Page 66 of Glutton for Punishment

“I asked Maddox to speak with you both,” Valentine says, folding her hands in front of her.

“Typically, I refrain from involving myself in family affairs outside my territory… But this—” her gaze sharpens, cutting between us “—I feel this is something that could affect us all. It’s necessary to call out what is happening in the shadows for the safety of all Gluttons.”

Maddox straightens beside me. Tension pulls tight across his shoulders.

“The scales are tipping,” she says. “And not in your favor.”

“What do you know?” he asks.

“You’ve always been a threat to them all, Maddox.” She tilts her head, considering him. “But it was… workable. Precariously balanced. You, Amaya, and Riven held the top, and the others didn’t cause a fuss that couldn’t be managed with a quick intervention of physical force. Not peaceful, but predictable.”

Predictable. In Gluttony, that’s probably the closest thing they have to safety.

“Battle lines were being drawn before you ever brought Arwen into Gluttony,” she continues. “When the bond completed in front of the Council at her trial, the others started getting nervous. This was inevitable.”

Her eyes flick to me.

“The threat of your bond, especially one at a 100% power level, regardless of her lack of sin power…” She pauses and looks at me. Waiting for me to fill in the blanks. Another test.

So she noticed my slip up at dinner.

I keep my expression flat. Blank. Give her nothing. Maddox’s warning echoes in the back of my mind.

Trust none of them.

Valentine watches me for a second longer. When I don’t fill her silence, her brows pull together—just slightly—before she moves on.

“Even without a visible ability, your bond amplifies him. That alone makes you both more dangerous than before.”

Her gaze returns to Maddox.

“I believe Amaya and Riven have been aligning. Making plans.”

Maddox doesn’t react right away, but I see the calculation in his eyes. Wheels already turning.

“They’re aligning… against us,” I say.

Valentine nods once. “It appears that way.”

I push off the wall, arms uncrossing without me realizing. “Well, what are our options? I haven’t given them anything to worry about. We’ve stayed on the sidelines.”

She exhales through her nose, the closest thing to frustration I’ve seen from her.

“I don’t believe you can stay out of this, Maddox.” Her tone drops.

“If they are forming a truce with the others, even a temporary one, and you sit on your hands… your territories will be in trouble.”

“I won’t do nothing,” Maddox snaps, pushing off the desk. His voice drops, rougher. “I’ll fight. You know I will, Val.”

“No one doubts your physical prowess and capabilities.” There’s no edge in her tone—just facts. “But a fight against the entire family at once?” A slight shake of her head. “That is not one you win. And right now, your silence is not being read as restraint.”

She pauses.

“It’s being read as a threat.”

Fuck. We can’t have this whole family against us. It will rip Maddox’s territories apart.

“This will not resolve itself even if you try to fade into the background,” she adds.