Page 81 of Moments of Malevolence

“Why? Do you want me gone already, even after I just made you come?” I question.

She shrugs. “I don’t much like sharing.”

“I sleep on the couch,” I remind her.

“No, you don’t. You come in and hold me.”

She’s right, but I won’t confirm that.

“Do you not sleep better when I’m there?”

“I do,” she answers quietly over her shoulder as she leaves the room.

* * *

“Just stay by my side,” I tell Alaska as I reach for her hand.

She doesn’t pull away as I slide mine into hers.

Her eyes scan the crowd, her face half hidden by a lacy, black mask that matches her dress. I pull on my mask and wonder why I came up with this stupid idea years ago. I see a few people I know—dirty, scumbag killers—and think how much I hate most of the men here. Some come into this life because they have no other option, and some do it for the love of killing. I’m a little of both. I fell into it, but I never let it turn me the way some of the people here have been turned.

“Zuko, you brought a date,” Pops says, coming up to stand near us. He glances at Alaska and then back to me. “You never bring a date.”

“Hello, Michelle.” I nod to Pop’s new plaything. She inclines her head back to me but quickly avoids eye contact. Alaska looks around, not paying us any attention.

The room is somewhat dark. Two waiters move through the crowd, and even they are people who are just getting started in this world.

They want to be like us.

They want our secrets.

They want to be me.

Someone clinks a glass, and the twenty or so people who are here move toward the table. I spot my brothers at the head of the table where I usually sit with them, but tonight I sit to the side next to Alaska. When my brothers see her, Kyson scowls, and Kenzo gives her a head nod.

“You brought a date?” Mario asks. He’s known for killing prostitutes—hired by the men who fucked them.

He’s a dick as well.

“So unlike you.” He turns to Alaska and offers his hand. She doesn’t take it, instead sitting down in the seat I pulled out for her—right next to Kyson, with me on her other side. He grumbles something under his breath, and it makes her laugh.

I love that fucking sound.

Almost as much as I love her.

THIRTY-TWO

Alaska

Zuko is tense tonight.

He’s always got an edgy feel about him, but not like this.

It’s like he doesn’t want to be here.

“We don’t bring dates,” Kyson grumbles.

“I could be your date too, if you want.” I wink at him.

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