Page 150 of Maddening Fixation

Heavy industrial presses, steel frameworks, oversized engines, forklifts, and loading docks filled the enormous yard.

Armed security cameras rotated methodically from their mounts while floodlights cast long, unsettling shadows across the concrete.

Nothing about this place felt like an ordinary factory.

It looked like a business built to manufacture legitimate products by day...

And facilitate far darker operations after nightfall.

Romeo shifted the SUV into park.

For the first time since we’d left the bungalow, he looked directly at me.

His gaze lingered briefly on my swollen eyes and tear-stained cheeks before drifting back to the windshield.

“Will you stay in the car,” he asked quietly, “or are you coming inside?”

I blinked.

The question genuinely caught me off guard.

I’d expected an order.

A command to stay put while the men handled their business.

Not a choice.

I turned toward him.

“I want to come.”

My voice was still rough from crying, but the answer came without hesitation.

For a moment, he simply watched me.

Then he gave a slight nod and reached inside his suit jacket.

Instinct immediately took over.

Every muscle in my body tensed.

I recoiled before I could stop myself.

In our world, a man reaching inside his jacket rarely meant anything good.

It meant a weapon.

Romeo noticed.

His movement paused for the briefest fraction of a second.

Something unreadable flickered across his face.

Then, almost imperceptibly, one corner of his mouth twitched.

Not quite a smile.

More an acknowledgment that he’d understood exactly why I’d flinched.