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A, You don’t know me. Not yet. But I know you. I know how light must fall on your skin, how the world must hush when you walk through it. I know you the way a man knows the thing he was never meant to have—too well, too deep, too much. They say time changes a man. That’s a lie. Time only sharpens what’s already there. And me? I’ve had nothing but time. I’ll see you soon, angel. M
“Freedom isn’t something you win. It’s something you take.” And now, after two decades, Maddox Cross, also known as the Phantom, has finally taken his.
Because with Maddox, I don’t have to play the part. I don’t have to soften my edges or shrink myself down to fit into someone else’s picture of me. He doesn’t expect me to smile and nod and carry the weight without complaint. He doesn’t expect me to be easy. He just wants me to be real. And against all logic, I’m starting to like being around him.
My pulse pounds against his fingertips; he must feel how violently my heart is betraying me, how hard I’m trying to stay still, to keep control. But there is no control. Not with him. Not here. Not when every inch of me is screaming to let go.
“Why did you come with me?” I ask softly, keeping my voice even.
“Would’ve been worse watching you go without me,”
“You’re impossible.” I tilt my head, my voice dipping lower. “I’m inevitable.”
I drag my knuckles down her arm slowly, reveling in the way she shudders at my touch. The air between us is thick, electric. She’s waiting for me to make the next move, because in her mind, she’s not pursuing me. She’s the victim, and I’m the villain. And fuck, whatever she needs to think to give in is fine with me.
She’s unraveling. And I can’t wait to watch it happen, because as soon as she does… She’s mine. Wholly. Completely. Forever.
“I’ve always been drawn to strong things,”
“Not just anything with power, but things that endure. Things that have been broken and still piece themselves back together.” His lips curve into something that’s not quite a smile, something more like understanding. “Things like me.”
Asher has a big dick, sure. But he used it like a fucking accessory. Like he expected that to do all the work. Maddox, though? Maddox wields it.
“I’d have to be dead not to notice her, Asher,”
“If you want safety, if you want easy—you already had that. With me? It’s every ugly and real thing. It’s chaos and passion. It’s heavy, but it’s real. I want all of you, and not just the polite or palatable parts. I want every breath, every bruise, every broken piece you try to hide. I want it all.”
She’s the one thing I didn’t plan for, not really. Not like this. She’s the chaos I didn’t see coming, the storm I thought I could tame, but now? I don’t want to. I just want to stand in the middle of it and burn.
And maybe, just maybe, she’s finally realizing what I’ve known all along. We don’t get peace, she and I. We get fire. We get ruin. We get each other.
I want him, and he wants me. It’s as simple as that. With Asher, there was so much of the will he or won’t he? But with Maddox, it’s like our story was already written into the universe, like he’d already decided our fate and I never stood a chance.
“Safe isn’t always what you need, babe. Sometimes it’s just the thing keeping you stuck.”
Something in my chest aches for him, for everything he lost. His daughter. His years spent in prison. The quiet loneliness that still follows him like a shadow.
“I’m not trying to trap you,” he whispers. “I’m trying to show you you’re free. As long as you’ll let me worship you wherever that freedom takes you.”
“I’ve had twenty years to think about the shit I’d do if I ever got out. Turns out, cooking for someone I give a damn about was high on the list.”
Peace. This is what peace feels like, and for the first time in my life, I'm experiencing it for myself. And I’ll do any-fucking-thing to keep it.
