Chapter 23
Star
Heather was the surprise Max had waiting for us on the Retail Haven roof.
It wasn’t hard to figure out how she’d gotten there, since I knew Max could levitate. I vaguely wondered if it was something all vampires could do, but my question was answered as soon as he scooped me into his arms and shot us straight into the air, with Damon close behind.
I doubt Heather got the bridal carry treatment.
He probably carried her by the perm.
My ex-bestie was looking a little worse for wear—rocking a few scratches and a lot of dirt stains from the trip—but I couldn’t find it in me to feel bad. She was still healthy enough to glare daggers in my direction from where she was tied to a utility pole.
And more than able to run her mouth.
Per usual.
“Only you would manage to find a pair of mutants to shack up with, Brittany,” she snarled. “I swear, your coochie must be full of toxic goo or something to tempt freaks like these—”
“Actually, her cunt—language, please—is divine,” Max coolly interrupted. He then turned to face Damon with unmistakable heat in his expression. “I can’t wait for you to taste her, pet.”
“Me neither,” Damon replied before smiling shyly at me. “Maybe after we’re done here?”
His question momentarily distracted me. “Totally. But, uh… what are we planning on doing here? I mean, we can’t actually… kill her, right?”
Right?
“Of course you can’t kill me,” Heather scoffed in her usual condescending tone. “That’s like, illegal and stuff.”
“So is stalking,” Damon snarled. “And posting false legal notices.”
Legal notices…?
Heather huffed and flicked her dirt-caked hair out of her face. “Nothing was false! Brittany totally trashed my car. She spray painted ‘SLUT’ in huge letters on the side before doing the same to her car, just so she could blame it on me. I even got a real lawyer to sign off on it and everything.”
“WHAT?!” I yelped, so astounded my jaw literally dropped open. “I didn’t… You’re the one who trashed my car, Heather. Mall security caught it on camera.”
She gave me a pitying look. “You sound like a crazy person, Britt. That’s not what happened and no one is going to believe you.”
Maybe I am crazy…
“The cans of spray paint on the passenger seat of your miraculously pristine car look a bit damning, Heather,” Max scoffed—not falling for her bullshit for a second before turning to face me.
“I followed her to your aunt’s community before confronting her.
She also had canisters of gasoline in the trunk.
If I didn’t know any better, it looked like she was planning to start a little fire next. ”
Holy shit!
“That wasn’t me!” Heather shouted indignantly. “That was Brittany. She was going to burn down her aunt’s house and then blame it on me.” When we all just gaped at her, she switched gears—jutting her chin in Max’s direction. “Or maybe you planted the evidence. Freak.”
Wow.
My racing thoughts suddenly smoothed out, like water on a windless day, and I realized the sad truth I’d been denying for far too long.
She’s never going to stop this on her own.
Ever since our massive fallout as business partners and so-called friends, I’d been focused on brushing myself off and moving on, and I’d assumed she’d done the same. Instead, she’d been obsessively stirring the pot, unable to let it go despite her win.
If it wasn’t for the smug smile creeping over Heather’s face, coupled with the evil glint in her poorly-lined eye, I would’ve thought she was suffering from a psychotic break.
Unfortunately, she’d always been like this—reveling in the pain of others—and was completely aware of exactly how much pain she continued to cause.
Deep down, she knew she was lying, but as long as she could throw money at the right crooked lawyer, while convincing anyone dumb enough to listen to her version of the truth, she would continue this madness until it killed me.
Unless we kill her first…
Max stepped closer, gently tilting my face so I was looking at him instead of Heather. “We won’t do anything you aren’t comfortable with, baby. Your enemy, your call.”
I was torn—probably more than a morally upstanding human should be—but finding out the guys were real-deal vampires intent on protecting me in whatever way necessary had changed things.
Changed me.
I felt safer with them than I had with anyone since my parents died. All I would have to do was snap my fingers and they would “dispose of this vile creature,” no questions asked.
But can I be an accomplice to murder?
The right thing to do would be to let Heather go—let her off with a milder punishment than what my bloodthirsty boyfriends probably felt she deserved.
Even if I kind of agree with them…
“I-I know she deserves the worst for what she did to me,” I murmured, dropping my gaze.
“All I ever wanted was to share my love of makeup—to help others feel as gorgeous as I do when I’m wearing it.
Sure, it sucked the way shit went down with Bodacious Babes, but I think I’m finally ready to get myself back out there.
Maybe we could even set up a makeup counter at Sizzling Discourse!
” I peeked up at them, suddenly unsure if my plan would even fly. “I mean… if that would be okay…”
“Of course it would be okay!” Damon snapped, narrowing his eyes at Max as if daring him to argue.
Max threw back his head and laughed. “Well, it looks like I’d better say yes, hmm?
” He smiled adoringly at both of us. “To be honest, I was planning on asking you to do just that, Star. It would pair nicely with the edgier, custom fashion brand I’ve been wanting to put Damon in charge of for a while now. If that would be okay with you, pet?”
He cocked an eyebrow at his longtime love, awaiting his reply. Damon swallowed thickly, adorably overwhelmed. “I would love that. T-thank you, Max.”
Creative collaborations for the win!
I’d been attempting to redirect Max’s attention away from murder—half-heartedly—but then our sweet moment was interrupted by the harsh sound of Heather.
“Excuse me?!” she hissed. “You are absolutely not allowed to do makeup again, Brittany. I’m the only reason you made a name for yourself in the first place and all you’ll be doing is regurgitating designs we came up with together—which means I own them.
It was bad enough that you spread a ton of rumors about me after you left Bodacious Babes.
All the regulars stopped coming, and it was ALL YOUR FAULT! ”
Wow. Wow. Wow!
All at once, I understood why Heather was refusing to let this go. I already knew that when I left Bodacious Babes, my talent went with me, but I was too deep in my own recovery to waste my time keeping tabs on how she was doing without me.
If customers hadn’t returned, it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with her. But this tale of woe was her style of narrative, and she was never going to tell it otherwise, because then she’d have to take responsibility for herself.
And it sounds like she’d rather keep up this victim act, all the way to the grave.
So be it.
Blowing out an even breath, I looked at Max. “I want her to leave me—leave us—alone. For good. So whatever you need to do to make that happen, you have my blessing.”
Bitches get stitches.
With a sexy growl that made my toes curl, he kissed me, inadvertently pressing me against Damon and hinting at more spicy sandwiches to come.
“Anything for you, baby,” he purred. “I will do my worst and I will enjoy it.”
Morally gray boyfriends for the win.
With a less sexy, more scary growl, Max stalked toward Heather. To her credit, she didn’t even flinch, but that was probably more because of her superiority complex than any actual bravery.
“And just what are you going to do?” she sneered at him. “My lawyer is gonna be on your loser asses like white on rice the instant you let me go—”
Heather’s rant abruptly cut off as Max crouched in front of her with his back to me. He was murmuring something I couldn’t quite catch, but whatever it was made her beady eyes go wide and vacant.
Okay, that’s kinda creepy…
Damon snorted, and I realized he could hear what was going on. “What is he saying to her?” I hissed, nosey as hell. “Tell me!”
My beautiful boy gazed down at me. “No.” He smirked, being a total brat. “And if you want fancy features like super-hearing and”—he up-nodded toward the others—“what Max is doing right now, you’ll let us turn you.”
I stifled a smirk of my own. “Oh? Is this vampire peer pressure? Are you trying to compel me to become like you, Damon?”
His eyes widened in alarm, his gaze flickering to Max. “No! We would never use our compulsion powers on you for something as important as this. I-I hope you choose to be our third, Star, but it’s totally your decision.”
Before I could tell him I was kidding—that I’d already made up my mind about being their “third”—the absolute last thing I expected to hear caught my attention.
“I’m sorry, Britt.”
This time, my jaw almost dropped two stories, through the mall to the cracked asphalt below.
Am I… dreaming?
All malice was gone from Heather’s face, replaced by regret I’d never seen on her before. For a moment, I remembered how happy I was when we’d first met—when I thought I’d found a kindred spirit.
But it was all an act on her part.
“Okay…” I replied, incredibly confused by what was happening.
Max must be really persuasive.
“I was just jealous of your talent,” she continued earnestly.
“I still am. But instead of cheering you on and being inspired with my own designs, I let my bitterness take over. I became fixated on claiming your creativity for myself and convincing everyone it was mine all along. It just… it just seemed easier than putting in the work.”
I bet that’s the most honest she has ever been in her entire life.
Wait a minute…
My gaze narrowed on Max, who gave me the most suspiciously sweet smile in return, but Heather wasn’t finished.
“I never actually filed a police report, Britt, and the lawyer I hired is just some guy I know from my old high school. If you want, I’ll confess to the cops that I vandalized your car and pay to have it repainted, and I’ll never come near Retail Haven, or you and your guys, ever again. ”
“No,” Max chuckled in the sexy, dark way of his that contrasted with his sunshiney exterior. “I don’t believe you will after I’m done with you.”
Well, that’s not ominous or anything.
I suddenly realized he’d compelled Heather to say all of this to me, because there was no way she possessed the self-awareness and maturity to come clean on her own.
Good enough, I guess.
Closure was found in weird ways sometimes, and not always how we’d hoped, but two hot as hell vampire boyfriends seemed like an acceptable consolation prize for what I’d gone through with my ex-bestie.
“Well, I don’t forgive you, Heather,” I sighed. When Max frowned, I addressed him directly, so he’d know this part was meant for him. “But I appreciate the apology—more than I could ever explain.”
“It’s what you deserved to hear, Star,” he replied, smiling softly.
I returned his smile before switching gears. “Okay so… besides whatever you have planned for Heather, can you please make sure my aunt and her condo are safe?”
He laughed, back to his signature mischievousness. “Oh, the cops have already received an anonymous tip about a suspicious car parked outside the gates to your aunt’s community, full of evidence covered in Heather’s fingerprints.”
He really does take care of everything.
Damon wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close before giving me a comforting squeeze. As I leaned into his solid presence—and saw the way Max was gazing at both of us—all the tension I’d been carrying since the Bodacious Babes blowout lifted from my shoulders.
I don’t have to worry about anything anymore.
My family has my back.
Max’s expression darkened as his gaze met mine. “I’m going to take care of this from here, Star. By the time I return, I want both of you in my coffin, naked and ready for me.”
Yes, Sir.