Page 30 of Madness

There were two place settings, one at the head of the table and the other right next to it. The rest of the table was bare. I guess I wouldn’t get away with sitting on the opposite side as I’d done before.

He pulled my chair out. The surprising gesture made me falter. His lips thinned into an annoyed line as he waited for me. I quickly recovered and sat down. The last thing I wanted was to gain punishments. I was already out of my element.

It occurred to me that no one knew where I was. Or who I was with. He could kill me and dispose of my body. No one would come looking for him. But even if someone had known, would it matter? Men like him could get away with those things easily. Murder.

Another shiver ran down my spine. Goosebumps raised the hair on my arms. This time it was definitely from fear.

“What are you thinking?” Maddox asked as his blue eyes pierced me, fixed on my reaction.

“That you could kill me, and nothing would happen to you.”

“That’s true.” He smiled as he picked up a glass of water and brought it to his lips.

I sucked a deep breath into my lungs to try and calm my nerves. He said it so casually. Like he’d been thinking about murdering me. Like he didn’t care if I lived or died. Because he didn’t.

That thought bothered me more than dying. Maybe it was because I thought about ending my own life often. But I suspected it was more about feeling worthless. Unimportant.

If you’ve never felt neglect or disinterest, you didn’t know how much it could hurt. Physical abuse was hell, but emotional pain was a special form of torture. It lingered. Spread like venom until it dissolved everything good in its path. Until only the bad thoughts remained.

It took strength not to act on them. To cling to hope. The hope that the next day could be better. It was a constant battle fighting my own mind. That’s why I couldn’t let Maddox into it. I was already trying to keep the shattered pieces together. He could crush them to dust.

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t plan on killing you…today.”

I glared at him. “Not really, no.”

He smiled like he enjoyed my fear as the door behind him opened. I saw a glimpse of a beautiful modern kitchen as someone came out, depositing a plate in front of each of us. She was probably in her fifties, with hair graying at her temples and kind eyes. She wore an apron, and her hair was pulled back into a low bun.

“Please let me know if I can get you anything else, Mr. Vancini.” The housekeeper or maybe cook said.

“Only privacy, Ava.” I expected him to be rude, but there was no hint of malice in his voice. “Please instruct the staff not to disturb us.”

“Of course, sir.” She bowed slightly as she talked to him.

“You have staff?” I asked as she disappeared again.

He shrugged. “Ava runs the house. She takes care of meals and coordinates the other staff. There’s a maid, a gardener, and of course, you’ve seen my guards.”

“Scary tattoo dude and the Draco Malfoy lookalike?”

Maddox raised one eyebrow as he looked at me. “Draco Malfoy?”

“You know, mean kid in Harry Potter. Super blonde hair, kind of weaselly.” A small smile played on my lips. Before a tense silence fell.

Oh shit. Had I offended him? Maybe those guys were closer than guards. Maybe they were friends. And I just called one of them a weasel.

Not that I was wrong. One like at the guy, and you could tell he would ferret his way to the top. I’d learned to read people by working at the club.

The tattooed guard was scary on the outside, but there was a control about him. Maddox was deranged, his eyes lifeless. The other guy was power-hungry but without the smarts to form a plan. It made sense that he was only a guard, not in charge like Maddox.

Finally, Maddox broke the silence when he let out a long laugh. The breath I was holding whooshed from my lungs. I was trying to avoid getting on his bad side tonight.

“Sebastian will love that.” He said.

I chanced another small smile. His face seemed softer, like he needed that laugh. He probably didn’t have a chance to laugh much in his life. “Sebastian is the blonde one?”

“No, that’s Tristan. Sebastian is the…what did you say, ‘scary tattoo dude’.” He smiled at me, but it wasn’t his usual sadistic smile. It was a normal smile.

My heart rolled in my chest as I squirmed in my seat. My gaze lingered on his full lips before moving to his strong jaw. His face was made more handsome by his olive skin.