The Villain

09. Dark Signs

South

He’s at an inside table with a blank expression. I know he’s waiting for me but it’s weird. He looks more like the statue version than a person. What has him so tense? I told Tera I would behave myself so he has nothing to worry about.

Not to mention the sight of him makes some tension I wasn’t aware of dissipate. It’s like a puzzle piece I’ve been missing just got found and put back into place.

He already has his own cup so I walk to the register and order the most caffeinated beverage in the largest size, tell them my name, and sit across from him.

He takes his time looking at me and I do the same. He’s a mixture of races that I can’t piece together. Mostly Asian with something else thrown in to make his skin a little more honey colored. I could lick him right up. His eyes are gray. Almost translucent. I wasn’t expecting that. They’re beautiful, wary, and guarded. His full lips are tight and he doesn’t seem impressed by what he’s seeing. His expression is carefully closed off.

I sit in silence, waiting on him. I didn’t call this little meeting and I have no idea what he wants. I’m not starting shit, no matter how good it feels to be looking him in the eyes finally. I’m sure it’s creepy that we haven’t said a word to each other. We’re staring each other in the eyes like a couple of gunslingers about to draw down on each other.

“Evie?” A barista calls.

I don’t hesitate to get up and grab my drink. I need this. My back is killing me from the drive and I wouldn’t be awake right now if I didn’t want to see him.

I sit back down and he looks at the cup in my hand as I take a small sip.

“Your name is Evie .”

He doesn’t say it like it’s a question but I nod anyway. It amuses me for a second because it just occurred to me that everyone must think my name is actually South.

“Tera calls you South.”

I shrug a shoulder, “Nickname.”

His expression doesn’t change at my lack of tone.

“Does it hurt to talk?”

I sit back to take him in again with confusion. That’s a new one. Usually it’s a horrified what happened to you or wary stares because people don’t know if it’s a joke or not.

“No.”

We fall into another silence. It’s comfortable for me but he’s fidgeting with his cup. The rest of his body is still, no shaking leg or eye twitch, but his hand is betraying him. I don’t want to call attention to it because it’s the only tell I have that he’s either highly caffeinated or nervous.

“What do you do?”

I raise a brow at the innocent question. Are we small talking right now? What the fuck? I don’t think he’s playing a game either. I’ll have to feel this out as I go. It perks my interest up. How many layers does he have?

“I transcribe medical procedures.”

His head tilts and he takes a sip of his tea.

I guess it would be the polite thing to ask what he does. Is that what this game is? I want to know what he wants to know from me, though, so I keep quiet.

“How did you and Tera meet?”

“Juvie.”

“Best friends forever, huh?”

I can’t tell if he’s joking or not so I keep quiet. He sounds more like this is an interview. My anticipation hasn’t faded but something seems off. He’s way too tense in the shoulders for the benign questions. What is the point of this? I could be sleeping or fucking him right now.

I’m being impatient. He seems like a mostly normal person. Telling him to get in my truck and take his clothes off will make him run.

His eyes skip around as the door opens and another customer comes in. When they come back to me he seems startled at my unwavering attention. He’s the person I’m here for, no one else rates.

He clears his throat and his eyes drop. Probably a subtle hint to look away from him. I ignore it. Let my statue squirm. Maybe he’ll give me an expression.

“Why did you stop following me?” Finally, some emotion. He seems pissed about it but his expression remains almost entirely blank.

I’m baffled. Giving him what he wanted didn’t make him happy. Tera warned me but I didn’t think she knew what she was talking about.

He takes in my confused expression and the smallest frown appears. More a tightening of his lips than anything, but it’s emotion. I should have brought my phone.

“I gave you what you wanted.” The words end up being a question instead of a statement.

“I thought you were keeping me safe,” he jibes and I start frowning.

“What happened?” My voice gets gritty in anger and I try to clear it. Someone decided to fuck with my statue while I was away. They owe and they’re going to pay the fuck up.

He leans back, his expression turning into surprise. “Nothing. It was a joke.”

I stare at him, trying to get my breathing back under control while he watches me warily. I have to clear my throat twice before I can get out, “Don’t joke about that.”

This dick has no idea what I’m capable of and he’s pushing my buttons. He needs to switch games before I really get mad.

“Ok. I will if you stop looking like you want to decapitate me.” He’s kind of smiling as he says it and I blink as I take it in.

My temper is amusing him? He should be walking away by now.

“Not you.” The saddest words ever spoken. It hits home that this man could walk over me in cleats and I would let him as long as he smiled while he did it.

“Tera’s orders?”

I can’t answer that so I drink again. I’ve skipped over several bans for him. I don’t think Tera enters into this territory of bans. It’s hi s.

“Why do you listen to her?” He interrupts my internal dread of what new bans I’m going to be following to keep him happy.

“She cares about me,” I give him a flat look, reminded of why I’m pissed at him. “She cares about you too but you act like a dick.”

He doesn’t answer but a blush starts on his cheeks. He actually feels bad about it? Good.

“You owe. Fix it,” I insist.

“How do I do that?” His non-frown comes back.

“Apologize.”

He scoffs, “No.”

I raise a brow and sip again. His absolute refusal came quickly and sounds like bullshit.

“I won’t,” he grits through his teeth.

“Why not?” I know he feels bad, I can see it. What does he think he’s giving up by apologizing?

He doesn’t have an answer and his frown grows until it’s real.

Maybe all he needs is a little push. Like the messages on the cups. It’s difficult to tell because this Shade and the one who broke down in a parking lot seem like two different people.

“I fuck up all the time and I owe. I pay up. Get the stick out of your ass and get it done.”

His eyes widen in surprise and he lets out a disbelieving laugh. The sound of it makes my heart start beating harder. His expression becomes lighter, more relaxed.

That’s what I want. To see him relaxed and pleased. What did I say to get that reaction?

“She said I had to be on good behavior with you.”

“I promised the same.”

“This is good behavior?” He mocks. He leans over the table, bringing our faces closer together as he grins. I want that look to stay on his face forever.

“Yes.” I could be worse but I don’t think I could be better.

His grin widens.

My lack of tact makes him happy?

“What would you say to me if you weren’t being good?” He licks his lower lip as if the idea intrigues him.

“I’d tell you to choke on a dick because you’re upsetting Tera and refusing to apologize. I’ll be there to make sure I see your eyes start tearing up. You can swallow willingly at the end or be stuck holding it until you do. How long can you hold your breath?”

He freezes as if he can’t believe I would say that in my emotionless tone. I get that a lot. Maybe I’m pushing too hard.

“Call her,” he suggests with a smirk.

“I don’t have my phone.” Otherwise I would have fifteen pictures of him already. It was a good decision to leave it behind. The temptation to capture the fleeting emotions on his face is too much.

“You don’t,” he mocks and I shrug.

“Tera knows where I am.”

He flops back with a frown. “Is she the only one with the number?”

“And every fucking telemarketer on Earth.”

“Huh.” He pulls out his phone with narrowed eyes and hits a button, placing it on the table between us as it rings.

“If she wounded you, you got off light,” Tera sounds aggravated.

“I wouldn’t have owed?” I ask, surprised at the turnaround. Not that I would have hurt him, now that I’ve seen him again. Even my threat to him could be considered pleasurable in the right circumstances. She’s never had this kind of blasé attitude about what I’m capable of. What makes Shade different?

There’s a piece of the puzzle dangling in front of me but it’s invisible.

“No. I mean yes ! No hitting!”

“I was calling to apologize,” he sounds amused by our interaction while I’m pouting. She’s not going to tell me anything.

“You sound less sincere than I do,” I narrow my eyes on him in displeasure and his smile widens. My irritation abruptly settles at the look. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing.

“Wait, you’re apologizing? For real?”

“Why does she sound so shocked?” My tone is getting gritty again and Shade starts frowning.

“Yeah, for real,” he grumbles and his cheeks darken again. A guilty tell. The drink moving is nerves. The cup is full, he hasn’t had any caffeine. His reactions are becoming more blatant now that Tera is involved. He’s at ease with her.

“Do you mind?” Someone a table over asks, gaining both of our attention. I notice Shade immediately closes up emotionally and stops talking. I’m not having that. For any reason.

“I don’t,” my lip curls as I take in the uptight older woman next to us. “If you were fucking smart you wouldn’t either.”

The woman looks at me in horror and building anger. I don’t look away or give an inch. When she takes my eyes in, her bluster begins to falter.

“Fuck on along,” I wave a hand towards the door.

Her mouth snaps shut and she leaves with a lot of loud shouting about suing me.

“You can’t sue me if you’re dead,” I mutter as I watch her walk down the street, still shouting obscenities.

“Southie, no.”

I return my attention to the phone. It just slipped out. I didn’t even mean that one. I glance up at Shade to take in how badly I just fucked up.

He’s still watching her walk away with a blank expression.

“You’re cranky,” Tera sounds like she’s pouting. “Have you been sleeping?”

“More or less. My back is killing me.”

Shade looks at me to listen to the conversation. He hasn’t gotten his expression back and it’s making me want to track that woman down and beat the shit out of her.

“You need a hot bath and a nap.”

I sigh in frustration, “I wish.”

“Ibuprofen?”

“I took some.”

“Are you taking it out on Shade?” She sounds sad about it. If he was anyone else, I would be. That woman would be a good outlet.

“No.” I admit and force myself to let it go.

“Oh good.” She giggles with happiness and I smile. It sounds sweet and innocent but it’s the same light tinkling she has when she’s causing chaos too. She calls it her villain laugh.

Shade stares at my lips and I raise a brow.

“I’m actually glad you called Shade. I wanted to tell you both together but I didn’t want to interrupt.” She sounds like this is a bad news situation.

I lean forward to pay attention and so does Shade. I can smell his cologne again. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.

“The A-holes are back.”

My upper lip starts to curl up with anger. I knew they were, with all the cop shit going on. If she’s warning Shade, that means they’re going to start popping up everywhere like limp dick shaped weeds.

“The A-holes?” Shade asks with a chuckle. Even his lightening mood doesn’t derail my anger.

“Shade,” she begins softly and then trails off.

His expression drops as he realizes who she’s talking about. It reminds me of that stillness he had before he started screaming in a deserted parking lot with my banned ass stuck watching him. That look does not belong on his face. And I’m not stuck watching anymore.

“I’m on it,” I say in a tone gone so gravelly I can barely understand myself.

I start to stand but Shade’s hand snaps out and grabs my wrist. He shakes his head and I frown at him. I sit back down but I’m tense, trying to read his nonexistent expression. This is a ban, I know it.

“Andi told you?” Shade asks with narrowed eyes. He’s staring at me instead of the phone. His fingers tighten around my wrist. I don’t think he’s aware of it but I don’t mind. If it was Tera I would hold her hand to ease her stress.

They’re kindred spirits. Maybe it would help.

I place my other hand over his and he gives me a confused look. Maybe it doesn’t work on guys. It’s too late now, I’m not taking it back. He’s warm and my palm is tingling from the contact. Allowing myself to touch him is a step in the right direction as long as he follows.

“Yes. I’m so sorry,” Tera’s cringing answer brings my focus back where it belongs for now.

“We’ll get through it,” I try to reassure them both and tighten my fingers around his. The words are a little difficult to believe with how uneven my breaths are. Maybe he won’t notice.

“They’re coming to my birthday party. I couldn’t say no because they’re supposed to be guarding Andi again.” I’ve never heard her sound so defeated. It’s pissing me off. Shade’s expression hasn’t changed either, which makes it worse.

“I wanted you to know I understand if you don’t want to come anymore,” Tera reassures him.

Bullshit. Tera will be sad if he doesn’t. Especially when she knows she could stop it by uninviting Andi. The guilt will be never ending. She’s too damn nice. She’s probably cry/smiling now in anticipation of the letdown.

Fuck that.

“He’s going.”

His eyes meet mine and narrow. I hold his gaze with a raised brow. If he knows Tera like I think he does, he knows what will happen if he doesn’t show.

“You can’t decide that for him,” Tera begins to lecture.

“He’ll decide for him. He’s got this.” I lean forward a little, my eyebrow going higher. He’s tougher than what he’s acting. I know it. You can’t hold a blank expression for as long as he does every day and not have a spine of steel. Sure he broke but they all do at some point. He’s gotten stronger and he needs to show that to them.

He sits back thoughtfully and continues staring.

“And if he doesn’t then I do.” I try to keep my tone calm but the thought of dragging any of those assholes outside to break their kneecaps sounds like a wet dream.

“Promise Southie?”

“Promise,” I assure them both. Shade’s eyes narrow on me, our stare still locked.

“Shade, would you let South take care of you for the party?” Tera asks hopefully. “She won’t let them get to you.”

“I’ll go,” he says without enthusiasm and I glare. He could fake being happy about it. It wouldn’t kill him.

“Yay!” Tera squeals in excitement. She sounds like she’s dancing around in celebration.

Shade reaches to hang up and I let him go. The hand hold session is over. I can still feel the heat of his palm. I watch goosebumps flow up my arm from the lingering sensation. That’s new.

“Don’t hang up,” Tera cries suddenly and Shade’s finger pauses just shy of the button.

She clears her throat and her tone drops into what she thinks is a threatening tone. “Do you have anything to confess, Southie?”

My brows furrow as I think about it. I don’t think I do but she sounds positive that I did something. It doesn’t help that Shade suddenly has emotion as he leans back in his chair to cross his arms. It’s all smug self-assurance. And distracting.

My silence isn’t helping my cause. She lets out a big sigh as if she’s disappointed in me.

“How far back are we going with this?” I ask thoughtfully.

Shade’s eyebrows go up and he hides his grin behind his cup as he drinks.

“Destruction of property?”

I blink as I stare at him and then it comes to me like a lightbulb went off in my brain.

“They got their warm welcome?” I can feel my feral smile twist my lips as I sit back.

“Oh yeah,” Tera maniacally giggles and then clears her throat to get serious. “You didn’t have permission, South. You know the rules. I know you did it for Shade, but that was a little much for them to owe.”

Personally, I thought it wasn’t enough. I can’t get the image of him screaming out of my head.

Tera isn’t like that, though. Based on Shade’s lack of reaction, he’s the same. One more piece of proof that they are basically twins.

Shit. I was hoping he’d get a good laugh out of it to get me by when I-

“You owe, Southie,” Tera says in a gleeful tone.

I knew I would. I just expected a reward to endure it.

“What did you do for me?” Shade asks. He sounds curious and I frown at him. He doesn’t know?

“Does no one check the property?” I ask Tera in confusion. A few of Shade’s things are still there. I thought he might want to stop by to get them otherwise the damage would have been much worse. I made sure they stayed untouched. I could tell they were his because it all smelled like his cologne. I had vague hints of it before and that was a real hit.

“No. They rely on the cameras, which are mysteriously not working. They haven’t kept track of anything because they’re dumb.” She sounds so smug about it. At least she’s getting something out of this.

“What did you do?” He leans forward with narrowed eyes.

I stay quiet. I’m pouting because he didn’t like my game and I feel like I’ve backtracked to just seeing him for the first time. But Tera is happy to tell him.

“All of their personal belongings are trashed,” she pauses to giggle. “All of their clothes are a pile of ash in the driveway. Anything personal has been smashed beyond repair. Thank you for leaving the prank stuff alone though. I worked hard on it.”

His eyes flick from the phone to meet mine. He still isn’t laughing. If he’s expecting me to feel remorse over it, he’s going to be disappointed. I could have taken so much more from them. They got off light.

“Andi is really upset,” Tera’s voice becomes hesitant.

“I’ll call her,” Shade’s face has gone back to being a blank mask. I guess his willingness for small talk is at an end.

I somehow thought it would be different with him. That he’d magically get me like Tera does. I was wrong.

This isn’t someone who will play games with me. His mask has gone cold enough to give me hypothermia. It’s cutting me off at the knees and I’ve barely spoken to him.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you, Shade. She thinks you did it.”

I can tell that Tera is cringing as she admits it. I may not have remorse for this, but she does.

“Tell her the truth,” I focus back on the phone with a frown. I’m the one who did it. Shade doesn’t deserve to be punished for that and neither does Tera.

“I knew you wouldn’t want us going down with the ship so I tried. She thinks I’m making someone up to pacify her,” the frustration comes across clearly. Shade doesn’t say a word.

I’ll have to figure something out. She’s Tera’s best friend and Shade’s too from what I’ve heard. I’m not going to let his support walk away from him over this. I know Tera won’t but this Andi has been a ghost so far. If she needs to be a ghost permanently, I’ll make it happen.

“I know you won’t let it rest South.”

“Yeah,” I agree, thinking over my options.

Tera lets out a sigh of relief. “When are you coming over to my house?”

I lean back in confusion. “I’m not.”

“Yes, you are,” her tone turns into the motherly lecture I’m used to. “You owe and you’re not putting it off anymore. You have to meet them sometime.”

Fuck. I don’t want to meet her boyfriends. This is a recipe for disaster.

“Fine,” I mutter.

“ And you have to be on good behavior.”

My lip curls. “Fine.”

“Okay,” she says in a happy tone.

I nod and get up to go prepare for this bullshit.

Shade doesn’t say a word as I walk away.

Shade

I text Andi to see if it’s bullshit.

She calls me to rant while I laugh my ass off all the way home. She thinks I did it in revenge for them leaving because the video footage is blanked for that day before it returns to normal. As if I’d be that sloppy. She should have asked Tera to at least do that for her.

But South did it without asking anyone. No risk of being banned if you don’t tell. She did it just for me.

That thought alone has stunned me since I heard it.

If seeing her in person, speaking to her, feeling her intensity shining on me like a blinding ray of sunlight wasn’t enough to convince me it’s real, this would. I didn’t want to get my hopes up in case this wasn’t what it seemed. I was banking on it being something blown out of proportion by Tera.

If anything, she downplayed it. Tera didn’t say anything about what she did to their bedrooms. The cut-up mattresses and smashed nightstands. Broken glass everywhere. The main areas weren’t touched. My things, the shirts I left behind, a pair of running shoes, pants, and the only anime I own were neatly folded and stacked by the front door. Waiting for me to drop by and pick them up.

The look on her face when Tera told her she was meeting her trio of men as payment was priceless. If she could have gone back in time to keep herself from doing it, she would have. She takes antisocial to an extreme.

But she did it. She can’t take it back. She did it for me .

I’m keeping her.

Evie is mine.

She has no idea what she’s done to me but I’m going to make damn sure she finds out.

“I did it,” I tell Andi as my laughter dies down.

I can’t let Evie shoulder the blame for this. She obviously doesn’t know anything about Matthias, me, or the business. If she knew we’re a bunch of contract killers she’d run. I’m not risking that. And I’m not letting any backlash hit her either.

She’s mine now. Nobody gets to touch her.

“You’re admitting it?” Andi shrieks in my ear.

Even that can’t wipe the smile off my face.

“Yup.”

“I can’t fucking believe you,” she yells. She goes on and on about how much money she’s going to have to shell out for repairs and replacements. How Matthias isn’t covering any of it because he just knows this was me. I listen to it all without saying a word, my smile serene and weird feeling on my face. The phone beeps as she hangs up. I wasn’t listening anymore anyway.

Andi will get over it. And no one else will ever know it was Evie. Problem solved.

My phone rings and the smile drops when I look at the caller ID.

“Shit.”