Violet chuckles into her cup. “Denial is a river in Egypt.”
“Exactly.” Hailey nudges my shoulder. “You like him. He’s into you too, you know? Doesn’t take his eyes off you unless he absolutely has to.”
“He made it clear that he’snotinto me.” The bitterness coating my tone hints that I’ve been lying through my teeth.
Not that they believed me.
Hailey gasps, theatrically covering her mouth. “Now you’ve got to spill.Whathappened?”
My head hits the backrest of the couch, eyes falling shut. This feels weird. I’ve never had girlfriends to talk boys with.
Weird but nice, right?
“Fine, I like him.”
They both clap, muttering, “I knew it!”
“Well,likemight be the wrong word. He’s not likable. He’s infuriating, but my God is he hot.”
Violet straightens in her seat, her purple eyes glowing. “You’re both hot. You’d make a disgustingly beautiful couple.”
My mind soars, pushing forth the images of me and Ryder in his bathroom last week when he zipped up my dress. At the time, my head was filled with filth. It always is when I think about him: different positions—face to face, me on top, or him bearing down on me, that hot, steamy kiss he’s denied me.
But now Violet’s saidcouple,my blood flows faster and my heart picks up the rhythm. Ryder doesn’t just make me feel horny. He makes mefeel. Safe. Precious. Protected.
I’m in so much trouble...
“It doesn’t matter,” I sigh, finishing the last of my champagne. “He’s not interested. He ignored my flirting before we left forScarlettlast week, and after we came back, I asked if he’d push me away if I kissed him.” My cheeks heat at an alarming pace, the humiliating rejection still fresh in my memory. “He said he would.”
I don’t mention he then proceeded—at my request—to fuck me silly. They don’t need that detail. Kissing is more intimate than what we did in his kitchen. He refused intimacy, ergo: he’s not into me. Not how I want him to be.
“Bullshit,” Hailey clips, shaking her head. “I don’t believe for one second that he’d push you away.”
“Why would he lie?”
The sound of the main door opening stops Hailey answering my question. Heavy footsteps thump against the marble floor and Carter enters, his eyes finding Hailey as if he needs reassurance that she’s here and safe.
Koby’s next, bathed in red. Then Broadway, his white Oxford shirt spattered with blood, some of it drying in his hair... a human head in his hand.
The color fades from my cheeks, my body’s temperature cooling so fast I’m dizzy. Hailey cringes, eyes widening as she angles herself away from the bloodied head, but Violet’s not fretting. She’sdelighted, her face lighting up with a bright smile.
I’m vaguely aware of Carter leaning over Hailey for a kiss, but by the time Broadway comes closer, aiming for Violet, I’m operating on autopilot. Jerking to my feet before I can blink, backing away from the head, unable to tear my eyes from the blood pouring out of its stump, from the red-covered murderers.
My heart’s going like crazy.
I wasn’t afraid when Ryder told me Broadway was on a killing spree. Hearing and seeing are two very different things, and now, I can’t breathe. Everyone’s focused on Broadway as he drops the dead head on the side table beside Violet and lifts her up.
Everyone’s focused on their kiss.
Everyone save for Koby.
“Hey, you okay, Bianca?” he asks, frowning at me. “You look pale. What’s wrong?”
I try inhaling, then exhaling, I try stopping my feet, but nothing works. My legs are leaving, whether I join them or not. Words fail me, lungs scream, vision blurs, the room sways.
The last of the four arrives, his eyes finding mine across the room. I read his lips more than hear the “Fuck” he spits out as he charges right at me.
He won’t hurt me. None of them will hurt me. I’m safe, but rationalizing doesn’t help. The reality of what my life has become robs me of my senses. I knew who these four men are and what they do, but,again, knowing and staring at the evidence are two different things.
