Page 101 of Maddening Fixation

My gaze drifted back to him.

He hadn’t moved.

His body lay unnaturally still against the cold warehouse floor, his chest rising and falling in slow, shallow breaths.

The bleeding had finally slowed.

For now, that fragile rhythm was the only thing reassuring me he was still alive.

Unable to stay still, I stood and began pacing outside the warehouse.

Every passing second felt unbearably long.

Every distant sound made me glance toward the road.

Where were his men?

How much longer could he hold on?

The vibration of my phone startled me.

I pulled it from my pocket.

Egor.

My heart sank.

I glanced at the time.

Six-thirty.

Only then did I realize thirty minutes had slipped by unnoticed.

The picnic.

The thought struck me like a jolt.

In everything that had happened...

I’d completely forgotten about it.

I stared at the screen as it continued to ring.

What was I supposed to tell him?

“Sorry, I couldn’t make it. I was busy keeping the man my grandmother ordered me to marry from bleeding to death in an abandoned warehouse.”

The thought would have been almost laughable...

...if my life hadn’t suddenly become exactly that unbelievable.

The shrill ringing of my phone continued to cut through the silence.

I stared at the screen for a moment before finally answering.

“Egor...”

I pressed the phone against my ear and turned slightly away from Romeo, lowering my voice.