Page 233 of Blackwood

“I didn’t want initials. Didn’t want anything vague. I wanted you. Right here.” He taps his chest. “Because that’s where you’ve lived since the second I saw you, malyshka.”

Bella blinks hard. Then reaches out and touches the skin just beside the tattoo. She looks up at him and the space between them disappears. Their lips crash, fierce, full, breathless.

Lex lifts her up, hands on her thighs, her dress slipping…

“Okay, Jesus Christ!” The door slams open, and Ellie stands there with a hand over her eyes. “Can’t you two sex gods wait like an hour? Maybe till you get home? Or even the damn car?”

Bella groans and lets her head falls against Lex’s shoulder. “El—”

“Nope. Save it. Come on, we need to go change. It’s time to make the Ice Bitch Witch of Moscowcry.”

Lex laughs, full-on and unfiltered. “What did you just say?”

Ellie grins, unapologetic. “You heard me.”

Bella slides out of Lex’s arms, smoothing her dress down, and turns back to both of us with a watery, wicked smile. “I love you both so much,” she says softly.

We head back to the club—Lex pulling his shirt closed again, me grabbing the painting to keep it safe. The music’s already fading from the song and the crowd’s resetting. The entire Legacy dance team is out there on the floor looking like they know exactly what’s about to go down.

Knox leans into the mic with that cocky little smirk he wears like armor. “And now, for their final performance… the goddesses of Wexley want to offer a very special dedication. This one’s for Karma.”

The lights shift in an instant and vivid teal, pink, and purple flood the room. Bella’s colors. Their colors.

Gasps ripple through the crowd as the Wexley Legacy girls, draped in white togas just seconds ago rip them off in sync, revealing a new layer beneath: yellow and orange fringe dresses all rhinestoned and gleaming.

“Guess were switching from Roman gods to Latin flair,” Lex laughs beside me.

Then the music hits, Taylor Swift’s “Karma.”A revenge anthem so pointed, it might as well come with a blade.

Everyone’s eyes are painted at the stairs waiting for The Trifecta’s entrance, but no one’s walking down the stairs. No, they enter from the side. Right by Irina’s table.

Bella in purple fringe, glitter clinging to her collarbones like stardust. Skin glowing. Eyes lethal. She struts out first, followed by Ellie in flamingo pink, and Haley in bright teal. Bold, sexy, and unapologetic. Designed for maximum impact.

“Damn, Rico,” Lex mutters beside me grinning. “Nice work, man.”

The girls don’t glance at Irina. They don’t need to. Their entire existence right now is a fuck you wrapped in silk, fringe, and rhinestones.

I glance toward the VIP section just in time to see Irina sit up stiff. Rigid. Furious.

Perfect.

Because I hate the way she talks to Bella. Like she needs to make make some insane choice between everything, Roman, The Barniovs, herself. Like our love—this chaotic, beautiful, dangerous love between the three of us—is a threat instead of something sacred.

I hope every beat of this song wrecks her.

Lex wraps his arms around me from behind, lips brushing my ear. “These girls making me a Nickelback fan and now a Swiftie. Goddamn.”

I nod, my eyes on Bella as she twirls, smiling like a secret that’s begging to be broken.

When the song talks about the different things that Karma is, Bella starts to move throughout the crowd while the rest of the girls keep dancing. She works the crowd like she’s been in show business her entire life. She can’t help but laugh and it takes my breath away seeing her this happy. Seeing her truly in her element, it’s everything.

When it gets to the final part, the girls are all in the center of the dance floor again. The song says something about how Karma is some kind of queen and all the girls kneel at The Trifecta’s feet, creating a beautiful sparkling sea of yellow and orange.

And then when it says something about a guy and a screen, they all point to the screens behind the bar—whereObsidianhas been flashing all night— it glitches once. Then it reappears as a massive photo. A photo my mom took. Bella, Lex, and me at Regionals.

“Damn, Bestie. Nice work Knox.” Lex huffs a laugh.

Then they all jump up and finish the dance. The room erupts into screams and applause. Cameras flash. I glance toward Irina, she’s frozen. Completely still. Her lips are white from how tightly they’re pressed together.