Page 41 of Vicious in the Dark

“Are you hungry?” he asked. “Maddox ran out for a bit. This is a good time to come down and eat if you want to avoid him.”

“Oh yeah?” I stuck my head out from beneath the covers, eyeing him warily. “And what if I want to avoid you? It’s not as if you’re clamoring for my company.”

Ruthless leaned against the dresser. The black t-shirt he wore showed off his heavily inked arms. This time I noted grinning skulls, snarling wolves, and a mallet wielding Harley Quinn decorating his skin. On his neck opposite the side with the spider perched a dark fairy, her wings spread so that one curved around the front of his neck, the other around the back. His short mohawk flopped forward, like he hadn’t touched it since rolling out of bed. My gaze lingered on his hands and the thick veins streaking down from his forearms. I was definitely hungry for something, but I didn’t know if it was food.

“Someone has to make sure you don’t try something stupid. Come on. There’s waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Is that still your favorite?” Ruthless paused, brow furrowing as an awkward tension settled over us. Suddenly he turned to leave. “Come down if you want. Don’t run again. It won’t end any differently.”

Ruthless was gone before I could respond. He made my favorite breakfast? I sat up in the bed, staring in the direction he’d gone. Maybe it was me but I was pretty sure I just caught a tiny glimpse of the old Ruthless.

I got out of bed with a groan, pausing to stretch until my back popped in all the right places. A quick trip to the bathroom to wash up and brush my teeth, then I headed down to the kitchen. There were no Hale Syndicate crew members stationed at the entrances. The house appeared empty other than Ruthless who sat at the kitchen island drinking coffee.

He glanced up at my arrival and nodded to the plate piled high with waffles on the counter next to him. “The Keurig is filled with fresh water. Help yourself.”

“No manpower to help you keep me indoors?” I asked, bitterness lacing my tone. Moving about the kitchen, I helped myself to a mug, remembering exactly where they were kept. “You and Mads must be fucking with me.”

“Maddox took them on a run. I don’t need any help keeping you here. My question for you is, why do you want to leave so badly?” Ruthless plucked a waffle from the stack and bit off a corner. “You can’t go to Rumer’s. Would you really rather hole up in some motel on the side of the road?”

“Yes,” I blurted without hesitation. “I would rather not be Maddox’s prisoner. I’m a grown ass woman capable of taking care of myself.”

I stuck my mug under the spout of the single cup coffee maker and popped a coffee cartridge into the machine. The weight of Ruthless’s gaze bore into me as he followed my actions.

“Is that why you ran right back to River City after pissing off the Crimson Thorns?” A hint of a laugh lurked in his slightly raspy voice. “Because you can take care of yourself? Get real, Maven. You fucking need us. Maybe you even missed us.”

My cheeks warmed. I counted to ten in my head, willing my emotions to leave my face before I turned back around to face him. Stirring cream and sugar into my cup took longer than necessary.

Finally I turned around to find Ruthless waiting with a brow raised, expecting an answer. I huffed an exaggerated sigh and took a sip of the strong brew in my mug. “I needed you the night Archer’s goons grabbed me. I needed you to not encourage Maddox to go off halfcocked on the day of the funeral. What I most certainly do not need is for you both to act like you’re doing me some kind of favor here. That’s bullshit, and you know it.”

Ruthless’s expression became stone cold. He stood up so fast the stool tipped over, hitting the floor with a clatter that made me jump. “If you think what happened to you that night doesn’t fucking haunt me, then you never knew me at all. Maddox has been a goddamn mess without you, although he’d never admit it to me. Those other two assholes act like they’ve got their shit together but it fucked them up too. If you really don’t want to be here, then feel free to leave. I won’t stop you.”

Throwing his bitten waffle down on the counter, Ruthless stalked from the room in a pissed off huff. A few moments later the sound of the front door banging open followed. Alrighty then.

I picked up the stool he’d knocked over and sat down. As I helped myself to some waffles, I pondered what he’d said. Ruthless was haunted by what happened? Hard to tell. He didn’t show a whole lot of emotion. Of course, he had his own reasons for that.

We all bore the emotional scars from the night Archer’s people grabbed me. It wasn’t all on the guys. Some of this was on me. If I hadn’t left town, the healing between the five of us could have started long ago. Now it may be too late for that.

Chewing a bite of fluffy, crisp waffle, I considered my options. There was nothing to stop me from ordering an Uber or calling a taxi. But where would I go? A hotel would get expensive fast. I wondered how quickly I could secure a place to rent.

After eating and tidying up the kitchen, I returned upstairs to grab my phone. Sprawling on the bed, I surfed several local rental sites for an ideal place. If I wanted a rental in a good part of the city, it wouldn’t come cheap. I found a few worth calling about. Two were already taken and the third didn’t answer. I left a message and continued to surf the rental postings. When my eyes tired of staring at the screen, I put the phone down and left the room.

The house was painfully quiet. Curiosity led me down the hall toward the master bedroom. It had been Aaron Hale’s room once. Now it was Maddox’s. As far as I could tell, Ruthless didn’t sleep up here. That meant he was most likely in the fully finished basement. A peek in Wolfe’s old room revealed it to be a relatively untouched bedroom. Almost like he’d be back any time now. Interesting.

It didn’t surprise me that Mads and Ruthless lived together, always there to have each other’s backs. The absence of Ace and Wolfe was poignant. Being in this house without them felt all wrong. Rumer told me that none of them had dated anyone seriously since me. They got their kicks with one night stands and moved on. I’d done the same. Being back didn’t mean we could all pick up where we’d left off though. Sadly, it didn’t work that way.

I padded down the hall to the master bedroom door, my socked feet silent on the carpet. As expected, the door was locked. I studied the lock for a minute before sprinting back down the hall to my room where my gym bag still sat on the dresser. I dug around inside the small side pocket, pulling out two bobby pins.

Five minutes later the door to Maddox’s bedroom clicked open. If he had some kind of security set up on this room, I was screwed. Nothing happened when I cracked the door open a few inches, so I shoved it open all the way and stepped inside.

As expected, the room was bathed in dark colors. The walls were a dark gray stone color that offset the black bedding. This room also had a door to the wrap around balcony and an attached bathroom.

I crossed the room to the balcony, peering down on the pool below. Memories of drunken teenage nights flitted through my head. A wan smile curved my lips. Those were the days when we thought nothing could touch us. That together we’d rule this city. How wrong we were.

Before I could let the memories sweep me away, I went back inside and browsed through the room. The top of the dresser was relatively clear other than a watch and a small stack of cash. I followed the room around to the desk in the corner. A laptop sat next to the stubbed out remains of a joint and an empty coffee cup. It was the framed photo on the corner of the desk that grabbed my attention though.

I snatched it up, studying it closely. It was a picture of Maddox and me goofing off out by the pool. We were almost ten years younger. We were both fully clothed and soaking wet. The photo had been taken right after he’d shoved me in the pool. I’d dragged him in with me.

Seeing it after all this time took me back to the moment. A genuine smile lit up my face. We had a lot of good times.

Maddox’s voice startled me out of nostalgia’s spell. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

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