Page 109 of Sin Like the Devil

I don’t know how long I stand here, looking like a total fucking idiot. I feel completely exposed without the comforting weight of my glasses resting on my nose, but until I can locate a replacement pair, I have no choice.

Right now, it’s probably a good thing I can’t see the likely pitying stares of all who shuffle past. God knows what I look like, but I don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.

What’re a few bruises and a nice egg on the back of my head after what they did to her? I don’t give a shit what Ripley’s weird non-friend says. I did fail her. When she needed me, I couldn’t stop them from hurting her.

“What are you doing?”

I stifle a groan. “Go away, Nox.”

Ignoring me, his heavy weight thuds closer. “You’re waiting for her, aren’t you?”

“I don’t see how it’s any of your business.”

“Anything involving Ripley Bennet is my business.”

A morbid smile tugs at my mouth. He really doesn’t hear it. The way his anger and disdain sound a whole lot like something else. No one can feel that amount of hatred without passion too.

“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”

Lennox’s laughter is a rumbling earthquake. “I wouldn’t touch that whore with a fucking ten-foot pole.”

“Then we don’t have a problem. Do we?”

I sense him stopping in front of me, his enraged teeth grinding audible. Even when she isn’t around, Ripley still manages to get under his skin like nothing else. His hatred for her is borderline obsessive.

“Look what happened to you because of her!” he booms. “You’re lucky those bastards didn’t kill you to get whatever the hell they wanted.”

I’ve kept tight-lipped about what went down. The last thing Ripley needs is for me to give Lennox or Xander more ammunition to use against her. Sure, those thugs beat the shit out of me to provoke her. But it wasn’t her fault.

With the overnight disappearance of Rick and his trigger-happy posse, no one but myself and Ripley knows what happened in the library. I need to ask her where she sent them.

Part of me is afraid to know. I blacked out the moment my head cracked against the floor and woke up to them hauling ass. They didn’t leave us without good reason. She sent them on a hunt.

“Raine.” Lennox’s voice softens, almost sounding like a plea. “Don’t let her get in your head. You don’t know what she’s capable of.”

“Like you’re any better?” I scoff.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Come on, Nox. We all know why you’re in here. What about the shit you’re capable of?”

He gulps hard, the gurgling sound painting a mental picture of his throat bobbing up and down. With darkness all around, I have to piece together countless jigsaw puzzles. Thankfully, he’s never hard to read.

“If I have to remove her from your life to keep you safe, I will,” he redirects.

“Stay away from Ripley. I mean it, Nox.”

“Listen to me! She’s bad news!”

“Go.” My voice is steady despite the ire seizing my muscles. “Don’t talk to me again until you’ve learned to respect my fucking privacy. What I do with her is none of your concern.”

He hisses out a loud breath. I can already sense the cogs in his mind whirling. Plotting. Scheming some great, heroic gesture to save the poor charity case he took pity on. The problem is, Lennox only knows how to use violence to achieve his aims.

Fuck that.

He isn’t my damn bodyguard.

“Have it your way,” Lennox declares.

---