Page 72 of Sweet Venom

And of course, Poe nodded. She was too nice to the fucker. Even when she shouldn’t.

He handed the phone to her, his fingers brushing hers. On purpose.

I saw red.

Strike three.

I moved before I could think twice. Stepped in close. Poe blinked up at me in surprise as I took the phone gently straight from her hands.

“I’ll take it,” I said, low and even, just enough bite to make the fucker flinch. He hadn’t noticed me at her back but he’s seeing me now. A rush of satisfaction courses through me when he swallowed hard and looked like he was rethinking the shit he tried to pull with Poe.

Poe was still signing books, caught mid-motion, eyes wide like she wasn’t sure if she should thank me or stop me.

I snapped the photo. Just her, mid-signature, head down, lips parted, completely unaware how beautiful she looked in that moment.

I turned the phone around, shoved hard making it stumble back toward the little weasel without a word, and met his eyes dead-on. “Next.”

He hesitated, mouth open like he wanted to say something, but then he looked at me again and seemed to think better of it. He muttered something and walked off.

Looked like the asshole wasn’t so dumb.

I didn’t move far after that. Stayed closer to her side than before.

She glanced up at me a few minutes later, the corners of her mouth twitching like she wanted to say something snarky. But she didn’t. She just gave me a look. Something unreadable. Maybe grateful. Maybe confused. Knowing her it was probably both.

And then she went back to signing, her shoulders just a little less tense. Her perfect smile more real.

And while she lived her dream, I kept watching mine.

Like I’ve always done. Like I always will.

I wondered if she felt it now. Does she see what she is to me? Maybe. Maybe not.

I’m not a man who felt fear until her. Because she has no idea how terrifying it is to feel this much. To care this much about someone else.

My mother once told me I had a heart as big as the moon and at the time I didn’t think much of it. I felt like she was wrong and was saying that because she loved me but now that I’m a man I know she was right because my heart was indeed as big and as beautiful as the moon because my heart wasn’t inside my chestbut outside of it and had blue hair and emerald, green eyes that could start wars between men.

And God help anyone who ever laid a finger on her or thinks they can walk into her light and take advantage of it while I’m still breathing.

I watched her until the crowd thinned and when I could see the exhaustion in her eyes. The weight of the attention. The pressure.

Without thinking, I moved closer to her. My hand reached out, brushing hers as she moved toward the next person. She didn’t pull away. She didn’t look up at me. But she didn’t seem to mind either.

For a brief moment, I felt her squeeze my hand, her fingers tight and warm in mine. It was a small thing, but it felt likeeverything.

It was everything.

Slowly but fucking surely, I was getting there. I was close to the one thing I’ve wanted more in life. More than all the money and power in the world. The one thing that made me the richest man.

Her heart.

Chapter

Twenty-Two

BLACKTHORN STATE

Poe

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