Page 66 of Nocturne

“Really?”

“Of course,” I say, pulling her into another hug as we head downstairs. “And he’s going to love his aunt too.”

She tries to turn her head away, but I catch the tears anyway.

* * *

“The only pictures I can see are of, Mr Vesper,”

Ivy air quotes his last name as she scrolls down her iPad.

After Eero assembled the bookshelf in record time and pushed it to the spot I pointed at, he wandered around the house. He found a few leaky pipes that I hadn’t noticed during my first inspection. I was shocked when he showed me the damp spots and explained how they might damage the walls and cause trouble in the future. Despite my assurance that I’d call a plumber, he insisted on fixing them, saying he wasn’t just a pretty face. Ivy groaned beside me as he disappeared with the tool kit and muttered,“Why can’t I want him?”

I’ve been meaning to ask what that meant.

We head downstairs and collapse onto the chairs on my back patio, savouring one of the rare sunny days in Walius. The sun is beginning to set, its warm rays lingering on our sweat-slicked skin as I settle into my chair with a glass of lemonade in hand.

Ivy’s taken it upon herself to dig into the lives of the men we were once terrified of, under the pretence of"getting to know her friend better."We both know it’s hogwash, but I let her cling to her little delusion.

God knows I’ve lived in mine long enough—like convincing myself that Mr. Devlin found me attractive.

I snort into my glass, barely able to believe my own stupidity.

“He’s got quite good taste in women. This woman runs a fucking gallery upstate,”

She shoves the iPad under my nose. Before I could see the woman she was talking about, she takes the gadget back and continues to scroll.

“And this one is a hot-shot lawyer running to be a Mayor,” she lets out an impressive whistle.

“Do I sense something?” I narrow my eyes at her.

She started this search under the guise of wanting to understand how the entire clan operates. She could’ve just asked Eero—I’m sure he would’ve given her the basics—but no. Instead, she conveniently lands on Iblis Vesper.

The very man she claims she doesn’t like. The man she insists terrifies her. The man who made her quit her job.

Apparently, Iblis decided she might become a problem for his boss and took it upon himself to handle the situation. His way of handling things? Intimidating and bullying her into submission until she had no choice but to walk away from her work.

No wonder I can’t stand him. Beneath all that charm lies a snake, coiled and ready to strike when you least expect it.

She turns to me, her eyes wide as if she is shocked by my words. “Sense what?”

“An interest in a certain someone who you claim to hate, but I see otherwise,” I raise my brows.

She looks deep in thought.

We’ve moved beyond denying what we feel with each other, that’s not how our friendship works. It’s been built on trust, on honesty, no matter how messy it gets. I’ve trusted this woman enough to share my demons, at least some of them, something I’ve never done with anyone except my sister. And she’s trusted me enough to show me the skeletons in her closet.

We don’t play games. We don’t pretend something isn’t there.

If we feel something, we acknowledge it. We process it together if we have to.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t entertain the thought of it.”

I let out a sigh.

I know the appeal a bad boy holds. Especially the kind who hides razor-sharp edges beneath sweet words and an air of danger. And Iblis Vesper? He’s a devil’s henchman clad in Brioni. I can see why Ivy would be interested in him.

But that doesn’t mean it won’t blow up in her face. Like it did with all her other boyfriends.

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