Page 33 of Vicious in the Dark

“God, I wish I’d stayed in bed today,” I muttered.

Feeling Ruthless’s powerful stare, I glanced up to find him watching me through the rearview mirror. His brown eyes were the same as I remembered, but the man within them was a stranger to me. A scar slashed down one side of his neck, cutting through his ink as it continued down his arm. Several more scars from burns and slices decorated his exposed skin, some of them hidden among his many tattoos. I tore my gaze away before he caught me looking.

“What did Archer’s man want?” Ruthless asked. “At the gym. What did he say?”

Right. I had a message for them. Being kidnapped by my ex in my sister’s parking lot had distracted me.

“He said that he wants his delivery back or else they’ll finish what they started with me years ago.” I repeated the threat with little emotion. Next to me Maddox stiffened.

“They can try,” he seethed, meeting Ruthless’s gaze in the mirror. “Archer is playing a dangerous game. He knows how long I’ve been waiting to serve his head to Maven on a platter. Now she’s home, and there’s nothing to stop me. Might be time to pay Archer a visit.”

We turned onto Maddox’s street where large homes owned by those with high paying jobs lined the block. The gated driveway with a tall stone wall surrounding the property flashed me back to the days I’d tried hard to forget. As we passed through the gate, I regretted my choice to come back to River City.

“What’s really stopping you from killing Archer?” I asked, turning to Maddox with a brow raised. “It’s because you can’t perform a takeover without Wolfe and Ace, isn’t it? You fucked yourself when you lost them.”

Maddox’s bitter laugh rubbed me raw. “Is that what you think? Those two jokers made the choice to leave. They only hurt themselves with that shit. We’re doing just fine without them. We’ll deal with Archer when the time is right. He’s not getting away with what he did to you.”

I studied Maddox, noting the way he gnawed his lip before scratching his stubbled jaw. Even after all this time, he still had his tells. It killed him that Archer still lived, and yet, I got the feeling that Maddox really had been waiting for me to come home to finish off the head of the Archer family.

The Escalade glided to a stop next to the house. From the outside it hadn’t changed at all. Other than the armed men that stood near the front door. Two more walked the perimeter. Maddox’s father hadn’t always surrounded himself with security. Maybe Mads had more reason to worry about that now. Either way, it didn’t inspire confidence. How would I make a run for it if there were people at every turn?

“Don’t make me wish that I’d knocked your ass out,” Maddox warned as Ruthless opened the back door. Using his hold on my wrists, Maddox slid out of the vehicle, pulling me along with him.

Mind racing, I analyzed my options. I didn’t have many. Not when Ruthless took hold of me as well, trapping me between them. Even if I did manage to slip their grasps, I’d never make it far.

The thought of entering the house incited panic. It was fucking stupid really. I’d lost my virginity in that house. It’s where my sister and I got drunk for the first time. I threw my first punch out back by the pool, in the face of a jock getting handsy with Rumer.

Maddox and Ruthless easily carried my weight as they pulled me to the front door. I dragged my feet, doing all I could to slow them down.

“Guys, please. You made your point, okay? This is going a bit too far now. I just want to go home.” Being trapped between the two men gave me a rush. I hated myself for liking it. What the hell was wrong with me? I had no interest in being their captive. This independent bird didn’t do well in a cage.

“This is home now, Vixen. You know that you were always meant to be queen of my castle. Better late than never.” Maddox winked, entirely too satisfied with himself.

That did it. I dug my heels in, skidding on the stone walk as they dragged me. Several planters and flower bushes fell victim to my flailing feet. With every step closer to the door I fought harder.

“You’re out of your goddamn mind, Maddox, you know that? What the hell is wrong with you?” I managed to tug one hand free. Ruthless caught it before I clocked either of them and twisted it painfully behind my back.

“Do you want me to choke her out?” he asked Maddox, looking far too eager. “It’ll be a lot easier to get her upstairs.”

My pained shout brought zero sympathy my way. The more I struggled the tighter they held me. No doubt I’d have bruises in the shape of their hands.

“No, it’s cool. Maven is one of us, remember? Let’s hold off on the choking unconscious.” Maddox nodded for one of his men to open the door. He slid me a sinister glare and added, “We won’t rule it out entirely.”

“One of us?” Ruthless scoffed, roughly jerking me across the threshold. “She stopped being one of us when she left.”

Ouch. Someone was holding a grudge. Not that I could fathom why he felt entitled to one.

“I left because the two of you went off half-cocked making stupid decisions that I paid the price for,” I snapped, satisfied when Maddox flinched. “Kindly go fuck yourselves.”

Ruthless maintained his emotionless mask. If there was anything going on beneath the surface of his rough exterior, I couldn’t tell. He’d once looked at me with kindness in his soulful brown eyes. Now he regarded me with stone cold detachment, leading me to believe that Maddox was alone in his desire to have me here.

“Give us a little credit for trying to make sure nothing like that happens again. I can’t change the past, but I can make Archer pay for it. And I will.” Maddox steered me through the entryway and down a short hall to the living room.

Some of the artwork on the walls had changed and the cream colored carpet looked newer, but overall, the Hale house hadn’t changed much. Maddox’s painfully familiar scent clung faintly to the air, tormenting me with memories. A surge of desperation gave me the strength to hook a foot in the doorframe of the main floor bathroom as we passed. It bought me only a few precious seconds before Ruthless roughly dislodged my foot.

“Seems kind of strange to wait so long, don’t you think?” A noise of frustration escaped me as my ankles hit the bottom stair.

Veins protruded in Maddox’s forearm as he lifted me off my feet. On my other side Ruthless did the same. While I kicked and flailed, they carried me up the stairs like I weighed nothing. When we reached the top, Ruthless slammed me against the wall, pinning me with a heavily inked forearm across my neck.

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