Page 63 of Sin Like the Devil

Lennox isn’t just an angry man; he’s a broken one. And that particular brand of twisted love is the reason so many of us walk around with holes in our hearts through which our sanity escapes.

“If anything happens to Raine because of you?—”

No longer able to stifle it, laughter tears free from my throat.

“What? You gonna kill me? Or perhaps another one of my friends?”

Casting a quick glance around the bustling room, Lennox moves fast for a man of his stature. I gasp as he seizes a handful of my short curls and slams my face down into the solid tabletop. Hard.

“Argh!”

Wrenching my hair in his grip, he lifts my head to inspect the blood that’s exploded from my now-throbbing nose. I breathe raggedly, swallowing the river streaming down my throat.

Lennox’s lips touch my ear. “I’ll make what I did to Holly look like a walk in the park compared to your death.”

“So you keep threatening,” I choke wetly. “Yet… I’m still alive.”

“Careful what you wish for, cunt.”

Releasing my hair, he rises and quickly blends back into the crowd of patients. I straighten my septum piercing and pinch the bridge of my nose to staunch the blood. Today is not my fucking day.

“Here.” With eyes the size of dinner plates, Noah pulls a crumpled tissue from his jeans pocket as he sits down. “Your face is covered in blood.”

I quickly plug my nose. “Thanks.”

“What the hell is his problem?” Rae gawps after the giant.

Watching Lennox’s broad shadow part the crowd, I can’t even answer her. If Holly were here, she wouldn’t take this laying down. She’d know what to do. But with each passing day, I feel like I’m losing more control. Just like she did.

“Attention all.” Davis’s voice booms over the low conversation. “Be seated.”

His authoritative tone matches the terrifying coldness in his gaze. The walls of the cafeteria are crawling with guards, shoulder to shoulder, all watching with the same frigid glares.

“Last night’s violence was deeply unfortunate and will not be tolerated.” Davis casts a look around the packed room. “A full investigation will be taking place to determine what unfolded.”

“Where is Carlos?” someone shouts.

Glancing to my left, I spot Rick and his gaggle of buddies. They’re all glaring and visibly bruised, like they spent the night plotting the institute’s demise after getting their asses handed to them.

Davis clears his throat. “We have a zero-tolerance policy for violence here at Harrowdean.”

“Violence?” Rick yells, breaking his silence. “What have you done to him?”

“Enough!” Davis shouts back with a rare flash of temper. “Inciting group violence against our staff is unacceptable. We have rules that must be followed.”

“Fuck the rules!” another person calls out.

“Where is Carlos?”

“You can’t keep shoving us around!”

With each voice that adds to the melee, more and more patients are speaking up. Guards close in around us, pushing and shoving, but their intimidation isn’t working. Not when we have strength in numbers.

Davis gestures for the guards to halt. “Our number one priority here at Harrowdean is your safety. Action was taken last night to preserve the peace.”

“Bullshit!”

More enraged shouting ensues. Rick and his friends are at the heart of it, spitting and raging, despite the tight press of security attempting to contain them. Seeing their outburst sets off others until Davis’s voice is no longer audible.

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