Page 1 of Vicious Hearts

Prologue

Ben

I'm losing my mind.

The woman I’m obsessed with is inside the beach house next door.Alone.

This week has been hell. I avoided Roxy whenever I could, but it’s fucking challenging to dodge someone at a wedding when there are only two guests—you and them.

I thought this trip would be a pleasant change of scenery, but the tension was unbearable. Just being close to her does things to me.

The newlyweds, Leo and Ali, flew home with their little daughter this afternoon. I booked an extra night at the resort, certain that Roxy would leave with them and I’d finally get some peace. But she stayed too, and I haven’t left my villa since I saw her walking past, toting a string bag of groceries.

I stand at the open patio doors, watching as a flash of pink lightning splits the sky over the sea. Thunder rolls like a growl of judgment from above the clouds.

Hawaii is paradise, then suddenly the heavens open, and you’re screwed. Although the torrent outside is deafening against the palm fronds, I’m comfortable here and dry as a bone.

Vodka blurs the edges enough to keep me from losing my shit. The glass in my hand is ice cold, and I press it to my temple, trying to calm the throbbing there.

I don’t hear the knock at first, but eventually, the insistent sound penetrates my thoughts. I go to the door and look through the spyhole.

It’s Kai, the resort manager. When I open the door, I immediately realize something is amiss.

“What’s up, buddy?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Benedikt.”

Kai sighs and steps aside. Behind him stands Roxy, her suitcase in her hand.

“Her roof has a bad leak. It’s flooding. We’re booked up, so I can’t offer this young lady another villa, but she tells me you are friends and are both leaving tomorrow. It doesn’t seem worth transferring her to another resort under the circumstances, and she assures me she will be okay with you?”

I glance at Roxy. Her eyes are as wide and innocent as ever, the same pale blue, like a clear winter sky. Her blonde hair is fluffy and unkempt, flyaways framing her pretty face.

My eyes slide back to Kai.

“I told you I didn’t want to be disturbed, Kai. I distinctly remember telling you not to bother me with anything less than a world-ending emergency.”

“Don’t be such a dick,” Roxy interjects. “I’ll sleep on your couch. We’re flying home tomorrow morning anyway, so what difference does it make?”

“You’re bothering me,” I reply. “I want my peace.”

“What, so you can drink bison grass vodka, stare at the rain, and brood?” She smirks, her eyes flashing up and down my body. “While half-naked?”

I had given no thought to my shirtless state. Why should I? It’s my fucking villa. I should just tell Kai to take her to another resort. But she’s here, wet and cold, with nowhere to go.

Do I want her to go?No.I do not want her to be anywhere other than sitting on my face.

Don’t think about that now, for fuck’s sake.

When Roxy got out of the hospital, I kept running into her. I’d visit Leo and Ali, and she’d be there. Walk through her neighborhood, and I’d see her. I could have thought aboutwhyI was always going places where she might be, but instead, I started to distance myself. I turned down so many invitations that I stopped receiving them anymore.

A wedding is different, though. I didn’t know Roxy and I were the only guests until we were already here, so I had to make the best of it.

But Roxy does not need a man like me in her life. Just because she likes the look of me, thinks I’m funny, enjoys my company—so what? She’s young. She’ll forget all about me before long.

These are the thoughts that stopped me from calling her on many a horny night. But now I’m warm and buzzed from the vodka, and the storm has charged the air with a hot, humid feeling that’s making me want to forget all the promises I made to myself.

I hear my voice.

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