Page 5 of Spiteful Heart

His hazel eyes lifted up from the book, watching as I came in and crawled onto the bed with him, heels and all. The only thing I took off was my mask, setting it on the nightstand near the lamp.

He was slow to close the book. “How did it go at the club?” He wore shorts and a baggy shirt, his nighttime ensemble when he wasn’t sleeping naked beside me after some wild fucking, his brown hair a little messy. Normally its length was slicked back, but at night, after a long day, it got all cute and unkempt.

I scooted towards him, burying my face against his side. Viper responded by curling an arm around me, holding me close to him. “Same as always,” I muttered. “I think he’s watching me, laughing at me, and it drives me nuts.”

We’d installed a whole bunch of cameras around the house, just in case he ever decided to leave me another present. We’d hidden the cameras too, so it wasn’t obvious the house was being watched.

Viper heaved a sigh, his arm tightening around my back. “We’ll get him, Lola. We’ll get him, one way or another. He’ll surface soon enough, and when he does, we’ll be ready to catch him.”

I hoped he was right, but I had my doubts. Something told me it was going to get worse before it got better. I didn’t say that out loud, though, simply wanting to bask in Viper’s presence. He had a calming way about him that Maddox and Sylvester didn’t; it called back to a time when he was nothing but my bodyguard, someone set to watch me so I didn’t try to escape or do anything stupid. A simpler time all around.

I was never alone anymore. It… was kind of annoying, really, but I guess that’s something I’d have to get used to.

It’s funny. You’d think I’d be grateful to no longer be alone, that I’d like being surrounded by men who were both loyal to me and ones who loved me—me, a monster in my own right, someone who’d done such awful things in her life, things that should render me undeserving of love in general.

I should be happy, but I wasn’t.

How could I be happy when I knew that serial killer was still out there?

Chapter Two – Maddox

Sylvester had some important meeting today. It’s why he’d bailed on us early last night, so he could go home and sleep like some loser. When I asked him about it, all he said was he was meeting with one of the mayoral candidates—I didn’t really give a shit about politics, whether it was underground criminal politics or actual fucking politics.

But he thought it was important to meet with the candidate with the highest numbers and make sure he knew who was really in charge of this city—make buddy-buddy with him while simultaneously putting his foot down. I supposed that was pretty important; being at odds with the mayor was something to avoid. The current mayor was some old schmuck who didn’t give a flying fuck what went on in this city, but he was losing to some younger guy, I guess. A family man, from what Sylvester had described.

But I digress about that shit. I’d leave Sylvester to finagle his way around the political office holders while I occupied my time with something else.

Like Lola.

When I went to Lola’s place, I found her sitting on the front steps with Harvey. They were talking about the date he’d been on last night, to which I couldn’t stop myself from rolling my eyes as I strolled up to them.

Sylvester hated Harvey. He didn’t trust him. Me? I couldn’t say that I trusted Harvey either, even if it was thanks to his quick thinking that Lola was able to inherit the DeLuca mansion and fortune.

“I’m glad she thinks your awkwardness is endearing,” Lola was busy saying, her blue eyes on Harvey as he drank from a to-go cup. “I was worried for a while there, Harvey, not gonna lie. You take some getting used to.” When she saw me walk up, her lips spread into a smile. She wore leggings and a baggy tank top—and judging from the points of her nipples against her shirt, no bra.

My jaw ground in jealousy, because no one should be seeing those nipples brushing up against any fabric, but it didn’t look like Harvey was ogling her tits. If his gaze dropped there, even if it was just for one second, I’d do us all a favor and fucking kill him.

“Wow,” Harvey deadpanned, running a hand through his light brown hair, his gray eyes wincing a bit. “Tell me how you really feel about me.” That gaze of his darted to me, and he gave me a nod. “Morning, Maddox.”

“Morning,” I huffed, stopping when I stood beside Lola on the steps. I bent down, grabbed her neck, forced her to angle back, and kissed her, claiming that mouth in front of Harvey to remind him that she was a taken woman. He might be seeing someone, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t angling to get between Lola’s legs, too.

Lola hummed into the kiss, and when I let her go and straightened out, I watched her lick her lips, like the kiss had been laced with candy. “You should go inside and see how breakfast is coming along. Viper’s cooking, for once, and I’m a little concerned.”Big Mike was usually the breakfast guy.

“Breakfast?” I echoed. “It’s almost noon—”

“Yeah, well, somebody kept me out late last night,” Lola spoke with a ridiculous amount of sarcasm, as if it had beenmyidea to stalk the club until it closed last night. “So, breakfast at noon it is.”

Harvey’s voice got quiet, like he didn’t want anyone eavesdropping even though we were the only ones around, “Still nothing on the serial killer front?” Harvey, I guess, was Lola’s new BFF. The two hung out and gossiped even though it drove my brother crazy.

Me, too. It drove me crazy, too.

We still hadn’t met this Giulia chick. Who knew? She might not be real. It was a possibility Sylvester had brought it up before, and Lola never wanted to picture her sweet, awkward driver as the serial killer we were looking for. I mean, if we were searching for a guy who knew our inner workings, who better than Harvey?

But I didn’t get that vibe off him, and I doubted he was that good of an actor.

I guess that’s the thing, though: sometimes you never knew who you were looking at until they showed you their true face. The jury was out on Harvey for now, and my dislike and distrust of him would remain.

“No,” Lola said, the dejection evident in her tone. “Nothing. You’re sure Bianca never dealt with anyone who liked to mutilate girls in his free time?” A desperate stab in the dark, if I ever heard one.

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