Page 158 of Sweet Venom

I’ve always run cold, even in summer. But when Poe touches me, I feel warmth.

It’s damn near magic.

And I don’t believe in magic. Hell, I didn’t even believe in love. But here I am.

Whipped as fuck.

The lights dim. The venue erupts in every shade of purple imaginable.

Poe’s eyes go wide, lips curling into a giddy grin. She’s lit from the inside. I've seen that glow before—books, her readers… and now this asshole: Stephen Choi.

The pretty fucker has too much real estate in my woman’s mind. I hate it. But I say nothing.

Because her joy makes my chest ache in the best fucking way.

The beat hits, the crowd explodes, and there he is—shirtless, tattooed, cocky. Stephen fucking Choi.

Poe’s grip tightens on my hand. “Azariel, look!” she practically squeals. “Wow. He’s—even hotter in person!”

Hot?

I look at her slowly. Arms folded.

“What did you just say?” I growl.

She gives me a sheepish grin. “He’s hot. But not your level of hot. So stop sulking and enjoy the show.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” I mutter.

If she wasn’t, I might’ve dragged the pretty boy offstage and crushed a million fangirl dreams. Not that I’d admit that out loud.

She doesn’t hear me. She’s too busy singing—loudly. Badly.

The crowd’s a choir of obsession. She’s melting into it, light stick clutched to her chest like a damn relic. I hate how she screams his name.

Her screams are mine.

And now I’m irritated.

So, I pull out my phone and do what any rational man would do when his girl gets a littletooobsessed with a shirtless rapper.

I started buying the damn record label he’s signed to.

Why not? I already own a piece of the F1 team Madden Hunt. Got my fingers in most of Shaw Banning’s companies. You never know when someone needs to be taught a lesson. A dream-crushing one.

Same goes for Stephen.

It only takes me minutes to hack into the right files, pull contacts, and start drafting the buyout. Just another Tuesday for me.

Meanwhile, Poe is floating somewhere between heaven and groupie hell, singing her lungs out to a guy who doesn't even know she exists.

I glanced over. She’s glowing. Off-key, beautiful, completely his in this moment.

And somehow still mine.

I smile. Just a little.

She catches me looking. “You okay?”

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