Chapter 9
She visibly flinched, and for some reason, the nagging feeling that she might have been the girl I thought she was became very unsettling.
“No. I’m certain we haven’t met,” she said quickly, eyes darting toward the crowd as if looking for an escape. “Your face doesn’t ring a bell at all.”
I tilted my head slightly, watching her squirm like something caught in a snare.
“Hm…” I studied her unstable reaction. She was panicking. It made me even more suspicious of her. So, I leaned in slightly, just enough to make her a bit uncomfortable, and said, “I could swear we met at The Vanity.”
There it was.
That barely–there twitch of her fingers tightening around the glass.
She masked it fast, tossing out a laugh so brittle it might’ve shattered if I looked at it too hard.
“Ha… that’s absurd. Never been there. It’s uhm…” She swallowed again and took a sip from her drink.
“I don’t go to such places.”
Liar.
But before I could press again, Hazer chimed in.
“The Vanity? Are you kidding?” she gasped like Eve had just confessed to being a virgin at an orgy. “It’s literally the best place to indulge in sin! You can’t tell me you’re from Lanry Side and you’ve
never been there!”
Her voice grated down my spine.
Eve’s face had drained of color.
I clenched my jaw, tired and irritated. Hazer’s timing was always shit.
“Leave, Hazer,” I growled through gritted teeth, still not looking at her.
She blinked, startled by the sharpness in my voice, and scurried away like the overpainted rodent she
was.
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7:23 Sun, Sep 21
Chapter 9
Good,
Now, back to the real problem standing in front of me.
I opened my mouth to speak again, ready to press harder, just enough to watch her crack at the seams, when the atmosphere around us shifted.
That chill that clings just before a storm rolls in. Like the oxygen itself had suddenly gone still.
I didn’t need to turn to know he was there.
Saint.
The devil himself in black.
That fucker carried that fucking depressing aura like a perfume.
“Is there a problem here?” He asked, and she flinched the second he spoke. I saw it as clear as day.
Whatever expression she’d been trying to hold onto crumbled. Her hand tightened around the stem of her glass like she might throw it just to make an escape.
“No,” I said, turning slowly to face Saint, “We were just talking. Getting to know your new stepsister. And to think that she looks too familiar got me more interested.”
Saint’s gaze flicked from me to her… Deadpan and cold, dissecting her without mercy.
And her reaction?
She trembled.
But before she could make that move, she tried. “If you’ll excuse me, I…” Saint caught her wrist with
that iron grip of his.
“Why the hurry… sister?” There was venom in the way he said it, like it tasted like rot in his mouth.
Her hand had started to tremble.
Fuck.
This wasn’t normal.
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7:23 Sun, Sep 21
Chapter 9
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I knew Saint, I knew the way he handled disrespect, disobedience, and even annoyance. But this? This cold, patient, poison? It wasn’t casual. It wasn’t just discomfort from a stranger in his territory.
No. This was personal.
Eve forced a breath and lowered her gaze. “I just needed to catch my breath,” she muttered. Her voice was small, brittle, and almost defeated.
Saint held her wrist a second longer before releasing her like she’d contaminated his skin.
“Don’t let me stop you, then,” he said flatly.
She stepped back immediately, nearly stumbling over her heels, trying to escape. And when she disappeared into the crowd, I didn’t miss the way she avoided every corner Saint might see her from.
I stayed quiet for a moment, watching her vanish.
“She seemed nervous,” I said.
Saint didn’t answer as usual. He always acted like he saved his voice for emergencies.
I ran a tongue acro my teeth, watching the last glimpse of her dress disappear around the corner.
The eve
Wh
more interesting because now more than ever, I’d do anything to find out
mments
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.