Page 19 of Sweet Venom

I suppose her coworkers wouldn’t know it’s awkward, considering she always seems to be smiling as if her life is perfect and she’s the happiest goddamn person alive.

She’s not.

Subtly, too subtly, she pulls her hand from the guy’s grip and bends over, but she’s behind the counter now, so I can only see the bartender as he looks down.

I tilt my head to the side. What the fuck is happening behind that counter?

The moment lasts for a while before he moves at the raised hand of one of the customers.

Violet emerges soon after and scurries out of view.

My fist clenches and unclenches as I watch the place she disappeared to.

She’s always…disappearing.

With a grunt, I hop onto my bike and drive it to a secure parking lot, then I walk back in time to see them leave.

I wait by the corner as Violet waves at the bartender and they go their separate ways.

She glances around, probably looking for me, and when she doesn’t see me or the bike, her tense shoulders relax and she pulls the hoodie low on her face. That’s what she always wears if she’s not in her work shirt—baggy, unflattering hoodies that don’t showcase her body.

I follow from a safe distance as she performs her usual ritual. She buys sandwiches from some greasy fast-food place, then walks back to her shithole of a neighborhood at a brisk pace, her eyes aimed at the ground.

Always.

She has no idea I’m watching.

Not when I make myself unnoticeable. She only sees me when I want her to see me.

Though she wasn’t supposed to last night, but I couldn’t just stand by and let another man play with my toy.

Only I get to break her.

I watch with a barely contained snarl as she gives the homeless people food and then cautiously approaches the alley in which I cornered her last night.

She glimpses behind her and then goes in, quickening her steps.

I stand in place.

If she looks back again, if she searches for me one more time, I’ll finish her.

Kane and Pres are right. It’s long overdue.

Maybe I’ll just kill her without the hunt I make every target go through just so they’ll feel the desperation.

See a light at the end of the tunnel, only for it to be me.

Their grim reaper.

But that wouldn’t solve the mystery as to why I haven’t ended Violet’s miserable life up until now.

See, there’s one more contradiction about Violet Winters.

The worst of all.

She’s a girl who feeds the homeless while staying hungry, volunteers at multiple charities, and stops to play with kids and dogs. She also checks on people on the side of the road, even if they look forgotten, in pain, or simply done with life.

I know, not only because I’ve done my research—or Kane did—but also because I was on the receiving end a couple of years ago.