Page 149 of Vile Bastards
Cody is a dangerous predator.
“That’s right: Aspen shared her with me and—whore that she was—she loved it.”
Cody’s right hand grasps my left breast so hard that it hurts, and my stomach twists with revulsion. He clamps his other hand over my crotch, and my mind goes dark with rage and disbelief.
He just loosened his hold; get him.
That thought manages to kick my fight response into full gear.
“Anytime I wanted, day or night. Sometimes, she wasn’t even conscious—”
My palm comes up, slamming into Cody’s face so hard that his neck snaps back. He doesn’t stumble back like I expected. Instead, he grabs me again, throwing me into the wall and pushing himself up behind me. For a terrifying second, I can feel the sickening length of him pressed against my ass. I almost choke on vomit, but I keep my head clear by repeating one, simple mantra: this is for Lemon.
My elbow slams into his solar plexus, and I ram my foot down on top of his at the same time. As soon as his grip weakens, I drop low and turn, throwing myself at his legs. Cody careens backward, hitting his head hard enough on the table that I see blood.
I’m not taking this thing all the way, not in here where there could be cameras, where someone’s bound to stumble on us. Oh no. Instead, I scramble back and shove up to my feet, turning to leave the room when Cody lurches up behind me. I just barely avoid him, skirting to the side out of his reach.
He’s hunched over and panting, one hand on the back of his bloody head, his lips in a twisted smile. He wouldn’t be smiling like that if he knew what he’d really done. He’s literally dug his own grave.
If I don’t kill him, well … that’s why I have four lovers, am I right?
“Oh, you’ve really done it now.” He is saying that to me. Ironic, isn’t it? “You know what’s going to happen to you when you’re arrested for assault?”
“Do you know what’s going to happen to you when my boys find out what you’ve done?” I ask, panting hard. I could take care of this guy if I wanted to, but I’d rather someone else did it for me. It’s more romantic that way, ya know? “I’ll give you three guesses.”
“You arrogant bitch.” Cody comes at me again, and we end up in a grappling tussle far too close to the top of the stairs. He uses his extra weight to get me pointed in the direction that he wants me, pushing me ever closer to the edge.
The sound of another person ascending the steps gives him pause, and then he’s suddenly releasing me and I’m teetering on the edge of falling backward. In the end, I can’t keep my balance, and I feel the world shifting underneath me.
An arm wraps around my waist, stopping my fall, and I soon find myself looking up and into the polished ebony of Ash Kelly’s eyes. Our gazes clash, sparks flying, and I find it suddenly hard to swallow.
Another meet-cute?! How? Why? But also, I’m absurdly pleased.
“Daijoubu desu ka?” he inquires politely, his voice just barely above that of a whisper. Ash’s eyes go half-lidded as he lifts me up, depositing me safely on the landing and moving up the last few steps to stand above me. “Scarlett-chan?”
I don’t understand, but I kind of understand, you know? He’s asking if I’m okay.
“I’m going to kill him.” That’s all I manage to choke out as Cody moves up beside us. Also, we sort of have to kill him now because Ash just spoke Japanese in front of the guy; his cover is straight wrecked.
“This your new sidepiece?” Cody asks, and then he raises both brows. “You know what you’re supposed to do, don’t you?”
Since Ash admitted that Chet Archer wants him to kill me, I can take a pretty good guess as to the secret slithering beneath Cody’s words.
Ash smiles, this genteel nightmare in a nice suit.
“Better than you do, certainly.”
There’s this ice-cold rage inside of me, one that’s been there since I was little girl standing in line at the local church for a box of expired food. I can feel it uncoiling inside of me, a sleeping giant that I do my best to keep asleep.
I’m sure you’ve heard that when I lose my temper, I really lose my temper.
“I’ll assist you,” Cody offers up, drawing his hand away from his bloodied head and licking his lips. His gaze slides over me, stirring that cold rage even further. It’s much more dangerous than the white-hot kind. Rather than a rapid inferno that quickly dies off, it’s a freeze that creeps like frostbite into my fingers and toes.
“What did he do?” Ash whispers, glancing slightly back at me. I’m struck yet again by his eyes, the way they blaze when he’s in my presence, an impossible side effect of being human. He can pretend to be Aspen all he wants, but I’m the one person he wasn’t able to fool. Not even from moment one.
