Page 120 of The Villain We Tempt

Nacho doesn’t just look scared right now, he looks terrified for his life. And suddenly, my every fear about the blood flowing in my veins comes roaring to the surface. Every worry about my lineage and every concern about the evil that could be buried inside me emerges from the darkness and swirls around my head like so many leering phantoms.

My eyes fall shut as I suck in a slow, steadying breath of cool morning air.

You’re not him.

You are not Seamus.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, man,” I growl quietly as my hand drops from Nacho’s shirt. I step away from him, genuine concern flooding my face as my brows furrow. “I just…”

Think. What makes you look NOT like a fucking psycho right now…

“The rumorIheard,” I say as I lean closer and lower my voice conspiratorially, “is that she’s working with the Bolinaro Cartel.”

The fear in Nacho’s eyes fades instantly and is replaced by anger. Well,forced, almost overly theatrical anger, but whatever.

The Bolinaro Cartel, still led by Ricardo Bolinaro even though he's in his eighties, is theothermost powerful family in thecartel world. Unsurprisingly, that makes them the archrivals of Nacho’s family.

…I resist the urge to give myself a round of applause for thinking of that so quickly while still seeing fucking red.

“Seriously?”

I nod somberly. “Sorry, man. I know you’re into her and all. But…” I shrug. “Hell… It could even be a honey pot trap.”

“Hijo de puta!” he hisses under his breath. “Fucking Bolinaros…”

I click my tongue sympathetically. “It’s just what Iheard. Maybe it's not true?—”

“Can’t be too careful, Lochlan,” he grunts. “Not in the cartel world.” Nacho sighs and hangs his head. “Fuck.”

“Sorry, bud.”

But stay the fuck away from MY girl.

And as unexpected a sentiment as that is about a girl I’ve never slept with, who doesn’t even know who I am?

Well, tough. It is what it is.

Galina is mine.

19

GALINA

The murder isall everyone is talking about at school the morning after the news breaks. Even before I’ve rolled out of bed, my group chat with the girls isfilledwith buzz about the discovery of a second corpse in Hawthorne Hollow, and how freaked out everyone is.

Well…everyone except me.

Late last night, a fisherman pulling in discovered a body in the shadows of one of the piers jutting into the harbor: a man probably in his thirties, his throat cut, his eyes gouged out, and a fuckingheartcarved into his chest.

Yeah.

I went to Zane’s room after it hit the local news, and we agreednotto tell Papa and Dad. If they knew what’d happened, they’d be on campus in an hour with an army ready to lock both Zane and I up in a tower for the rest of our lives.

Well, I’m joking, but…ugh. Not really.

In the end, not telling them only ends up buying us a whopping eight hours. I’m brushing my teeth next to Ari in our shared bathroom, barely conscious, when my phone dings on the counter next to me.

I groan when I look down with uncaffeinated, still-bleary eyes and see “Papa” on the screen.