Page 29 of Sugar Coated

Once the story was all said and done, Lola hummed. “Sounds like you have a devil watching over you. Masked sex… I bet it was hot. I wonder if one of my guys would ever put on a mask.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed. “I think they would do anything if you asked.”

Lola giggled. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I have them wrapped around my little finger, right where I like ‘em. Speakingof, how’s it going with Mike? He doesn’t talk much to his brother, but from what I hear, when he does, he mainly talks about you. Do you have the big guy wrapped around your cute little finger?”

“I don’t think so, although it is news to me that he talks about me.”

“Usually it’s about how frustrated he is with you. According to Mike, you’re one frustrating girl.”

Shrugging, I muttered, “I don’t try to be.”

“That’s how it is sometimes. I’m sure if you asked Sylvester or Maddox or even Viper, they’d call me frustrating, but they love me anyway.”

“Mike is hard to read.”

“I agree with that. He’s so hard to read, I think most women don’t even bother trying with him. Hell, for as long as I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him with a girl. Before you, it got to the point where I was considering bringing him into my bedroom just to give the guy some stress-relief—he’s had a wild ride the past few years.”

I couldn’t help it. My eyebrows lifted. “You were going to… did you?”

Lola licked her bottom lip. “Why? Would it make you angry if I told you I did? Would you be jealous if I said I climbed that mountain?” She nudged me with her shoulder, whispering, “Or would the kinky side of you like it?” She giggled at that.

I… honestly didn’t know.

“Anyways, you didn’t come all this way just to gossip with me about the shared men in our lives. You came about the asshole who helped kidnap you. He hasn’t said anything yet, but it hasn’t been that long. Don’t worry. Once he’s starving, once he’s barely clinging onto his pathetic life, I bet he’ll talk. I haven’t even used any of my knives on him yet.”

“Can I be there when you do?” The question came out of me before I knew I was asking, a genuine curiosity bubbling deep inside me. I was asking Lola if I could watch her torture someone. Not a normal topic of conversation, but if there was one thing I knew, it’s that neither I nor Lola were normal people.

I used to think I was… but now I was slowly coming to the realization that somewhere nestled inside of me was a bubbling, ebbing darkness. It had taken years, but this city was bringing it out of me.

The very second I asked the question, Lola grinned hard. “I knew I liked you, sugarplum. Yes, of course you can be there. I’ll never say no to something like that. Hell, if your cute little curiosity isn’t sated, I’ll even take you out one weekend and show you how the Night Slayer operates.”

The offer would’ve turned off most people, but it only intrigued me. Seeing Lola in her element… yeah, I was positive I’d like that.

Lola’s blue-eyed gaze fell to my left hand. “Fang is still hard at work, I see. Did he say how much longer it’ll be?”

I glanced down at my hand, at the two nubs where my pinky and ring finger were. Lola didn’t know I did this to myself; I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d think differently of me if I told her. Mike obviously did. Fang didn’t judge me for it, though he did offer up himself if I ever felt the need to maim again. Kieran would probably side with Mike if he found out.

“Within the week,” I said. “It’s strange. I feel like I still have the fingers. It’s like I constantly forget they’re gone, and I only remember when I look down and see the nubs for myself.”

“Most people wouldn’t be so casual about it. When you talk about that Devil, you sound… as much as I hate to say it, like you have a bit of Stockholm syndrome going on. Kidnapping you, keeping you locked up for two years, and then doing that to you?I don’t think he deserves any ounce of your affection. In fact, if I ever met him, I’d show him exactly what I think about him.”

Lola paused, and then, when I didn’t say anything, she added, “My knives. I’d use my own knives on him.” You know, just in case I didn’t know where she was going with that. “He might’ve helped you over the weekend, but not before he took what he wanted from you. Typical man.”

“When he had me,” I whispered, “he never touched me. He could’ve. He could’ve done whatever he wanted to me. He kidnapped me, yes, but he helped open my eyes to the truth: my whole life I was just a pawn. Someone other people could use—and I let them. I smiled and played the part because I didn’t want to let anyone down. I guess it’s something I knew deep down before the kidnapping, but… he helped me accept it.”

“He doesn’t get a medal for waiting to whip out his dick and use it on you. Look at your hand. Look at what he did when you escaped. You were in rough shape when I first met you in the hospital—”

I interrupted her, the need to defend my Devil stronger than ever, “It wasn’t him. It was me.”

Lola blinked. “You? Kitten, you don’t mean—”

I told Lola how I woke up one morning and found the key to my chains given to me, the door to my room left ajar. And then I told her how I made it look like a fight had taken place, because I wanted everyone to view me as a victim and not someone who was simply let go.

After listening to my story, Lola said, “You’re ready to fuck shit up. You wanted everyone to underestimate you. If they think you’re a victim, they won’t see you coming.”

Out of everyone I’d told that story to, no one had ever understood it quite like her. Hearing her succinctly explain away my reasoning made me speechless, and I could only sit there and stare at her like she was some kind of holy prophet.

“I get it. I do something very similar when I’m the Night Slayer. Pretend to get drunk at bars and clubs.” She chuckled softly and shook her head. “When men think you’re drunk, it’s easy to find the snakes. Even good guys turn bad when they think they can fuck you and you can’t say no. So trust me, I understand better than most that making yourself look like a victim can be your best weapon against the world.”

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