4. Maddox

Maddox

4

"Stop crying and just tell me where you are!" I had barely a fraction of patience when I answered this call and now it's gone way below zero.

My bedroom door swings open as Max comes in, a mix of confusion and anger on his face. He doesn't need me to tell him why we're pissed.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. I think she butt-dialed me. She won't stop crying, I can barely make out what she's saying. Here." I hand the phone over to Max in hopes he can get some sense out of her.

He puts it on speaker before saying, "Sweetheart?"

"Max, what are you doing there? I thought I was talking to Maddox."

She's drunk, Max mouths silently.

"Fucking obviously," I mutter as a cold fury settles in me.

My hands flex in and out of fists at my sides and I have to grip the edge of my desk so I don't punch something. I see Max take a breath as he tries to channel my anger out of his body so he doesn't accidentally unleash it on Violet.

"Violet, I need you to tell me where you are."

"No, I can't see you. I need to stop seeing you everywhere. You're both everywhere."

"Let us come and get you."

"Oh, I see how it is! Am I really that boring? You only want to hang out when there's booze? Well you should have said so sooner. I've got plenty of booze here—oh where did my drink go?" She breaks off into a fit of laughter that ends with her crying.

Fuck me.

How the hell did we let this happen?

How did she even manage to sneak out?

"Violet, sweetheart," Max's voice is strained now.

I reach out for the phone, but Max places his palm on my chest, holding me back. "I really need you to tell me where you are."

"Fine, you can come party, but not Maddox, he's still mad at me. Ha! Mad!"

I glare daggers into the phone, wishing she was right here so I could wrap my fingers around her throat, force her to her knees and show her what me being mad really looks like.

"Violet!" Max snaps and I feel my lips tug up. Maybe getting him to come around to my way of punishing her isn't so far off.

"Don't be mad too!" I can hear her pout through the phone. Max looks like he's about to break the damn thing from how tight he's holding it. "Hey, that's mine—"

"I'm taking her home," a male voice cuts Violet off and I hear her slurred protests in the background as she tells him to give her the phone back.

"You're not taking her anywhere!" I snarl at him as I see red.

"Which one are you? Mad? I didn't mean I'd take her back to mine. My dad's on the way to pick me up anyway so I'll drop her off."

Snatching the phone from Max, I turn speaker mode off and press it to my ear. "If she goes anywhere with you, your life won't be worth living. Now tell me where the fuck you are, then pass the phone back to Violet and kindly fuck off."

"Jeez, I'm only trying to help," he whinges and the sound pisses me off even more. I've never felt this angry before.

The phone goes silent as he hangs up, but then it pings with her location.

"Fuck," I hiss. "Who the fuck was that?"

"I don't know, let's go."

"She better be okay when we get there."

"She's just wasted. She'll be fine," Max tries to reassure us both, but he's only kidding himself.

"Well she's going to be fucking sorry when she sees me. She can't just do this." Grabbing my keys and jacket, I storm out of my room with Max trailing behind.

"You know we pushed her to it."

He says it like we're both to blame, but he's the one that made me think leaving her alone was the only option. That changes tonight.

I'm going to make sure that by the end of the night, Violet knows exactly who she belongs to.

What the fuck does she think she's doing?

I slam my car door shut, making the few partygoers hanging out in the middle of the road look our way. As soon as they realize who we are, their eyes remain glued on us, waiting to see whatever shit show I'm about to bring down on the place.

That's how we work. I make the messes whilst Max gets to be the hero, the one that puts up with my temper and saves the day after I've rained blood down on it.

We storm across the yard, not giving a shit who's in our way. They'll move for us, after all they wouldn't want to risk getting on my bad side.

We were the kings of our school, of our entire damn town. Lately, that hold we had over everyone seems to be loosening as our separation draws closer.

Even though he's my twin, identical to me in every way, Max's personality couldn't be more different.

He's the golden boy. The baseball champ destined for stardom.

Me? I'm the fuck up with no prospects except making sure no one fucks with my family.

When my parents named me Maddox I doubt they thought it would be an omen. Everyone calls me Mad and maybe I do live up to my namesake. It's what I have to do, to protect what means the most to me. My family. Max and her.

Violet's just a few feet away from us now. Max and I move in sync, as we make our way to her.

She's bent over herself as she pukes her guts up onto the grass. Some girl holds Violet's hair back for her, I don't know who she is, but she's in my good books for taking care of my girl.

We're here to take over that job now. Well, after I drill some sense back into her that is.

I can't believe she'd come to a party like this by herself.

This isn't like Violet.

The Violet we know spends her Saturday nights curled up with a book or with a tub of ice cream in front of the television.

"Move," I bark, making the girl jump back. I grab Violet's hair a little too roughly, wrapping the long strands around my fist like a leash and she gasps as I yank her upright.

Max comes to her front and wipes her mouth with a tissue from his pocket.

"What…what are you doing here?" She slurs.

My hand flexes around her hair as I bring her back flush to my chest. My other arm wraps around her waist and slides up between her breasts so I can grab her throat.

"You're fucking wasted. Why the fuck do you think we're here?" I hiss in her ear and she whimpers. The sound goes straight to my cock, giving me a raging boner that matches my temper. I hope she can feel every inch of it and worry what I could do to her with it.

"Maddox." She's the only person I don't mind using my full name. Our parents of course refuse to call me Mad and Max knows how much I hate Maddox, but when it comes from Violet's lips, it's my favorite word in the world.

"Sweetheart, why didn't you tell us you were coming to a party tonight?" Max asks her softly.

People are starting to gather around us to see what the fuss is about. I've never grabbed her like this before and from the looks on everyone's faces they're just waiting for me to hurt her.

That's the last thing I'd ever do to her.

Some guys are staring at her a little too closely. I'm half-tempted to bend her over right here and fuck her in front of everyone. Show the entire town who she belongs to and finally claim her as ours.

Violet is the center of mine and Max's world even if she doesn't realize it.

Thanks to our interference she's never been with a guy, but it seems they think she's open season now.

Like fuck she is.

The only ones that will be hunting her are Max and I.

"Let go of her," someone says from behind me. Max catches my eye as we both recognise the voice from the phone call earlier. I spin, taking Violet with me and look whoever this guy is in the eye.

He's short, but tries to hold himself taller as he looks between the two of us. Then his eyes land on Violet, but rather than staying on her face they move down to where my hand is around her throat, before dragging down the rest of her body.

"Eyes off her," I snarl and his attention snaps back to me.

"I wasn't—"

"James, you can go now, I'm fine," Violet quietly says. Her throat moving under my palm makes me want to squeeze tighter.

"Come on, Mad. We've got her, let's get out of here," Max places his hand on my shoulder and starts steering me towards the car.

If it wasn't for the girl in my arms, I'd ignore him and lay into this douche. But Max is right, we've got what we came for.

"I needed to see if I could do it." Violet's voice is shaky. I realize she's started sobbing and I ease up my grip on her hair.

"Do what?" Max asks, stroking the hair from her face. He's so gentle with her.

We're exactly what she needs, rough and soft.

Two protectors ready to do her bidding.

I want her at my feet, but the truth is she's the one that's enslaved me. If she told me to get on my knees for her, I would drop in an instant.

When I let go of her, she holds her arms tight around herself as she hovers next to my car. I run my hands down them and realize she's freezing cold. From how drunk she is, I doubt she even feels it.

The short, black skirt she's wearing is the sexiest thing I've ever seen. So tight on her ass and hips, showing her perfect curves off. Her top is more a scrap of fabric than an actual piece of clothing.

Rage bubbles in my blood as I realize how many people have seen her like this tonight. Looking like a fucking pornstar. I know that every guy from that party is going to be jacking off until they can't see straight because that's exactly what I want to do.

Who did she dress like this for?

It certainly wasn't for us.

"What the fuck is this?" I sneer, grabbing a fistful of the fabric on her chest. She looks up at me with hurt in her eyes. Max puts a hand on my arm and I let go.

I can't stop myself from grabbing her arms and pushing her back against the car. Max stands to the side, close enough to shield her from the view of anyone who might still be watching us and close enough to stop me from doing anything stupid.

"What did you do, Vi? You know you're ours, don't you? Max and I don't like sharing what's ours with anyone else." Our bodies are pressed so tight together that I know she can feel how hard I am. She doesn't shy away from the steel pressing into her soft stomach.

Her eyes widen as she looks between me and Max. "It doesn't work like that, Maddox. You've made it clear you don't want me. Anyway, you can't own people—"

"Like fuck we can't. We own this fucking town, Vi. Every single person in it respects Max and fears me. That means we own you as well. How is that not—" she pushes forward, trying to get me off her and I only move back because I let her.

I should just kiss her now. Show everyone she's off limits. But it's too complicated between the three of us. Violet belongs to both of us, we both want to be her firsts and are too stubborn to decide who gets what, so we'd rather let her choose even though one of us is going to get their heart broken.

It'll be me, I know it will.

Nothing bad ever happens to golden boy Max. I shouldn't be jealous. He's my twin, part of my soul. But God has it been difficult to watch the mirror version of myself succeed in every way I haven't.

"No it's—"

"Jesus Christ, can we please have this argument in the car?" Max says, opening the back passenger door and holding his arm out to help Violet in.

I drop my hands, but don't move, so she has to brush up against me as she passes. Her floral scent fills my nostrils, calming me down enough to stop seeing red.

She can barely walk in her heels and practically falls into the seat, giving me a perfect view of her ass. I watch as Max helps her in, how he's got enough restraint to not have his hands all over those thick curves is beyond me.

Since when does she even wear shoes like that anyway?

We only see her in oversized t-shirts and jeans or those cute dresses she wears in the summer. The ones that I've imagined flipping up so I can sink my cock inside her.

Seeing her dressed up, like she's down to fuck tonight, has my cock throbbing, but my fists clench at that thought.

Who the hell was she planning on fucking exactly?

She didn't tell us she was coming here, she used to tell us everything. It's not like her to even go to a house party like this, not without us anyway.

When she's with us, we don't let her out of our sights for a second.

Well, that won't be happening again.

I'll shorten the leash she doesn't even realize she's wearing and I'll find a way to keep the three of us together.

No matter how fucked up it may be, I want Violet to love both of us out in the open for everyone to see.

She can be our sweet girlfriend in front of everyone else, but at home we can make her our dirty little whore.