Page 36 of Maddening Fixation

No right even to breathe the same air as the woman who had remained loyal to me when the rest of the world had buried my name.

My stomach twisted.

I watched his hand reach casually toward her.

His thumb brushed gently across the corner of her mouth.

A tiny breadcrumb.

He smiled as he wiped it away with effortless familiarity.

“There.”

His voice carried softly across the table.

“You’ve got a habit of forgetting you’re eating.”

Yarina offered him a polite smile. “Thank you.”

She reached automatically for her napkin.

The gesture lasted barely two seconds.

It felt like someone had driven a blade through my chest.

Every muscle in my body locked.

Heat surged through my veins so violently I thought my skin might split apart.

That bastard.

The same hands that had pushed my sister toward death...

Now touched the woman I loved.

My vision darkened around the edges.

If Keegan hadn’t shifted subtly beside me, I might have crossed the room and ripped Sergei’s arm from its socket with my bare hands.

Instead...

I breathed.

One slow breath.

Then another.

No.

Not yet.

Death would come soon enough.

I wanted him afraid first.

I walked forward until I stood directly beneath the enormous crystal chandelier hanging above the center of the room.

Golden light spilled over me.