Assistant to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain, #1)

by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

“Are you…crying?” He was horrified, it was so plain in his voice, and she wanted so badly to shrink away from him, but of course her injured ankle kept her locked in place. “No. I have a condition where my tear ducts produce an excess of warm, salty water when I’m tired or in distress.”

“I’m hardly taller than the average man,” he said flatly. “I feel like I’m being carried by a tree.”

I LOVE THEM SO MUCH ALREADY

The Villain had his hand around her ex-lover’s shoulder, squeezing so tightly that she could see Rick’s face pinched and frightened as he tried to lean away. “Luck is something you will most certainly need if you ever bother her again.”

YES.

extended the invitation for her to come in the first place; he could have easily found a way to blend into the background of the disgusting tavern on his own. But he seemed to make better decisions when she was near, less impulsive, more strategic. She steadied him like an anchor to a wayward ship, and he couldn’t resist bringing her near so that he would not drift too far into his hatred.

But he was so happy to see her. What an obscene, unnecessary emotion, but there it was. He was happy… How positively vile.

“But when you accused me of being deceitful…” Trystan’s shoulders straightened. “It hurt me. You didn’t even give me the chance to explain.” It hurt me. He wondered if it would scar her for life if he threw himself from the window.

I want to know you. Trystan felt unfettered fear as he sat there, because for the first time in a decade, the idea of that didn’t sound so very bad. And yet, he somehow knew in his bones she was going to be the death of him eventually.

“Whatever he did, whatever happened that you ended up harmed, you are under no obligation to share it with me,” he called out, and when she turned around, he looked uncomfortable, like his clothes were too tight. “But if there is ever a time when you decide you do not want him existing in the same world as you are, I hope you know, I will enjoy destroying him.”

He didn’t feel ruined with Evie, though. He felt reborn. What a fucking disaster.

The caricature was amusing. But what truly caught his attention, making him do a slight double take, was the look on his assistant’s face. There was a mischievous tilt to her mouth, a maniacal satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.

He had a wild thought of getting a hundred more of those hideous depictions of him hung around the room, just to keep seeing that look on her face.

When it comes to the thing one loves most, Trystan thought before running out in the open toward the grate, the sounds of Sage’s screaming protests behind him, it is always better to be trapped together than free and apart.

Trystan was dreaming.

THWY ARS EVWRYTHIG TO MEE OMFGGGG

But they were there, so plainly it was almost comical. He was in love with her.

Of all the foolish, horrific things he’d ever accomplished, falling in love with a woman he so completely didn’t deserve made the top of his list.

She was everything he never deserved but longed for anyway.

He was ruined. But he loved her anyway.

He was a good kisser, but of course he was. Attractive murderers were always good kissers; she was pretty sure she’d heard that expression before.

“Killing someone is never the answer.” Clare frowned. “I admire your moral heart, little sister,” he said. “But killing is often my favorite answer.”

“There is no room in my world for someone who hurt me the way you did. You do not belong walking on the ground I walk or breathing the air I breathe. You don’t get to move on or be redeemed. Your story is finished. Whatever happens to you now is of no concern to me.”

MARRY ME EVIE