Page 40 of The Vipers and Their Venom

When we go back into the main room, Lex looks at the other two and sternly says, “I’ll be walking Venom home now. If she decides to grace us with her presence again, there will be a rule. One word and it stops.”

Saint yawns and rolls his eyes but then nods. Zane says nothing, and the dark hunger in his gaze does nothing to assure me he’d do as Lex says. Or as I say. Zane is a rule unto himself, a total force of nature. It’s nice that Lex has offered to protect me, but I doubt anything or anyone could protect me against Zane or stop him if he decided he wanted me.

Again, that little thrill at the thought runs through me. I shake my head. I need my own bed.

“See you,” I say pathetically.

Zane lifts his hand and waves once, and Saint smirks. Fucking asshole.

Lex holds the door open for me and follows me out into the dark.

23

LEX

After I’ve walked Vani back to her room, I return to the mansion.

Saint and Zane are in the same position I left them, watching re-runs of sports on the television. They’ve dived into the snacks now, too, and I screw up my nose at their choices. Zane, I can understand having poor taste in food, since, though he has Greek heritage, he grew up in the States, but Saint has no excuse.

“I hope you’re not getting a taste for that rubbish,” I say to him, smacking at his feet to get them off the coffee table. “I thought you knew better.”

He plunges his hand deep into the bucket of popcorn and tosses some kernels into his mouth. He shrugs and says, “It fills a hole.” Then a sly grin crosses his face. “Speaking of filling holes…”

I know exactly what he’s referring to, or perhaps I should say who. “Do you think she’ll come back after how you treated her?”

Saint shrugs again. “They normally do. They pretend they don’t like it, but then it’s my voice they hear when they’re playing with themselves.”

Arrogant fuck, how does he know it’s not mine? Or that they don’t think of Zane when they close their eyes? Saint has always had more confidence than anyone has a right to.

Zane picks up his tablet.We need to check the cameras from the office.

Shit, he’s right. “I’d forgotten all about that.”

“Me, too,” Saint agrees. “Think you can handle it?”

I twist my lips and nod. “Yeah, I think so.”

I retrieve my laptop from its bag and set up at the table. The glow from the screen illuminates my face and the space behind me as I run my fingers over the keys. My attempt to hack into our college’s security takes all my focus, and I’m barely aware of the other two in the room. Even when they let out a yell and high five each other because someone scores, I don’t look up.

I’m not the best at this, but I can do the basics. I’ve done it before back home when Saint and I wanted information on various enemies. Our father has an excellent hacker working for him, and she taught me the basics. I think our father fucks her as well, but he fucks a lot of women, so nothing new there.

After about thirty minutes, I announce, “I’m in.”

Movement comes around me as Zane positions himself at one shoulder and Saint the other. I drill down to find the exact camera I need, and then isolate the footage, and hit play.

I sit back. “Let’s find out what Nathaniele has seen.”

“Fast forward it a bit,” Saint says.

I do because I didn’t enter until later.

I wait for the moment I see myself or Vani, but there’s no movement onscreen. The corridor outside the office remains dark and quiet.

Saint frowns, and I lean in. “I don’t understand. I’d followed Vani into the office by now. Why didn’t the camera catch it, or her picking the lock?”

Zane signs,You’re sure of the time?

I nod. “Positive.”

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