Free Malice's Possession by Jenika Snow Page A

his focus was on Phillip. He obviously wouldn’t know who he was just by looking, but she could see how clenched his jaw was, heard the sound of his rapid, harsh breathing, and saw that he kept clenching and unclenching his hand. He knew. “Malice?” She said his name softly, and after a few seconds he finally turned her way.
    “That’s him ,” he said between clenched teeth, but she didn’t need to nod or verbally tell him that it was Phillip because she could see in his grey eyes that the knowledge was already there.
    Adrianna didn’t know what she expected him to do, but reaching into his cut and getting his phone out wasn’t one of them. He dialed a number and put the phone to his ear. After a moment he told someone to meet them at the bank. She looked over at Phillip again and saw him going into the one and only bar in Fairview. It was barely nine in the morning , but he had always been thirsty no matter the time of day.
    “Stay in the van, Adrianna ,” Malice said in a hard, cold voice. He looked at her again, and she swallowed roughly.
    She thought he was going to climb out of the vehicle and go after Phillip , but he didn’t move. “What are you going to do?”
    He shook his head and focused on the bar across the street. “Nothing that doesn’t need to be done.”
    His cryptic words had her stomach tightening. But Adrianna didn’t move, and she sure as hell didn’t try to get out of the van. She felt safe with Malice, and the thought of leaving that feeling and his side, especially with Phillip just across the street, was not a step she was going to take. By the time the sound of a motorcycle pierced her thoughts it had been almost twenty minutes later. The time had seemed to stand still as she sat beside Malice in this very uncomfortable silence. The man she had heard Malice call Rock pulled his bike to the curb right in front of the van. He took off his helmet, and his shaggy blond hair stood up around his hair. He had dark sunglasses on, and when he turned she could see ink coming up from under the collar of his shirt and leather vest.
    “I’ll be right back.” Malice was out before she could even respond.
    Adrianna watched him walk over to Rock, who was dismounting off his bike. They spoke too softly for her to hear what was being said even though the windows were open, but even if she hadn’t seen Rock look over at the bar she knew they were speaking about Phillip. After a few minutes it wasn’t Malice that came back to the van and sat in the driver’s side, but Rock. She looked at him for a minute, wondering what was going on and if she should even ask. But right when she opened her mouth Rock started the engine and put the van in reverse.
    “Malice has some business to take care of but will meet us back at the clubhouse.”
    “But my money, Phillip, and will Malice be okay—”
    Rock shook his head. “Don’t worry about any of that right now. I was just told to take you back to the club, and I’m not about to argue with Malice.”
    She was so stunned that she didn’t even argue. She looked at Malice and saw that he was watching her. But he didn’t stare at her long. He turned and walked across the street and right into the bar that Phillip had gone in.
    ****
    Leaving Adrianna like that without a word on what he was doing hadn’t been the classiest move, but then again Malice wasn’t a classy type of guy. He acted first and thought about the repercussions later. Right now he wanted to beat the shit out of that fucking little prick that had hurt Adrianna. She might not have come out and told him that it was him across the street, but her body’s reaction, and the way she looked like a deer caught in the headlights told him his answer. So, without thinking and just calling Rock over to take Adrianna back to the clubhouse, Malice had made his way to the bar.
    He pulled the door open and stepped inside the dark smoky room. Some sappy country song played overhead, and although it was