Page 15 of Sweet Venom

I start feeling around the top of the desk, looking for anything that could put out light. That's when I remember Ellis keeps tablets for the VIP floor in the shelving unit behind his desk. Since I'm already on my knees, I crawl the short distance behind me until I feel the cabinets and pull one open. As I run my hands over the contents, I feel paper, folders, pens, and a printer. Damn it. I scoot over and open the next door, and my hands immediately land on a tablet. Yes.

With the tablet in hand, I stand up to illuminate the office and contemplate my next move. I was planning on calling Ellis, but I'm unsure if the landline will work now that the lights are out. As I hit the home key to wake up the tablet, I hold it out in front of me to light the way, only to be met with the most sinister set of eyes I've ever seen.

"Looking for something?"

Chapter 6

The Enemy

I fucking swear she does this shit just to incite me. It's like she knows I thrive on it. This morning, I unlocked the door to her room and let her go. She wasn't giving me what I wanted. I knew I couldn't keep her in there too long without hearing about it from Ellis. He knows she's back, and I'm sure it was only a matter of hours before he discovered what I had done. Ellis has his place wired with security. He doesn't need to text or call Vivi to know what she's up to. He can just pull up an app on his phone. One I'm sure he's been glued to, knowing that she's back. So, of course, I had to hack the system and run a loop of older footage that showed her coming and going, but I knew my time with that trick was quickly coming to an end. In fact, I know he suspects something because I received a text from him today.

Ellis: Be nice to my girl.

It came through after I left the house this morning, so I'm not sure what exactly he knows. She either finally broke down and decided to call him to inform him of what I had done this past week, or he caught on to my loop.

But none of that matters now. What matters now is that I fucking let her go, and she's here, choosing me over him, and I'm on the edge of not giving a fuck about what happens anymore. Truthfully, I've been there for months, and not just as it concerns Vivian Fiori. She just happens to be the tastiest morsel currently caught in my web.

I was turned on the second I realized what she had done here tonight. The balls of this woman to go up against me and think for a second she would win is commendable and certifiable all at once. She is crazy to think I wouldn't hit back at all costs. I am not Ellis. We were not cut from the same cloth, and tonight she's about to find out just how different we are.

After she stabbed me with her stiletto and took off down the hall, I was livid and rock hard. A better man would have let her go, but I am no saint, and there was no way I could let her go. Not tonight.

Here's the thing: I know I'm fucked up. I know my emotions don't translate like a normal person's. ‘Normal’ being someone who wasn't raised by their six-year-old brother from infancy because their parents were complete deadbeat drug addicts. Ellis did his best, but he was a kid himself, for fuck’s sake—but I saw a different kind of ugly. He wasn’t always there to protect me. Some people can forgive and grow from the hate in their hearts, but not me. I embraced it until all I had left was my anger. Some may say that makes me a cynic, but I say it makes me smart. People are shit. It’s not a matter of if they will let you down, but when.

In my wrath, I am wise. My enemies don't dare try and take a measure of its bounds. So tonight's turn of events more than excites me.

After she headbutted me and took off down the hall, I knew precisely where she was going, and I couldn't be more pleased. It's where I was trying to get her all along, but of course, she had to be defiant. She couldn't just come willingly, but I won't balk at all this fun. The little vipera wants to play, but she doesn't know I don't lose.

The offices at all of our clubs double as lockdown rooms. Our father, Nico Serra, is a tech giant, holding cyber security contracts with three top G7 countries. If Nico suggests anything, Ellis will follow suit without question, and since he was a silent partner when we went into business, it stuck. The room can only be opened by those with fingerprint access to the biometric scanner, something I'm surprised Ellis granted her, but fuck if I'm not happy about it now. The little vipera thought she was escaping by running in here. Little did she know she was running right into my lair.

While the room does seal upon hitting the button on the wall, my fingerprint, as a Lykos, is programmed to override any system-issued command. Her fake bravado is failing her now. Clearly, she fears me. The panic I caused her is no doubt coursing through her veins and pounding loudly in her ears because, in her haste to keep me out, she missed me slipping in, and now I have her right where I want her.

Rising to her feet, she's still oblivious to my presence at her side. It's not until she holds up the tablet for light that she finds me waiting in the shadows, ready to pounce.

"Looking for something?" I say, my voice dripping with malice.

I don't give her a chance to respond before I strike, grabbing her by the throat, restricting her ability to speak, and nearly cutting off her air supply. "Is this what you wanted? You like pissing me off?"

Her hands frantically grip my arm as she tries to loosen my grip and find air. I'm just about to give it to her when I feel the sting of her nails bite into my skin, and the idea of her marking me is more than I can handle. I release her throat, and she gasps for air. In her moment of respite, I take the upper hand once more, ensuring there is no mistake about who is in charge. Spinning her around, I pin her arms behind her back before pushing her onto the desk hard.

"Let me go, asshole." She yells hoarsely as her voice cracks with strain.

I can't help but smile, knowing she'll remember my hand being wrapped around her dainty throat for days. "I did that once, but rather than leave, you sought me out for more, and since you're hell-bent on getting it…" I adjust my grip, holding her wrist with one hand so that the other can lift up her barely-there dress that she wore to taunt me. Once her perfect ass is exposed, I slap it hard before pressing my erection against her firm cheeks, grateful and pissed for the barrier my pants provide all at once before adding, "This is what you wanted, right? It's why you thought to wear this dress that barely covered your ass and a garter belt set with no panties."

When she doesn't immediately answer, I pump into her harder, lifting her feet and nudging the desk simultaneously. "Where's that fight now, Vivian? You think Ellis will still want you back after his brother fucked his girl?"

"I fucking hate you." She rasps out before pushing back into me, making me bite my lip hard so that I don't hiss out my desire to be buried balls deep right now. "You're clearly enjoying yourself."

Releasing her wrist, I reach for her hair, tugging it back while bringing my lips to her ear. "No, la mia piccolo vipera, that's where we seem to differ. I don't enjoy hurting my brother, but I will, gladly, if it rids him of you."

Before I can make a move I'm sure I'd regret, the alarm on my phone sounds. Fuck. I knew it. There was a pattern until suddenly there wasn’t, and I was confident that after the moves I made this past week, something would go down this weekend. It only seems fitting it would be on the same damn night Vivian Fiori decides she wants to play games. Letting her go, I swiftly make my way to the conference table across the room where I left my phone earlier, adjusting myself as I do, then make my way toward the panel to flick the lights back on and bring up the security footage.

The only reason I was trying to get back to this room before leaving was to grab my phone. Once the lights are back on, I find Vivian pulling her dress down with a scowl on her face. When her eyes catch mine, they're ablaze with hate that matches my own, and I can't help but smirk, which only fuels the flames. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't love every second of her discomfort, opposition, and overall distaste. You can't hide behind your anger. It will beat you every time. Many people will tell you that you will regret what you do in anger. That you will be punished by your sharp tongue. But is anger not a truth—an unguarded, raw emotion? Why would we not harness it and let it be our strength?

"Don't look at me like that, and get out of my spot," I say as I return to my desk. Of all the nights for this shit to go down, it would be while she's here. Given the current company she's choosing to keep, I'm wondering if the two aren't related. I've been so focused on the other things that brought me back to San Jose that I haven't even explored that avenue. But before I can give it another ounce of thought, Vivian starts heading toward the door, stealing my focus again.

"Don't even fucking think about walking out that door."

Spinning around, she scolds, "You can't fucking keep me here. I'm not a damn possession—"

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