke’s on me, and he knows it.
Maddox works his jaw, staring at me like he has a thousand things he wants to say. Yet “He’s not right for you” is all he responds with.
Why is he making everything so confusing? What does he want?
I laugh bitterly. “You don’t get to say shit about what is or isn’t good or right for me. You lost your chance of holding any valid opinion on my personal life. You’re my temporary professor. Nothing more.”
I swear he flinches. I keep going before he can say more, because I’m the one in control here. There’s nothing he could say that would change anything. I’m setting the line in stone, and there’s to be no more crossing it. He needs to stop leading me on and filling me with false hope.
“I have strong feelings for Lawrence.” Negative feelings. “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t interfere with my relationship with him, or anyone else, for that matter.”
Maddox’s eyes darken, and the room temperature plummets as his mask fractures to let the beast through.
“I have a list,” he starts, words slow to ensure I don’t miss a single thing.
“It’s a list of names of all the men in this city who I’d like to turn into decorative pieces.
” He tips his head innocently to the side.
“It would be most unfortunate if Lawrence were to end up on this list. Or any other men I deem… unworthy.”
My throat bobs. The idea makes me sick with glee, and mortification that he can twist me around his fingers so easily. “You wouldn’t dare.”
His gaze drops to my lips for one jarring second. “You have no idea what I would and wouldn’t do when you’re involved.”
I stagger back from the heated change in his tone. I feel like I can’t get enough oxygen in my lungs. “Lawrence is a police officer.”
“All men bleed equally.”
“You’re insane.” I shake my head, scowling at him.
“I thought we’ve been over this before, Miss Sinaga.” Maddox’s voice drops in volume, and the skin of his knuckles turns white. “You make me insane.”
Tears spring in the back of my eyes. “Stop,” I rasp through clenched teeth. “Don’t.”
Once someone else is interested in his toy he threw away, he doesn’t like it.
He didn’t want me. He ruined me like he said he could. He turned me into a fool, and he keeps coming back to do it again.
Maddox starts to move around the table. “Reyna, I meant what I said. There hasn’t been a moment that you haven’t occupied every single one of my thoughts, and—”
“No. Stop talking. I don’t want to hear it. I—” I choke back tears.
I’m so fucking tired. I just wanted to make films and get to know my dad.
I can’t do this. With him. With Lawrence. With anyone.
“If you ever gave a shit about me, you’re going to answer my question.
” I pull up a photo of the honeycomb insignia on my phone.
“Your kills. What is the connection between your victims, Cresswell, and this honeycomb? I know a lot of them studied here, and this symbol—this society has something to do with it.”
The blood drains from his face. “There is no connection, and you should stop looking for one.”
He’s lying—he’s fucking lying.
“We’re done here. Don’t ever speak to me again.”
I snatch my books off the desk and storm toward the door, using every ounce of willpower to keep my sob at bay.
“Reyna,” Maddox calls.
My footsteps quicken and I ignore his calls as I whip the door open and stagger out, narrowly colliding with another student.
“Hey, you okay?”
“Fine!”
My eyes snap up to Alex’s, and I almost trip in my haste to get away from him.
I spin around and bound down the steps to get away from both men because I’m being reminded of the day Maddox made me think he was interested in me for anything beyond sex.
He pointed me to the door and gave me the opportunity to stop before we started.
I regret not taking it.