Page 29 of Thirst Trap

Maddison let him drag her anyway, if only because she was curious where this tantrum was headed.

The door to the forty seventh floor meeting room slammed shut behind them. Logan wheeled on her, tall, scarred, all tattoos and storm cloud eyes.

“Alright,” he said, voice sharp enough to cut glass. “Let’s get one thing straight. You don’t touch my brother. You don’t manipulate him. And you don’t blackmail him into fucking you just so you can play office wife.”

Maddison tilted her head, smirk tugging at her glossed lips. “Touchy, aren’t we?”

She folded her arms across her chest, posture loose, heels biting into the marble. She could still taste Lucas on her lips. And the fact Logan had noticed? Delicious.

“You think this is funny?” His voice rose. “He’s not built for girls like you, chaotic, mouthy, hot and cold, with a blackmail kink and a god complex. You’re going to ruin him.”

There it was. The infamous Creams big brother lecture. Maddison had half expected it, but hearing it now, face to face, something inside her snapped into place.

She stepped closer. Calm. Measured. Her voice is low, steady.

“Too late,” she said. “I’m already in love with him.”

Logan actually blinked. For a man who carried death in his pockets, he looked like she’d thrown him off a cliff.

“…What?”

“I love Lucas.” Maddison didn’t hesitate, didn’t waver. “I’ve loved him since before I knew his name. Since he was just some anonymous thirst trap account whispering dirty things into the void like a sad poetry boy with a six pack.”

His expression flickered part disbelief, part disgust, maybe a dash of admiration he’d never admit to.

“That is the most deranged sentence I’ve ever heard,” he muttered.

Maddison smiled, sharp and certain. “You’d know a thing or two about deranged.”

She brushed past him, victory humming in her veins, but his hand caught her wrist.

Not hard. Just enough to pause her.

“You think this family is soft,” he said, voice quieter now. “That love makes you safe. It doesn’t. It makes you a target. You want to be Mrs. Creams? Then you better be ready to burn for it.”

Maddison met his gaze head on. No flinching. No backing down.

“Then light the fucking match.”

She yanked her arm free and walked out, hips swaying, heels slicing the silence like a battle cry.

Out in the corridor, her smirk returned. Her pulse still thundered, not with fear but with triumph. Logan wanted to scare her. He wanted her to doubt herself, to run.

But Maddison Parker wasn’t running. Not from Lucas. Not from this.

She was exactly where she was meant to be.

And if fire was the price?

Then she’d burn, and she’d burn beautifully.

Chapter 16

Red Flags and Rabbit Holes

The glow of her laptop screen flickers across her face as she types into the search bar:

“Lucas Creamsgirlfriend”