Page 160 of Heartless Beloved

The corner of his lips tips up, and, for the first time ever, I watch a bright smile spread on Xi’s face.

It’s beautiful. Breathtaking. Everything I could have imagined and more. White teeth, sharp canines. And a single, tiny dimple on his left cheek. Terrifying and addictive. It’s him in his purest form.

Without looking back, he throws his cigarette a few feet behind him, and I watch as it falls on Duncan’s dead body, lighting him on fire.

I take in a sharp breath just as Xi grabs my hand and hauls me back to the truck. We watch from inside as the body disappears into dust, making sure the fire doesn’t get out of control.

“What now?” I whisper.

“Now I take you to your room and fuck you like the bad girl I turned you into.”

And as we drive back, he putsI Did Something Badby Taylor Swift on.

“You like Taylor Swift now?” I chuckle.

“The woman I’m in love with associates every situation in her life with a Taylor Swift song. You can bet your ass I was going to listen to every single excruciating album.”

“Why?”

“To understand you better, baby.” His eyes dart to mine and he puts a hand on my thigh. It’s as simple as that.

“Her albums aren’t excruciating,” I pout.

“Agonizing.”

“Xi!” I gasp.

After a pause, he adds. “Okay,1989was my favorite.”

“Oh my God, isn’t it so good?” I shriek from excitement. My whole body shifts to face him.

“It was bearable.”

I smile to myself as I rest back on the seat. A second later, my big, bad villain is butchering the lyrics toBlank Space, and my heart explodes in my chest.

I guess Xi has two ways to show me he loves me. Killing a man for me and listening to my favorite artist.

29

ALEXANDRA

From Hell With Love – Ryan Caraveo

I smile to myself, remembering the talk Xi and I had after we went back to Xi Ep. The way he opened up to me and explained exactly why he was looking for info on my dad. The Lucianos are a known crime family on the East Coast, and I’m not surprised by the kind of demand they made to small gangs for their protection.

That’s not what makes me smile, though. It’s that we finally talked about the future without including his illegal activities in it. Xi doesn’t want to leave the North Shore, he’s set on staying close to his mom and his family, and I understand that. What he does want is to make it a better place. He admitted that if he went for the Kings again, the war would never end, and he would rather work on making his town a better place. He said he would talk to Dickie about it, since he’s the only man he knows doing his best to stay neutral and keep the kids who come to his gym out of trouble. Apparently, that’s what he did with Billie.

The hardest, though, will be leaving NSC for good. He said he started mentioning it to Emma, but it did not go well. Discussions are still in progress. It’s been for two weeks.

“No, oh dear lord, donotwalk into that room. Especially not with your filthy boots. There’s a $1.5 million Persian rug in there, sir.” My mom’s stern voice brings me back to Stoneview.

The florist holding the vase of carnations and lilies twice the size of my head stops on the spot.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I thought this was the room.”

My mother rolls her eyes to the far back of her head. “Why would we have a birthday party in our drawing room? Third door to the right. Reception room. That’s where you’re going.”

She rolls her eyes again as he approaches the indicated room and turns to me. “Incompetent. That’s what they are.”

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