Page 177 of Evil Boys

“Don’t you understand?” I say. “My brother will kill me.”

“You think I’d let him?” he scoffs. “He won’t come anywhere near you, and neither will Jason.” He grabs my arm and forces me to stop. “Lana. Look at me.” When I don’t, he cups my chin. “I’m not afraid to fight for you.”

I swallow, the glimmer in his white eye drawing me in, making me feel things I’m not supposed to feel for my stalker, a killer.

“Now tell me how he knew about the pictures.”

I sigh. So he heard. “At my father’s dinner, he stole my phone and saw the picture Nathan tried to threaten me with.” I frown at the memory. “But he tried to blame me for it. Said he couldn’t support me so I told him to fuck off.”

His eyes narrow and his hand tightens around his blade. “Do you want me to kill him?”

My eyes widen. “What?”

His jaw clenches. “That useless son of a bitch wasn’t there when you needed him. I knew I should’ve just executed him.”

I suck in a breath but no amount of breathing can ever draw in enough oxygen. “You’d kill him for me?”

He cups my face, caressing my cheek as tiny specks of snow fall all around us. “I would kill every goddamn fucking human on this fucking planet for you.”

Why is it suddenly so hard to breathe?

His lips are so close to mine I can feel his breath on my chin. “No one’s ever done that for me …”

“All you have to do is point this knife at someone.” He slips his knife into my hand. “And I will end them.”

I rub my lips together, thinking about the idea of Jason dying at Kai’s hands. Even though I’d love nothing more than for him to pay for not supporting me and scaring the shit out of me just now, it still wouldn’t feel right to literally end his life.

“No. Let him live,” I mutter.

“Fine, I won’t kill him.” He leans in to whisper, “But I will take great pleasure in knowing he could never pleasure you the way I can.”

He smashes his lips onto mine, claiming my mouth with fervor. Even as cold snow showers down upon us, the heat in his kisses could scorch the entire sky dry. The kiss is intoxicating, completely overtaking every inch of doubt in my soul.

“What the … oh my God.”

I drag my lips away from Kai’s as we both look in the direction of the voice…

Only to come face-to-face with Crystal, who literally drops her books onto the ground when she sees us. “Him too?”

Oh fuck.

LANA

Panic seeps into my bones.

I shove Kai away, handing him back his knife.

She bolts off with widened eyes, so I chase her through the rose garden. “Wait!”

“No, I saw nothing!”

“Crystal, please!” When I catch up with her, I grasp her arm and force her to turn around. “Please, don’t run away.”

She’s the only friend I have in common with Penelope, and I don’t want to risk losing a friendship over this.

“You have to understand it’s not what it looks like.”

“That sure looked like you were kissing Kai fucking Torres,” Crystal replies, whispering, “Do you know what your brother would do if he found out about this? I mean, Nathan’s one thing, but Kai too?”

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