Page 69 of My Perfect Villain

Real smooth, Zia.

Rolling onto my stomach, I army crawl past my cat, who’s licking his tail and looking at me like I’m a complete asshole, then quietly push open the shower curtain.

The knob on the door turns a few times, my panic skyrocketing when I hear the male—Rae—shout, “This better not be another human, Azizia. I swear to god—”

“It’s not!” she blurts. “There isn’t another human in there!”

She’s not wrong.

But I don’t exactly need this guy findingmein here, either. I’m not strong enough to fight right now, and for some reason, I want to keep Zia from getting into more trouble. As fucked up as that may be.

I pull myself up on the edge of the tub as carefully as I can before climbing into it, closing the curtain just as Rae throws himself against `the locked door and breaks it open.

“Whoever’s in here, better get the—what the fuck isthat?!”

“My… it’s my cat.”

I roll my eyes as I press my back flat against the bottom of the tub.

There’s no way she’s going to be able to convince that guy Roger is hers. He doesn’t typically like many people, and she’s been referring to him as an alien, so I doubt this is going to play out well.

“Your cat?” Rae asks skeptically. “You have acat?”

“Yep.” Zia’s shadow moves in front of the shower curtain and I’m not sure what she’s doing until I see her bend down, then struggle to stand. “Isn’t he… just… the cutest?”

She grunts multiple times as Roger gives off his warning growl, the insane woman picking my cat up andkissing the side of his head.

“Why, of all damn things, would you get a cat? Especially one that looks likethat.”

“I was lone—ah, shit! I was lonely, Rae.”

“I don't think he likes you.”

Roger hisses and starts wiggling in her arms like crazy as Zia says, “We’re still… getting to know each other… he’s going to—hey!” She drops him on the floor with a plop as my cat swipes at her. “That wasn’t very nice, asshole!”

“I’m not sure you need to get to know each other at all if he’s going to try clawing your eyes out every time you’re within range.”

“It’s fine. Roger will love me eventually.” Zia moves closer to the bathtub, and I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

Her brother doesn’t seem to believe in boundaries, and if he’s worried about her having someone else held captive—which she does—in this house, I wouldn’t put it past him to start searching. This bathroom being location number one on the list, considering he’s already in it.

“You yelled at me for the second body and if you don’t have anything else to yell at me for, I was just about to take a shower when you—”

She reaches behind the vinyl, turns on the water and pulls the little stopper thing so the shower comes on when her brother grunts, “He’s looking for you.”

Zia’s hand freezes on the faucet, the water like ice as it starts pelting me. “He… he is?”

Rae’s shadow comes into view, closer to her, before he reaches out a hand and pats her shoulder. “That’s really why I’m here. The second body, it flagged him.”

“Kiza wouldn’t have told him, would he?”

“No,” Rae says. “Neither him nor Draven would have said anything, buthesomehow noticed, and I think it means he has spies up here.”

Zia’s entire body language changes as she pulls her hand away and wraps her arms around herself. “And you think they found me?”

“It’s possible he has a good idea where you are. If you want to stay under the radar, I’d suggest you stop killing people and consider changing locations, otherwise your husband is going to leave Hell just to drag you back down there himself.”

Everything else that’s said is lost on me as I stare up at the ceiling.

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