Page 132 of Finders Reapers

Shit. Had I forced him?

I opened my mouth, but only a strangled breath escaped.

“Valentina,” Maddox whispered. His voice was taut with an emotion that I couldn’t decipher. “The lamp is broken.”

Frowning, I followed his gaze to the lamp on the desk. Right, where Mr. Bub had passed through.

“Yes?” I replied, confused.

“I didn’t ask before, but when I came back to the room, it looked like there had been a fight,” Maddox said lightly. “Did someone come into the room when I was gone?”

I had no idea where he was going with this.

“If it was one of the guys, you’d tell me. If they hurt you.” Maddox whispered dangerously.

I couldn’t outright lie. I had no idea why he was suddenly talking about a lamp when I’d had his cock him my mouth.

“It wasn’t one of the guys,” I whispered, my cheeks heating in shame as my eyes flicked down to his exposed cock, which had completely lost any hardness.

“There’s a vial of Gorge on the desk, Valentina,” Maddox replied, rage filtering into his voice coldly and dangerously. “Now, I’m going to ask again. Who was in the room when I was gone?”

I pushed away, tugging the strap of my camisole back onto my shoulder. I swung my legs over the bed as I stood. I wasn’t proud of it, but I turned away and allowed my hair to cover my face. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I sniffed, attempting to infuse some haughtiness into my tone that once upon a time would have stopped a conversation dead.

I didn’t.

Maddox gripped my bicep as I tried to escape, and he turned me around. He stood up, and I wished he hadn’t because even though I knew he would never hurt me, Maddox was larger than me and triggered some sort of primal response when his eyes sparkled with anger and his jaw rocked from side to side like he was moments away from swinging me over his shoulder and spanking me.

His face blanked. The expression was similar to when he was confronted by the Purger in the Bellagio suite, moments before reaching for his scythe.

I was an enemy. Maddox had gone somewhere very far away, somewhere deep inside of his mind. Somewhere that I couldn’t reach—if I even deserved to.

I felt an inch tall. Pathetic.

“Let go of me,” I said, my voice strong as I tried to tug out of his grip.

He let me go without a fight.

I cleared my throat and looked away. There was nowhere for me to go. “I want to be alone,” I sniffed, turning to the wall.

I expected him to give up. To not push.

Maddox didn’t. “That’s not fucking happening.” He snarled.

I startled at the vehemence in his voice. It made every hair on my body stand on end.

Not even five minutes before, I had been between his legs, sucking his cock. Something had changed in the moments that Maddox had noticed something was amiss.

I didn’t like the feeling. My emotions were snowballing.

I was never part of the team if it was this easy to turn on me.

Why did it hurt so much?

Because you deserve this.

Why was I defending Mr. Bub anyway? Why was I keeping secrets from the guys when I had a minimal stake in death politics and demons?

Because you’re scared.