Shit.
He wouldn’t, would he?
“Winter!”
The man groaned and yanked off the ski mask, leaving Vandal’s hair as artfully tousled as usual. He looked disgusted, and he stroked his demonic beard in irritation. I punched the jerk squarely in the chest and he barely even oofed.
“You fucking bastard! You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“You can come in, Zero. She already safeworded,” he called.
The window behind me squealed open. I screamed bloody murder and squeezed past my stupid husband to get to the door. My other stupid husband came in through the window and then they were laughing at me and I was throwing things, and then they were telling me they were sorry in between not-very-sorry-sounding manly giggles.
“Why are you assholes here? I have to get these edits finished so I can upload before my preorder deadline!” The truth was, I was on my third read-through since final edits and I probably needed to stop being a perfectionist and upload the damned book. That was the hardest part for me.
“Have you checked your phone?” Zero demanded.
“No, I haven’t checked my goddamned phone! It’s off, the way it should be!”
Zero shoved his phone under my nose but I wasn’t sure what I was looking at.
“What?” I scanned the screen.
“Your book is number one in your category!”
I tried not to be excited, but it was hard not to be. Grabbing Zero’s hand so it would stop shaking around, I stared at the little orange banner. I may have taken a screenshot.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said truthfully. It was a small category, and I didn’t have a lot of competition.
“Ads are next—as soon as you get your next payment,” Zero said.
“I hate wasting the money.”
“It’s not a waste of money. Like I’ve told you, word of mouth is great, but it will only take you so far.”
“I wish you’d just let me pay for the ads,” Vandal grumbled. It was hard to tell if that was what he was feeling surly about, or whether it was because I’d safeworded and ruined his game. Seriously, though, what had he expected? If both of them had come in at the same time I might have caught on...if they’d both used the door. In disguises, when I was out here by myself? Hell no!
“How close are you to being done with your edits?” Zero asked, heat in his gaze as he pulled his mask back down. If he’d come in through the door first, I would have recognized him. His hair didn’t all fit under his ski mask, and his pale eyes were an instant giveaway.
“Fuuuck,” I murmured, going from irritated to hot for them in a matter of moments.
“I guess we can dispense with the gloves,” Vandal said, pulling the tactical gloves off, revealing his two wedding rings, which would have been another dead giveaway.
I bit my lip, eyeing my men speculatively. “Actually...could you put the gloves back on? They’re kinda hot.” I twisted the doorknob at my back, adrenaline singing through me.
Vandal laughed, pulling his mask down too, and tugging his glove back over his familiar fingers. Zero closed and locked the window he’d come through.
Did they really think I’d give in that easily?
“Don’t come any closer,” I warned.
I couldn’t see their wolfish smiles under those damned ski masks, but three years of playing dangerous games together meant I could read the set of their shoulders and the gleam in their eyes.
They were feeling mean, and it was turning me on.
I opened the door and fled, screaming, into the dark—the sound of booted footfalls and cruel laughter following close behind.