Page 47 of Sweet Venom

And she was the least of an asshole in the group.

“Don’t even start,” I grumbled, getting up to toss an empty ramen cup into the recycling bin. “That man is insufferable. I get it, no one’s going to love every book or idea I have. But he hasthis special talent for poking every damn button I have with his fat, tattooed thumb.”

I had plopped back down, attempting to wrangle the rat’s nest I called hair into a loose, messy bun. “I hope the grumpy jerk approves this one. It’s a journey about loss and love—the kind of love that fucks you up, you know? A love that’s too real, too dangerous. Not some fairytale fluff like the ones I’ve written before.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love all my books in some way, but the ones I’d actually published? They hadn’t been written with my whole soul. I wrote them to cater to a certain popular demographic, hoping they’d blow up on social media.

Allegra shrugged, looking annoyingly composed. “I think you’re just pissed that the love of your every fantasy made you feel like crap and insecure about your work. You’re stilldeluluabout that soulless, yet beautiful vampire, aren’t you?”

Soulless? She got that right.

Vampire? He wasn’t that interesting.

Beautiful? I chose to ignore the ugly green monster that coiled in my stomach whenever any woman—family or not—called Azariel beautiful.

I raised an eyebrow. “You think wrong. It has nothing to do with him.”

Liar.

Shut up!I told my inner voice.

“I just hate how dismissive and cold he is. You should’ve seen his face when he said my idea was boring. It wasn’t boring. It was beautiful. Deep. Complicated.”

Lie. Lie. And more lies. Itwaskind of boring.

He was right, but I wasn’t about to let these three crows know that. They’d never let me hear the end of it.

“Yeah, yeah. So, the usual,” Artemis said, rolling her eyes. “But seriously, Poe, your new plot? Azariel would devour that.It’s right up his dark alley. The whole ‘dark and tortured hero’ vibe? Classic Azariel Solonik.”

She wasn’t wrong. Maybe he’d see himself in the broken, grumpy hero. Yeah, I highly doubted it. But hey, a girl could dream—maybe this time he’d actually say yes. For his own sake, I hoped so. Because honestly, I didn’t look cute in orange, and I knew I wouldn’t last five minutes in prison.

“Maybe. But seriously, what doesheknow about romance and love?” I muttered under my breath and crossed my arms over my chest.

Allegra just shrugged. “He could be a closeted romantic. We don’t know.”

A closeted romantic? Azariel? No way. He was a closetedsomething, alright… probably a mass murderer with a bizarre fetish for tormenting me. Honestly, that was more believable of him.

I told my cousins exactly that.

“Highly doubt it,” I grumbled. “A sadistic serial killer is more believable than a romantic.”

Allegra rolled her eyes and touched up her lipstick like she was preparing for a catwalk in one of her mother’s fashion shows.

Verali, with her signature wicked smirk, leaned forward like she was about to drop a truth bomb. “Wait, P, hold up. You’re telling me you’re writing a book about a tortured man with fucked-up baggage and a girl from his past? Sounds like you, girl. And to think you don’t believe in love… You’re the most romantic one of all of us.”

I blinked at her, then burst out laughing, my annoyance momentarily melting into amusement. “Me? Romantic? Verali, if that’s true, then we’ve all got serious issues.”

My highly dysfunctional cousins immediately exploded into laughter—Artemis snorting as she wiped her eyes, Allegrashaking her head but clearly entertained, and even Verali cracking a wide smile.

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Allegra added with a subtle smirk. “We’re a pretty sad bunch, but hey, at least we’re all fucked-up together.”

At least there was that.

“That’s actually kind of sweet, Allegra,” I said with a smile, appreciating the way she showed her love for us in her own unique way.

“Don’t get used to it,” she said, smacking her lips together after finishing with her lipstick.

“Yeah… but seriously, Poe,” Artemis said, wiping the smile off her face, her voice taking on a more sympathetic tone. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’ve got this. Even if Azariel doesn’t think it’s ‘good enough,’ don’t let his opinions make you doubt your gift. Show him what you’re made of.”

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