Page 4 of Goddess of Mayhem

Annoyance is clear on her face as she looks at me, wondering what the fuck just happened.

“Please, get me out of this house for a bit,” Akila says as she looks at the disaster in the kitchen, then back at me. “I’ll meet you to leave in an hour.”

AFTER AN HOUR OF trying to find something to wear—and a shot of whiskey to battle away the remainder of my hangover—I settle on tight, ripped jeans, a low-cut crop top, and black wedges.

“I think this is the most dressed down I’ve seen you,” Akila teases as I step into the living room. She’s a beautiful girl who is comfortable in her skin. She’s restyled her hair from the messy bun she had earlier this morning, so now her long, white tresses cascade over her shoulders and down her back, and half of it is pulled back into a braid.

Like Lion, she dresses more on the casual side: sneakers, jeans, and T-shirts. With a mother like mine, I’ve never known the ability to dress down. When I eventually learned how to use my body as a weapon, I settled into my skin even more and flaunted it every chance I could.

Lion stands next to Akila, leaning against the couch, tense as usual and with a scowl on his face. He avoids looking at me, and judging by the tic that appeared in his jaw when I entered the room, the brute is still irritated with me. Scar, Akila’s long-lost brother, stands on her other side.

The resemblance is uncanny. I will never understand how no one put two and two together with the Lorenzo siblings. Knowing Lion, the fucker the fucker had probably had it figured out and kept it to himself.

“You’ll take a guard,” Lion says before I can respond. He pushes against the couch and stands at full height, prepared for my argument.

“You’ll eat my fucking asshole,” I retort. “Am I not good enough of a guard?”

Lion scoffs and rolls his eyes as he steps toward me.

“This isn’t up for debate, Malia.” I groan and throw my head back, the start of a tantrum forming, just as a large figure comes into the room and steals my attention. My head snaps up, and I smile. “You need to relax too. I’m not risking you or Akila, so take Emilio and have fun dress shopping.”

I purse my lips, glancing between Lion and Emilio. Lion is already looking satisfied with my interest, and Emilio looks like a giant bar of dark chocolate that I want to devour.

“Note to self, if I want to get Malia to agree to something, then throw something pretty at her,” Akila teases from behind Lion. He spins on his heel and glares at her while she laughs.

“Just throw her a bone,” Scar adds.

“I do like boners,” I quip with a giggle.

Lion squeezes the bridge of his nose with his fingers as Akila, Scar, and I laugh, Emilio not reacting and taking his job a little too seriously.

“Relax before you have an aneurysm, Big Rig.” I smile as Lion turns his scowl on me and groans.

“Behave,” Lion orders while pointing a finger at me, his face hard with a silent threat that I read loud and clear.

Huffing and rolling my eyes, I lead Akila—and the guard dog they introduced as Emilio—to the front door, fully ready to leave Lion and his foul mood behind.

The three of us pile into a blacked-out SUV that’s parked outside Lion’s building, and a driver departs for a dress shop Saria had suggested.

It’s taking us a while to get there with the holiday traffic, and none of us speak. Christmas music plays softly through the speakers in the front of the vehicle, and with the silence inside the cab, it’s enough to grate on my nerves.

I lean forward and slam my palm on the volume button to turn the music off.

“Not a fan of Christmas music, I guess?” Akila chuckles when my back hits the seat.

I snort and roll my eyes. “‘Tis the season to be fake,” I retort.

“You know most people love this time of year,” she says matter-of-factly.

I shrug. “You’ll find I’m not likemostpeople, Akila.” I lean closer to her and drop my voice, “It’s the mockery behind it that gets me. Imagining everything is perfect for a single day just to go back to things being shitty the next.”

Akila purses her lips and continues looking out the window. “It’s not like that for everybody.”

“No.” I sigh. “I don’t do fake, and that’s all Christmas has ever been to me, except for the ones I’ve spent with the Castellos. It’s the bad that tends to resonate. A fun fact, though, is that my favorite movie is a Christmas movie.”

Akila raises an eyebrow and looks over at me, and I chuckle. “You watch movies?”

“I’m not a fucking robot. But no, not really.” My smile grows. “The Nightmare Before Christmas has the right idea, though. A whole song about torturing the big, creepy guy.”

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