Page 50 of Madness

I’d also come to enjoy her company. The conversation she forced at dinner. She challenged me. She wasn’t afraid to push back. To dig deeper. She knew things about me no one did. Like how I’d seen my mother die.

No one but my father knew that. I didn’t understand why I’d told her other than I had never lied to her. I wanted her to see the dark parts of me. Maybe it would make her break. Instead, it made her reach for me.

She held my hand as if I needed comfort. I’d never mourned my mother, but when Kincaid had taken my hand, I wondered if I should have.

How could she be so kind when life repeatedly tried to drag her down? She was a mystery I needed to figure out. That was the only reason I kept her around. I wasn’t sure what I was trying to convince myself of anymore.

“Maddox.” Constantine’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “Shall we?”

He gestured to the private room. I got up and followed him. Tristan and Constantine’s guard stopped outside the doors as we entered. As soon as I was in the room again, memories flooded me. I could almost smell her lingering in the air. Fell her silky skin. Hear her moans of pain.

“You wanted to meet with me.” Constantine said as he took a seat.

I wasn’t worried about meeting in here. I’d had all the bugs removed and destroyed any recordings Rodney had saved, including the ones of Kincaid.

A part of me wanted to keep it so I could watch her. Watch her scream and fall apart while I turned her delicious ass red. But she’d already had one man betray her trust. Spill her secrets and desires. For a reason I couldn’t explain, I didn’t want to do that to her. I didn’t want her to put me in the same category as her ex.

“Trust is a funny thing.” I said. I watched his eyes narrow as he pondered my words. “Takes forever to build. But one moment…one mistake…one lie, and it’s gone.”

Constantine cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable with this conversation. “That’s true.”

“But people are fickle creatures. We can’t seem to make up our minds. Can’t seem to pick a side.”

“I-I don’t know if that’s true.” He stammered. “I’ve been by your father’s side since we were boys.”

My face pulled into a twisted grin. I got some twisted enjoyment out of making him uncomfortable. Making him squirm. He was a powerful man. Older than me. He’d been around for a long time, but he feared me. That knowledge gave me a rush of power.

I could feel the fear. I could practically see him running through ideas in his mind. What had he done? What secrets did he have? And how did I know them?

He had at least one, but it wasn’t important today.

“You have.” I took another sip of my drink before I put him out of his misery. “And he appreciates your undying loyalty.”

Constantine let out a visible breath, his chest shaking with it. “However, not everyone is you.”

He took a sip of his drink. “What do you mean?”

I decided to stop playing with him. I had somewhere to be. Someone to see. “We have a rat. They’re feeding information to the Gallos. That’s how they’ve been able to infiltrate the clubs, stop our shipments.”

“Who would betray you? I mean your father.” Yes, even though my father was in charge and Leif would take his place, it was me people feared. They knew it would be me who came after them. Me who got my hands dirty. Who knew their secrets.

“I believe it’s one of yours.”

“I trust my men, im-“

“I don’t.” I slammed my glass onto the table, the sound bouncing off the walls. “You will do an investigation into each man. Who’s having money trouble? Or has a sudden new flow of cash? Who has a drug problem or a sick family member? You will find this rat, or I will come for them. And you. Do we understand?”

He swallowed loudly. “Yes.”

His words were drowned out by the sound of the club as the door opened. A beautiful brunette walked into the room. She wasn’t dressed like the waitresses. She wore a long silk robe and high heels. I barely noticed her. My mind was on a blonde dove that waited for me.

“I didn’t mean to interrupt.” Tessa said, or Trixie as she was known here.

“You’re not interrupting,cara.Your presence is always welcome.” Constantine softened as he watched her approach.

“Since Kitty isn’t here to take care of you, I wanted to see if you needed anything.” Kitty, the name Kincaid used while working here. I still hated it.

“We’re fine. Let us finish our meeting and then come back to spend time with me.” Constantine smiled at her. I noted the look between the two of them as if they were used to each other’s company. Information was always useful.

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