Page 89 of Dance of Madness

“Like, what do you use it for?”

I glance at her. “Various things.”

The second I say it, I see a flicker of cold viciousness in her eyes that she quickly tries to cover with a forced, brittle smile. She reaches for my cigarette again, and once more her fingers brush mine as she takes it. But this time she looks away from me as she takes a soft drag.

“Various things like bringing girls here to chase, catch, and fuck?”

The words drop emotionlessly from her lips, like she’s ordering a sandwich.

Purposefully cold. Deliberately blunt.

“Not typically, no.”

Her brows furrow when she finally looks at me again.

“No,” I repeat, reaching out and plucking the cigarette from her fingers. I take a slow drag, eyes still locked on her as I exhale toward the ceiling. “Jealous, princess?”

Her lips tighten. “No,” she says abruptly. “I just don’t believe you.”

I chuckle, passing the cigarette back to her. “And why is that?”

“I just don’t.”

I smirk. “Why.”

“Because you’re…you.”

I grin wider. “And what aboutmemakes me so untrustworthy.”

She grins impishly. “You strike me as a troublemaker,” she giggles. “That’s all.”

It’s like an icy blade slicing into my brain.

Everything goes cold. Everything shuts down, going as black as charred bones.

You’re such a troublemaker, baby boy.

My blood slows to syrup in my veins, my pulse a distantPOUND POUND POUNDsomewhere inside me.

You want to come over and cause some more trouble?

“No,” I growl. “I’m not.”

Milena arches a brow, her grin widening. Totally missing my cues.

“Not a troublemaker?” She grins lazily at me. “Bullshit. You?—”

“I’m fuckingnot.”

The words spit from my mouth like vicious curses, shattering the mood entirely. Milena’s head jerks up, her eyes wide and her mouth open in shock.

I don’t focus on that. I don’t focus on anything but the roaring in my head as I suddenly slide off the bed and stand up. I stab the cigarette out in a crystal ashtray on the nightstand and storm from the room.

My clothes are still on the landing outside. I dress quickly, yanking them on before plucking up the bits of hers that were discarded out here, too.

I stride back into the bedroom, ignoring the stunned look on her face as I toss her clothes onto the foot of the bed and finish buttoning up my shirt.

Milena stares at me, her face pale, her brows furrowed in confusion.

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