Malice (Dahlia Saga Book 1)

by Natalie Bennett

  MALICE

  A DAHLIA SAGA NOVEL

  International Bestselling Author

  NATALIE BENNETT

  Copyright

  Malice by Natalie Bennett/BB Books

  © 2019 by Natalie Bennett. All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any written, electronic, recording, or photocopying without written permission of the publisher or author. The exception would be in the case of brief quotations embodied in the critical articles or reviews and pages where permission is specifically granted by the publisher or author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. KU67

  Editing By: Pinpoint Editing

  Cover Design: Opulent Swag and Designs

  Dahlia Saga

  The Dahlia Saga contains extremely dark themes and is not intended for the faint of heart.

  Please note this is a work of fiction meant only for entertainment purposes. It does not mean that I condone the activities portrayed within. If you are seeking a story that has a traditional happily ever after, you may not want to continue.

  *Each book can be read as a standalone, however, below is the recommended reading order. *

  Reading Order

  Malice

  Obscene

  Depravity

  Malevolence

  Iniquity

  Debauchery

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Dahlia Saga

  Playlist

  Goodbye Sanity

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  PART TWO

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Playlist

  (Spotify)

  Goodbye Sanity

  In Riverview, there's a place known as Devil’s Peak, a beautiful canyon that has tiny slivers of streams running across its dusted floor.

  It’s where I discovered that madness and insanity tended to go hand in hand.

  I met him there that day—unintentionally.

  Of course, I didn’t know then what hid behind his mischievous smile. I never knew a monster lurked beneath his beautiful façade.

  The signs were all there, though, and I couldn’t tell you why I chose to ignore them. He was a wolf in wolves clothing, and I just so happened to be a lost little lamb.

  I think that’s what brought us together.

  I know it’s what tore us apart.

  Looking back, though, I wouldn’t change a thing. Not our beginning, and especially not the ending, because where we ended is really where our story began.

  Chapter One

  I’d waited too late in the day to go for my run but sitting in the house had made me restless. The knife I had hidden underneath the bathroom sink kept whispering my name, and if I didn't leave, I would end up playing in a puddle of my blood. Just thinking about the serrated blade splitting open my flesh and the blissful intoxication that came with it, the endorphins that would flood through my brain and urge me to continue, made me giddy.

  I pulled a deep breath of air into my lungs and let it slowly expel. I jogged for this reason alone. I needed a distraction from my mind and being outside always seemed to help, even if it was just for a little while. Especially when I got to see the canyons. Being around them brought a sense of peace.

  With Banks blaring through my earbuds I couldn’t hear my runners kissing the asphalt, but as I made a rash decision to dart to the other side of the street without checking behind me, the sound of screeching tires

  I screamed, picking up speed to get myself out of the way. A large muscle car skid to a stop a few feet ahead, the clean exterior now covered in a light sheen of dust. I pulled my earphones out in time to hear a slew of expletives pour from the driver.

  Bringing a shaky hand to my chest, I cast a nervous glance at the classic car, and then turned away. The smell of burnt rubber lingered in the humid air and I knew without a doubt that I’d unintentionally pissed off the person behind the wheel.

  My muscles coiled as the engine revved and tires spun.

  With a speed that had dust particles rising back into the air, the car zipped passed me just so the driver could cut me off.

  "What the fuck are you doing?" A man opened the driver door and got out. He had sunglasses on obscuring his eyes, but I could feel them burning holes into me. I scanned him over from head to toe and my mind flashed with instant recognition.

  "I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

  "You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today, otherwise I wouldn't have changed course," he stated flippantly.

  "Then you’re an asshole." I glared at him and walked past the trunk, feeling his gaze follow me.

  "Morgana," said his deep voice with a swooning amount of sultriness. The amusement in his tone, now that he realized who I was, irritated me.

  "Great," I muttered, turning to face him. Of all the people I could encounter on a barren country road, it had to be Julian Andreou.

  The sunglasses on his face may have prevented me from seeing his eyes, but they didn't hide his prominent jawline, slight stubble, or the dark eyebrow he had raised at me.

  "I was distracted too." He gave me a smile that had deep dimples appearing on his cheeks. Like water on a flame, my anger was immediately doused.

  "Is that your apology for almost killing me?"

  He chucked and adjusted his stance, so he was standing at his full height, one hand lazily propped on top of his car door.

  I frowned up at him, and my reflection peeked back at me in his aviators. God, I looked a hot mess. Strands of balayage brunette hair had escaped my fishtail braid, and perspiration coated my skin.

  He reached up and removed his sunglasses, allowing the full intensity of his gaze to meet mine.

  His green hues were laser focused on my person, causing my stomach to dip for an entirely different reason.

  Julian was a gorgeous, immaculately groomed man.

  He was also aware of that. His ego did not need any more strokes, so I made a conscious effort to act indifferent. Cognizant that
I was only wearing a sports bra and tiny yoga shorts, I wrapped my arms around my middle as if they were a shield.

  "I think you’re the one who owes me an apology considering that I was distracted by staring at you. Something I've been doing for close to a year now." He enunciated each word slowly, dragging his burning gaze up and down my body.

  "Goodbye, Julian." Shaking my head, I turned on my heel and continued walking. Seconds later a door slammed shut and he pulled off.

  I couldn't hide my amused smile when his car pulled up beside me, moving forward at a snail's pace.

  "Get in, I'll take you home," his smooth baritone voice called softly.

  I wanted to say yes, but the rumors about his family swirled around in my head causing me to hesitate.

  Glancing over at him, I quickly looked away when my cheeks heated in shame as I realized what I was doing. I was judging him, just like everyone in town did me.

  The people who knew the least about you always had the most to say. In Riverview, gossip spread faster than wildfires. The townspeople took a truth, twisted it, and let it run wild with lies. Just last week a girl gave a boy a small kiss on the cheek, that trivial incident was spun into a story about her giving blowjobs in church.

  It was a quaint town, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, unless you were someone like me. A girl who had been affixed with a crazy label.

  "Come on, Morgana. I only want to take you home." His words were saturated with double meaning. I glanced over again expecting to see his cocky signature smirk, but all he gave me was a genial smile.

  I bit my inner cheek and pulled my cell from my pocket to cut off my music, considering the offer. My desire to jog was officially gone and home was still thirty minutes away.

  Everyone around me trusted Julian and his family. I wasn’t sure if that was because his family owned this town or if it was him genuinely being a decent person. Either way, I tried to think of a reason why I shouldn’t and couldn’t come up with one right then. Maybe it was the heat.

  I lifted my shoulders in a small shrug and nodded. “Okay.”

  His car came to an abrupt halt before the two-syllable word finished rolling off my tongue. He got back out and came around to open the passenger door for me.

  Our eyes met briefly before I diverted my attention to the road. Brushing past him, I slid into the passenger seat, settling myself against the cool leather.

  He returned to the driver’s side and shut the door. I almost changed my mind, but as if he could sense me about to do just that he hit the gas and the car lurched forward.

  As scenery of fields and cows flew by, I wondered what would have happened if I’d never gotten in the car.

  Chapter Two

  Julian kept his eyes trained on the road, glancing at me every few minutes. The sleeves of his navy dress shirt were rolled up, revealing the sun-kissed skin underneath.

  Based on the condition of his hands, smooth but not without wear and tear, I knew he wasn’t afraid to do manual labor, to get his hands dirty. Something about that made him so much sexier.

  Aware that I had been staring longer than socially acceptable, I turned my head and looked straight ahead.

  Being in a small space with him, breathing in his cologne, had a dizzying effect. Ugh, I felt like a horny teenage girl. Thankfully he reached out and turned up the AC. Cold air circulated, giving my heated skin a reprieve and cooling my dirty thoughts.

  "You've been here three years now, Morgana?" He pulled engaged me with a random question.

  "Um, almost four. Why?"

  "No reason,” he replied, not saying anything else for a few minutes, looking deep in thought. As discreetly as possible, I watched him from the corner of my eye.

  Julian wasn't a stranger, not in the typical sense. If he was, I wouldn't have gotten in the car with him. I may have been naive at times, but I was never downright stupid. The Andreous owned Riverview. Julian's father, Gareth, was from generations of old money.

  My dad was new money and had somehow landed on Gareth's radar a few years ago, resulting in our small family of five relocating to Riverview almost two years ago now.

  I never asked what my dad's work entailed, opting to leave my head in the clouds. I knew it had something to do with finance and accounting, the way they made dirty money clean. It was probably the only legal thing about the Andreous. That, in itself, said everything.

  They weren't a Mafia family, and I wouldn't consider them a branch of organized crime. They were rumored to have a madness that ran in their blood. Whack jobs that dabbled in everything from real estate to the kind of stuff no one dared speak about.

  I had never gone digging to find out how true the latter was. I was a firm believer that if you went searching for trouble, you would almost always find it.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Julian noted, pulling my full attention back to him.

  “Honestly, I’m not sure what to talk about.”

  "Well, how do you like it here?"

  “Uh.” I cleared my throat and adjusted how I was sitting. "Coming here...changed things." I knew my cryptic answer wasn't enough to hide the actual meaning behind my words.

  "Penny leaving had nothing to do with you, Morgana."

  I nodded as if I agreed, but I found that hard to believe. Things had gotten weird a few weeks before my sister disappeared. She left a note saying she was leaving, and that was it. Her car had been traded in for a Civic a few miles outside of town, and that was where the trail supposedly went cold.

  It was the randomness of the act that bothered me the most. Penny had it good in Riverview: friends, a job, and a few boyfriends. Her decision to suddenly go had never made any sense. And then to not tell me on top of that? We were close, or so I thought. I still wore the half-heart necklace she had bought for me. She wore the other half, always. She’d been my best-friend. Speaking about her wasn’t easy.

  Julian let silence settle between us, continuing to drive towards my house.

  As we moved away from the empty backroads towards civilization, he stopped at a four-way intersection the same time a familiar silver van did. The moment I saw who was inside of it I wanted to sink down and make myself invisible.

  I could picture Ms. Klimm’s dachshund secured in the passenger seat and being forced to listen to her judging anyone and everyone she saw. She was more than likely on her to that evenings mass, and knowing she saw us, would have a love story for the ages fabricated by the time she got there. That or I’d be the new town harlot.

  “Are you ashamed to be seen with me?” Julian asked once we cleared the intersection. There was something in his tone that gave me pause. Agitation maybe?

  “Of course not, but you know how rumors spreads around here. Do you really want the gossipers saying you’re with me of all people?”

  “You of all people. What does that mean exactly?”

  I was overcome with the sudden urge to chew my lower lip or nails. It was a tick, an annoying reaction I had anytime I got nervous or anxious. Julian made me both for too many reasons to list. He was the epitome of intensity. His attractiveness only made it worse. Every time we had been alone together, we were never truly by ourselves. We’d always been in a room full of people at some type of function or another.

  Opting to gnaw on my inner cheek instead, I took a few seconds to form a response. “I just—it’s nothing. You didn’t have to give me a ride.”

  "I'm aware of what I don't have to do. Stop deflecting from the question."

  “I’m not, it just isn’t a big deal.”

  “Then tell me why you said it.”

  “You know why.” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest and made a point to stare out the window, a rigid grimace contorting my lips. Why did he want me to say it out loud? It wasn’t any secret what people said about me.

  The whispers that found their way to my ears were just as harsh as the people whose judgement formed them.

  Cutter. Sick. Insane. Weird. Depressed. I’d heard dif
ferent variations of those words every time I was alone in public. Only my parents and Penny seemed to make the lingering stares find something else to focus on.

  Maybe that was why she left. The stigma that came attached to me had become too much for her to handle. Feeling my eyes began to burn, I blinked furiously to prevent any tears from falling. If there was one thing Julian couldn't stand, it was women being emotional. I'd seen up close how uncomfortable they made him. Not to mention how absolutely mortifying it would be to cry in front of him.

  “Shit.” He slowed the car to a near stop and reached across me to open the glove box, pulling out a small package of tissues. Four colorful rubbers fell out after them. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Here.”

  "You didn’t…but thanks." I cleared my throat and took the Kleenex, feeling childishly embarrassed at seeing his condom stash.

  At least he's protecting himself.

  I scooped them up and dropped the foil packets back into his glove box. "Shouldn't you carry those in your pocket?" I asked, swiping at my eyes.

  "Why would I do that?"

  "So, you're...prepared."

  "My dick being hard is me prepared."

  I couldn’t suppress my laughter, looking maniacal I’m sure with tears threatening to spill down my face. It was slightly easier to relax after that. He didn’t push anymore, and we slipped into a somewhat comfortable silence.

  It wasn’t until he made the turn that would take him to Ocean Avenue, the street where my house sat, that Julian spoke again.

  “Do you have a phone on you?”

  I glanced at him from my peripheral. “No. I left it on my bed.”

  His fingers flexed around the steering wheel. “Then how did you plan on getting home?”

  "The same way I would have if you didn't almost run me over."

  He looked at me with a frown marring his face, unimpressed with my sarcasm. " Is this a habit of yours? Wandering off alone so close to sunset?"

  "Do I usually jeopardize my life by running in front of traffic so that I can spend the day with an extremely attractive man? Not normally, no.”

  His lips twitched as he fought a smile and lost. "You think I'm extremely attractive?"