Page 6 of Spiteful Heart

“Unfortunately, no,” he told her. “Bianca liked doing her own dirty work as long as she stayed clean doing it. A person like that she would’ve viewed as a filthy degenerate.”

“You don’t think she would’ve tried to control him like she tried doing to me?”

Harvey thought on that. “Maybe. Hard to say now, since she’s dead.” He took another sip of his coffee, and on that note, I abandoned them to their talk and turned toward the front door, pushing inside the house.

I found Viper in the kitchen, cooking a heaping of sausage. I slid onto one of the stools near the island, leaning my arms on the granite counter. “I see Harvey’s here,” I muttered. “Doesn’t that guy have any friends of his own?” Honestly, I didn’t know why we kept him around, why Lola was so against us killing him. We didn’t need him. She didn’t need her own driver; she had us.

“From what I understand, no,” Viper muttered, shooting me a glance over his shoulder. He wore a tight dark blue t-shirt, the snake tattoos on his arms visible for the world to see. His hair was slicked back, his usual appearance. “He devoted all of his time to the Bloody Princess before Lola took her down.”

Hmm. I didn’t get it. I just didn’t get it, no matter how hard I tried to.

“I don’t understand why she likes him so much,” I said, picking at the granite before me, at no spot in particular. “Sylvester’s right. We shouldn’t trust him.” As I spoke that, Big Mike walked into the kitchen, a towel wrapped around his neck. Sweat lined his clothes and his skin; the big man had been working out, if I had to guess.

“Hey,” I got his attention while he got a sports drink from the fridge, “why don’t you do us all a favor and kill Harvey for us?”

Mike shot me a glare. He and Viper were brothers, twins, and yet they looked so different. Mike was, obviously, bigger all around. Taller, more muscular, like a mountain made into a man. No tattoos. His brown hair was long and thick, but right now it was pulled into a low ponytail to get it out of his face.

Viper just sighed, while Mike took his time in saying, “Unless that’s an order, I’ll pass.”

Right when I opened my mouth to make it an order, Viper said, “Don’t, Maddox. Lola will kill him if he does, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want her to kill him.”

It was as I sighed and mumbled something about how these guys were no fun whatsoever that Big Mike took a long, hard swig from his drink, eyeing me up all the while. He set it down on the counter near me and said, “If you want the guy dead, kill him yourself.”

A good suggestion, of course, but I also didn’t want Lola to hate me for it. It might be fun to mix pain with pleasure when it came to our love and our fucking, but I knew Lola would be downright furious if I went so far as to kill her precious little Harvey.

Here I thought she had a thing for taking girls under her wing, but she’d done exactly that to Harvey. Go fucking figure.

“I would if I could,” I mumbled.

It was like Lola knew what we were discussing, because right then, she came strolling in, staring squarely at me as she hopped onto the stool beside me. “What would you do?” she asked, lifting her blond brows in curiosity.

“Kill Harvey,” Big Mike said.

Lola glared at me, but I had to shoot Mike my own glare and ask, “Aren’t you supposed to be the quiet one or something? Jesus fuck.” When I met Lola’s accusatory stare once more, I added, “Listen, I’m just saying, he’s always here. It’s getting kind of old, especially with everything going on.”

“Stop it,” she said. “All of you. Leave Harvey alone. He’s a good guy. He’s not involved in any of this. I just want the guy to be happy, okay? Like a mother bird pushing its chick out of the nest—”

“But you’re not Harvey’s mother,” I reminded her.

“So? Right now, he’s the one piece of normal I have, so yeah, I’m holding onto him.” She leaned closer to me, narrowing her eyes. “And if any harm comes to a single hair on his head, I’ll know who to blame—you.”

I scoffed at that. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. That’s not fair. This city’s dangerous. Someone could put a cap in him just driving by. That wouldn’t bemyfault…” The more I said, the more I realized Lola would still blame me for it, somehow, and that got me to shut the fuck up about it.

Fine. No killing Harvey.

“Speaking of dates,” Lola said, changing the subject, no longer glowering in my direction. She set an elbow on the granite and leaned her chin on her hand as she stared at the tallest guy in the room. “You got any gals in your life, big guy?” Her tone was almost flirtatious… almost. “When’s the last time you got laid, hmm?”

My mouth fell open at Lola’s line of questioning, and I was slow to turn my face toward Big Mike, watching his reaction. His hazel eyes were on Lola, and his expression gave nothing away. I shouldn’t be shocked at Lola’s questions; she didn’t know what boundaries were. Although, now that I was thinking about it, I couldn’t say that I’d ever seen or heard about him with anyone.

Fuck. Whenwasthe last time the dude got laid?

“On that note,” Viper cut in, “food’s ready.” He hurriedly shoveled stuff onto a few plates, distracting Lola enough to give Big Mike a temporary reprieve from her nosy question. He left the kitchen shortly after that, leaving Lola with Viper and me.

She whined when she saw he left, stabbing one of her sausages with a fork before lifting it to her mouth. “Poor guy. I’m just saying, we should make sure he’s taken care of, too.” She chewed thoughtfully, while Viper and I exchanged looks.

I wasn’t too hungry, because I’d eaten before coming over, but I still made myself eat what Viper had made. Sausage and pancakes. Slather that bitch in butter and syrup and you had some good shit.

“Wonder what Big Mike is packing under the hood.” Lola’s random comment nearly made me choke, while Viper coughed right into his coffee. When both Viper and I glared at her, she shrugged. “What? I’m just wondering if he’s called Big Mike because he’s so tall or if there’s, you know, a different reason.” Her lips curled into a sly grin, and she continued to eat, acting oblivious to the way Viper and I glared at her.

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