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He curled his index finger around the lock of hair that had fallen out from my bun. His minty breath, mixed with the smell of alcohol, feathered over my lips. I wanted to beg him with my eyes. Maddox tugged on my hair slightly before tucking it behind my ear. He moved, and my eyes fluttered close once again…waiting… a desperate breath locked in my throat as my chest caved and my stomach clenched.
He pressed his cheek against mine, and his lips lingered over my ear. “Don’t disappoint me, chérie.”
My body shuddered, and I breathed out a shaky breath. He tore my heart open and left me bleeding. He pulled away and stared down at me.
Maddox was mocking me. Taunting me.
He never stopped being a jerk. He just hid it behind a sexy smile and a nonchalant expression.
I thought he had left his asshole ways behind. But no, I was wrong. So fucking wrong about him. About us.
Friends. We were friends.
I thought maybe… he wanted more. More of me. More of us, of what we were or could be. I was so goddamn wrong.
Maddox Coulter was still an asshole behind a pretty mask.
And I was the stupid girl who fell in love with her best friend.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Lila
I waited, my heart thudding in my chest. His warmth behind me had my stomach twisting in anxiety. His shirt brushed against my bare shoulders. Maddox crowded behind me, and my gaze moved to Lucien.
He looked miffed as Maddox came between us. Lucien and I had spent the whole day together. He took me sightseeing while Maddox stalked us from a distance. Lucien didn’t know, but I saw him, following us everywhere we went.
Lucien planned to take me out for dinner later at the Eiffel tower. He said it was romantic and beautiful up there. I knew from the look in his eyes that he was expecting something tonight.
Lucien expected us to fuck.
And Maddox dared me… so it was happening. Tonight.
I tried to pull away from my best friend, but then the fireworks went off in the dark Paris sky, and it stole my attention. People cheered on the rooftop of the hotel where we were standing.
Someone had just gotten married; they were celebrating. The City of Love, indeed.
Because of the noise of the fireworks as well as the music and laughter that surrounded us, Maddox thought his secret was safe; he thought it was loud enough that I couldn’t hear the words he whispered in my ear. But I did.
“If there’s a God, He doesn’t want me to be happy. Maybe it’s my fault because I pushed you into the arms of another man. But He won’t let me have you even though I begged him to let me love you freely. I can’t remember the last time I asked Him for something. I guess... I’m not meant to have what I want. My parents. A family. You. You. You,” Maddox whispered in my ear, his voice a low rasp.
Another set of fireworks went off, loud and booming into the sky.
His lips caressed my neck, warm and soft against my skin. “All of you.”
He sounded so broken, so tortured.
If only...
Maddox and I...
We were more than friends but less than lovers. That was our relationship; there was no real definition. We were somewhere in the middle, tangling over the edge of something that could forever break us.
I turned around and his face held an expression of a wounded beast: a bleeding warrior, a broken boy.
“Lila,” he started, his voice a gruff baritone, but Lucien came forward. He wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me into him.
Maddox’s eyes clouded, and he stepped back, without finishing the sentence and whatever he was about to say. Lucien’s lips caressed my temple, and Maddox stalked away, disappearing into the crowd.
Maybe that was all we were or could ever be: an incomplete sentence and a story without an ending.
But his secret confession changed everything.
Maddox wanted me.
God, how stupid could we be?
“So, we shall meet in an hour?” Lucian said, breaking through my thoughts. “Is that enough time for you to dress?”
I nodded, mutely, and sent him a tentative smile before striding away.
I walked inside my room, grabbed a few things and then stalked over to the adjacent room. His door wasn’t locked, and I walked inside to find Maddox sitting in a sofa chair, staring out the window–into the dark night.
He was still in his black slacks, his tie hanging loosely around his neck, his rumpled white shirt unbuttoned and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His legs were stretched out in front of him. He had a cigarette between his lips and a drink in his hand.
Maddox looked… rugged. Angry. Intense.
He owned the room, his mere presence sending out a dominating mood. His gaze fell on me, and Maddox tensed. His whole body tightened at the sight of me. His face hardened, his expression dark and brooding.
