He knows he fucked up and messed with the wrong person. The one person’s path he should never have crossed.
If they’d only made the mistake of approaching her in the club, a punch and a blacklisting from the club would be enough. Not really, but I would’ve forced myself to stop at that.
But these three fuckers had the nerve to hurt her emotionally and bring back memories she’s been trying so hard to get over.
“Here’s how it will go. I’ll punish you for daring to come near Cecily and having the audacity to touch her, and I will make sure it hurts. I’ll also leave a scar so you’ll remember me. Then you’ll remove yourselves from her life. If I spot you within a ten-mile radius of her, I will fucking kill you and dump you so deep in the sea, no one will find your corpse.”
Then I singlehandedly beat the fuck out of the three of them, but Steven is different. Steven also gets to be waterboarded to within an inch of his life while he bleeds all over the apartment and shits himself.
Steven will remain on my radar long after he’s healthy, so I’ll beat the fuck out of him all over again. He’ll live in fear, looking over his shoulder, under his bed, and in the closet, searching for the devil from his scariest nightmares.
It takes longer than I’d initially planned for us to leave their place. Partly because I enjoyed bloodying them the fuck up a bit too much.
Unlike what rumors imply, I don’t get off on violence, and I don’t go out of my way to pursue it.
Violence is just one of many purging methods that can be replaced by more peaceful ones, such as a bike ride.
Or a ruthless fuck with Cecily.
But I sure as hell got off on it when I punished those lowlifes and left them bleeding on their apartment floor.
However, it feels like too little compared to what they dared to do to Cecily—or worse, what they planned.
Something still sits wrong with me, though. The fact that Jonah wasn’t the one who put them up to it.
But that doesn’t make sense. Jonah is the only one who knows about his courting ways with Cecily.
Unless the slimy fuck put on a disguise. The three losers were probably drunk or high, and the club was dark, so they could’ve mistaken some details.
As Ilya pulls the car out and drives down the road, I fetch my phone and ask for security footage from the club last night.
The reply is almost immediate.
I scroll to the time the three fuckers went into the club, jumping around like monkeys on crack. Soon after, they slip into a corner near the bathroom. The only hint of their companion is a glimpse of his black shirt.
That must be the guy who promised them drugs. I watch more and more of the footage, but there’s no sign of him near them, not even at the bar, where he would be watching his handiwork from.
It’s impossible to locate him in a busy club when all I have is that he was wearing a black shirt.
Could it be Jonah? I’m about to call my guy back in London, but I get distracted by a text.
Cecily: Morning. Thanks for these sparkling heart emoji
I spend a full minute of intense staring at the sparkling heart but still can’t find an explanation for it. One thing’s for sure, I like it, and it caught me completely by fucking surprise since it’s the first time she’s sent one.
Then I notice that she attached a picture of a box of waffles I had delivered to her apartment earlier.
Cecily: How did you know I love waffles?
It’s in her stupid journal. I think they’re her comfort food whenever she wants to feel better. I thought she might need a pick-me-up after last night.
While she didn’t have any sleep paralysis, she shivered while she slept in my arms and tears clung to her lids. That’s part of the reason why I couldn’t bring myself to leave until she fell into quality sleep.
Jeremy: I know everything about you.
I’m about to tuck away my phone, expecting her to be too busy preparing for school, but her reply comes immediately.
Cecily: Is that how you managed to find me at the club? You had Ilya watch me, didn’t you? Wait a minute. Was Ilya doing the job for you all those weeks when you disappeared?
This little fox is too smart for her own good.
Jeremy: He was there in case you needed protection.
Cecily: More like, he was a pseudo-stalker. Seriously, the one I need protection from the most is you.
Jeremy: Too bad no one can protect you from me.
Cecily: Don’t be so sure. I can stand up for myself.
I’m beginning to see that, considering everything she’s demanded and how she put her foot down last night, and I’m not sure if I like that side of her.
Fuck it. I do. Just not when she’s using it to get away from me.
Jeremy: You can stand up to me all you like, but there are nonnegotiable things, such as your safety.
Cecily: Oh, please. You have a tyrant’s mentality and think everything is nonnegotiable. But don’t even think I’ll sit there and take it. That’s simply not going to happen. Anyway, thanks for the waffles. Ava and I will enjoy them.
Jeremy: I sent them to you, not Ava.
Cecily: Sharing is caring.
Jeremy: I don’t share. Everything about you is mine.
Besides, I don’t like the way Ava was all over her when they danced at the club. Or how Cecily takes care of her with nauseating affection. Something she doesn’t even do with me.
I’m so tempted to eliminate Ava completely, but that might make me lose Cecily for good.
So I shove that thought to the back of my mind.
For now.
Cecily: Are you seriously jealous of my best friend? Who’s also a girl?
Jeremy: You give her too much of your attention.
Cecily: Okay, Mr. Caveman. Have a nice day, and please try not to hurt anyone sparkling heart emoji
I keep staring at that emoji longer than I did the first one.
“Is something wrong?” Ilya asks from his position behind the steering wheel.
“What does a sparkling heart emoji mean?”
Ilya stares at me for a beat, looking stunned for the first time ever, before he focuses back on the road. “Uh, don’t all the heart emojis mean love and affection?”
“But it has sparkles around it. They should mean something else.”
“I’m not sure.”
I’m not sure why I’m focusing on this either. I’m used to Annika sending a newspaper of emojis stickers and GIFs in her texts. And they’re often filled with all sorts of hearts, primarily purple and white ones.
But Cecily rarely talks in emojis. She’s too straightforward for that.
Still, I want to know exactly what she meant by sending it.
“Boss.”
“Hmm?” I answer Ilya absentmindedly, still staring at her text.
“What are your plans regarding Miss Volkov and the guy she’s seeing?”
I turn off my phone’s screen at the reminder of my sister and her unwanted crush.
I’ve let it slide all this time to give her more freedom, but it has recently come to my attention that Creighton King, the guy Annika has chosen to like, is plotting something with Landon.