Page 51 of My Vigilante Valentine

“Nothing to say?” she asked, her hands on her hips now.

I opened my mouth to reply, then shut it, only to repeat those steps a few more times.

“Jax, you’re gonna fake date me so we can catch this guy, and you’re gonna like it,” she said, and the wide grin she gave me was about ninety percent feral. “Now, can we please get started on the logistics?”

Chris’s head snapped up from where he’d been diligently digging into the phone. “Wait, fake date to do what, now?”

“You don’t wanna know,” I warned.

But it was too late.

Luna was already pacing, her hands moving as she talked. “Think about it. The Valentine Villain targets couples who areopenly affectionate. Hand-holding. Canoodling. Kissing in a candlelit corner booth at the most romantic restaurants in town. All of his victims were seen doing those very things—either on security cameras or on social media—the night they were killed. So, if we want him to put us on his hit list, that’s what we’ll have to do.”

My throat was lined with concrete.

I glanced at Chris. He was staring at Luna, slack-jawed and frozen in place.

Yep.

That was about how I felt, but since I wasn’t the one hearing this plan for the first time, I had a feeling my shock was for an entirely different reason than his.

Plus, Chris was her cousin.

Ihighlydoubted that the look on his face was the result of imagining what it would be like to hold hands with Luna, canoodling and kissing in a candlelit booth.

Nope. That metaphorical movie reel was playing only for me.

“Why do you look so shocked?” Luna asked Chris. She flicked a glance my way, but I must’ve masked my thoughts well enough because her attention returned to her cousin. “What better way to draw him out than to be the most sickeningly in love couple in Slate Harbor?”

At this rate, The Valentine Villain wouldn’t be the one to take me out.

No, that honor would go to Luna and her ability to put dangerous ideas in my head.

“You know…” Chris started, doing a little Luna-like pacing of his own now, “That’s actually not a terrible idea.”

I shot him a betrayed look.

That was it. If any of us survived our first mission, my first order of business would be disbanding this team.

Democracy.Pfft.

Who needed it?

Not I.

Chris shrugged, sending me an apologetic look that was about as useful as a broken parachute. “From a strategic standpoint? It really does make sense.”

“Thank you,” Luna preened, clasping her hands in front of herself and doing a little dance.

I swallowed. That really shouldn’t have been as cute as it was.

Desperate now, I dug deep, trying to find the guy I was before these people had turned me into such a sucker.

I couldn’t find him.

“I knew you’d be on my side,” Luna said to her cousin, giving him an angelic smile before tossing me a glare.

Chris shifted, and my eyes slid over him in a careful assessment.

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