Or hook up with other girls.
I mean, how the fuck could Maddox even look at other girls when he had Lola in the house?
“You know our father doesn’t want us out right now,” Sylvester whispered, and I nodded, as if he could see me through the phone. Stupid. “So I can’t go get him.”
That time, I didn’t stop myself from sighing, my annoyance evident. Maddox was… well, I couldn’t hate him because he was a Luciano, but sometimes—more often than not, really—he rubbed me the wrong way.
Don’t get me wrong, I sometimes enjoyed what we had to do, but Maddox was almost primal in his instincts, and he never hid the fact that he got off on spilling blood. He was a special kind of fucked up.
“Viper,” Sylvester spoke my name, snapping me out of my thoughts, “Lola’s gone, too. He must’ve taken her with him. I left them alone for a few minutes, and when I came back, they were both gone.”
Fuck. That changed things. Almost instantly, I was more than ready to leap into action, to track down the wild Luciano son and drag his ass back to the house while also carrying Lola. I swore to God, if that motherfucker got into trouble tonight, if something happened to Lola because he’d taken her with him, I’d… I’d…
Well, I’d feel like killing him, but I couldn’t exactly do that. I could imagine it, at least, over and over in many gruesome and gory ways.
“We’ll bring her back,” I said. And then, because I realized what I’d said, I had to add, “Both of them.” Right, because bringing Maddox back was more important than Lola. Had to remember that.
“Check the clubs,” Sylvester said, ignoring my misstep. “You know his favorites. Call me if you find them, and bring them straight home, no matter what my brother says. If you have to beat his ass, do it. He needs to be home before my father gets wind of it.” And then he hung up, leaving me to wonder just how we were supposed to beat Maddox’s ass.
Mmm. Maybe both Mike and I could take him together.
Yeah, he was that tough, at least when he was in bloodlust.
I got in the car, ducking my head as I lowered myself to the seat. Mike’s hazel eyes were staring at me, expectant, and I said, “It was Sylvester. Maddox and Lola are gone. We need to find them and bring them back to the house before Richie realizes they’re gone.”
Mike nodded, and then we were off to play fetch.
I did wonder, however, why Maddox took Lola with him.
Chapter Eight – Lola
When Maddox looked at me with those black, devious eyes and told me we should get out of the house for a bit, I was all for it, even though he wasn’t allowed to go out on the town because of what was happening with Carl DeLuca.
You only lived once, right? Live a little. Let loose. Let your freak out and let it shine and all that shit. I was a firm believer in not letting the stress of life get to you—okay, okay, that was kind of a lie, a teeny one, but that can be our little secret.
Any who, with Sylvester not watching us like a hawk, I hurried and got dressed, and then we were out, and now we were in a club, practically having sex on the dance floor. Hot and sweaty, our bodies grinding up against each other’s, his erection poking against his pants and my lower back unabashedly. Oh, I’d never get used to that monster of a dick.
It was nice, with the lights low and the music loud and the horde of other dancing bodies around us. For just a little while, he wasn’t Maddox Luciano and I wasn’t Lola Harding. We were just two people, letting loose and having fun, getting ourselves nice and worked up.
So what if it was dangerous being out right now? I, personally, didn’t give a flying rat’s ass whether or not it was safe, and it was more than obvious Maddox felt the same. We were alike in that way, though I didn’t think he would ever admit we were similar.
Being in that house, all cooped up like chicken in a pen, was hard. Cue the whining, because it so totally was. A gal couldn’t be locked up like a prisoner forever. Even my fucked-up parents had let me out of the house for school and lessons and all that.
And the doctor’s visits, but now was not a good time to remember those.
In fact, Maddox and I were at the same club we’d found him at before. The same club where I’d had a mini panic attack and imagined my brother’s face staring down at me. Yeah, that night hadn’t been too great, but I got through it. It was easier to forget about everything that haunted me when I had such rough, possessive hands roaming up and down my body, cupping my ass and squeezing my tits in full view of anyone nearby.
Fuck it, I say. Let ‘em watch. Let’s give ‘em a show.
I turned my body so I now ground my front against his, feeling his hard cock through his pants twitching against my stomach. I dipped low, dragging my body up in tune with the beat of the music pounding through the speakers. I’d changed into a tiny black dress, matching the clothes Maddox wore—I didn’t think he owned anything that wasn’t black, honestly.
Even though Maddox looked at me like he hated me, every so often I saw something else residing in those black eyes. Lust, hunger, desire. Those things of course. You didn’t have to love someone to want to fuck them like an animal.
But, no, I meant other things. More emotion, just… more.
And that, frankly, scared me half to shit, because a heart as bloodied as Maddox’s combined with mine? That was a recipe for disaster. A beautiful, bloody, biblical disaster. And yet I could not stop myself from stoking the flames, from egging him on, from wanting more, in spite of everything.
My hands were on his shoulders, and I drew them down his chest, feeling the strong muscles beneath his shirt. He was a man on his own level, his body covered in black tattoos. Half his head shaved, he even had tattoos up that half of his skull. I could only imagine how much those had to hurt—but then again, maybe they didn’t hurt at all. Maybe Maddox was like me in that respect too, feeling no pain where he should.
The club around us faded away, all of the people surrounding us disappearing as I gazed up into his eyes. As black as they were, they were still pretty. Dark and ominous, whispering dangerous things that excited me to my core.
If I didn’t grow up like I did, if I would’ve had a normal upbringing, a man like Maddox would scare me half to death. He was a man who would never be approved of by parents, a man who, I bet, would never let himself get nailed down for long. Never get married, never have kids unless it was an accident—he’d leave the heirs to the Luciano throne to his brother.
Or he’d try to. Whether or not Daddy Luciano would let him shirk his duties like that, well, I guess we’d see. Either way, I wouldn’t be a part of it. I couldn’t have kids. In the long run, if they chose not to kill me, I would be useless to them. Just a fuck toy.
Just a body.
My happy mood instantly turned sour, and I turned my face down and away from Maddox, wondering why the fuck that bothered me so much. I shouldn’t care. This was supposed to be my final rodeo, the last ride… basically a glorified final countdown to my death at the hands of this family.
God, these feelings. They were such a pain in the ass. Where was the emotion switch that I could turn off when things got to be too much? Why couldn’t I be numb again, like I used to be for so many years growing up?
I decided to pull away from him, and his arms turned to steel around me, refusing to let me go. So, I did the one thing I knew would get him to release me: I looked him in the eye, gave him a big smile and a bat of my eyelashes, and said, “I have to tinkle.” Of course, I had to yell it since the music was so loud, but Maddox got the not-so-subtle hint and let me go.
I pushed my way through the crowd, going to the restrooms that were in the back of the club. There was a bit of a line, but I cut everyone, needing some time to myself. The girls in line all mumbled, but none of them stopped me. Probably because I looked a little deranged.
The moment I walked in, I froze, seeing a girl at the sinks, reapplying her lipstick. Short black hair that held a bit of a curl, porcelain skin which held n
ot a single blemish I could see, her thin body wearing a tight, shiny dress made of a dark grey hue—I recognized her. Oh, I recognized her immediately.
The girl Maddox had disappeared with the last time he’d gone off on a bender. He’d been here, at this club with her, when we’d found him, dancing away.
Mina.
My blood boiled when I saw her, and I watched her finish her touch-ups and spin to walk out of the restroom. Her heeled feet stopped when she saw me, and her eyes took me in quickly. She was pretty, I’d give her that. She had big, blue eyes just a shade darker than my own, a doll-like face men were sure to adore.
I hated her. I hated her so much. I hated her an unreasonable amount, considering the fact that Maddox wasn’t my boyfriend. We were just… well, I didn’t know how to explain what Maddox and I were, but that didn’t matter. I felt what I felt and I was not used to it.
Jealousy was so not me, and yet here I was, standing in Mina’s way, refusing to step away and let her out of the restroom.
She gave me a tight smile, eyeing me up. I didn’t know if she knew who I was or not; it didn’t matter. I knew who she was, and that’s why I was rooted in place, glaring at her like I wanted to rip her pretty skin off.
“Uh,” she started, “can you move? You’re kind of in my way.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I bet I’m in your way a lot, huh?”
She blinked, tilting her head. “Excuse me?”
I smiled at her, taking a step toward her. There was less than a foot between us now. I didn’t know how long she’d been here, if she’d seen Maddox and me dancing, but I was about to find out, because I just couldn’t help myself.
“I heard you’re one of his favorites,” I spoke, making no moves to hide how I checked her out, making sure my expression read unimpressed the entire time. Giving this bitch the satisfaction of knowing how much she aggravated me simply by being here was the last thing I wanted to do.
“Who?” Even though she gave nothing away, I saw a small quirk of her lips. Full things they were, plump and soft-looking. I bet Maddox loved getting her on her knees.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Mina.”
“Is this about Maddox?” She let out a short chuckle. “Look, honey, I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care. That man might have his attention on you tonight, but next weekend it’ll be back on me, and you’ll be completely forgotten, as you should be.” Her blue eyes dipped low, and she acted just as unimpressed with me as I was her. “Let’s be honest, you’re nothing special.”
Wow. I knew girls fought dirty, said things that were untrue just to get under the skin of their rivals, but that—that was the first time anyone had ever told me I was ugly. Literally the first time in my entire life, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
I fucking laughed like I’d heard the world’s funniest joke.
That got her to waver. And as other girls came and left without washing their hands—ew—Mina spat out, “We’ll see who’s laughing once he tires of you, won’t we?” She said nothing else, walking out of the restroom by pushing past me, bumping her arm against mine on purpose, and pretty hard, too.
I stood there, spacing out, replaying what had just happened, all the while wondering why the fuck I felt so jealous. I mean, Maddox wasn’t mine. Sylvester wasn’t mine. Viper sure as hell wasn’t mine. None of the Lucianos or their lackeys were mine. I was the lowest on the totem pole, the bitch. The dog. The person who was the most expendable.
And yet Maddox had brought me to this club, even though I wasn’t supposed to leave the house unless I was on a job—and that was only with other people. This was almost like a date. But it wasn’t… right?
Ugh, see, there’s my confused, indecisive shadow peeking through again. God, I was really getting tired of her, you know? It’s like that bitch just couldn’t take a hint and get the fuck out of here, let me live and enjoy what little I had left of my life, you know? I didn’t need to be jealous and confused the whole time, having feelings and all that mushy shit. I wasn’t made for it, just like I wasn’t made for happy endings.
That said, it didn’t stop me from grinding my teeth as I moved toward the row of sinks, staring at myself in the mirror. My blonde hair was a bit sweaty from all of my dancing, its long tendrils hanging past my shoulders. My blue eyes were done up in just the barest hints of makeup—I didn’t doll myself up too much, since Maddox and I were kind of rushing to get out of the house before Sylvester knew what we were up to. My lips were bare of any lipstick, their color a natural pink.
My face looked just like it always did. Perfect. The kind of face that drew too much attention. I’d never really got much attention from other girls before, but maybe that was only because I’d kept my head down at school, going through my childhood years like a zombie, not wanting to make friends. Not having the capacity to.
My fingers gripped the edge of the sink hard, knuckles turning white as I remembered what Mina had said. That bitch thought Maddox would toss me aside, and by next weekend he’d be back with her. Oh, she had another thing coming. She had no idea what beast she’d just encountered, but I was keen on showing her.
Jaw grinding, I pushed off the sink and stormed out of the restroom, past the line of girls still waiting to use it. I stalked around the club, not heading for the dance floor to return to Maddox immediately, mostly because I needed to find Mina and teach her a lesson she wouldn’t soon forget.
She wasn’t at the bar, nor was she on the sidelines of the dance floor, which meant she was in the big masse of bodies grinding, somewhere.
I started toward the dancers, but a strong hand shot out and gripped my arm, stopping me. I was pulled backward, and I was seconds from decking whoever it was holding onto me in the throat when I saw it was Viper. Behind him, his brother stood, his arms crossed.
My fist loosened, and I said, “What are you doing here?” I was glad to see Viper—I’d missed him these last few days, though no way in hell would I ever tell him that.
“We were sent to look for you and Maddox.” He didn’t let go of my arm, holding onto me a bit roughly. Normally, I’d be down for it, but right now, I had a bitch to sniff out, a bubbly ass to kick, and a pretty face to tear up.
Ah, right. Should’ve figured Sylvester would see we were missing and have us dragged back to the house. I knew this night wouldn’t go off without a hitch, but now was just not good timing.
“Maddox is dancing,” I said, “and he’s expecting me back. Can’t you guys just hang out a little? Give us a few more minutes?” It didn’t seem like a completely unreasonable request. Of course, I wouldn’t use my time to return to Maddox; I’d use it to beat that bitch into the ground and shove my heel in her throat, but he didn’t need to know that.
Viper’s expression told me he did not want to give us a few more minutes, so I leaned toward him—hard to do since he still held onto my arm at an awkward angle—and kissed his cheek.
I was slow to pull back, feeling his fingers loosen their grip on my arm. “Please?” If Viper thought I was above begging, he was wrong. I’d get on my knees to beg for some time to beat that bitch up.
He let out a hard sigh as he let me go, muttering, “Fine. Five minutes.” Behind him, Mike rolled his eyes, probably wondering why Viper was so soft on me.
Not going to lie, it was nice, and I wasn’t going to look the gift horse in the mouth. Nope. I was simply going to turn around, march through the crowd, find that Mina, and teach her a lesson. And that’s exactly what I did.
Except the person I found her dancing with was mine.
The bitch had found Maddox and was grinding her ass on his dick like it was her job. If my blood was boiling before, it was pure lava in my veins now. It was like I had blinders on, seeing nothing else but her as I pushed through the crowd.
Mina saw me, gave me a wink, and then she spun and planted her lips on Maddox’s, throwing her arms around his neck. His hands were on her hips, and I couldn’t tell whether or not he was trying to
pull her off him. It didn’t matter. All that mattered to me was the bitch, who was trying to rub it in my face—and she’d undoubtedly been grinding on his hard cock.
That was my dick, bitch.
Was I about to do something that I probably shouldn’t? Yes.
Was I seconds from doing something that would draw unnecessary attention to myself when I should just try to blend in? Also yes.
And was I going to do it anyway because I didn’t care? I think you knew the answer to that one already.
My fingers found her hair, and with a hard yank, I pulled her mouth off Maddox’s. I pulled that bitch so hard she stumbled back, his hands no longer on her hips. She fell to the floor, and the people dancing around us inched away, sensing the fight that was about to occur.
“Oh, no, you didn’t,” Mina spoke as she bared her teeth, the music changing to an even more fast-paced beat.
As I watched her get to her feet, I growled out, “Maddox is mine now, Mina.” Fucking Mina. Couldn’t she just take the hint and get the fuck out of here? I wasn’t above hitting another girl. I might’ve stalked the bars and clubs for men who would take advantage of girls, but that didn’t mean I was always a fan of other girls. Some, as it turned out, could be utter bitches just asking for my fist in their face.
Like Mina was right now.
She laughed. “Get the fuck out of here, bitch, before I make you—” Her threat fell on deaf ears, and though Viper and Mike couldn’t see what was going on, too many people in between us, Maddox watched the show with a dark smirk on his face, his hands shoved in his pockets, as if he didn’t have a hard dick poking at his pants.
A dick that Mina had been grinding on. Again, my dick.
“As if you could,” I spoke. Yeah, I might’ve purposefully egged her on a bit. Sue me. I’d let her have the first punch—or slap, or whatever—and then I’d go Rambo on that bitch. She wouldn’t know what hit her. Hint: I had nothing to lose, and that made me dangerous.
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