Page 2 of Venomous Vows

Tack on that she lived next door to our house and Elena became almost a full-time fucking job.

“When and where didyouhear from Elena Rossi?” I press evenly, overlooking the view of my spacious backyard as I impatiently wait for him to get to the point.

I can’t even come up with why, out of the blue, she would reach out to him.

Him.

Of course she would. I was the literal shit on her shoes.

“Today.”

“Why?”

“She in trouble,” my brother replies, his voice getting a little more serious. “Her sister was kidnapped.”

One of my brows immediately flies to the ceiling because how? Did she end up becoming a cop? It’s not like I spent the last decade keeping tabs on her because what’s the point?

She loathes me and Elena drives me fucking crazy.

There is no love between the two of us, even though I’ll openly admit in my head that, once upon a time,Ihad a crush on Elena.

“Explain,” I deadpan because I don’t believe in coincidences. And there’s been an influx of law patrol and agents surfacing lately.

“That’s the thing,” my brother vouches. “She didn’t want to give me much over the phone.”

I immediately shake my head because we’re not getting involved. “Whatever it is that she wants, Elena is going to have to figure it out.”

“How? She owns a bakery, Adrian. The only connections she has are food distributors and the dairy farmer in Sutter.”

“That’s her problem.”

“Listen, I know you weren’t a fan.”

“That’s an understatement,” I say. “Elenaandyou were a bunch of fuckin’—”

“We clicked, okay? Don’t be jealous because she hated your ass.”

I scoff. “Oh, well, fuck me for trying to keep her safe while you dragged her around the house with sex traffickers and drug dealers. None of them would’ve wanted to swoop her up and get a couple of bucks.”

“Yeah,” Zane mutters on the other line. “That was pretty stupid.”

“Get the fuck off my phone,” I clip back, pivoting on my feet to get to my minibar.

I was fine.

The day was fine.

Now, I’m instantly fucking annoyed by the past and a girl who hasn’t been in my life for years.

“Relax,” my brother drawls. “We’re grown as shit now.”

“Who’swe?” I retort loudly, plucking a glass from the cart. “You haven’t changed a goddamn bit, Zane. The first moment Elena calls you and you decide to bother me with excitement.”

“Aren’t I supposed to run shit like this by you? She wants our help.”

“No.”

“What do you want me to do?” my brother asks, exasperated. “She sounds desperate.”

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