Page 172 of Maddening Fixation

I would make her regret ever touching something that belonged to me.

Driven by grief more than reason, I stumbled into the bathroom.

I turned the shower on as hot as I could bear.

Steam quickly filled the room, but it couldn’t wash away the ache crushing my chest.

I scrubbed my skin almost violently, trying to erase the helplessness clinging to me.

Trying to silence the image of Raven waiting faithfully at the front door...

Never knowing I’d never come home to her again.

By the time I stepped out, my tears had finally stopped.

Not because I felt better.

Because there were none left.

I dressed quickly.

I snatched the car keys from the table where I’d dropped them after returning from the warehouse only hours earlier.

Then I walked out.

Every step fueled by grief. Every breath fed by anger.

Maybe Yarina had only wanted to hurt me.

Maybe Raven had run away. Maybe she was hiding somewhere.

Maybe...

I clung desperately to every impossible possibility.

Traffic blurred around me as I drove far faster than I should have.

The familiar route to my father’s estate passed almost unnoticed beneath my tires.

Nearly forty minutes later, the wrought-iron gates came into view.

I barely waited for them to finish opening before accelerating through.

The estate looked exactly as it always had.

Perfect. Orderly.

As though nothing terrible had happened.

I parked crookedly near the entrance and climbed out before the engine had fully settled.

My heart pounded so violently it hurt.

I hurried toward the front door.

Then I heard it.

Laughter.