Page 1 of The Villain

Prologue

South

This is Tera’s savior. The person she trusted with her safety while she was hiding from me.

I have to say, I’m grudgingly impressed.

A man with black hair cut close to his head on the sides and a bit longer on top. Mostly Asian heritage. His skin looks deeply tanned with all the black he’s wearing. Cargo pants and combat boots. Military but not quite. Maybe he served before he became a bodyguard. A tight black t-shirt that emphasizes the breadth of his shoulders and his muscular chest. He’s not a powerhouse. He’s more slim stealth you would never see coming until it’s way too late.

I can appreciate that type. It suits my style.

He isn’t shifting on his feet as he waits. His full attention is on the parking lot as he stands by his car. His body is stiff as he pretends to be a statue.

I’ve never seen anyone so still before.

He hasn’t gone out much since Tera asked me to follow him. All I have to do is keep him safe.

From what though?

Yeah, his boyfriends aren’t the best from what I’ve been told. His coworkers apparently eat a bag of dicks for breakfast in the mornings. All the other information Tera could have given me is locked up tight in her memory vault. She knows secrets about him and she’s promised to never tell.

She’s good at keeping secrets.

It makes me curious. I know there’s more to the story and I like taking things apart to see how they work.

He is a story I want to take apart and savor piece by piece.

I rarely get affected by people. They mostly cause a minor or a major annoyance to me. This man has my full attention. Not a good thing for him.

It isn’t just his looks, even though he is attractive. It’s something else. Something I can’t quite put my finger on. And I want to put my finger on it. All over him, preferably.

What would I have to do to shake that effortless blank mask right off his beautiful face?

I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since I first saw him.

Silent, solemn, and still.

I wonder if he’s like me. Or does he have feelings? From what I’ve seen he doesn’t. I emote more than he has.

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like me before. If I have, odds are they fully developed a system for faking emotion. I stopped doing that a while ago. There’s no point in pretending to be a normal person when you don’t know what it’s like and you don’t want to. They’re all too weak and vulnerable to me. Who has the patience to fake that all day, every day? Not me.

I lean back against the wall of the building hiding me from his view to wait with him. Not really with him, just alongside him without his knowledge.

Who would be dumb enough to throw away the perfect little statue in front of me?

This doesn’t look like a broken man. His face has been expressionless every time I’ve seen him. I don’t get close enough to see his eyes but I’m pretty sure they’re dead inside.

I want to see him up close. To know him. Rare for me but it happens. I wonder if he would run? Does a statue know when it’s in danger of being knocked off its pedestal and stolen?

A white SUV comes bumping up and slides to a stop several parking spaces away from him. He still hasn’t moved.

Does he want this meeting or not?

Tera said he would be most vulnerable now and to stick close.

He looks like he’s made of stone. No vulnerabilities here.

Four guys get out and walk over to him. They all have winning smiles with perfect teeth. Why does everyone in this town look so fake? I noticed it the last time I was here. A year ago now? They all seem like plastic people. It’s weird. Coming from me, that’s saying something.

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