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Two of the guards surged past me to get to Luc and Diego. Diego still had Luc trapped on the ground, both of them bloody. Luc gripped Diego’s wrists, holding him back as he fixed Diego with one of his impenetrable stares. Diego was panting, his eyes wide, shocked at something I couldn’t see.
The guards grabbed them both, pulling them apart. They didn’t fight them the way Max did. It took two guards to pull him off Venom, who’d become a limp sack on the floor.
Hands on her hips, the woman spun, glaring at the crowd. “If I see a single post tonight from any of you bitches, I’m suing you for defamation!”
Phones started disappearing as the guards pulled the boys apart, but it didn’t stop the reporters from grabbing shots.
The guards fixed Max in a stronghold, binding his arms, but he still struggled against them.
“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?” he roared at the crowd, the security guards fighting to stop him.
He found me at the edge of the circle and grabbed me with his harsh glare, demanding my attention, blazing at me in fury and pain.
I was so fucking proud of him.
He stood there, his fists clenched, shaking, panting furiously, his face streaked with blood. I knew right away that I wanted to fuck him up.
I was snarling, the fierce rage in me responding to his savage glare. His power was intoxicating, raw, radiating off him as he stood surrounded by a ring of horrified people while the guards dragged Venom’s limp body away.
I wanted to meet his beast. I wanted to toy with this thing inside him that unleashed itself. Not the desperate begging creature who had showered me with words of love and praise, but this brutal man who attacked without hesitation as soon as I was threatened.
How had he even known what Venom was saying over the music?
I didn't care. Max was gorgeous, the club’s flashing lights highlighting the blood and the tension in his body —his ripped leather vest, the dark jeans, the way his smudged kohled eyes summoned me as blood dripped from his knuckles. A call to violence was singing in my veins, the same one that had me choking him weeks ago.
I was going to take him down. I wanted to see this fierce animal trembling under me, weak, helpless, and tamed, submitting to me. I wanted to take away his power, leave him breathless and spent.
There was no point denying it. I could lie to myself all I wanted, tell myself I had no choice, but the naive girl who still lived inside me, the one full of heartbreak and longing, who swore she would never trust again? She wasn’t in charge anymore.
Because I was aching, aching to see this man come undone, his power becoming mine, taking everything he had, so all he had left was me.
They pulled Max and Luc away through one of the double doors at the side of the room. And slowly, ever so slowly, the party resumed.
Steve sent me daggers across the circle of onlookers when he realised I was here, but he kept his distance. Only Jazz came to check on me before returning to dance.
I was wired, so fired up that if anyone looked at me wrong, I’d lay into them without question. I was so turned on that if Max touched me, I’d come undone.
And I was furious. I wanted him to pay for what he did when we were younger, but seeing him covered in blood? Defending me? There was no coming back from that. It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. Better than the earrings or the flowery words.
I sat at the bar, focused on my breathing and the lust pounding through me. I wanted to touch him. I wanted Max under me, to taste him and feel the stunning rage reverberate off of him.
I clenched my hand around Luc’s abandoned beer bottle, trying to breathe, trembling with excitement. This was power. Pure power pounding in my soul, demanding to be released. Only one man could take it —only one who I wanted to take it.
This is what he should have done all those years ago when Goss pressed record, and the first words out of his mouth were, “I bet she takes it like a pro.” Instead of replying, “Fuck, man, you have no idea,” and bragging about how eager I was for his cock, Max should have stood up and smashed his fist into Goss’s face.
Was Max thinking about that when Venom said those words? Or was it his need to defend me that took him over?
I debated following, finding him, sure they had stuck him in a room somewhere to calm him down. I could at least check to see if he was injured. I wanted to make sure he was okay, that was all. I wasn’t thinking about pouncing on him in the slightest.
I aimed for the door they’d dragged him through. Large pillars were set apart from the walls, giving people privacy. Just dark enough for the guests to get up close and personal without reporters being able to grab shots of them.
Tucked away between the pillars, I saw a familiar shock of blonde hair catching what little light there was. I heard her muffled laugh, an indistinct murmur, and saw a familiar face bending down to take her lips.
I scoffed as Bunny pushed Damien back into the wall. I turned and headed through the doors towards the reception area. I wasn’t surprised. All the guilt and remorse that had been building since I first took Max in my arms had been dissipating since I’d seen her with Darcy at the Gala, but the picture of her and Damien embracing helped seal my decision.
How was I going to find Max? I was considering bribing one of the hotel staff members when I caught sight of a familiar purple dress. The woman who had stopped the fight was near the front entrance, waving her arms wildly.
“I can’t do this anymore, Carl. It’s driving me fucking nuts.”
