Page 35 of V for Vengeance

Cash’s sly smirk was enough to make me wish I’d controlled myself better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten it out of me, and it wouldn’t be the last. The theatrical Dark Fae had a gift for it. Everything he did was funnier than any comedy I’d seen, and I hated how much I waited for the next moment where he did something stupid and made my sides hurt from laughing.

Cash tapped his mouth like it was our secret. “Anyway…I won’t speak a word of it to that barbarian, trust me. Whatever my darling girl wants, she gets, yeah?”Ugh, the terms of endearment just keep getting worse.“But, V, he’ll know it when he sees it. He might be a brute, but he’s a clever one. I mean, your sense of fashion—”

“Finish that sentence and see what I do to you, Fae.”

Chuckling to himself, he relented. “Then you have my word as a gentleman.”

“Gentleman? Where?” I teased, smiling even though I knew I shouldn’t. The look on his face made me instantly regret letting him think he’d won me over. “Let’s just go find this boy toy of yours.” The shrill sound of rejection my companion gave way to turned my smile devilish. “Oh, you know what I mean. Sheesh, Cash, you’re so sensitive.” Another Karen sound erupted from him, fully transformed with two taunts. I’d gotten my grooveback. “Besides, it’s only a matter of time before Phil loses his cool and comes looking for us.”

Forgetting I’d taunted him at all, Cash seemed elated by the idea of giving Phillip any reason to be angry. It was any wonder how they stayed around each other with how much hate was shared between them. Honestly, I couldn’t keep up with how swiftly the informant shifted from Karen to devious little boy. The man was an enigma. And no matter how much I didn’t want to, I chuckled.

Cash was so different from who I initially thought he was. Around everyone else, he was sour and forever bored. But when it was just the two of us, he was chatty and sweet. Not totally sure what it was about me that made him shed his irritable, hate-the-world coat, but he did it every time he got me alone. As weird as it was to admit, we always had a good time together.

I’d tried so hard to hate him. I wanted to blame him for my parents’ deaths, but it was evident the more time we spent together, Cash was just the Organization’s scapegoat. He might be a coward, but he wasn’t the one who made the call to kill my parents. That blame lied with the Organization and them alone.

I wouldn’t openly admit it, but the guy I’d gotten to know wasn’t the horrible Dark Fae everyone claimed he was. Sure, he was a self-serving asshat. And yes, his moral compass needed work. But after seeing thegood guysbecome enemies, thetruthwasn’t the truth anymore.

Everything the Organization said about creatures and people they proclaimed as enemies couldn’t be trusted. Only I could make the final call on someone. Because I’d learned the hard way that sometimes even the ones I thought were friends could be hiding in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike.

As much as it pained me to admit, Jo was right. Trusting other people could get me killed. Still, I refused to push everyone away and assume they were out to hurt me. If I did that, I’d always bealone. I didn’t want to live my life like that no matter how many times I got betrayed.

No matter if it got me killed one day.

Cash offered me the loop of his arm, refusing to back down when I ignored it at first. I finally caved because I’d rather not spend the entire night arguing with him. Besides, it’d sell our relationship more and make it easier to get information from Harmony’s boy toy.

“V?”

I glanced at my fashion-obsessed companion when he didn’t immediately start walking again. “Cash?”

His gorgeous purple eyes danced around my face before landing on my lips. “No matter what happens tonight, I’ll keep you safe. Not for those brutes following you around or because I have some ulterior motive, or even because I feel like I owe it to you, but because I want to. I…well, I’d be sad if anything happened to you, so don’t leave my side, yeah?”

I didn’t recognize the tone or look in his eyes. It was far too serious for the normally whimsical and self-interested man I’d gotten to know.

Did Cash just say he likes me?

No. Nothing he said or did suggested he liked me romantically. Except, well, hehadkissed me at Fredrick’s club. I’d conveniently dismissed his behavior, but the way he looked at me after that night was different. He texted me every chance he got. And lately, he always seemed to be nearby, waiting to bend my ear or complain about Phillip.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered.

I’d never seen Cash kiss anyone else. He wasn’t Phillip with a tendency to be flirtatious, or Sloan who was prone to physical touch. Of course, I hadn’t gone out with him alone like this, so that could change. I could be totally off the mark. Maybe I’dgotten hypersensitive to others now that I was tangled with three in the same space.

Yeah, that had to be it.

I was caught up in a romantic dating haze. It made me overthink everything anyone else ever did or said. It was ridiculous to think he’d fallen for me. That stuff only happened in daytime soaps.

Not everyone is going to be obsessed with you, V. Get over yourself.

Eyes rolling, I smirked at Cash. “Keep me safe? Isn’t that my line, Fae?”

Still uncomfortable with my own thoughts, I cleared my throat and punched his arm. He found his high school girl self again, voicing a very flamboyant “Ouchie!” even though I’d barely put any strength into the hit.

Giggling, I tugged his arm and started walking again. “But thanks.”

Chapter 18

Evil Butterfly

Ididn’t think another Cash existed until we cornered Harmony’s boy toy and hauled him out of the club into a dark, less-traveled alley nearby. His shrill screams were quickly silenced by something Cash did with his magic. After some pretty fucking spectacular hocus pocus, my magical companion cloaked our presence and made us invisible to outsiders so we wouldn’t have to worry about witnesses. Not that anyone cared. The inebriated crowd was more focused on drinking, dancing, and fucking instead of some hoity-toity man-boy being kidnapped.

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