Page 126 of Raven

Maddy is inside. Aleksei Tsariuk is on video chat with her.

This feels surreal.

Archer’s eyes are on me, cold but calm. Katura stands with her arms crossed across her chest, chewing on the inside of her cheek, her eyes on Archer. Marlow swings a set of keys between his fingers, back and forth, seemingly nervous, and occasionally glances at Katura.

Bishop looks unaffected, studying something on his phone.

Ortiz’s face is a blank mask.

I want to be there, inside, with Maddy, see what she says, see how Tsariuk talks to her. He might be a crooked oligarch, but he will honor the deal I made with him. I stepped over my pride. I screwed up several important consortiums. I gave up a lot. I would’ve given up even more. I’ll start a war if he breaks the deal and tries to take Maddy back. I’ll unleash every criminal syndicate that wants him dead, all at once. Maddy might not want me, but I’ll make sure she gets what she actually wants. And she wants freedom from him.

It feels like forever, though it’s only been about half an hour, when the door to Archer’s office opens, and Maddy steps outside.

Her face is red from crying, her eyes sparkly.

She stops in front of Archer. “You should’ve asked me, Archer. We agreed.” Her voice is cold as steel.

“We didn’t want you to do anything reckless. It was for your own good, Maddy. I’m sorry.”

“My own good?” she asks almost in a whisper. “I spent two years running away from that good, Archer. You promised. You fucking promised we would decide on this together. You could’ve told me so that I wasn’t?—”

“I’m sorry, Maddy. We had a meeting. We agreed it was for the best. It’s not just you, it’s Ayana at stake.”

She nods. “Of course. Ayana. Right. I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t look at me, doesn’t look at anyone else.

Archer gently takes her by her shoulders. “Maddy, please, can we talk about it? So we can discuss the next step. It will work out for the best. For you.”

“Sure. But not now. I need a moment.” She starts walking away but turns around and walks back to Archer. “When did he first get in touch with you?”

Archer stares at her in silence.

“Archer? When?”

“Yesterday.”

“You called him, or he called you?”

Archer shakes his head. I’ve never seen him so tense.

“Archer, how did he find out? Did he call you?”

Archer blinks away and locks eyes with me. “No. He called Raven.”

The color drains from her face.

I knew that there would be more reasons for her to hate me. I thought I was prepared. But when she finally turns to me, her stare is hateful. Her smirk is spiteful. “Of course…”

She turns on her heel and starts walking away.

I go after her, because I want to explain myself. She is almost trotting, and I follow her past Ali waiting at the exit.

“Maddy, please, listen to me,” I say, trying to catch up with her.

She whips around, making me halt as I almost slams into her. “You promised you’d stay quiet,” she snaps.

She turns around and starts walking away again.

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