Best Friend's Ex Box Set

“In fact, why don't we get started with a little teaser for now?” he hissed seductively. Only, it wasn’t seductive at all. It was sinister. “I want a kiss from you, Alicia. A nice, deep, passionate kiss, like you used to give me. How does that sound?”

“I'll bite your tongue off if it comes anywhere near me, you psychopath!” I barked.

“Now that's not the right attitude to have toward your lover,” he said as he started walking slowly toward me. “You're supposed to treat me with tenderness and kindness, you know. Otherwise… you may feel lacking.”

“Lacking how, you crazy monster?” I snapped.

He pulled out a long, razor-sharp hunting knife from a sheath hidden behind his back.

“Lacking in flesh,” he snarled. “Now if you don't give me a genuinely passionate kiss, you're going to find yourself missing things you won’t be able to get back. Do you understand?”

“Don't do this, Simon; please don't do this,” I begged.

“Kiss me now, or I promise you, I'll cut one of your fingers off right now. Do you think I'm bluffing?”

“Simon, please, don't... don't!”

“Kiss me...”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Everett

“What on earth are you talking about, Panetti?” I asked, dumbfounded.

Panetti simply pointed to the pictures pinned on my board of Simon and Angie.

“That's Mr. Mask, and that's the girl who cooks the stuff up in her apartment,” he said. “I assumed you guys knew that. Why else would you have pictures of them on your wall?”

Then the implications of what this meant hit me like an uppercut to the jaw. Angie—the woman who had taken Vivienne away last night—was Simon's accomplice.

My heart stopped for a moment and then started pounding with panic in my chest.

“Panetti,” I said, my voice hoarse with anxiety. “One question: do you know where either of those two live?”

“I don't know about Mr. Mask, but I've been to that woman's apartment before to pick up drugs.”

I jumped out of my chair and grabbed him by the wrist.

“Then you're gonna show me where it is, Panetti – right now!”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Vivienne

“Get the hell away from her!” roared a new voice – a familiar voice.

Everett!

Simon spun around with surprise, and I craned my neck to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. There, standing in the doorway of the room, were Everett and Jimmy. Jimmy had Angie gripped with her hands behind her back and a gun to her head. Everett had his own gun aimed at Simon.

“You!” Simon hissed. “You're the hero trying to ruin my business, and, as it seems, steal my lover away from me!”

“The game is up, Simon,” said Everett calmly. “And you've lost. Drop the knife, drop your gun, and get on the floor with your hands behind your head. This is an arrest.”

“You can have the drugs, superhero, but I won't be parted from her again,” Simon growled, his eyes wide and white with a madness I hadn’t seen the depths of before. “I won't! Nobody can keep us apart!”

“I'm warning you, Simon, drop your weapons and get on the ground! Do it now, do it right now! If you do not comply, I will be compelled to use deadly force! This is your final warning!”