Page 36 of Queen of Madness

And without another word, she’s out of the office, leaving me with a hard-on and hunger I’ve never known.

Iwake up at five a.m. Work out in the gym, shower, and eat at the bar while watching as Russ cooks. The guards don’t talk about gambling today but instead eat in silence. Every once in a while, someone will mutter their disbelief over their fellow ex-guard out loud, but no one looks my way. I’m sure they want to mourn the loss of a friend they’ve worked with for two years, but don’t know how, considering what he was trying to do.

And that’s assuming he’s dead...

Cat steals my attention as she fusses over everything Russ does, all the while smoking her joint from the high-end cigarette stick. She’s asked me twice now who I am, and each time I answer, she rolls her eyes and takes another hit.

After I finish, Russ pushes Onyx’s plate across the bar top, and I wonder if this is a permanent part of my job as her personal guard. Doesn’t matter either way, but after yesterday in her office, I’d be lying through my teeth if I said I won’t have to fight the temptation of pushing through her door and going back for seconds.

I know I initially planned for it to be a way to sneak around inside her room, but fuck, I also didn’t expect for her to taste so good. So...addicting.But the feel of her beneath me, her smell, her responses to my touch—just everything—turned me on in a way I’d never even thought possible. Hell, it was damn near painful.

Taking a deep breath, I knock twice, curious to see how her demeanor will be. But when she opens the door, she merely looks at me and then holds out her hand.

Her long black strands are wavy today, falling over her shoulders and closed robe. My hands itch to reach out and grab it. It’d been so silky in my hands, and with the angle, I hadn’t been able to wrap her ponytail around my wrist.

“Am I always going to have to wait for you to hand me my things?” One brow is arched in question and much to my disappointment, she sounds bored.

Should that bother me or intrigue me?

Deciding not to push it or piss her off after a day like yesterday, I relent, handing her the breakfast and dropping my hand seconds before she shuts the door.

While I want to knock again and say some shit that will most definitely land me in some type of trouble, I don’t, and instead inhale the breeze of lemon that slips through the door.

It’s the sweet notes in the fragrance that plague my mind the rest of the day.

Five a.m. again. Same routine. But this time, a guard approaches me during breakfast.

“Hey, I know they have you checking into us, but look man, none of us would do anything like that. I can speak for everyone here.”

A slight prick of annoyance makes my eye twitch. “Would you have said the same about him?”

The guy shifts uncomfortably, scratching the back of his neck as he takes a look over his shoulder. “I mean, no. But—”

I hold up a hand, cutting him off. “Look, I’m not trying to be a dick, but I don’t know you. Therefore, your words don’t mean shit. If you’re not doing anything sneaky, cool. But if you, or anyone else is, I have no problem snapping your fucking necks.”

Even with my voice calm and nonchalant, the man grimaces and nods before returning to the table.

Am I being a complete fucking hypocrite? Absolutely.

But do I mean it? Yeah.

I know I don’t know much about the woman, but if my sister’s life wasn’t on the line, I wouldn’t do what I’m doing. Not only because she’s right about being the lesser of the two evils, but because she’s actually no—

“They’re on pins and needles because they saw the gardeners planting body parts this morning. But I’ll tell you a little secret.” Cat takes a long draw of her joint, holding it in for a moment before blowing it out. “It was the other guy. The one you so graciously slammed against the wall. You killed him.”

My mouth pulls down in the corners, my brows raising in slight surprise. But then the resounding crack of his skull hitting the cement wall plays back and I nod. “Makes sense.”

Cat’s eyes narrow, her blue strands falling over her forehead as she tries to read my lack of a response. “Who are you?”

I smirk, standing and taking Onyx’s plate from Russ. “Same person I was yesterday and the same person I’ll be tomorrow.”

She scoffs but doesn’t call after me.

When I enter the foyer to climb the stairs, Onyx’s voice catches me by surprise. I veer to the right and see her sitting at her desk, the dark French doors wide open. Trigger is pointing to something on the computer as she observes, nodding while he speaks too low for me to hear.

She notices me standing in the open doorway and nods, a silent beckoning. When I approach, I glance at the available chair, tempted as hell to have a seat and play another round of give and take. But it’s as though she can read my thoughts and resumes her conversation.

“All clean?”

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