Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

MADDOX

When we get home late that night, I head back to the computer to check the messages and see that we got one about an hour or so ago.

I click on it, already annoyed the moment my cursor hovers over it.

Valiant_Vali: I’m sorry she’s come back into your life. Were you able to do anything about it? It has to be frustrating waiting for others to help.

Me: The police are aware of what she’s done, but so far, she’s eluded them. She’s always eluded them.

The reply is almost immediate.

Valiant_Vali: Do you play a role in that? Have you told them everything they need to hear? Sometimes we think we’re protecting ourselves by leaving out details, but often we’re protecting those who’ve wronged us because they instill in us misconceptions about what is right and what is wrong.

What more could I have told the police? Maybe as a child, I could have, but not now. Not when I’m an adult who deals with people’s toxicity in my job. I can recognize issues without hesitation and told them everything they needed to know. I mean… maybe I didn’t tell them everything about her, but they don’t need to know that shit about my life. They don’t need to hear the things I’ve done or allowed her to coax me into doing.

Me: I told them what they needed to hear.

Shit. Now I’m getting snippy with them when I’m supposed to be playing into their game.

Valiant_Vali: What they needed to hear or what you wanted them to hear? Speaking isn’t the only way to get across what you’re feeling.

Me: What other way is there?

Valiant_Vali: I understand what you’re going through. It took me many years to realize the toxicity and abuse of my own parents. I just thought it was a part of life. They’d fucked me up so much that I was convinced that this was normal—that what was happening on TV or in books was the real fantasy.

I don’t even know what to write. I’m just… irritated and don’t want to be talking about this shit with someone I don’t even know. And it irritates me even more that they’re saying things I just don’t want to hear. I have to assume they’re lying about dealing with abusive parents. Does the person pick whatever their victim is going through to relate to them? For Charlotte, was it an abusive spouse?

Fuck. Why can’t Hiro deal with this?

Valiant_Vali: You are owed your life. They tried to take it from you, but you are owed it. Don’t let them take more from you. They’ve taken enough.

Me: They’re not taking shit from me.

Valiant_Vali: You said in your post she returned.

Me: I’m not letting her in my life.

Valiant_Vali: If you aren’t, then why are you so fixated on her? Why do thoughts of her haunt your daily life? Why is it that she’s what you think of when you close your eyes at night?

Me: Fuck you.

Well… that’s definitely not how I was supposed to handle that.

“You okay?” Hiro asks and I jump.

“Fuck, I didn’t realize you were back there.”

“Sorry. I just walked in. You look tense. You okay?”

“This asshole person messaged back.”

“Can I read it?” Hiro asks, voice soft.

“I don’t care,” I say as I go to get up, but before I can, Hiro sits on my lap. He scrolls through it, reading it before closing the tab. “We should write back.”

He gives me a slow nod. “We will. But let’s see what they say.”

“I probably just pissed them off.”

“Maddox, they have clearly manipulated many people. They’re trying to push you. They’re trying to see how far you’ll go before you start to see their side of it. Is everything they’re saying wrong? No… some of it makes sense, and that’s why you’re getting upset, because you don’t want to face that. But some of it is being used to encourage you to become frustrated. To make you feel like you don’t have control over the situation, your mom does.”

“I could have done something more as a kid. I could have saved Ben before he ran off. I could have done so much more.”

Hiro shifts so he can wrap me up in his arms. “That’s not how that works. You have to recognize that after all of your training. You can’t blame yourself for any of that. You have to understand that when you’re raised that way, it becomes impossible to see things from an outside perspective. You only do now because you learned to separate yourself from those toxic thoughts. Now come on, let’s go to bed. If they reply before we fall asleep or in the morning, I’ll ask them for another way to communicate and see if we can get a number or something. I doubt they will, since they know you’re a detective, but we’ll see what we can get.”

He leads me into the bedroom where we get ready for bed, and I climb in naked. Hiro smiles at me. “I’m so happy you’re all mine again.”

“I bet. I was getting rather jealous of that trash can.”

“I’m sure you were,” he replies, sounding amused as he slides his underwear down. And even though I’ve seen him naked many times, I can’t keep my eyes from running over him. He pushes the covers back and climbs in next to me before wrapping his arms around me. “All mine, motherfuckers. Alllll mine.”

“You sound kind of evil,” I say.

Hiro grins. “Maybe that’s because I secretly am.”

“Definitely wouldn’t be surprised,” I tease as I slide my hands around his slim waist. I draw him tighter against me as his leg presses between mine. I can feel the way his thigh brushes my dick as he smiles at me.

“I left my life of crime when I saw your handsome face,” he says as my hand trails over his ass cheek, which I squeeze.

“I mean… I’m definitely not complaining,” I say as he leans forward and kisses me.

“I love a man who will love me, even if I’m secretly a supervillain,” Hiro jokes before kissing me again.

“You’d be the nicest supervillain around. Rushing off, saving people, and then being like ‘Fuck, I forgot I was supposed to be mean to them.’ Then you’d go back and maybe rob them a little, but you’d take the five instead of the fifty.”

Hiro laughs. “Maybe.”

My finger slides down between his ass cheeks, running over the sensitive skin as I kiss a line down his neck before nipping him gently. His hand glides over my chest, trailing down as he presses his hips into me, rubbing his thigh against my cock. Sitting up, I reach over and grab the lube out of the drawer as I feel his hardening cock brushing against my body when he climbs onto my lap.

Hiro kisses me, drawing me in as one of his hands buries itself in my hair and the other pulls me in close. His lips part, his tongue seeking out mine as he reaches down to my cock, stroking it gently.

I squeeze some of the lube on my hand before slicking it along our cocks that I push together. My other hand is still merrily parked on his ass as he pushes his hips forward so his cock brushes against mine.

“I love you so much,” he says. “I would do anything for you. Even become a supervillain.”

I grin. “You don’t have to become a supervillain. You being yourself is all I’ve ever needed. I can’t tell you how much I love you. Or how much you mean to me. Hell… how much strength you give me. I’d gotten really fucking good at fooling people into thinking I was just fine, but you made me fine. You made me better than fine.”

His kiss turns fevered as my hand runs down our cocks. His touch, his kisses… everything fills me with so much pleasure. Just… holding and talking to him is so special to me that I love every moment of it. I’m not sure how I ended up lucky enough to have someone like him.

Hiro shivers beneath my fingertips as he murmurs something I can’t quite hear.

“I love you,” I say.

He grins, his fingers clutching tightly to me as his hand draws down my cock before running up it, fingers wrapping around my length. “I love you so much. Hmm… feels good.” He whispers the last part against my neck before kissing it. His mouth finds mine again, his lips hard against mine, tongue brushing against my own. He teases the head of my cock as my free hand slides down his ass. My finger is wet from the lube on our cocks, so I trace it over his hole before pressing against him, pushing my finger inside him and loving the way it makes him moan.

Hiro’s hand slides down both our cocks, fingers brushing over mine as I hold him close and kiss him until he’s breathless. He knows every inch of my body, and his fingers captivate me as he tucks his head against my neck. I push another finger inside him, loving the way he arches up into me as I move against him.

His breath quickens as he gets closer to the edge, and I love the way his body becomes more sensitive. When I hit that sweet spot inside of him, I can feel him tighten around me. He’s pressing against me as he moans from where his head is tucked, even though I want to see his face. His hand quickens on my cock, and there’s just something about all of it that makes my body ache for release. He’s so fucking sexy and sweet and perfect.

I love making him moan and squirm. I love the feeling of his hand on my cock, the way he does everything he can to make sure I feel good. His touch makes me shiver; it’s almost teasingly sweet. I groan as he pulls me over the edge, but he’s so close he soon follows, his come mixing with mine.

“I love you,” he says as I sink down, pulling him down with me as he lays his head on my chest.

I know I need to go clean up, but I don’t even want to move. I just want to hold him and kiss him and remind him that he’s my fiancé and soon he’ll be my husband.

And I want to tell that asshole Vali that there’s no one on my mind but Hiro.