Page 178 of Glutton for Punishment

“We need to speak to Maddox.”

Chapter 55

Arwen

Maddox opens the door on the first knock, and the sight of him sends my thoughts into an unhelpful spiral. His chest is bare with low slung sweatpants. A delicious V peeks out.

His expression shifts the moment he sees me.

That rare, fleeting smile appears—softening the hard lines of his face, changing him entirely for a fraction of a second before he schools it away.

He steps forward, pulls me into him, and kisses me like I’m the air he breathes. It’s deep and grounding and completely Maddox.

He sets me on my feet, and his expression tightens as he realizes Atticus is behind me.

“Thanks for the escort, Willshire,” he says flatly. “I’ll take it from here.”

He reaches for the door to close it in Atticus’s face.

“Hey—wait.” I catch it before it shuts. “We need to talk to you, Maddox. Both of us. It’s important.”

That makes him pause. His eyes narrow, moving from me to Atticus in a slow, assessing sweep. He steps back and nods for us to move inside.

I reach the table, my throat closing. It’s littered with half-folded maps, loose sheets of notes, and pens that have rolled into little nests of clutter. I let out a slow breath, searching for the right words, but they scatter like dropped coins. There’s no elegant way to say this.

Blunt it is.

“Atticus and I have completed the bond.”

Silence descends as Maddox’s eyebrows lift.

“…What? But what about his father?” he asks, already turning toward Atticus.

Atticus answers before I can. “I’ve decided to break ties if he forces me to choose,” he says. “Or if he remains a threat to Arwen.”

Maddox looks between us again. I can see the wheels turning in his brain.

My hands tighten in my lap.

“I chose this, Maddox,” I say. “I want Atticus as a bonded.”

“And I choose you,” I add before I lose my nerve. “The proximity bond didn’t in work the same way or give us a choice in the matter, but I firmly believe we’re meant to be together. I need you. I want you in my life as my bonded. Just like I need Atticus in my life too.”

My voice wavers, but I force myself to keep going.

“I know you and Atticus have issues, but I hope you can see how much bigger this is than all of us. And I know right now you may be disappointed or angry, and I understand that. But at the end of it all, I really hope you choose me too.”

Maddox stays perfectly still, his face giving nothing away. Then he drags a hand down his face, slow and tired, like he’s trying not to react too strongly in either direction.

His eyes glow with gentle warmth as he looks at me again. He reaches out and takes my hand.

“Arwen,” he says quietly, “I’m not going anywhere. Ever.”

Relief floods me so hard I almost cry.

“You’re stuck with me. I don’t care if you become some unhinged recluse and want to move to the furthest edge of the Wastes with thirty cats,” he adds, voice dry but warm, “I’d follow you in a heartbeat. Nothing’s going to change that.”

I could melt.