Page 7 of Envy

“You’re trained,” I mutter. The growl stops. I raise brow. “You’re not attacking me. You’re keeping me here.” Black eyes shimmer under the dim light of the chrome lamp.

Talking then.

“I never had a pet,” I continue, studying it. “Looking at you, I don’t think I’m a dog person.” He whines, stretches, then stretches its long leg as if I’m about to tell him a story, and he’s going to be bored.

I pull the soft black sheet to my nose, causing his head to rise in curiosity. I pause. He does too. I sniff. Wood, floral, and a touch of amber.

Nothing I recognize.

The door opens. My breath hitches. All the oxygen in my lungs rushes out. My fingers fist the sheet. I stare at the last person I expect steps inside.

“Why the fuck am I here?”My voice cracks, choked and raw.

Garret snaps his fingers. The dog obeys, slipping out the door.

He tilts his head, black hair falling over his brow, a slow smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “I knew you had venom in there somewhere.” The smile isn’t friendly. It’s calculated. “You know”—he crosses his tattooed arms over his chest—”you should be thanking me.”

I grip the sheet tighter, the soft fabric the only thing shielding me from him.”What do you want from me, Garret?”

The playfulness vanishes. His expression shifts, the light in his gaze flickering from golden boy to something colder.

Darker.

Like a switch flipping, light to dark.

He moves to the side of the bed. I pull away, pressing into the headboard, hating how I cower. But I know evil when I see it. And Garret?

He’s worse than evil.

He’s deceptive.

A manipulator.

He lets you think you’re in control. Lets you believe you’ve figured him out. When in reality? You were playing his game all along.

“You’re clutching that sheet really tight, Rose.”

My heart pounds, hammering against my ribs. A slow trickle of sweat slides down my spine.

“I’ve already seen what I wanted to see.”

“Fuck you.”

He laughs. A sharp, maniacal chuckle. “Uh, no. I don’t fuck dirty cum rags. I like mine clean.”

I flinch, but I don’t look away. “Then why didn’t you leave me where you found me?” I challenge. “Why go through all the trouble?”

His gaze flickers—brief, unreadable. Like a serial killer caught mid-thought. You think the answer he gives you is the truth, but it never is Garret doesn’t act without reason. He’s been waiting. Watching. Every time I was with Melody and the others.

Evil men like Garret don’t operate in chaos. They operate in silence. In the shadows.

He smiles, but his eyes stay cold. “I had to see for myself what the fuss was all about.”

His gaze drops—slow, deliberate. Down my chest. Further.

Heat crawls under my skin. Then, hot and cold at the same time.

He didn’t touch me. Didn’t fuck me.

---