Sweet Touch of Venom (Lethal Love #1)

1. Ronan

Chapter 1

Ronan

How does death sound?

Hollow City is a mere black city where it makes your fears come alive.

Hollow City is the place that you avoid if you have skeletons to hide. Hollow City ? —

I press onto the radio button, shutting off the ghostly tune that sings to you every minute you turn on the radio. My jaws clash together in an agonizing grind as I glide my fingers over the slice on my top lip and cheek. The dent in the unhealed wound tingles under the pad of my finger.

I never understood why they made a song for this place.

It’s Hollow Cities anthem, but it’s more like an annoying glitch that can never be fixed—no matter how much you take it apart, loosen all the screws, and then meticulously put it back together.

I never liked the chant, anyway; it reminds me of shadows whispering to you at night. Seeking refuge in what’s left of your soul and festering itself there until you’re nothing but ash. The song makes me sick, but the meaning behind it…?that’s an entirely different story.

Because me and those shadows get along very well. I’m the one who snatches the souls and tosses them to the pits of the stretched silhouettes with a smirk on my face—and that’s exactly what I intend to do tomorrow night.

The door to the bar, with blaring, pink neon lights above reading “Strip Tease,” burst open. Music jumbles with voices and laughter spills out as it slowly closes back, cutting off the noise.

Joe tumbles free, along with a woman clasped around his arm, dangling off him like cheap jewelry.

There you are.

I narrow in on him as he stumbles along with his shirt loose and his belt unbuckled. His belly protrudes, and the button that wants to pop free holds on for dear life. My finger moves to the scar under my eye, running down my cheekbone, continuing to apply more pressure under the base of my jaw.

He’s gained weight over the years, and he’s still wearing that leather jacket. I bet it smells like sweat mixed with rank smoke, giving off a musty scent.

My lips curl in disgust as my breath picks up in intensity. I grip the steering wheel of the truck to calm the heat swarming to my head, but it’s not going to alleviate the fire boiling in me. Nothing will stop the rage until they’re all dead. Gone from this world—that’s when some part of me will be at peace.

I lower my hand from my chin and away from the scars, resting it on the console. I tilt my head toward the side window, glancing out to spot another one of my trucks parked alongside, catching the scene, too.

With a grin, I flicked my gaze back to Joe, who burst out in a cackling laughter followed by a wheezing choke. He hocks and coughs, strolling toward his car, dragging the lady with him.

My heart shoots up with a squint to my eyes.

Will he die from a cough before I can get to him?

The woman beside him wobbles under his unbalanced body as he heaves for a breath. If he dies from this shit, I will resuscitate him with a defibrillator just to kill him again.

I didn’t wait this long only for him to croak now . I’ll avenge us, Carter. They will pay for what they have done. I fucking promise. Your death will never be in vain.

Carter Velz. My best friend. My business partner. He didn’t deserve to be taken from this world like that.

Give us the money along with the blueprints, or your boy over here dies.

A tightness clogs my throat, blocking the air. Unfortunately, he did die. Brutally, at that. And I had to sit there and watch, strapped to a chair.

The memory shakes out of my head once another laugh booms out. Joe swings his door open, nearly flinging along with it, stumbling and nearly twisting an ankle, while the tall, lanky woman attempts to hold him up. But she laughs along with him.

I hope she robs him, too. Just like they robbed us of our youth and murdered my best friend. I hope she gets him even more drunk, adds a pill in his cup, and then takes his shit. Then again, I don’t want that.

His blood and pain will be on my hands.

“Give us the word head man,” Mal speaks through the earpiece.

I narrowed my eyes at his vehicle, once the red lights blare, casting the dull overshadow on the rocky dirt.

He’s leaving.

I could grab him now and throw him in my trunk, but because he’s so drunk, he’ll piss in it and probably even shit from the terror. I want him fully aware and sober so he can experience all the pain and torture I have planned. The liquor will only dull and shut it out.

My pointer and thumb find my chin again. “No.” A low fire simmers in my vision as I watch the car back out sloppily and speed past me. My head follows it stiffly as I jam down on my jaws.

“We had him right where we wanted Ro,” Mal hisses in my ear. She’s always been ready to kill, fighting a fight that was never her own but made it that way. Loyal , dependable, and ready to fuck shit up at any given moment.

“Soon. Muito em breve ”

Because I’m feeling generous, I’ll let him live his last worthless night getting shit-faced, only for the next day to come and for me to rip his spleen from his back.

It’s why they call me Poison. I surge into your stream, slowly replacing the reek of your putrid blood, only to kill you from the inside out until you’re just a pile of mist and disgusting goop.

I dip my head back, resting against the headrest, shutting my eyes as I grind on my bottom lip. A rise in my heartbeat causes me to grin deeper.

“Ro, we have an incoming. It’s time,” Mal adds in.

My eyes jolt open, and I refocus my thoughts on the bigger things at hand. Something much greater than myself that needs my attention.

“Do we finally have a location for the target and where she’s being held hostage?” Opening my laptop, the dashboard light shines across my face, blurring my vision for a second.

“Fifty-fourth Cove off Daunting road,” Boone intercepts through the earpiece.

I type in the location on the screen. A digital map of lines and dots zoom out before circling and zooming back into the destination. I tap it twice, allowing it to pull up a building that looks completely abandoned.

“It looks like an empty building. Easy enough for dumbasses to attempt another hostage situation.” I slam the laptop shut, my mind shifting to the duties of my job.

My purpose.

No one will have to suffer what I went through. Not As long as I’m alive.

“What’s the ransom for this one,” Mal speaks through with disgust practically pouring into the ear device.

I stare off into the light flicking above the dive bar door. “Two million.” My knuckles flex as I squeeze it in, the joints cracking.

“Let’s go.”