Page 6 of Always A Villain
“Thanks, Griffen.” With a laugh, I pop a piece of steaming tofu into my mouth. I feel Axe’s gaze wandering over me, his eyes trailing from my face down to my cleavage and exposed stomach. He looks hungry, and a surge of heat rushes through me.
Griffen sits next to Kyla, and the chatter flows around me, but my focus keeps snapping back to Axe. It's only been a few days since I last saw him, but it feels like ages. Every time I glance his way, he's already watching me, his dark eyes full of that infuriating, knowing smirk. He takes a slow drink, eyes locked on mine over the rim of his beer bottle.
The guy he’s talking to looks mean—naturally, if he’s one of Axe’s friends.
“I’m Arsen,” he says as he rakes a hand through his hair. I don’t know him, but I’ve seen him in meetings with Spencer and Dad before.
“Rory,” I reply, taking a sip of water.
“I know who you are.” His gaze lingers on me, heavy and unsettling. “Everyoneknows who you are.”
Before I can figure out how I feel about that, Axe’s voice cuts in, cold as ice. “Arseny.” The look they exchange is thick with unspoken tension.
“Nice to meet you, Rory.” Arsen flashes a grin that’s more of a threat than a greeting.
Dropping my gaze back to my plate, I decide not to engage in whatever alpha shit is going on. A moment later, the bench dips beside me, and Axe’s familiar scent wraps around me.
“Little siren,” he growls, leaning in so close I feel the heat radiating off him. His voice, rough and low, sends a shiver down my spine, and just like that, my body betrays me. It craves him—his hands, his mouth. God, his mouth. I want it on me.
“What?” I manage to ask, breathless. My heart's pounding, blood rushing in my ears, drowning out reason.Aren’t I mad at him?
His lips graze my ear, and I swallow a moan. Damn him for making me this worked up with so little effort.
I feel him inhale, ready to speak, when Griffen’s voice booms through the air, shattering the moment. “Axe! When was the last time you even watched a fight at the Red Arena? It’s been fucking years.” He’s speaking too loudly for the space, and the empty bottles next to him, along with the half-full one in his hand, tell me he’s already well on his way to drunk.
Axe releases a frustrated breath against my ear and shifts back on the bench.
“Fuck off, Griff.” Wrapping his arm around me, he pulls my ass against his dick.
“Arsen, did you attend the Red Arena a few years ago? I was trying to remember who was representing the Generals,” Griffen asks, ignoring Axe’s clear annoyance.
Axe’s body tenses, and the arm around me tightens.
“Fuck, I remember! Travis was the General in the ring!” Griffen slams his bottle down on the table, the crash echoing in the room.
“That was a good night.” Arsen chuckles, but his expression doesn’t match his tone. There’s a hint of something menacing lurking behind his smile.
“That fucker was good. He had a mean right hook.” Griffen laughs.
“I remember Travis,” Kyla says, taking a bite of her food. “Isn’t he MIA?” The father of Kyla's son is a General, so she’s got gossip on them.
“Travis was a fucking cunt,” Arsen cuts in.
“No, he wasfuckinga cunt.” Griffen snickers and throws a pointed glance my way. “Alicia—your step-bitch.”
My blood turns to ice. The room feels ten degrees colder in an instant.
“What?” I say, brow pinched.
“Believe it or not, your husband actually had a friend besides that ugly motherfucker,” Griffen tells me, nodding toward Arsen with a lazy grin. I don’t know what word made Axe flinch—“husband” or “friend.” “Yeah, Travis and Axe were pretty tight. And that bitch Alicia was always hanging around like a stray dog.”
Everything clicks. All those snide comments Alicia kept making about a history with Axe.
“Shut your mouth, Griff,” Axe snarls, every muscle straining against mine. Griffen doesn’t catch the warning in his voice—or if he does, he’s too drunk to care.
“She used to hang around with Travis and Axe all the time,” he slurs. “Then Travis just ghosted Axe in the middle of a mission in Bogotá. Vanished. No word, nothing. Total dick move. No one has seen him since.”
“Griffen, shut thefuckup.” Axe’s grip on me is so tight it’s almost painful. His breaths leave him in short bursts.
