Page 36 of A Love Like Venom

In his place is a man named Snake who owns his villainous nature.

Well, fuck him.

Taking the bottle of tequila, I screw back on the cap and place it back underneath my bed.

If I didn't have work tonight, I would've probably downed the whole thing. I need to keep my wits. Having a foggy mind at work is dangerous. What little alcohol I just had won't chance that. It takes a lot more than that to affect me.

With work in a few more hours, I'll be safe to drive and that's what's most important. My white knight will be able to rescue me if need be.

Here's to hoping it doesn't come to that.

Snake

The stale air fills my nostrils as the familiar taste of despair sits heavy on my tongue. That only means one thing.

I'm back in Hollows Point.

I have avoided this place like the plague since I left all those years ago.

Now I'm coming back twice in one week like I have the fucking cure.

But I know all too well why I'm coming back so willingly. And it has nothing to do with the fact that Oak and I have yet to carry out our message to The Crowned Devils MC.

It has been two days since our fight. Three days since I have saw her last. In those three days the demons inside have caused quite an uproar. They haven't quieted, if anything they've become louder, more demanding.

I used to have a sense of control when it came to my inner demons. I could hide the darkness living inside me with a grand smile that blinded everyone. My jokes were a great distraction to conceal what I really felt underneath.

Wearing a mask made it so incredibly easy to deceive everyone around me. At times including myself.

When it comes time to look in the mirror, I see the man who I really am. A man who is filled with anger and a blinding hatred. A man who gave everything and received nothing in return.

Betrayal has such a bitter taste.

But this pain, this unknowing pain with depths greater than the ocean, has crashing waves and lurking beasts.

This pain I can't ignore. Suffering in silence like my father taught me simply isn't going to work. Not when the pain unfamiliar and foreign weighs heavy on my chest.

I have never responded to pain before. My tolerance is unmatched.

Yet Alice Hall is the only person who can torture me. And she did it with just a smile. Seeing her smile, pure and genuine, like the ones she would only give me had my blood boiling. And her laugh, carefree and light should have never been able to pass those traitorous lips.

It was when she stared up at me with confusion and pain in those brown eyes and professed her innocence like she did nothing wrong, it had me seeing red.

How fucking dare she think that she isn't responsible for the man she created. The same exact man who met her three nights ago.

It was her betrayal that cut the deepest. I'm still bleeding from the knife she dug in my back.

And she wants to act like she did nothing wrong?

Fuck that.

She deserves to feel every ounce of pain I've felt.

It's only fair.

Despite Oak's warning I have no intentions on proceeding with caution.

This time I'm going to be a hell of a lot smarter when it comes to removing my mask. I'll make sure Oak is preoccupied with club business before I utter a fucking word.

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