God of Wrath (Legacy of Gods #3) by Rina Kent

Larry swallows twice, then licks his lips three times before he speaks. “He pointed at two girls at the bar and told us to separate them. He didn’t care what we did to the blonde, but we had to make the silver-haired one uncomfortable. He told us to start respectively, though, or she would bolt, and if she bolted, we couldn’t have the good stuff. After we gained her trust us, we could grope her or do whatever we pleased.”

Blood boils in my veins, and destructive energy bubbles inside me with the need to purge.

“Whatever you pleased,” I repeat with a voice hanging on edge.

“We weren’t planning to do anything,” Donovan blurts. “I swear.”

My gaze strays to Steven. “How about you, motherfucker? Did you have any ideas after you got the ‘whatever you please’ green light?”

“No,” he says in a complete bullshitting tone.

“I think you’re lying. I think you planned to get under her skin and have free access to her. He told you that sentence, didn’t he? You’re too beautiful to be hidden away. Probably said you should use that to fuck with her head and make her pliant. But here’s the thing.” I grab him by the collar, hauling him to his feet. “That girl you touched belongs to me, and do you know what I do to people who look at, let alone hurt, what’s mine? I make them wish for death.”

Steven's eyes shine with unbounded fear for the first time since we broke into their apartment.

He knows he fucked up and messed with the wrong person. The one person’s path he should never have crossed.

If they’d only made the mistake of approaching her in the club, a punch and a blacklisting from the club would be enough. Not really, but I would’ve forced myself to stop at that.

But these three fuckers had the nerve to hurt her emotionally and bring back memories she’s been trying so hard to get over.

“Here’s how it will go. I’ll punish you for daring to come near Cecily and having the audacity to touch her, and I will make sure it hurts. I’ll also leave a scar so you’ll remember me. Then you’ll remove yourselves from her life. If I spot you within a ten-mile radius of her, I will fucking kill you and dump you so deep in the sea, no one will find your corpse.”

Then I singlehandedly beat the fuck out of the three of them, but Steven is different. Steven also gets to be waterboarded to within an inch of his life while he bleeds all over the apartment and shits himself.

Steven will remain on my radar long after he’s healthy, so I’ll beat the fuck out of him all over again. He’ll live in fear, looking over his shoulder, under his bed, and in the closet, searching for the devil from his scariest nightmares.

It takes longer than I’d initially planned for us to leave their place. Partly because I enjoyed bloodying them the fuck up a bit too much.

Unlike what rumors imply, I don’t get off on violence, and I don’t go out of my way to pursue it.

Violence is just one of many purging methods that can be replaced by more peaceful ones, such as a bike ride.

Or a ruthless fuck with Cecily.

But I sure as hell got off on it when I punished those lowlifes and left them bleeding on their apartment floor.

However, it feels like too little compared to what they dared to do to Cecily—or worse, what they planned.

Something still sits wrong with me, though. The fact that Jonah wasn’t the one who put them up to it.

But that doesn’t make sense. Jonah is the only one who knows about his courting ways with Cecily.

Unless the slimy fuck put on a disguise. The three losers were probably drunk or high, and the club was dark, so they could’ve mistaken some details.

As Ilya pulls the car out and drives down the road, I fetch my phone and ask for security footage from the club last night.

The reply is almost immediate.

I scroll to the time the three fuckers went into the club, jumping around like monkeys on crack. Soon after, they slip into a corner near the bathroom. The only hint of their companion is a glimpse of his black shirt.

That must be the guy who promised them drugs. I watch more and more of the footage, but there’s no sign of him near them, not even at the bar, where he would be watching his handiwork from.

It’s impossible to locate him in a busy club when all I have is that he was wearing a black shirt.

Could it be Jonah? I’m about to call my guy back in London, but I get distracted by a text.

Cecily: Morning. Thanks for these *sparkling heart emoji*

I spend a full minute of intense staring at the sparkling heart but still can’t find an explanation for it. One thing’s for sure, I like it, and it caught me completely by fucking surprise since it’s the first time she’s sent one.

Then I notice that she attached a picture of a box of waffles I had delivered to her apartment earlier.

Cecily: How did you know I love waffles?

It’s in her stupid journal. I think they’re her comfort food whenever she wants to feel better. I thought she might need a pick-me-up after last night.

While she didn’t have any sleep paralysis, she shivered while she slept in my arms and tears clung to her lids. That’s part of the reason why I couldn’t bring myself to leave until she fell into quality sleep.

Jeremy: I know everything about you.

I’m about to tuck away my phone, expecting her to be too busy preparing for school, but her reply comes immediately.