Page 113 of Slayin Villain
“We got history,” she hissed.“And I was hopin’ you’d just go.With Rome.”
“Well, I didn’t.And maybe I don’t owe you shit.”
She stepped in closer.“He won’t love you.Not like that.You’re just somethin’ shiny to distract him.Something broken he thinks he can fix.”
I opened my mouth to snap back, but someone cleared their throat behind us.
Memphis.
She leaned against the doorway, eyes on Sweet Tea like she was a roach in her coffee.
“That’s enough,” Memphis said.“You don’t get to talk like that and call yourself family.”
Sweet Tea’s eyes flashed, but she stepped back.
Memphis looked at me.“Watch your back, baby girl.Some folks got teeth they only show when they think no one’s lookin’.”
I nodded, heart hammering.
She was right.Sweet Tea was my cousin.Much older cousin.I thought she had my back.She hadn’t said all that out of love.
She’d said it out of fear.
Because for the first time in a long time, I was the one people were watching.
And I wasn’t crawling back anymore.
Chapter 50
Villain
The clubhouse buzzed like a hornet’s nest, whispers flying faster than fists on fight night.
It didn’t take long for word to reach me.
Ember.
Thorn.
Together.
I stared down into my coffee, letting the bitter burn soak in.Rachel was still asleep in my bed, curled around a pillow like it was me.My woman.My soon-to-be everything.
And Ember?
She’d moved on.Again.
Not with Rome.Not with tears.
With my brother Thorn.Our fucking cleaner.
To my surprise, I didn’t feel rage.Not the kind I used to carry for Rome.
Nah, this wasn’t jealousy.This was something else.Something heavier.
Worry.
Because Thorn might’ve been cold steel wrapped in calm, but Sweet Tea was fire and gasoline, and I knew damn well she didn’t let go of things, or people.
