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Chapter 1

Tonight was the night After fourteen long years, Maddux Wilder was finally going to extract the revenge he’d been plotting and planning against the man responsible for his parents’ deaths Theodore Cole had no idea that he was about to become Maddux’s bitch, which made his retribution all the sweeter

Maddux smirked to hi for his sister and brother to meet him in his private penthouse office, located on the top floor of the five-story massive warehouse he’d renovated, modernized, and adapted into a functional, practical structure that he and his siblings lived in and shared Each floor was specific in its design and purposefroht’s charity ball would be held in the upscale ballroom, to the second floor where the three of them each had sectioned-off offices for business, to the third through fifth levels that were designated as living spaces

His brother, Hunter, resided on the third floor, while his sister, Tempest, occupied the fourth, and since Maddux had funded the entire project, he’d laid clai, which he’d transformed into a penthouse apartment that included a rooftop terrace and a three-hundred-sixty-degree view of the New York skyline

Realtors had called hi in the run-doarehouse district of Brooklyn when he easily could have purchased an entire city block of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan But being one of those pretentious city boys had never been his style, and he’d instead invested in the ientrify the neighborhood, which was already a work in progress

He ht have billions in the bank thanks to the success of MadX-Tech, but deep inside, he liked living close to where he’d grown up because it reminded him of his roots, where he’d corant parents who’d worked their asses off to provide for their fa here kept him humble in the face of the obscene amount of money he’d accumulated in such a short amount of time

But just because the outside of the warehouse looked weathered and he even had two raffiti that appeared around the building on the daily until the entire neighborhood was renovated, that didn’tthe re a state-of-the-art security syste were actually invited inside Including theshortly for the ball The only way past security was their nauest list and proof of identification to confirm who they were

He set his elass on a round, polished wooden table and poured hi it a that the crème de la crème of New York’s society didn’t hesitate to travel to Brooklyn to attend the opulent Wilder Way charity ball because it was always the event of the year Anyone as rich, powerful, or influential in any anted to be seen at the lavish affair, which was covered by the New York Post’s Page Six

Yes, the power that ca that everyone wanted a hit of, but for Maddux, building his fortune had always been a means to an end One fueled by the desire to destroy the man who’d so callously ripped Maddux’s fae, had honed that fury into soht moment to present itself

Now, retribution was so fucking close he could taste it

“Starting your celebrating without us?” his sister, Te voice of hers just as Maddux lifted his glass to his lips

He sed the drink, watching as his stunning sister sashayed into the room with her normal dramatic flair that never failed to turn heads wherever she went, followed by their brother, Hunter, as tugging at the collar of his white dress shirt, his expression darkened by an annoyed grimace

“It’s about da theed in, and topping his off in the process Yeah, he sounded gruff and like an asshole, but these two siblings that he’d raised on his ownto him They were literally the only two people on the planet that he loved

“Goddaht and it still feels like it’s choking lance “I fucking hate black-tie affairs and I’ this stupid tuxedo because I don’t want to look like a bum off the streets in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt”

Telided up to Hunter and pushed his hand away froh, then did a little trick that loosened his brother’s bow tie just enough to ease the gruain

His sister patted Hunter on his chest in a placating manner “You know, if you had a woman around, she would have taken care of the bow tie situation for you like I just did,” she said pointedly, always finding a way to reirl to settle doith

As if that was

ever going to fucking happen Up to this point, there had been no single woh to ain, he didn’t date, and he specifically chose fe, and always picked ones ere agreeable to his kind of more depraved tendencies in the bedrooood looks and the handsome, chiseled face he knew he’d been blessed with, but they were always, eventually, driven away by his brooding disposition, brusque attitude, and his lack of attention and affection

They all thought they could tame the beast, but it would never happen because he had no room in his life for that softer, weaker emotion called love

“As fora few minutes late,” Tempest went on as she executed a theatrical twirl that s before she stopped and struck a regal pose, “this kind of nificence takes time”

His sister wasthat claiht’s Wilder Way charity ball, the theme of which was fairy tales and happily ever afters—Te to her personality and her fiery name But as her older brother, Maddux couldn’t help but scowl at the low neckline that displayed way toodisplayed by the front design of the dress

“Jesus, Teroused

She batted her long black lashes at him “Oh, dear brother, it most definitely could,” she said in that sweet, patient tone she’d perfected just to use on him because she knew it irritated the shit out of hiination,” she added with a saucy wink