Page 94 of Liars

I forced my voice to steady. “Maddox, answer me. I deserve the truth.”

He tilted his head. “I owe you nothing.” His gaze dropped to my lips, lingering, and a sinking feeling spread through my stomach.

Oh no.

I knew that look.

He wouldn’t kiss me.

Would he?

Maddox was the last Corvo I’d expect to have any interest in me. It wasn’t like he was hard on the eyes, but he wasn’t Kreed. I doubted Maddox wanted to hear me say that. Then again, perhaps it would stop him from making a mistake. And the wayhe was staring at me right now, like I was something he wanted to claim, made my pulse pound with warning.

Right?

It was definitely alarm.

I didn’t want Maddox to kiss me. I wasn’t curious.

Right?

Flattening my palm against his chest, I pushed, hoping to jolt him back to reality. It had the opposite effect. Before I could fully process what was happening, Maddox moved. His mouth crashed against mine.

I froze.

What the fuck is happening?

For half a second, shock paralyzed me, my brain scrambling to catch up. Then, reality slammed into me. Maddox was kissing me!

A sharp wave of fury surged through me. I acted on instinct. My teeth sank into his lower lip—hard—the sharp taste of blood filling my mouth.

Maddox jolted back with a curse, his hand flying to his mouth. “Shit.” He wiped his fingers across his lips, smearing red. His dark eyes lifted. “Bitch,” he hissed.

I glared at him, my own lips tingling from the contact. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“What?” His smirk was sharp, taunting. “Kreed’s good enough to fuck you, but you can’t stand my touch.”

Why not take things further? I’d already gone this far. What was the worst that could happen?

I spat in his face.

His eyes flashed.

“No matter how much you try,” I said coldly, “you’ll never be him.”

“Damn, menace.” He ran his tongue over the cut, tasting the blood, before grinning down at me. “Didn’t know you had that in you.”

Neither did I.

Maddox’s tongue ran over his cut lip again, and he laughed. Dark. Twisted. “You got it bad for my brother.” He shook his head. “That’s just perfect.”

Ice threaded down my back.

“If you only knew the poetic justice in all this.” His smirk widened. “I cannot wait to watch him rip your heart out. And trust me, he will. He’s going to break you to the point of irreparable. And I’m going to savor every second of your heartache.”

I swallowed hard. “What are you talking about?”

His eyes gleamed. “You don’t actually believe he has feelings for you, do you?”

---