Page 36 of Madness & Mercy

I’m still shaking. My legs are barely holding me up, my back pressed to the wall like it might swallow me whole. My chest heaves, lungs dragging in air like I’ve been drowning… because in some twisted way, I am. Drowning inhim.

My arms are pinned. My hands still fuckingburnfrom how hard I tried to touch myself. But he didn’t let me. Nico fuckingheld me there. Made me beg, made mebreak. And now …

Now I’m ruined.

The aftershocks still ripple through my body. He’s still inside me, fingers resting deep like a claim. Like a reminder of exactly who won.

I want to shove him off. To tell him to go to hell.

But my voice is gone, along with my pride.

All I can do is hang my head and try to breathe through the heat crawling up my neck. Shame and pleasure tangled in a sick, perfect knot.

“You may hate me,” he murmurs, his voice low and smug against my skin. “But your body doesn’t.”

“Go fuck yourself,” I rasp, though it sounds more like a moan than a threat.

He laughs, soft and cruel, like he knows he’s carved his name into every inch of me now. His fingers finally pull back, slow and slick, and I flinch from the emptiness. From theachehe leaves behind.

I hate him.

I hate that he knows exactly how to touch me. That he reads every breath, every twitch, like a roadmap straight to where I’m weakest.

But worst of all, I hate that I still wantmore.

His palm cradles my jaw, forcing my head up, making me look at him.

“You’ll come for me again,” he says, calm as sin. “But next time, you’llthank mefor it.”

I clench my jaw and look away, ashamed of how raw I feel under his gaze.

Get your shit together.

This doesn’t change anything. It can’t. If anything, it’s a fucking opportunity. His attraction? That’s leverage. I can use it to get closer, learn more, dig up exactly what Silvio wants. Play the part. Earn the payout.

This is good.I’mthe one in control here, he just doesn’t know it yet.

Fake it. Smile. Seduce... should be easy enough.

So why does it feel like chewing glass?

I clear my throat, trying to swallow the taste of humiliation.

“Wanna get out of here?”

He tilts his head, eyes glinting with amusement.

“And gowhere,exactly?”

My gaze hardens. “You know where.”

He chuckles, low, dark, and condescending. The sound grates down my spine.

“Then give me the keys.”

I drop them into his palm, fingers betraying me with a slight tremor. He notices. He always fucking notices.

He arches a brow. “The car, too.”