Page 23 of Ruthless Alpha

“Is it too late to get in on that?” Ares asks, interest piqued.

“Nah, man, a hundred bucks,” Iver offers. “Which side are you on, fated or not fated? Odds favor fated right now, but you could tip those scales.”

“Fuck this,” Madd snaps, slamming the whiskey bottle down on a side table and jolting to his feet.

“Aw, c’mon, it’s just a joke,” Iver laughs, leaning in to nudge him with an elbow.

Madd shoves him away, keg beer sloshing from the cups in Iver’s grasp as he stumbles backwards.

“Whoa, easy!” Tristan barks out, jumping up to intervene.

Iver scowls at Madd as beer drips from his hands “What the hell, bro?!”

Ares chuckles uncomfortably, leaning away from the conflict. “C’mon, Madd, lighten up.”

Madd’s gaze sweeps between his friends as he pants in anger, chest heaving with every ragged breath.

And because old habits die hard, I stick my neck out in an attempt to calm him down, since I used to be the one person who always could. “Madd, come on…”

I immediately regret it.

He whips around, furious eyes focusing on me, and if looks could kill, I’d be slayed on the spot by the glare he cuts my way. His lips part to speak, and I brace myself before he even gets a word out, knowing by the look in his eyes that whatever comes out of his mouth next is going to hurt.

“Why don’t you just go back to Denver, Sloane?” Madd growls cruelly. “Run away, that’s what you’re fucking good at. Nobody wants you here.”

His words slice through me like a knife, shining a spotlight on my insecurities, and I can’t control the sting of tears that prickle behind my eyes in response. I sink my teeth into my lower lip, trying my hardest to get it together and stop them from flowing, but with the way my emotions have already been on overdrive, it’s useless. They flood in, obscuring my vision as Madd turns around and stalks away.

Avery leans in on one side of me, Lo rushing to the other, both of them trying to comfort me as the tears slip free and track wet paths down my cheeks. I sniffle, wiping them away with my hands, and suddenly Madd grinds to a halt, his back still to me, his posture tense. Then, slowly, his head turns as he looks back at me over his shoulder.

Though my vision is still blurry with tears, our eyes meet- and while the last thing I want to do is give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry, I can’t stop the big, fat tears from continuing to fall.

And then Madd does something I never expect him to.

He whips around, stomping back in my direction with madness in his eyes.

I brace myself for the worst, as do those around me. Everyone freezes in a state of suspended animation, watching Madd as he charges through the crowd, past Iver and Tristan and Andie and Ares, his eyes focused solely on me.

I hold my breath, even as he invades my space- and before I can process what’s happening, his strong arms wrap around me, lifting me from the barstool with ease and clutching my body tight to his chest. Like a long-dormant reflex awakening at his touch, my arms automatically wind around his neck, my legs around his waist. I bury my face in Madd’s shoulder, a sob wracking my body as his familiar scent washes over me, my heart aching from the memories it elicits.

He spins me around just as fast, stomping back the way he came. Without a word, he carries me from the ballroom, trudging down the hallway of the abandoned lodge as I cling onto him for dear life, chest aching and tears flowing.

He carries me all the way to the end of the hall, kicking open the double-doors of the presidential suite, a musty smell greeting us as he strides inside and leans forward to lay me down upon the old leather couch just beyond the doors. I blow out a shaky breath as he eases me back onto it, my arms slipping from Madd’s neck as he presses his forearms to the cushion on either side of my head to support his weight, his much larger body hovering over mine.

His dark eyes collide with my own, jaw clenched tightly as he stares down at me with a scowl twisting his lips. Then he lifts a hand to swipe a tear from my cheek with the pad of his thumb, bringing it to his mouth and licking it away.

I blink up at him, half-dazed by this sudden turn of events. One minute, he’s cutting me down with his words, and the next, I’m pinned beneath him, the heat of his body sinking into mine. Even more jarring is how natural it feels for us to be close like this; breathing each other’s air, staring into one another’s eyes. For a second, it’s like I never left. Like no time has passed, and we’re back to how we always were.

If only that were true.

Those dark, hollow eyes of his are so damn familiar, yet not. So much has happened over the last eight years, our lives diverging completely. Only now, they’ve come crashing together once again, and I’m not sure either of us are prepared to weather the fallout.

“Stop crying,” Madd rasps, catching another tear with his thumb as it slips free. “Fuck, please stop crying. I’m sorry, okay? Just… stop crying, Sloane.Stop it.”

The strain in his voice has the opposite effect of his words, though. Hearing it only makes more tears flow, as does the warm weight of his body on mine. I’m crying because he hurt me, but I’m also crying because I miss him. Because I want him, just like this, even though I shouldn’t.

He wipes away my tears with his thumbs as they spill from my eyes, a pained, conflicted look reflecting back at me in his own gaze.

“Madd?”

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