Read Madness (Revenge Series Book 3) for Free Online Page A

not a man you want to provoke.”
    The stranger connects his gaze with Nikolai’s then back with mine. I can see the flash of alarm on his face as he takes a step back.
    “You can have her, bro. The bitch isn’t worth it.”
    Nikolai’s frame slightly leans forward, and I press back, telling him with my body that it’s not worth it and to back down.
    “Apologize to the lady,” Nikolai seethes.
    “ Excuse me ?” The man slowly turns back around, affixing his lethal glare on Nikolai.
    My heart starts thudding rapidly in my chest. I know how this is going to end, and it’s not in this asshole’s favor.
    “I said … apologize to the lady,” Nikolai commands without a change in his expression.
    The music is loud enough that only the three of us can hear, but if anyone is watching, it will be clear something violent is about to go down.
    “That bitch”—the stranger points to me—“doesn’t deserve it. As for you, you can go to hell.”
    Before Nikolai has a second to think, I act.
    Spinning on my heels, I latch my arms around his neck and pull him into me. My hips start to sway to the sultry sounds of D’Angelo still playing over the sound system. Nikolai’s jaw is locked in a vise-like grip as he keeps his eyes solely on the tool behind me. I try moving a little more aggressively, yet seductively against him, but he’s frozen to the floor like a beautifully dangerous statue in the middle of a sea of limber, sweaty bodies.
    “Look at me,” I whisper, hoping he will hear.
    He remains lethal looking, locked in a tight, unmovable position.
    I unhook my arms from around his neck and put my hands on his cheeks, directing his face down to mine. “Look at me,” I demand again, more loudly this time.
    The seconds pass at a listless pace before Nikolai breaks his glare from the man and looks down at me. I smile, knowing I have won a major battle, and nod my head in acceptance.
    I slowly start to move my feet to the rhythm of the music, getting him to at least relax somewhat before we leave. I lower my hands and rest them on his taut shoulders. His muscles are rigid under my palms, but they have loosened faintly since the other guy left.
    Nikolai begins to inch his hands up my sides. One possessively snakes around my waist, pressing me closer to him, and the other captures my right palm. He pulls our tangled hands down to his chest, tucking them between our bodies. We sway, our hips in synch, our feet slowly shuffling to the beat of the song.
    “No one has ever done that before,” Nikolai whispers in his baritone voice.
    I raise my head to look at the uncertainty masked across his face. “Done what?”
    “Stopped me.”
    I acknowledge his response with a nod. I have questions, several of them, but now is not the time. We have tomorrow to dwell on the aftermath of what just happened. Right now, we simply need to be another couple in the crowd.
    Our eyes remain connected. I’m afraid to blink, afraid to watch this peaceful moment between us vanish. I’m comfortable here, protected in his arms, knowing time is not a luxury we have. It only makes me want to hold more tightly to the little time we do have.
    The world around us becomes obscured as I envision only us on this dance floor, no longer caring about our treacherous past or nameless futures or the pain we have yet to endure. I am only living in this moment. There’s no time counting down between us. It is intimate, soul-exposing, and raw. Words don’t need to be shared. It’s him and me alone in this world out to get us. For these last precious seconds, we live only here. Together.
     

C HAPTER S IX
    Nikolai
    August 15, 2015 3:47 a.m.
     
     
    T he internal alarm set in the pit of my stomach jerks me awake. My instincts are what have kept me alive in the direst circumstances, and I feel them wrenching my insides in a major fucking warning.
    I roll to my side and feel Josslyn lying beside me. Her hair is splayed across the pillow like a golden fan, her