Page 32 of Maddening Fixation

From a distance...

It looked beautiful.

Up close...

All I saw was a prison far crueler than Ravencliff.

This place had broken me long before prison ever tried.

Every corner carried a memory.

I remembered every humiliation.

Every insult. Every bruise.

My gaze drifted instinctively to the spot where Sarah had been thrown from the eighth-floor window.

I could still see her.

Her small body lying broken across the ancient stone.

I could still hear my own scream.

The memory shattered whatever remained of my restraint.

The muscles in my neck flexed.

My hands curled into fists once more.

I started walking.

Each step echoed heavily across the stone driveway.

My men fell into formation around me.

No one spoke.

The only sounds were polished shoes striking stone and distant laughter drifting from inside the manor.

They were still celebrating.

Still drinking. Still pretending they ruled Florida.

Keegan hurried ahead and grasped the enormous brass handles.

With one powerful pull...

The grand double doors swung inward.

The entrance hall opened before me.

Exactly as it had ten years ago.

Crystal chandeliers hung overhead like frozen tears.

The scent of expensive whiskey drifted through the air.

I crossed the threshold.