Page 41 of A Love Like Venom

My father was right. No one could love a monster. No one could possibly love me.

I wanted to believe she was different. But then I heard her. I heard her tell her sister how afraid she was of me. How I was a monster. How the darkness inside me was terrifying.

And hearing her say what I had always feared the most, especially coming from her lips, I did the only thing I could do that would hurt her. I broke the first promise I had given her. I left town with no intentions of ever coming back.

Because that betrayal along with Caitlin knowing I killed a man when Alice and I had sworn to one another to never tell another living soul was more than enough for me to leave her behind.

And sure, I’m back now, but not as the young man she knew. I’m here for my own revenge. And I’m not going to allow for any other fucker to get in the way of that. So this right-hand man can piss right the fuck off. I’m the only one she should fear.

I snort. “They’re all the same, little Alice. All monsters hiding in human skin. I know how to take care of him.”

“You mean kill him,” she corrects.

My eyes harden on hers. “Yeah, I mean kill him. To kill a monster you have to be one yourself. Isn’t that right?”

Her brows furrow in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

I chuckle but it’s hollow. “No. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to act all innocent when you know what you’ve done.”

If I didn’t know any better I would actually think she’s telling the truth. She stands before me more confused than ever. “What haveIdone?”

And there’s something about the way she says it. Like she truly believes she’s done nothing wrong. I’m just as furious as I am baffled by her audacity to lie to my fucking face.

“You don’t get to hide behind your secrets and lies. Not anymore.”

“Reed, please,” she begs of me with a crestfallen frown and watery eyes. “I never meant-”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant!” There’s venom in my voice. And she flinches from the bite of it. “It’s what youdid. And I never once lied to you. Nor did I keep secrets. You can’t say the same, can you?”

Her shoulders slump in defeat but I can still see a fight in those eyes. “You chose her over me. What did you expect me to do?”

“Watch it,” I warn tight lipped. “You know why I could never go down that road with you.”

She snorts. “Right, because I wasn’t worth the risk.”

I rise from the barstool, anger and something else clouding my judgement. And I’ll give it to her. She doesn’t back down. But that’s what being raised in Hollows Point does to you. Forces you to become brave.

“You’re putting words in my mouth,” I accuse lowly.

“Am I?” She challenges. “I asked you why her and you responded with being with Caitlin isn’t a risk.” Folding her arms over her chest she replies with a fiery heat that rivals the flames of Hell. “You know what I think,Reed.I think you’re a fucking coward. I think you hate me now because you know you ruined the one good thing you had. And you can’t stand it, can you?”

My jaw ticks as I can feel the pulse in my neck jump. Wanting this barrier between us gone I swiftly hike myself over the bar counter and crowd her against the back wall. And while she stands tall before me I see the bravado waning in her eyes.

She’s scared.

Good.

She should be.

Caging her in I place my arm by her head and collar her throat. Her pulse kicks beneath my fingers. I apply enough pressure to remind her what I’m capable of, but not enough to cut her air supply.

“You want to know what I think, little Alice?” My head descends to where the tip of my nose grazes against hers. I breathe her in. The same vanilla scent that always spiked my blood even when it shouldn’t have. “I think you lied to me about how poisonous your sister was to me because you wanted to see me hurt. You wanted her to make me look like a fool.” She inhales a shaky breath. Knowing I’m affecting her I skate my nose along her jawline. “I think you kept your secrets because you never trusted me. But one night you came running. One night your lungs bursted as those lips of yours sung. And what did I do? What did I do for you?”

She swallows. “You killed for me.”

I tuck a silky strand of her light brown hair behind her ear before gripping her chin. Her eyes stare widely up at me. A deer caught in headlights. “Yeah. I fucking killed for you. And whatdid that fucking get me? Your lies and secrets may have hurt me Alice, but what you said after I had showed you the darkest part of me? That fucking killedme.”

I release her chin harshly. She rubs the ache in her jaw while giving me death’s eye. She then pushes my chest but I’m a man made of stone. I’m not going anywhere.

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