Page 35 of Asphyxia
Madison
“IsweartoGod,this better be good, Derek—”Un-fucking-believable.
I told Dean I wantednothingmore to do with Adrian and this case, but he practically begged me to come into the CIA office, stating that Derek wouldn’t let up with his pissy attitude until I confronted him myself. “And what the fuck are you doing here?” I scowled, crossing my arms over my chest as my eyes caught Eli Wilder sitting in the far corner of the room.
“Nice to see you too, Mads. How’s the new boy toy?” He mocked as he sank back, making himself comfortable in his chair.
I fucking hated Eli. He was constantly meddling in shit he shouldn’t be in and getting far too close to Alexis for my liking. If I remember correctly, Eli had been working with Anathema for at least the past several years—a secret society Chyler and I had tried our hardest to keepAlexis out of.
I never disclosed to either of them that Adrian had taken over…
Anathema was relentless in recruiting. We burned so many of their letters to keep Alexis in the dark, protecting her from the one thing we knew she would be too easily influenced by.
The secret society didn’t just take you in; they took your soul. There was no way out once you signed your life over to them—they fucking owned you until the end.
When we discovered that one of her closest hacker friends was working for them, we did the only thing we knew best—threatened his life to keep his fucking mouth shut.
Eli knew not to mess with us, or we’d kill him where he stood. Still, he continued playing games and chasing after Alexis while our backs were preoccupied with other things.
“That’s none of your business. How’s your precious Monika?” I met him with sass of my own.
Monika was a woman I could give two shits about, but I knew he was close with her. It was entirely obvious just how infatuated Eli was with Alexis, and yet he still strung poor Monika along, most likely imagining he was fucking Alexis instead of her.Gross.
Eli launched himself at me the moment Monika’s name left my lips and wrapped his hand around my throat. I sucked in a sharp breath with the sudden and aggressive movement before my eyes snapped to Dean’s—a silent gesture not to interfere.
This was my fight and mine alone.
“You keep her name out of that cock whoring mouth of yours.” Eli sneered with venom as his grip tightened with a firm squeeze before releasing me.
I choked as air flooded my lungs, wrapping my hand around my throat. Seems as though Monika had become a touchy subject for Eli.I wonder what had happened between them...
Perhaps she finally figured out that he was only ever going to use her for an easy fuck while he waited for his shot at Alexis, and she finally left him.Wishful thinking.
I massaged my neck, which I was sure would bruise later with his fucking fingerprints, shifting my attention over to Derek, standing behind his desk.
Once Eli had sat back down in his time-out corner, Dean approached me from behind, and I held a hand up to stop him.
I wasn’t in the mood for coddling, and if anything, now was when I needed to show just how vicious and unforgiving I could be.
Eli fucking Wilder…
Walkingthroughthefrontdoor, I was surprised to find all the lights off and a trail of candles leading towards our bedroom from the foyer.
“Adrian?” I called out, looking around for any sign of him being home.
Before I left for work this morning, Adrian had mentioned that he was leaving town on a business trip and wouldn’t be home for the next few days… so he shouldn’t be here. “Hello?”
When no answer came, I droppedmy backpack to the floor and followed the path of candles, grabbing a knife from the kitchen as I passed by the butcher block.
I knew Adrian, and his attempts at romantic gestures and lighting candles were not one of them—not unless he was using them to hurt and maim.
I gripped the handle tightly in my right hand, the blade lying flat against my forearm as I tiptoed down the hall and lightly pushed on the bedroom door.
“Adrian?” I tried again before slipping into the bedroom and staring in awe as I focused on what was scattered across the bed—red and black rose petals.
Strong hands slipped around my waist, pulling me back against a hard body, and I spun myself around, the blade of the knife millimeters from his neck.
“That’s my girl,” Adrian murmured, ignoring the sharp metal pressed up against his skin as he leaned forward to press his lips to mine.
