MadLo: Is she my sister-in-law yet?
Gideon heaved a sigh, annoyed. He never should have told Logan his plan, but he’d needed the genius hacker’s help for what he’d intended. There wasn’t a person alive who could get him detailed background information on his potential wives faster than Logan.
BigMad: I only just finished reading through the information you sent.
Logan’s response was immediate, and Gideon nearly rolled his eyes at the new screen name Logan had given him. The little shit enjoyed hacking his devices to change settings whenever he felt slighted. And he let Logan do it, to have his fun, because getting on the wrong side of the Maddox brother who could literally erase everything about you was never a good idea. Even for family.
MadLo: You wouldn’t have asked about her if you weren’t already thinking about it. Come on, Gid. Everyone knows you don’t bother with bullshit.
Indeed.
Throwing a quick glance to the woman sitting across the room once more, he noticed she was looking at him. When their gazes collided, he could see her gasp, her attention trapped on him…as he was focused on her.
His prey.
The future Mrs. Maddox.
From inside him, something he kept chained and buried deep—a dark and hungry something—jerked awake, slithering, creeping, silent yet unwavering in its purpose.
He tensed, shocked at the intensity of the gnawing, aching ferality.
The urge to conquer, to claim, to brand was a living, breathing beast inside him, one he only ever unleashed to ravage and consume business rivals. He was known for his cold ruthlessness, his calculated savagery, and many respected himfor it. Many gave him wide berth. And many, typically women, looked upon him like something they dared to tame.
Fools.
No one could satiate the monster inside him—one formed from ice and pain. Not even him. It took everything to keep it locked away when he wasn’t at the negotiating table, and usually he succeeded in keeping it restrained…or at least well fed on the blood of those he ravaged in the boardroom.
But today…its jaws snapped and salivated for something else.
Someone.
It wanted to gnaw on her, chewing slowly to savor every inch of flesh, every bone—right down to the pit of her soul…where it would consume that, too.
Though the woman beside her was still speaking, Kendra didn’t look away from him, almost as if she were being pulled toward him, unable to shift even a millimeter to break eye contact. As though a force neither of them could control was holding them in place.
Gravitational.
He could feel the heat of her gaze brushing against him—even through his $5,000 handmade Italian suitcoat.
Forcing himself to tearhisgaze fromhers, he replied to Logan.
BigMad: It will be done by end of Q3.
Which was only two months away. He’d have a ring on her finger, her name next to his on the marriage certificate, and her bouncing on his cock—raw—before the end of the financial quarter.
MadLo: You’re either overestimating your skills or you’re underestimating her.
Gideon smirked at that. He was doing neither.
He met her gaze once more, keeping his smirk in place, allowing her to see a sliver of the man he was beneath.
Like a morsel of the most delicious bait, something a woman like her—single, plain, and insecure—would snatch at with eager, grasping hands.
He knew exactly what he was doing; hunting. And he’d caught his little bunny rabbit in his trap.
As she finally tore her gaze from his to press a gentle hand against the other woman’s shoulder, Gideon knew he’d made the right choice.
MadLo: Are you going to romance her or just go in like the Mad Shark, all contracts and referendums and NDAs?
