Page 27 of The Villain

“Can’t I drop in on my brother?”

So, they are brothers?

“Didn’t realize you’d be having breakfast with, what is she? Your houseguest?” Jet asks, looking me over. From his expression, I think he must recognize the clothes, but he doesn’t comment.

“Don’t get too close. She’s feral,” Cassian warns him before turning to me. “Go to your room.”

“I don’t have a room,” I say, slipping off the stool.

He grits his jaw. “Go to my room then. Now.”

My gaze moves from Cassian to Jet, who picks a stripof bacon off Cassian’s plate and bites down on it, grinning, watching our interaction with keen interest.

“Now Allegra,” Cassian says.

I look back at Cassian whose eyes have narrowed to slits.

“Fine. Asshole.” That last part I mutter under my breath as I walk away, but it doesn’t go unnoticed. Cassian is on me in a second, tugging me to him by my hair, his other arm banding over my ribs so my back is flush with his front, my head tilting upward, his face right there.

“What did I tell you about that smart mouth of yours?” he asks, the spikey short hairs along the hard line of his jaw scratching my skin.

“You’re hurting me,” I say, trying to pull his arm off. The weight of it is making it hard to breathe. All the same, I hate the fact that my mind makes a note of his aftershave. Of how his body feels against mine. How big he is. I hate that when I look at his mouth, all I can think about is how his tongue felt on me.

“Am I?” he asks, not loosening his grip. He leans his face closer, makes a point of inhaling. “I’m starting to think you like it,” he whispers so only I can hear.

“You’re mistaken,” I say, nudging my elbow against his injured side in warning.

“Be careful, Little Moth. Be very careful.”

I turn my face a little. “Just let me go.”

“Answer my question. What did I tell you about your smart mouth?”

“That you would put it to good use,” I say, answering his question.

“And you remember what I’d hate to do?”

My heart pounds, sweat pooling under my arms, panic rising in my belly. “Let me go. Please!”

“No, that’s not it. Although I do like the polite way you asked.”

“Cassian,” Jet says, coming toward us and placing a hand on Cassian’s shoulder.

“Do you remember or do I need to remind you?” Cassian asks, ignoring his brother. My breaths are coming in gasps, but it’s not the restriction of his arm across my chest. It’s panic.

“Hard to forget a threat like that,” I tell him, reminding myself that playing good little victim doesn’t help. It only makes them want to hurt you more.

“Cassian,” Jet snaps. “Let her go.”

“Then don’t taunt me,” Cassian says.

“Hey. You’re hurting her,” Jet says.

That gets Cassian’s attention. He looks down at his arm as I claw at it, then at my face as I try to calm my breathing. He loosens his grip, but it’s a minute before he releases me. The instant he does, I stumble out of his reach drawing in a lungful of air. I see how his forehead is furrowed, his eyes narrowed.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” I yell.

“Go to your room!”