Page 159 of Volatile Obsessions

Chest heaving, I stormed over to where he laid, my boots thundering against the tiled floors. In one fluid movement, I fisted the front of his shirt and dug his vile ass back into the wall. “You raped her! You fucking raped her, you sick fuck!”

Vic—now pale as a ghost—shook his head nervously, a trail of blood dripping from his nose. Gallantry gone. “Not true! That’s not true! That’s what she wants you to believe!”

Growling, I slammed my fist in his face a second time. “Why the fuck would she want me to believe such an atrocity?”

“Because that’s what she does, always plays the victim card.” He spat more blood to the floor beside us. “Once she’s got you invested in her bullshit, she’ll ruin you, just like she’s done to me and anyone else standing in her way! It’s not true, I swear!”

I didn’t believe him for a split-second; the terror in Lux’s eyes when she’d recounted me with the sordid tale was all the proof I needed.

“What do you mean like you? She didn’t ruin you! You ruined her!”

He was clearly sick in the head.

“Of course she ruined me, you idiot—why do you think I wanted to take her down?” he countered, maxing out my ire to capacity.

“Well, I wouldn’t know because you never told me, remember?” I bellowed, shoving him towards the wall again.

Vic stilled for a fleeting moment, stumbling to regain his footing, but his expression quickly recasted from panicked to stout. A poisonous smile turned up the corners of his bloodied mouth as he righted himself, lifting his chin.

“Oh my… I see what’s going on here,” he rasped, wiping the veil on crimson staining his chin. “Did she tell you about how she met me, Rome?”

“Some, yes...” I nodded, fist coiled at the ready.

“What do you know?” he pressed, amusement coloring his tone.

“How you met her, what you did for you and Suki…”

“And did she tell you how she fucking robbed me of it?” he gritted out. “Just when I was close enough to the top, to my rightful reign as King, she snatched it all from right underneath my fucking feet. Worked her charm to relinquish all of my loyalties, all of my connections, for herself. Went behind my back and weaseled her way into the throne. And then, she led me on—to keep the peace and still use me to her advantage, she slept with me. Made me think eventually she’d be my Queen…”

Silence ensued.

Complete silence.

His Queen.

I couldn’t speak—didn’t know what to say. The visual stomping through my mind was more than I could bear to entertain. I’m not an idiot…I’d had in inkling he’d slept with her—at least once—based on how she was always a sore topic for him, but I didn’t think it went this far.

Far enough that she wouldn’t tell me about it.

Then again, the night she laid her soul bare to me, I’d cut her off right as she began explaining how she met Vic.

Had I let her continue, would she have told me?

“What’s wrong, Rome?” The bastard’s grin widened. “Let me guess, she didn’t tell you that? She didn’t tell you that she’d slept with me, right?”

“No,” I admitted, jaw nearly ground together.

“I’m sure you’ve not told her about me either. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have given you that pretty little pussy. It’s so fucking pretty, isn’t it? So tight, and warm. Such a pretty shade of pink…”

A deep-seated, possessive growl seethed within me. “If you value your life, you’ll shut up right about now.”

Vic chuckled darkly. “Look at you so hung up over her, even after I’ve just told you she’s been lying to you. Never thought I’d see the day again after Liza.”

“Shut. Up.” I warned a second time, but his taunting continued.

“You’re like two peas in a pod—two lying, backstabbing, pathetic little peas in a pod. You’ll eventually grow tired of her, though, might even resort to taking her by force to teach her a lesson, just like the rest of us. Don’t I say I didn’t warn when you find yourself snapping in a manic episode and—”

The tip of my handgun met his forehead.

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