Page 103 of Pretty Vengeful Queen

Maddoc nods, then kisses me again, a little deeper this time. Like he needs the reassurance too.

Then he flinches and pulls away

“What?” I ask, reaching for him and then pulling back. “Your hand?”

“No,” he digs his phone out of his pocket and frowns down at it, then looks up and gives me a grim smile, turning the screen to face me. “Dante’s in.”

“Oh god.” A wave of relief rolls through me.

Maddoc smirks, but I can see that he feels the same. “I told you it would be all right.”

Neither of us point out that this is just the beginning. For now, it’s enough to know that the plan is working. That Dante is…

He’s not safe.

“No, he’s not,” Maddoc says, making me realize I said it out loud. He looks at me seriously. “I want you to be, though. As much as it’s fucking possible to make that happen in this fucked-up world. Tonight, when that assassin showed up…”

He presses his lips together tightly, rage flashing across his face again.

“You beat him. We won,” I remind him quickly, cupping his jaw.

He nods, holding my hand against his face. “We did, and if he’d hurt you, I’d fucking drag his corpse back here and kill him all over again.”

“He wasn’t after me. He was sent here for you.”

Maddoc’s face darkens. “He didn’t give a shit. You were in the way. I need you to know how to defend yourself. It’s important.”

“Okay.”

“No, this isn’t negotiable, I—”

I cover his mouth with my fingers, my heart swelling with love for this fierce, ruthless man who puts his love for me before everything. “I said okay, Maddoc. You’re right. I’ll learn to defend myself.”

He stares at me for a minute, then chuckles. “Right. Good. I want you to work with Logan. He’s the best when it comes to fighting and self-defense.”

“Okay.”

He keeps staring at me for a minute, heat kindling in his gaze. Then he shakes his head with a rueful laugh and gets to his feet. “Quit fucking tempting me. You make me want to fuck you right through this mattress when you’re a good girl and do what I say like that, butterfly.”

“And that would be a bad thing?” I tease.

“That’s never a bad thing,” he says, his voice husky as he leans down and kisses me again. Then he straightens. “But you need to get some sleep, and I need to go update Logan on Dante’s communication, so it’s gonna have to wait.”

“Okay,” I say again, partly just to fuck with him.

He laughs, shaking his head at me, and leaves, taking a piece of my heart with him and leaving me with something even better. Something I’ll need to hold onto with both hands, because tomorrow is another day to try to survive.

And not a single tomorrow is guaranteed. Not for any of us.

* * *

Everything feelsoff kilter with Dante out of communication, other than a few small updates here and there, over the next week or so. Maddoc’s hand starts to heal as he stays out of sight, and as far as everyone else knows, Logan runs the Reapers now… which he actually does for the most part, despite still discussing all the important decisions with Maddoc whenever possible.

Still, he’s running himself ragged, and not just because of the extra time it takes to be the public face of the organization, but because it pushes him out of the routines and sense of order he requires. And on top of that, he’s training me in self-defense and combat, just like Maddoc wants.

“Again,” he insists when I fumble the move he’s been making me work on for the last forty minutes—a brutal but effective way to use my smaller body weight to break out of a chokehold and incapacitate my attacker.

He reaches a hand down to help me to my feet, and I glare up at him for a moment before I remind myself that Iwantto do this.

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