Page 37 of The Venom We Bleed

Nolan straightens in his seat and nods to Lex. A moment later, the telltale sound of the door locks disengaging fills the quiet. I narrow my eyes on Nolan and wait.

“Consider this your last warning, Juliet,” he says quietly. “If you want to survive the rest of this school year, stop making waves. Keep your head down and don’t pick any fights.”

That's why they chased my ass down and kidnapped me? To warn me off? I glare at the back of Lex’s head, stewing in myrage. No. This wasn’t just a verbal warning, it's a physical one. A silent ‘look what we can do’ as if they're telling me that they can kidnap me off the street and no one around will do a thing. Because no one in Silverwood cares about the daughter of the town’s villain.

I close my eyes, not because I’m afraid, but because I can feel a fresh bloom of rage pulsing inside me. When I open them again, I fix him with a dark glare, ignoring the two sets of eyes on me from the front seat, and lean close to the King of the Scorpions. Closer and closer I draw until I swear I can smell the underlying spice of his aftershave in my nostrils.

“Newsflash, asshole,” I murmur quietly, “I’m not the one making waves. If I need to defend myself, I will. Nothing will stop that—not the school, not this bumfuck town, and certainly not you or your boys.”

Nolan’s nostrils flare. “I know you didn’t create the ad,” he replies coolly. “But your response to it—you may not be aware, but we’re on the team at Silverwood Public and we need our teammates to remain unharmed for their part in our games. Keep your hands to yourself in the future.”

“No.”

He stiffens at my one-word answer and then he blinks. “No?” He says the word back to me slowly, as if the sound of it confuses him.

“No,” I repeat. “You can’t tell me what to do, Nolan. I’m not one of your minions.” I cast a scathing look at Gio and Lex when both look over their shoulders at us. “If someone comes after me,” I continue, returning my gaze to their leader, “I’m going to give as good as I get. You tell your boys to stay off my back and they won’t get hurt.”

Nolan unbuckles himself and moves closer to me, pressing me back into the car door. “You’re ballsy for an ex-prep girl,”he says quietly, threateningly. “Youdorealize I couldmakeyou listen to me, don’t you?”

The idea of Nolan Pierce making me do anything only leads to one conclusion. He's threatening to fuck me to get me to do what he says? Bull-fucking-shit. I laugh, but the sound is hollow. The only thing I actually hear is the hard and fast beat of my heart rate speeding back up. “You think so?”

“Iknowso.” Nolan deadpans. He lifts two fingers and captures a tendril of my hair that has fallen in front of my face. Carefully sifting the strand between the pads of his thumb and forefinger, he stares back at me. “No one gives a shit about the girl whose dad destroyed half of the town’s finances,” he says and I barely manage not to flinch at the words. “If I were to strip you bare right here and now, no one would come save you. I could do such awful things to you, Juliet Donovan. I could make you like it or I could make you hate it.”

“I would hate it,” I snap back, fear at his words slamming through me even as my hands curl into fists. “There’s no fucking way on Earth you could ever make me like your hands on me.”

“Never say never, Jules,” Nolan says, shortening my name as if we’re friends. He continues to stroke my hair, almost thoughtfully. “I can make many women love things they might not otherwise want.”

“Not. Me.” I hiss the two words through clenched teeth.

He smirks as if he’s not convinced. “Nolan.” That one word comes from the front, from Lex. It sounds like both a warning and a plea, and immediately, it makes the man in front of me release my hair and sit back.

“If you don’t get out now,” Nolan says, casually, “we’ll take that to mean you agree to pay for this little ride.”

I scoff and reach for the handle. “Oh yeah?” I snark. “With what money? You seem to forget, but I’m not a princess anymore.”

The door handle clicks under the pressure of my hand and it swings out. Rain slaps the nape of my neck as I inch back out of the vehicle rather than turn and hop out like any normal person. I just can’t do it. I can’t turn my back when I know a predator—three of them, technically—is watching me.

Nolan grins as he leans out to grip the handle. “If you don’t have cash, princess, then there’s only one other way for you to pay,” he replies. “With your pussy, of course—or if you want to give all of us a go, your pussy … your ass … and your pretty little mouth.”

With that comment from him, I can’t seem to get out of the car fast enough. The second my sneakers hit the wet pavement, I turn and whirl away from them. The sound of two men’s laughter echoes back to me as I rush for my building. Nolan and Gio’s amusement follows me up the outside staircase. Lex’s on the other hand … isn’t there. He doesn’t laugh with his friends at the thought of force-fucking me.

As I reach the top of the staircase and the railing that looks out over the parking lot, I pause and look down. Through the windshield of the beat-up SUV, I see Lex’s gray eyes staring back at me with that impenetrable gaze of his. A shiver skates down my spine and I hoof it to the end of the row, not stopping this time until I’m inside my apartment with the door shut and locked behind me.

16

JULIET

The Dionysus Lounge is a quiet place when there are no customers—or ‘guests’ as Ma-Ri insists they be called. Like we’re all just hosting a bunch of wealthy men and pouring their drinks for them at our own houses. I roll my eyes at that thought as I finish wiping down a table and then tuck the cloth into my thin black apron.

A door opens in the distance, and Deb, one of the bartenders currently setting up, starts to say something behind me before she cuts herself off. Curious, I look over my shoulder when I reach the opposite side of the club and pause when I see a familiar head of spiky black hair. I turn back and wait as Roquel offers Deb a wave and then practically sprints towards me.

“Hey,” I say, brows rising. “What are you doing here?”

Roquel slows as she gets closer, her cheeks flushed, and for a moment I think she’s angry, but then she takes a breath and offers me a smile. “Just came to hang out before opening,” she says.

I frown at that and start moving again. “You wanted to hang out here?” I scoff. “Why?”

The clink of glasses echoes towards us as Deb finishes restocking the bar and getting it ready for opening. I headtowards the back hallway to the service closet secreted away there.

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