Queen of Wild Cards novel Chapter 117

In truth, Julius wanted to ask her where she had gone after middle school, but he swallowed the question before it could slip out. If he asked, she would instantly know he had been investigating her.

If she wanted to tell him, she would have brought it up when he asked how she had been doing all these years.

Her silence meant she didn't fully trust him yet, so he chose not to push.

He believed that one day, she would open up to him on her own terms.

So, he deftly shifted the topic. "Did you really bring that baseball bat to the Hawthorne house?"

"Yeah, I bought it online."

"Then why didn't you put it to good use? How did Frederick end up using it to threaten you? If I hadn't showed up right at that exact moment, would you have just let him hit you?"

"Of course not. If you had walked in just a second later, I would've caught his domestic violence on camera."

Julius couldn't help but laugh. He had been worried sick over nothing. It turned out this clever little woman had been baiting Frederick all along.

He knew it—she was never the type to take a beating lying down.

"So, are you saying I ruined your master plan?"

"No, your timing was flawless. The whole 'knight in shining armor' entrance was a nice touch. You coming in hot definitely put the fear of God into him."

"Do I get a reward for that?"

"What kind of reward do you want?"

Julius turned his head slightly and tapped his own cheek with his index finger.

Stella felt a rush of heat to her face, but she indulged him, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek.

But Julius cheated. Right as she leaned in, he turned his face toward her.

Stella's lips landed squarely on his.

Her eyes widened in shock. She tried to push him away, but his lips were impossibly soft, and she accidentally gave him a slight, instinctive nibble, like she was eating a piece of candy.

"Alright, fine, I cheated. If you're upset about it, you can kiss me back to get even. Come on!"

Julius closed his eyes and puckered his lips playfully.

"In your dreams. I'm not falling for that again." Stella grabbed her phone, retreated to the corner of the sofa, and booted up a mobile game, thoroughly ignoring him.

Julius let out a dramatic sigh of disappointment, turned around, and headed into his bedroom to shower.

He desperately needed a cold shower to cool off the fire she had just started in his veins.

Once Julius was out of the living room, Stella exited her game and quickly sent a message to Norma.

[Norma, do me a favor. Look up the guy who fell over near the left side of the main entrance at the Astoria Grand Hotel yesterday at 12:25 PM. His name is Steve.]

Ever since leaving the hotel, her mind had been entirely consumed by the mystery of her mother's ashes, followed immediately by the Hawthorne family blowing up her phone.

Now that the dust had settled and she knew Frederick wasn't the one who swapped the urn, she finally had the mental bandwidth to dig into that massive bruiser, Steve.