Page 98 of Hexed
She has a sharp tongue, always has something to say, so to see her speechless is…different. I don’t think I like it.
The man walks over slowly, his eyes never leaving hers, until he’s directly in front of us.
“Hi, Yrsa.”
A flare of jealousy curdles my stomach at how easily he addresses her.
Who the fuck is this guy?
Venesa’s looks stunned, like she has no clue how to use her limbs—yet another uncharacteristic thing for her—and then she stiffens her jaw and glares at the man. “Harald. What thefuckare you doing here?”
He gives a sad smile. “I was invited.”
“By who?”
“By me,” Aria interrupts, grinning. “I thought it’d be a nice surprise. Family together again at long last. Happy birthday, Urch!”
Venesa closes her eyes in a slow blink and then turns to face Aria. Her fingers curl into the palms of her hands, her knuckles blanching like she’s afraid of what will happen if she doesn’t keep them in fists.
“Does—” Venesa clears her throat. “Does Uncle T know he’s here?”
Her voice is smaller now. Meek.
Harald glances at Aria with an unsure look.
“Of course he does.” Aria scoffs. “Who do you think tracked him down and got him here?”
I see it, then. The moment betrayal cuts through Venesa’s stunned exterior. It’s subtle, and she covers it well, but when you’re as obsessed with watching somebody as I am with Venesa, it’s easy to spot the minute changes.
God, what I wouldn’t give to take her away and place her somewhere no one can find her.
I don’t know who this is, but I know she doesn’t want him here, and if she were mine, I’d stand up, grip this sleazy fuck by the neck, and throw him overboard just to make her happy.
But she’snotmine. And it’s not my place.
Venesa inhales a heavy breath and then moves in slow, controlled steps like she’s about to burst apart at the seams.
Harald follows her.
Aria’s lips are twisted up as she watches her cousin and this stranger walk away, and my body is buzzing with the need to get up and follow them.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
“That’s Venesa’s father.”
Shock pins me in place, disbelief coating every inch of me like fresh paint. “Excuse me?”
Aria looks at me with a confused expression. “What’syourdeal?”
“And you invited him here?” I look back over at Venesa and that piece of absolute shit, violence thrumming like a car engine beneath my skin. I feel the desperate need to hurt him. To torture him. To make him feel even a second of what he made his daughter go through.
“I thought it would be a nice birthday surprise.” Aria pouts, sticking her lips out like she didn’t expect Venesa tonotwant to see the man who abandoned her all those years ago.
A disbelieving breath leaves me, and I blink at her, at thisstrangerwho’s wearing my ring. “You must be the most coldhearted bitch I’ve ever fucking met.”
This is mean.
Cruel.
