Page 169 of Unorthodox
I might’ve been, but she wasn’t.
We planned for this.
I know what I need to do, but with Max pushing me against the wall, the gun is too far away.
“So goddamn pretty when you’re terrified, love.” He grabs my hip, right above my pelvis. “But I need you to answer my question.”
I close my mouth, swallow down the lump in my throat as I keep my eyes fixed on his. “You’re going to sell me.”
He moves his hand from my throat, traces his finger down the side of my face. I try my best not to flinch. Not to remember how he’s hurt me before.
“That’s not an answer.”
“You’re going to sell me,” I say again anyway, my voice growing stronger. I don’t know if it’s the alcohol or the reality that he might actually kill me this time, but the terror morphs into anger. If he knows mine and Mamie’s plan, then I’m already fucked.
“You thought I wouldn’t try to run? You thought I’d justlet youfuck up my whole life?”
“I don’t recall asking for your permission.”
I grind my teeth together, my hands balled into fists at my side. “You’re a piece of shit, Max.”
His finger traces my lips and he looks amused. I grab his wrist, try to yank down his hand.
He grips my hip tighter, right above the bone, and I freeze, holding my breath.
“Let go of me,” he says coldly.
I count to three. Try to steady my nerves, to grasp onto the anger permeating through my veins. To find more fight.
But the fear is overwhelming, and I drop my hand.
I need to appease him for now.
I need to get him off of me, becauseI need that gun.
“Good girl,” he taunts me with a smile. “Now, I’m going to need to know everything you andMamiediscussed in my absence. Every fucking detail. Because you might think you’ve got this all figured out, love,” he smiles, “but you’re not going anywhere. And if you don’t tell me exactly how you stabbed me in the back, I won’t hesitate to fucking kill you, Addison.”
He loosens his grip, but the hand on my hip comes between my thighs, as if he didn’t already do enough damage there.
I close my eyes as he nudges my legs apart with his hand, then runs his palm between my thighs, inside of my pants.
Suppressing a shiver, I clench my hands into fists. I inhale, and I can feel his chest pressed against me, keeping me pinned to the wall.
“She didn’t want to hurt you, Max,” I tell him honestly, only able to speak without looking at him. “She never…she never said anything about D-Danik and…” I’m choking on my own words, trying to focus. Trying to breathe. “She just wanted to help me.”
He doesn’t say anything, but his free hand goes to my inner thigh, spreading me wider as he runs his hand up and down the length of me.
My knees shake, but I keep my eyes closed, my head tilted back against the wall.I’m not here. “She was just…she was just going to get me to Danik. She was just going to get me free.”
“She was going to take you from my house herself?” he asks with humor.
I nod, biting my lip.
“And you know nothing about your brother being a fucking narc?”
“No,” I tell him truthfully.
He sighs. “You know, love, I’ve fantasized about shooting you since the day I first saw you with that knife in your hand, down at my feet. It seems that day has finally come.”
