Chapters (40)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- ‘Heart of Venom’ Excerpt
- About Jennifer Estep
- Copyright
Finn kept wincing, but he didn’t answer me. Roslyn and Phillip exchanged a puzzled look, but it was Eva’s reaction that caught my eye. She bit her lip and looked down at the floor, a guilty expression on her face if ever there was one. She glanced up, realized that I was staring at her, and let out a small sigh.
“Actually, it wasn’t really Finn’s idea,” Eva admitted. “I was the one who suggested it.”
“And why would you do that?”
She sighed again. “Because it’s been almost a month since Salina’s death, and you and Owen haven’t seen each other in weeks. You haven’t even spoken, as far as I know.”
She was right about that, not that I told her so.
“I agree with Eva,” Kincaid chimed in. “You and Owen need to at least start talking again.”
“About what?” I asked, turning to face him. “How I slit Salina’s throat right in front of him? Even though he asked me not to? Or maybe we should talk about how I told Finn to hold him back and how you helped with that? It’s easy for you to tell me to start talking to Owen, especially since it seems like he’s forgiven you, Finn, and everyone else for what happened—everyone except me, that is.”
This time, Kincaid was the one who winced at my harsh words. Still, he didn’t back down. “Salina’s gone, Gin, and I say good riddance to her. But you and Owen are still here. The two of you care about each other, quite deeply, from what I’ve seen. If I were you, I’d be doing my best to fix things between the two of you.”
I arched an eyebrow. “I don’t really think you’re in a position to be giving me relationship advice, Philly,” I said, using Eva’s childhood nickname for him. “Although I’m glad to see you’re here tonight with someone who’s age-appropriate. You are here with Roslyn, right? And not someone else?”
Anger simmered in Kincaid’s blue eyes, and his jaw clenched, making his chiseled cheekbones stand out more. Not too long ago, I’d told Kincaid that I knew he was not-so-secretly in love with Eva. Phillip had helped Eva and Owen when the three of them had been living on the streets as kids, and he’d told me that Eva was the first person who’d ever cared about him. That was why he loved her, even though he was my age, thirty, and about ten years older than her.
Eva looked back and forth between me and Phillip, her brow furrowed, obviously wondering what I was talking about.
I sighed. Just because my love life was on the skids was no reason for me to take my anger and frustration out on everyone else, especially my friends.