Chapter 3
Cherry Lips, Angel Eyes
Alex
“Well, that went well.” Andrei fell into step with me as soon as the front door slammed behind us. “You better get a rabies shot.”
I chuckled, flicking on my lighter just as I reached my car, wishing for only one thing—to get the fuck away from here and fall asleep.
Jade’s bite throbbed on my hand and her blood-soaked chin burned into my memory.
Cherry lips, angel eyes, and a total fucking brat.
"That was all your fault, by the way. Can’t believe you didn’t see it coming," Andrei continued, his pragmatic nature pissing me off. Of course, it was my fault—not the crazy girl who sunk her teeth into my flesh.
The cigarette burned close to my fingers just as Maksim showed up out of nowhere, passing me a small glittery purse.
I sifted through the contents, making a mental list. Regular girl shit; lipstick, her phone, whatever makeup thing, a tampon?
! Oh shit, was she on her period?! That thought never even crossed our minds.
Some cash, a credit card, her hotel key, and ID.
Jade Bianca Moretti
She was five foot seven and twenty-six years old. A little older than we thought, but who gives a shit? Explains why she was so goddamn feisty; she wasn't a dumb teenager.
I withdrew her phone, slipped it into my pocket, handed the purse to Andrei, and got into my car.
"Tomorrow, ten a.m." Andrei leaned into my open window and reminded me. "You okay?” he inquired, always the perceptive one.
“Fine,” I lied easily, rubbing the dried blood off my knuckles. “Tomorrow.”
But I wasn’t fine.
Not really.
Without a clear explanation of why. It all piled onto my conscience like an avalanche while I drove home. Gianna’s shitty threats, Jade’s bare legs kicking at Maksim, her ridiculous comebacks, the bite. The heartbreak in her eyes when she sat on the bed. The mascara running down her cheeks.
And her fucking sparkly golden dress. It hugged her in a warm embrace. It clung to her hips, cascading down her sides, showing off the curve of her immaculate spine. She was all smooth and tanned—her legs, her back, her shoulde—
What the fuck was I doing?!
I took the next exit off the highway and twenty minutes later pulled into my driveway with a heavy sigh.
Jade was going to be a fucking nightmare.
With that alarming premonition, I unlocked my front door and immediately slumped onto my couch, withdrawing Jade’s phone from my pocket.
57 missed calls.
Jaaaaaaaaaaade OMG WHERE R YOU?!!?
CALL ME RIGHTTT NOW!
THAT’S IT IMA CALLING THE COPS JADE PLEAS FUCK ANSER!!!
JADE!!! I CANT CALL YOUR DAD HE WILL FUCING MURDERE US PLEASE GIRL SAY SOMETHING!
Text after panicked text from what I gathered were her friends. I scrolled through all the notification previews until my eye caught another message.
If you just give me a chance to talk it over, mon ange.
The number wasn’t saved in her phone.
I promise it will be different.
It’s been long enough.
We will figure this out.
I scrolled slowly, picking up on the way the sentiment changed with every text.
Your dad agrees we should talk.
I’ll make you mine, again. Just like I promised.
You won’t run away next time, Jade.
It continued on and on, every text filled with veiled threats and desperate pleas. It seemed that Jade was in the middle of a bad breakup.
Fucking great.
"You brought coffee? You planning to make her breakfast too? What the fuck are you doing?" I questioned Andrei as soon as I caught sight of a coffee tray with three cups in his hands. It was ten in the morning, and we’d just arrived at the little beach house.
"Let's try to be normal, okay?” He checked his phone, on dad duty as always.
“Do you want her to go on some hunger strike because we're assholes and then this whole thing turns into a bloodbath?
I have Nikita's soccer game at noon, let's just get this over with.
Come on." He turned and knocked, waiting for our captive to open the door like we were there for a light brunch.
A few minutes passed in silence. Phenomenal. She was making us wait. I knocked louder and harder, my knuckles tapping the door with all my impatience.
Finally, the door slightly opened and there she was. Jade Bianca Moretti—five foot seven, twenty-six years old, and an unhinged brat who bit people. At the sight of Andrei, her shoulders sagged, and as if conceding, she stepped back, letting us in.
I looked her over, noticing that morning Jade didn’t resemble the hellfire Jade from last night. She moved slowly, almost dragging her feet to the couch, where she slumped down in defeat, ready for anything.
I took a seat in an armchair opposite, observing Miss Moretti—spitter, perfectly tanned, daughter of my biggest enemy. The smudged mascara and eyeliner from last night were washed off, and the no-makeup look suited her much better.
A pure angel sat in front of us in white linen pajamas.
I wondered where that golden abomination of a dress was.
Maybe haphazardly thrown on the floor. Or draped over a chair.
Or on the bathroom vanity. The image of her in that dress had settled into my brain like a pesterous tenant, beginning its life there rent-free.
"Good morning." Andrei cleared his throat and took the armchair next to me. Jade said nothing, just stared me down, ignoring Andrei.
"Good morning. Did you sleep well after kidnapping a person? How’s the bite? Did you take care of your boo-boo?”
Ah, there she was again—the brat was back.
"I did. Slept like a baby," I lied, keeping my eyes on her. Her nostrils flared and red blotches appeared on her long neck, her anger manifesting in her body.
After her little aggressive fit last night, I couldn’t wait to rile her up again and again. It was like poking the tiger. Would she show her claws again? What was her plan going forward? Keep biting me? Kick me in the balls next time I did something she didn’t like?
A risky thought flew through my head—she wasn’t bad to look at with all that glowing and smooth skin contrasting against the snow-white pajamas.
Her eyes were green, shining in the morning light.
Not even green. Jade. Intense and striking.
And her lips—still cherry red, vitriol right on the tip of her tongue.
“If you take a picture, it’ll last longer.” The sound of her voice brought me back to reality and I trailed my gaze to the wall behind her instead, lamenting the fact that I didn’t sleep last night. It was hard to concentrate.
"I have your phone here.” Andrei’s voice sounded beside me. “I want you to call your dad and tell him what happened."
Andrei dropped the phone on the coffee table, but the brat didn’t even look in that direction.
It wasn’t her phone. We swapped her phone case and forwarded her calls to the one Andrei placed in front of her.
Her cell phone was already in another state, powered down, and left in the middle of nowhere. Sebastian Moretti had resources.
But so did we.
"Nope,” Jade drawled, shaking her head. “I’m not calling him. You call him.” She settled back into the couch, as if she was getting comfortable.
Of course. No way would the Moretti girl agree to anything.
Suddenly, the text from last night popped into my head.
Your dad agrees we should talk. Whoever was sending her those texts was in agreement with her dad.
It was painfully clear that she wasn’t in agreement with them, hence…
she and her father weren’t on the same side.
But technically, I didn’t give a flying fuck. Because this crazy chick was working with her father, diligently showing up at the office every day to build a case against us and lock us up for a decade or two.
“You’re going to call him and tell him what happened last night. If you refuse, I’ll lock you in the fucking basement. I’m tired of your shit.”
Andrei slowly turned to me, annoyed that I’d veered off the ‘we’re the normal guys’ script. Jade though, looked amused. Of course she did. The damn heathen.
She shifted on the couch and straightened out, her voice syrupy and smug. “There’s no basement here.”
“I’ll find one. Call him.”
Seconds ticked by and silence reigned as our little staring duel continued, but then her phone buzzed on the table and both our gazes fell to it.
It was an unknown number. The unknown number from last night. I reached for the phone, but Jade’s shrill voice startled me back. “Don’t answer it! Don’t answer that number!”
I froze with my arm out, and Andrei sat motionless as Jade stared at the buzzing phone, breathing fast, her back rod straight.
“Don’t answer that number,” she repeated, as if it would make the call go away.
The buzzing stopped then and Jade sighed with overwhelming relief, leaning back on the couch again.
“What the fuck was that? Who is that?” Andrei asked after her unnerving reaction. But of course, Jade had no intention of answering the question. Instead, she bolted off the couch and into the kitchen, ignoring us both.
This girl just did whatever the fuck she wanted, what the fuck?! She was at a disadvantage here.
“Don’t answer that number.” Jade said the words again, like it was a magic spell. She stood behind the kitchen counter, turned away from us.
“Was that your ex?” I probed, and Andrei whirled around toward me at the same time as her, both of them surprised at my question.
Her reaction to the phone call stirred anxiety within me. She wasn’t angry, she was panicked. And evidently, her father was in agreement with the person who made her feel like that. No matter what happened between the boyfriend and her…that sounded like it was all kinds of fucked up.
“How did you know that?” Jade spoke from the kitchen, a little unsure.
“Who is he? Why don’t you want to talk to him?” I had a bad feeling. A bad, bad feeling that we should have done some research on this girl.
Andrei still sat in the chair, looking from me to Jade, his eyes lost and searching for a smidgeon of understanding.