Page 39 of Maddening Fixation

Possessive. Mocking.

His eyes returned to mine.

The message couldn’t have been clearer.

She’s with me now.

Something inside me snapped.

Very well.

He had murdered my sister. Framed me for the crime.

Stolen ten years of my life.

And now he had the audacity to sit beside the only woman who had kept me alive through every endless day inside Ravencliff.

A quick death would have been an undeserved mercy.

Sergei Flynn deserved far worse.

He deserved to live with the same fear, helplessness, and despair he had condemned me to.

He deserved to watch everything he valued crumble before his eyes.

But seeing him act as though Yarina belonged to him shattered the last thread of restraint I possessed.

Ten years of rage, humiliation and grief shattered whatever restraint I had left.

Before anyone realized I had moved, my hand shot to Keegan’s belt.

Steel whispered as I ripped the combat dagger free from its sheath.

Keegan didn’t even flinch.

He knew exactly what was about to happen.

Time seemed to slow.

Sergei looked up just as my arm snapped forward.

The dagger left my hand like a bullet.

It spun once.

Twice.

Then—

Thunk.

The blade buried itself to the hilt between Sergei’s eyes.

For a heartbeat, nobody moved.

Sergei’s mouth fell open.

His wineglass slipped from his fingers and shattered across the marble floor.