Page 95 of The Carnage We Keep

“I think you’re gonna need to get me to a doctor,” I mumble barely coherently, spitting more blood down the front of my chest.

Cenzo frowns. “You think you broke something?”

“Nope,” I grunt. “Pretty sure I’ve been poisoned.”

Well fucking played, wife.

Well played.

17

BELLA

“This is disturbingly good.”

I snort, grinning as I watch the six-and-a-half-foot, heavily tattooed Bratva heir lick his lips as he swallows a mouthful of balls.

That came out wrong.

Adrik, being a man, is a professional at hiding his emotions.

I’m usually pretty good at slipping past his walls, or, if necessary, gradually beating them down with repeated pestering and slightly unhinged adorableness. This semester, though, I’ve a hard time getting through to him.

I mean, I get it.

Adrik’s father is Yuri Volkov, head of the ludicrously dangerous and connected Volkov Bratva. His mother is River Finn. As in, the retired supermodel.

Right before school started this year, though, Adrik’s mom was in a car accident and has been in a medically induced coma ever since. Adrik was already about as emotionally available as a brick, but now he's shut down even more.

Most sane people have figured out it’s best to give him a wide berth this year. But Kirill and I are not even a little bit sane, and we've been his annoying shadows all semester.

Whatever. I know he secretly loves it.

Tonight, Adrik came back to The Spire looking extra stormy. I know he had a fight with his dad on the phone this morning, then this afternoon he had a meeting with the school board to talk about what happened at our party two weeks ago, when some asshole added a crazy amount of ecstasy to the absinthe that we thought it would be fun to serve.

On the plus side, almost all the guests had a blast because they were rolling their faces off. On the minus side, several students had to go to the campus medical facilities. Three had to be taken to the ER.

Hence Adrik, as the head The Reckless, having to chat with the board today.

But if there’s one thing I know that can turn a frown upside down—other than homicide or maybe castrating someone—it’s boba tea. Somehow, Adrik had never fucking tried it before.

I mean, how does that even happen in this day and age?

I grin as I watch him take another sip from the extra-wide straw, slurping more mango-flavored tapioca balls suspended in coconut into his mouth.

“Right?!” I smile widely at him. “Fucking orgasmic.”

His brow knits. “Let’s not get carried away.”

I chuckle. “Okay, but really delicious, yeah?”

A very rare smile ghosts the corners of his mouth.

“Yeah, pretty good.” He dips his chin at me. “Thanks for dragging me out.”

“Dude, like I need an excuse for boba tea?” I wink at him. “Seriously, all you need to cheer up is some balls in your mouth.”

I grin as Adrik sighs. “Been saving that one up all day, haven’t you?”