CHAPTER 46
C HAPTER 46
MADDOX
Drop. Drop. Drop.
I watch my blood pool on the floor around the chair I’m chained to.
Every breath is agony.
Every attempt to open my eyes feels like a struggle against something heavier. I stare at myself in the mirror across from me. My suit is torn, stained with a mix of dried and fresh blood.
My face is adorned with deep cuts, my lips split open and my nose dripping. My hands, chest, and stomach are covered in wounds, each one a testament to their brutality. These assholes took their time, beating the shit out of me and introducing a knife to their sick torture.
After the tenth punch and the countless cuts from the blade, everything inside me went numb.
I felt nothing as the knife sliced through my flesh or as their fists hammered into my face again and again. It went on for hours—until they were satisfied with their twisted masterpiece on me.
Then, the room fell silent, leaving me alone with my blood draining out.
Drop. Drop. Drop.
The door creaked open again.
I thought it was just these bastards coming back for round two, but when I forced myself to lift my head, I was surprised to see who entered.
My fucking eyes are swollen and red and I can barely see, but I could never mistake Allyn Fucking Romano. I saw the horrified grimace on her face, her eyes wide as she gripped the door for dear life.
“You came to finish me off, huh, princess?”
I tried to laugh, but it came out as a grunt of pain, a sharp stab in my stomach. I looked down—my shirt torn apart, the deep wound on my stomach bleeding with each breath.
“Do it.”
I leaned back in the chair, each breath a fresh wave of agony. The pain is cutting me in two, but it doesn’t even compare to what’s tearing me up inside. Fuck, it’s not even close.
“Maddox—”
“Save it,” I cut her off. “I don’t want to hear it. Finish your job.”
“I’m not here to kill you.”
I almost laughed at her words, but I quickly swallowed it down, using the laugh to mask the raw sting of betrayal twisting in my chest.
All of it was caused by Allyn Romano. The woman I couldn’t shake off for months. And now, she’s going to be the cause of my death.
Laughable, wasn’t it?
“So, you’re weaker than I thought.” I spat those words with venom. I saw her grip the handle tighter, a flicker of something in her eyes.
“You won’t get under my skin, Maddox,” she said, shaking her head. “You can’t provoke me anymore.”
She said it like she was trying to convince herself.
I tilted my head, studying her. “Then why are you here?” I shot back. “To watch me suffer? Is that what you want?”
I bet she’s relishing seeing me chained to this chair, beaten down by her men after she so carefully set this trap for me.
“No,” she blurted, her voice trembling. It was almost as if seeing me in pain was the last thing she wants.
Pretty little liar.
That only fueled the storm raging inside me.
Bring those bastards back to beat the shit out of me again—I’m fine with that. But Allyn being here?
That’s a different kind of pain, a hundred times worse, knowing she’s the one who put me here. I clenched my jaw.
“Using your pussy to make me vulnerable? Smart move.” I smirked at her, blood staining my teeth, but I didn’t fucking care.
I needed her to see what she’d done to me.
“Your daddy must be proud.”
The pain in her eyes shifted, quickly masked by something darker, deeper—as if I’d just struck a chord.
She closed the distance between us, her face twisted in fury as she slapped me. My head snapped to the side, a hiss escaping my lips, mixing with a groan from the searing pain of another wound breaking open.
But I laughed, facing her again, my eyes locking with hers like a death sentence.
“That all you got?” I challenged. “Come on, princess, hit me harder.”
I’m fucking with her head— the same way she’s been fucking with mine and she has no idea.
It’s my fault for letting her get so close.
My fucking fault. Now I’m paying for it.
“You will not die by my hands.” She stepped back, trying to regain control.
“If I ever get out of here, I can’t promise you won’t die by my hands.” I nodded toward her. “So you’d better do it first.”
I saw her face shift, the color draining from her skin. I need her to fear me. Hate me. I need her the hell away from me.
For my own damn sake.
The temperature in the room dropped to zero and the atmosphere between us shifting. Then, just like that, she did what I was begging her to do with my eyes. She turned and ran, not sparing me a single glance.
And once again, the room fell silent.
Seconds blurred into minutes, minutes into hours.
It felt like an eternity, chained to this chair.
All I see was black and to say I was raging would be an understatement.
Beaten, tortured, cut open with a knife—and yet none of the wounds carved into my fucking body over the last twenty hours can even begin to compare to the pain inside me.
The pain of Allyn’s betrayal.
This pain was fucking different. It’s bitter and suffocating, drowning out everything else.
She played her cards well—I’ll give her that. Fucked me just to lower my guard, only to drive the dagger into my back with precision.
I admit it. I never saw it coming. Not from her.
For the first time in my life, I didn’t think several moves ahead of my enemy—because I never saw her as one.
That was my fatal mistake. My brain didn’t function properly around her. All I saw, sensed, and felt was her. And when she’s naked, I’m done for.
I’ve never felt such a sharp, hollow ache from betrayal.Never.
I don’t care if I die now, tomorrow, or days from now.
Death was always coming for me—I’ve earned it. After all the lives I’ve taken, it’s only fair for someone to take mine.
But what I do care about—what burns more than the knife wounds—is that I’ll die betrayed by the one person who made me feel something in the empty void inside me. The one person who brought my dead heart back to life, only to rip it apart in the end.
Fucking idiot. I should’ve known better.
The door creaked open, and when I lifted my head, my bloodshot eyes locked on Mikael Romano. I want to erase that disgusting smirk plastered across his face as he watches me, savoring the sight of blood trailing down my body and the marks his men left behind.
“Maddox,” he drawled my name, his voice dripping with mockery, “We meet again.”
“Not by choice.”
“Of course not,” he replied, dragging a chair across the floor to sit directly in front of me.
No doubt he wanted an up-close view of my battered face. I refused to flinch or show any weakness. His eyes roamed over me, lingering on every cut and bruise, his expression smugly pleased with the damage.
“You know,” he began, leaning back with an exaggerated sigh, “we could’ve skipped this ugly ordeal if you’d just told my men where your father is hiding. After everything he’s done, you’re still willing to protect him with your life. Your loyalty is… impressive.”
“You can go fuck yourself, Mikael,” I spat, venom lacing my words. “I won’t tell you a damn thing.”
He leaned in, his disgusting face inches from mine, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur.
“If it were up to me, you’d already be dead.” The lack of sympathy in his tone was chilling. “But my daughter insists I keep you alive—for business purposes, of course,” he added quickly, the disdain in his voice making it clear how much he hated her involvement with me.
Too bad for him— we’d already crossed that line.
A slow, cocky grin spread across my face as I arched a brow.
“Her spreading her legs for me—was that part of the business deal too, Romano?”
That struck a nerve.
His expression darkened, rage flashing in his eyes. Perfect.
If I was going to die here, I’d make sure to enjoy myself first. Bit out with a laugh, bloodied teeth flashing in a taunting grin I spoke again.
“You must be so proud, Mikael.”
His jaw clenched, his eyes darkening to the point they looked black. That reaction only widened my smirk. But before I could revel in it, the sharp crack of a gunshot echoed in the room.
A searing pain ripped through my leg, and I roared—a guttural sound of rage and agony, as my right leg was engulfed in a wave of fire.
My eyes darted down to the gaping wound, blood pouring out at an alarming rate. The bastard just shot me.
Mikael holstered his gun with a practiced ease, not even bothering to meet my glare.
“You’re more tolerable when you’re not running your mouth.”
He rose from the chair, adjusting his cuffs as if this were just another meeting, then turned to face me once more before stepping out of the room.
“I’ll send a doctor in an hour,” he said with a sickening smile. “Consider my generous offer by then: tell me where your father is hiding, and I might reward you with a quicker death.”
His grin widened, twisted with malice.
‘’I hope the pain speeds up your decision.’’