Page 55 of Dice & Dekes

I can tell that Julie’s been dodging my calls, so when I still don’t get a reply from her, I cheat and call her from the phone at work.

She answers on the third ring. “Julie speaking.”

I lean back on the good chair in the break room. “Julie. So nice to hear your voice and not a prerecorded message.”

“Knova.” Is that guilt I detect in her voice? “Sorry I haven’t had a chance to call you back. I assume this is about—”

“The annulment.” I open a fun-size bag of cheese puffs. “Where are we with that?”

“Oh, it’s… coming along.”

I groan and let my head roll back. “Why was getting married so easy and getting out of it impossible?”

I toss a cheese puff into my mouth and chew like I’m mad at it. Marriage was supposed to be a joke. A headline. A hangover story.

Not… this thing that lives in my chest like a second heartbeat.

Julie sounds almost sympathetic. “You know how paperwork is. There’s a backup at the Clark County government center. Even Dante’s billions can’t grease the wheels.”

“Way to remind me that your husband’s loaded,” I grumble.

“So is yours,” Julie replies, deadpan. Goddammit, she and Dante deserve each other.

I grit my teeth. She means well—probably—but it feels like a slap. Like I’m some spoiled rich wife when I’m not a wife at all. Not in the way that she is.

“For now. Once the annulment goes through, it’ll be like this whole nightmare never happened. Can you at least give me a ballpark? Days? Weeks? Years? Just want to know how long I’ll be dealing with this.”

Julie sighs. “Not right now. I really don’t know.”

As I hang up, though, I wonder how true that is. Viktor and I have always had a complicated relationship, but it’s only going to get more complicated following our annulment. And speaking of which, what happens now that we have, in fact, consummated our relationship?

Was that the death knell or the beginning of something we don’t know how to name yet? The worst part is, I wanted it. I asked for it. I begged for it. And now, I feel like I RSVP’d to my own heartbreak.

There was a minute there where I actually considered giving this relationship a shot. Now I’m not so sure.

* * *

Viktor’s already at home when I arrive. That’s strange enough on its own, given how busy Dante keeps the team. Even when they’re not training or playing, the Venom attends all kinds of fundraisers, community events, galas, and whatever else Dante dreams up.

Even stranger, Viktor is dressed up. Not tuxedo-fancy, but dateworthy. I hate how hot that V-neck looks on him, how it accentuates his pecs and broad shoulders, how the sleeves hug his biceps. His dark jeans draw attention to all the good bits, too.

He’s standing there like a cover model for my worst decisions—chest poured into that shirt, arms looking unfair, hair all mussed like someone ran their fingers through it recently. My stomach flips. Stupid, stupid traitor of a stomach. I hate how good he looks. I hate that I notice how good he looks. I hate that part of memissedhim.

“Hey.” He looks up from his phone when he sees me and offers me a smile. He’s lying. I know it. I know that look. It’s the same one every guy wears when they’ve already decided they’re done with you, but won’t say it. “You’re still free tonight, right?”

I kick off my shoe and blurt the first lie that comes to me. “Actually, I have plans with Knight.”

Viktor’s smile turns bemused. “He texted you already?”

Shit. What does that mean? Did the PR gal plan some last-minute Venom event I don’t know about?

Caught in my lie, I backtrack. “Um, yeah. We’re doing that… thing.”Wow, Knova, how convincing. You think he buys it?

Viktor leans closer and wiggles his eyebrows at me. “You can call it what it is, babe.”

Although, of course, I can’t, because I haven’t got the foggiest idea what he’s talking about. “What would you call it?” I challenge.

His shit-eating grin takes up his whole face. “A date. A double date. Or maybe a couple’s party.”

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