Page 57 of Evil Villain (The Royal Court)

I started to laugh. “Fuck. I nearly forgot what a tool you are.”

“You can be my ring bearer,” Nikita said.

“Oh!” I clapped my hands. “You can be my flower girl!”

Brayden pointed at me. “Yes!!”

“You’re right. That’s so much better than mine. Start practicing,” Nikita said.

Brayden kicked his legs in the water. “I’m actually so excited.”

The rest of the morning was a downright delight. None of us made any attempt to go back to our rooms to go to sleep and just committed ourselves to sleeping when we’re dead. After some coaxing, Nikita and Brayden eventually got in the pool and we hung out and talked until the sun came up.

It was amazing.

I’d gotten to know them so little because of the obvious barriers between us, but those things didn’t exist anymore, and it turned out we had much more than Nathan in common. When I finally realized it was after seven, we got out of the pool and broke apart briefly, only long enough to get dressed, and met back down in the kitchen just as the daily breakfast foods were being delivered. We continued to laugh and talk as everyone else filed down, and then in no time at all, the moment had arrived to drive to the prison.

“So, who all is going?” Alistair asked.

“Well, I could go,” Nathan said. “I know I can’t go in, but—”

“Actually,” I looked at Nikita and Brayden, “I think I’ll have Nikki and Brayden come with me.”

Everyone else exchanged confused looks, including Sicily, who’d spent the night and was pretty much planning on going.

“Uh,” Nathan looked at Nikita. “I guess?”

“Yeah. I’m there for you,” Nikita said with a smile. “Sisters stick together, right?”

I nodded. “Right.”

“And flower girls,” Brayden said, and the three of us burst out laughing.

Alistair raised his hand. “Is anyone else uncomfortable?”

“You good?” Kyle asked. “To go, I mean?”

Brayden turned and looked at Kyle and gave him a warm, inviting smile. Kyle’s face lit up at it, his own eyes sparkling. “Yeah. Cherri needs me, so I’m gonna go.”

“O-okay,” Kyle said. “Great.”

Brazenly, Nikita reached across the island and gave Brayden a high five, and then Avery raised her hand alongside Alistair. “Yep. I’m uncomfortable.”

“Too bad,” I said. “We’re all fucking friends now. So deal with it. Let’s go, guys.”

Nikita and Brayden stood up from their spots and followed me towards the front door. The last thing we heard before we left was Colette. “Never a predictable day around The Royal Court.”

I smiled, confident with Nikita and Brayden by my side.

No, there was not.

22

Cherri

Approaching the prison where Deon had been locked up for four years just to protect me was daunting to say the least. Even with Nikita and Brayden sticking close to me, the giant, imposing, cement facade and barbed fence encircling it made me want to turn tail and run. Deon spoke very highly of Venom, but there was absolutely no guarantee that he was as kind as he’d said. Maybe he cared about Deon, but he had no reason to talk to or be kind to me at all.

My heart thundered as we walked through the doors at the front of the building, and we were immediately met with the sight of dozens of people waiting for the visiting hours. There were single parents, both moms and dads, with children running around them while they waited. Elderly parents or maybe even grandparents, and a handful of isolated teenagers like us who appeared to have shown up to see a relative of some sort.

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