Page 36 of Seeds of Sorrow

Peyton bit down on her lip just as Hadina looked up. The Adis sister’s eyes widened and her satisfied smile dropped, her icy mask sliding back into place.

Peyton was so,sofucked.

Chapter25

HADINA

“Mierda,”Hadina muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. Peyton stared at her through a small glass window in the door, biting her lip as if she were fucking turned on by the scene that played out in front of her.

They stared at each other for a beat, the silence an awkward tether between them. Hadina hadn’t realized that Peyton had been following her, which was a huge problem. She had allowed herself to get caught up in distractions—in Peyton—and had started to lose her touch.

It was that sobering thought that had Hadina storming through the door. Peyton backed up but Hadina didn’t stop until they were toe to toe, so close that she could practically hear Peyton’s heart thudding in her chest. “What thefuckdo you think you’re doing?” she demanded, fury lacing her words like venom.

“I–-uh–I had to know where you kept running off to.” Peyton sighed, shaking her head slightly. “You left me without saying goodbye, okay? You left, and I followed.”

Hadina ran a bloody hand through her hair and tapped her gun against her forehead. “How’s that curiosity doing for you now? You just watched me murder someone. You’ve successfully witnessed the shady shit. Are you happy?”

Peyton huffed and straightened her back, steeling herself against Hadina’s pissy attitude. “Consider my curiosity only more piqued. Besides, you killed him in self-defense. I literally saw him grab you.”

“Estás pendeja,” Hadina scolded before grabbing Peyton by the throat and shoving her against the door. She let out a smalloofbut Hadina tightened her grip, holding her gun to Peyton’s temple. “You don’t get to rationalize or make excuses for me. That was a fucked-up thing I did—how can you not be terrified right now?”

Peyton gulped, her pulse jumping beneath Hadina’s hand. “He manhandled you. I would have wanted to shoot him if he did that to me. And don’t be fooled, I am absolutely terrified. But here’s the thing, Hadina… I’ve been terrified of you since the moment we first met. Seeing you kill someone for putting his damn hands on you doesn’t make me more or less scared than I already was. Neither does the fact that you have a gun pressed to my temple, because I don’t think you’ll actually use it on me.”

Hadina wasn’t quite aware of the fact she was lowering her gun until it dropped to the ground with athud. “What I did was fucked up, Peyton.I’mfucked up. You can’t be a part of this.”

“That’s not your decision to make,” Peyton whispered.

Hadina shook her head. “You are devious and infuriating and this will end horribly for you,” she replied before smashing her lips against Peyton’s.

The kiss was unlike any of the ones they had shared before. There was no sweetness or softness. It was all teeth and tongue and hunger. Hadina’s heart hurt at how much she craved Peyton and her touch, how much she wanted to capture her and keep her forever. But she was not a good person and she would never be the type of partner Peyton needed.

Pulling back abruptly, Hadina licked her lips and smirked. Red was now smeared across Peyton’s soft skin, beads of blood speckled across her plump lips like pomegranate seeds ripe for the picking. Hadina spun Peyton around and pulled her flush, gripping the girl’s chin tightly.

Peyton pressed against her and it took everything in Hadina to stick to her plan. Pointing to their reflection in the glass, she brought her lips to Peyton’s ear, biting on the lobe before speaking low. “Look at your pretty face in the reflection, Peyton, and see just how quickly blood can spread. You think you want to be part of this, to be with me, but you don’t know what you’d be getting yourself into. I would want to possess you, to ruin you. In fact, I won’t just ruin you. If given the chance, I will corrupt your soul.”

Releasing her grip, Hadina shoved Peyton forward and created distance between them. When Peyton spun around, there were tears in her pretty eyes. If Hadina were a nicer person, if she had a heart, seeing Peyton cry would break her. But Hadina Adis was not a good person, and she would suffer those tears if it meant that Peyton would stay far away from Hadina’s brand of darkness.

“Consider that before you choose to follow me again, Peyton. There would be no going back for you, and I don’t think you want that,tentadora.”

* * *

Hadina could feelthe waves of anger rolling off her, threatening to drown anyone who stood in her way as she stormed from the building, leaving Peyton on her own with the very dead body of Adis & Co.’s latest target at her feet.

Well, he wasn’t strictly their target. But he deserved to die anyway.

“Fuck!” she screamed into the night, wincing as her voice echoed around the abandoned properties.

Shehadsaid goodbye. She whispered her truths while Peyton slept and then said goodbye. She wasn’t supposed to follow her. She wasn’t supposed to stillwantHadina. There was nothing good that could come from pretending they’d have a happy life together. Hadina and her lifestyle would spoil whatever emotions were between them, festering until it turned into something far more dark and toxic than whatever the fuck it was now. Hadina wouldn’t let herself ruin Peyton.

But corruption was her trade and temptation was her downfall.

Hadina’s phone rang in her hand, forcing her to bury the overwhelming need to scream again. “What is it?” she barked.

Her right-hand man sighed. Harris was one of the only people Hadina trusted, considered a confidante but not a friend. His loyalty was unwavering and Hadina had never dared to do anything to cross the line of professionalism between them for fear that emotions would overtake them. People thought that love was deadly, but a twisted friendship between those unafraid to murder was just as lethal. Still, the weariness in that sigh made her almost break her own rules and ask him if he was okay. Almost.

“Harris, hurry the fuck up.”

“I don’t thinkReginais her name, boss.”

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