Chapter Five:Vultures and Velvet
1440 Words
RaySky didn’t wake up so much as she regained consciousness — slowly, like an old phone booting after a system update it never agreed to.
The sheets were silk. The scent? Expensive danger. Cologne, wood polish, and something sharper — maybe gunpowder. Not exactly lavender essential oils.
She sat up too quickly and instantly regretted it. Her body protested like it had spent the night running a marathon while simultaneously being hit by a bus.
“Nice of you to join us, Sleeping Beauty.”
Ray’s head whipped toward the voice. Not Maddox. Definitely not Maddox.
The woman leaned against the doorframe like she owned the place. Maybe she had — last week.
She was tall. Dangerous tall. Built like a Bond girl with curves sculpted to kill and lips painted in a shade of don’t-even-try-me red. Her black hair was tied up in a sleek ponytail that looked more like a whip than a hairstyle.
RaySky blinked. “And you are…?”
“Zara.”
Just Zara. Like Beyoncé, if Beyoncé carried switchblades and knew how to clean blood out of leather.
Zara stepped in, stilettos clicking on hardwood like gunshots. “You must be the girl Maddox dragged in. Huh. I expected someone taller.”
Ray pulled the covers up to her chin. “And I expected room service. We’re both disappointed.”
Zara chuckled — low and amused. It was the kind of laugh that said, I like you… for now.
The door opened again. Maddox walked in, wearing a white button-down and black slacks, looking like a mafia CEO who just stepped out of a cologne ad.
He froze.
Zara turned to him like a cat noticing a bird.
Ray? Ray stayed still. Like a rabbit between two wolves arguing over lunch.
“You’re awake,” Maddox said, eyes flicking from Ray to Zara.
“Barely,” Ray muttered. “Your ex broke into your house.”
Zara gave a mock gasp. “Break in? Honey, I still have a key.”
“Which you were supposed to give back,” Maddox said tightly.
“Oh, relax. I’m not here to kill anyone… today.”
Zara reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a bloodstained envelope. She tossed it on the table. “This came for you. I figured you’d want it sooner rather than later.”
Maddox didn’t move. His jaw clenched.
RaySky? She was trying to disappear into the sheets.
“What is that?” she whispered.
“Trouble,” Zara answered for him. “The kind with teeth.”
Silence stretched, thick as tension.
Then, Zara turned to Ray and smiled sweetly. “You have no idea who you’re sleeping under the same roof with, do you?”
“I’m not—sleeping—with—him!” RaySky hissed, tripping over the words like someone tumbling down an escalator.
Zara smirked. “Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”
“I’m not! I saved his life and accidentally got stuck here, and he has guns under his furniture and mysterious bleeding envelopes being hand-delivered by women who could double as Bond villains—”
“Ray.” Maddox’s voice cut clean through her spiral.
She stopped.
His tone was cool, but his eyes were locked on Zara.
“You delivered your message. Now leave.”
Zara shrugged and walked to the door like she hadn’t just dropped a live grenade on their morning.
But she paused before leaving. “You should tell her, Maddox. Secrets have a way of blowing up in your face.”
Then she was gone, door clicking shut behind her like a gavel.
RaySky sat in stunned silence.
Maddox didn’t say anything. He walked to the table, picked up the envelope with a pair of black gloves, and slid it into a drawer.
Ray crossed her arms. “So… are we just going to pretend that didn’t happen?”
Maddox turned. “What do you want to know?”
She raised her hand. “Everything.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Well… maybe start with who the hell Zara is.”
“She used to be part of my crew,” he said slowly.
RaySky blinked. “Your crew? Are you in a pirate gang?”
Maddox didn’t smile.
She bit her lip. “Right. Not the time.”
“She and I worked together. A long time ago. Before I walked away from that life.”
“And what life is that, exactly?” she asked.
He looked at her for a long time. “The kind you don’t walk away from easily.”
RaySky’s heart thumped a little faster. “And yet, here you are.”
“I’m trying.”
She nodded. Then after a beat: “Do you have… like… enemies? People who would send blood-soaked threats?”
His eyes didn’t waver. “Yes.”
Ray swallowed. “And do they know I’m here?”
He hesitated. “Not yet.”
“Oh good. For a second there I thought I was in actual danger.”
Maddox’s mouth twitched.
Ray narrowed her eyes. “Was that… a smile?”
He schooled his expression instantly. “No.”
“You smiled! You totally smiled!”
“I didn’t.”
“You have dimples. It’s cheating.”
“Ray.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, holding her hands up. “But listen — I get that you’re trying to protect me or whatever, but I don’t do well with half-truths. Especially not when people like Zara are showing up at dawn.”
Maddox ran a hand through his hair. “You should go back to your dorm.”
Ray scoffed. “Oh sure. Let me just waltz back into campus with no memory of how I ended up in a billionaire’s mansion after saving him from getting shot. That’ll go over great.”
“I’ll make arrangements.”
“No, Maddox. You’re not the boss of me.”
“Ray—”
“I’m serious. If I’m going to be in danger either way, I’d rather be in the loop.”
There was silence. Then, unexpectedly, he nodded. “Fine.”
Ray blinked. “Wait, really?”
“I’ll tell you what I can. But you need to understand — this life… it doesn’t come with safety nets.”
RaySky squared her shoulders. “Neither does mine.”
⸻
Later that night, she sat curled up in one of Maddox’s enormous leather chairs, holding a mug of hot chocolate like it was a talisman.
Maddox was across the room, standing by a massive floor-to-ceiling window that overlooked the city. He looked like a painting — something untouchable. Distant.
And still, her stomach fluttered.
Which was annoying.
RaySky shook her head and muttered to herself. “Get it together, Sky. He’s not your type. He’s danger wrapped in a jawline.”
“Talking to yourself again?”
She jumped.
Maddox was closer now, holding a folder in his hand. “I pulled some surveillance footage. From the alley. The night you found me.”
Ray leaned forward. “And?”
“There’s someone watching. Someone who didn’t show up in the police report.”
Her stomach dropped. “So this wasn’t random.”
“No. It was a message.”
Ray clutched her mug tighter. “From who?”
Maddox didn’t answer.
Instead, he said, “I’m putting extra security on the property. You’ll stay here until we figure out who’s behind it.”
She blinked. “So I am your hostage.”
He glanced at her. “Not unless you want to be.”
Ray rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”
“Funny. People usually say I’m terrifying.”
“You can be both.”
Maddox almost smiled again. Almost.
Then he walked toward the door. “Get some sleep. Tomorrow, we train.”
“Train?”
“You’re going to learn how to shoot.”
RaySky’s mouth dropped open. “I came here for a degree in media studies, not murder!”
“You saved my life. That makes you a target. If you’re staying, you need to be able to protect yourself.”
Ray stared after him as the door shut behind him.
She sank back into the chair. “Well, Sky. You’ve done it now. First you crash into a billionaire, then you catch feelings, now you’re going to gun school. What’s next? Knife throwing with Zara?”
She took a long sip of her cocoa.
And in the shadows, someone watched from a screen.
The envelope hadn’t just been a message.
It was a warning.
And it had only just begun
- Writer
