Page 18 of Desperately Delicate Viper

Lust and confusion war on his face. “You’re really not going to hurt me, are you?” he asks, cocking his head and pulling his eyebrows together.

“No,” I say simply. “By the way, the chicken and waffles here will change your life.”

Anders blinks, sputters a laugh, then closes his menu. “Chicken and waffles it is.”

ANDERS

After the waiter comes by to take our order, I shift in my seat and look around the diner, mostly because it’s less awkward than staring silently at Luca. What kind of small talk are you supposed to make with the mafioso you fucked to tears and then robbed?

“So, what kinds of movies do you like?” he asks.

I chuckle. “Movies? Really?”

“What would you rather talk about?”

My mind goes blank, and I realize it’s been a really long time since anyone has asked me anything like that. The only way my dad communicates is through insults and violence, believe it or not my clients don’t tend to want to make small talk, and as much as I love Finn, he mostly just wants to talk about his own shit. It’s better that way though. It’s easier to lie to him about my life if I don’t have to talk about it at all.

“Mindless action movies,” I say. “I just want to turn my brain off and watch shit blow up.”

Luca grins, and there’s something so disarming and unguarded about the way the smile lights up his face that it makes me want to kiss him and kick him in the shin at the same time.

“It’s fun to watch shit blow up. I’ve always been a big fan of over-the-top slasher flicks too. They’re just so campy and ridiculous, it’s hard to hate them.”

I nod and lean forward an inch. “Have you ever seenChopping Mall? It’s eighties slasher movie perfection.”

“Hell yes.Dude Bro Party Massacre IIIis probably my favorite. It’s more of a parody, but it’s so damn stupid and amazing it’s become a comfort watch for me.”

I laugh, trying to imagine him in a pair of cozy flannel pajamas, eating popcorn and watching a stupid murder movie all by himself in the dark.

“I haven’t seen that one,” I admit. “I’ll have to put it on my list.” Saying it out loud makes me think about the not-too-distant future, just a few weeks from now when I’ll be somewhere else… I’ll be someoneelse.

Our food comes, and Luca was right, it’s the best chicken and waffles I’ve ever had. While we eat, we talk about more delightfully bad movies and for a little while, it almost feels like we’re two normal guys on a first date instead of a pair of criminals doing… what? Sizing each other up? I’m not quite sure, honestly.

He pays for the meal when we’re done, and a sliver of guilt niggles at the back of my mind over the lie I told him. It’s not like it was a big lie. Technically I still have the money I took from him, but I know I need it more than he does. Shouldn’t that count for something?

“You never answered my question,” I remind him on our walk back to his car. His hand rests on my lower back, the same way it did when he led me out of Wonderland the other night—claiming without being pushy and controlling,comfortingeven though I know who he is now.

“Which question is that?”

“Why?” I ask, just like I did earlier. “Why take me to dinner? Why track me down if you aren’t planning to kill me?” I stop when we reach his car, turning to look at him. “Why pick me up in the first place? I’m sure there areplentyof nice guys in this city who would trip over themselves to have your attention.”

Luca’s mouth draws into a smirk, and he brings a hand up to my face, dragging his thumb along my bottom lip. I part them and dart my tongue out to tease the soft indents of his fingerprint, holding his gaze and waiting for him to answer my question.

“I don’t want anice guy, Anders. I thought I’d made that pretty clear by now.” I nip at his fingertip and his eyes smolderwith lust. I wait for the usual disdain to ice my veins, but it doesn’t come. The way Luca looks at me feels different from anyone else, and that should probably scare me a hell of a lot more than it does.

“Whyme?” I repeat, adding a little more force behind the words. I don’t want him to keep dodging this. “Am I an exotic pet you’re hoping you can tame?” I catch the full tip of his thumb between my teeth and bite down a little harder, watching his pupils dilate as he hisses through his teeth. “Or do you think I need saving? Because if it’s that one, don’t waste your time and energy. I’m already saving myself.”

“I have no doubt about that, my little viper.” He hums, shoving his thumb in again when I let up with my teeth, pressing it against my tongue. “But I don’t think I have an answer that’s going to satisfy you. I saw you at Wonderland and I could tell that none of the men who were clamoring for your attention were going to be able to appreciate you. Something about the look in your eyes made me want to show you the side of myself I’ve never trusted anyone else with.”

My heart beats faster and I wrap my hand around his wrist to pull his thumb out of my mouth, dragging the damp digit down my chin, my throat, all the way to the V-shaped dip in the collar of my t-shirt.

“And what do you expect to happen now? Are you planning to pay me my nightly fee indefinitely to keep everyone else’s hands off of me? It might be cheaper just to buy me outright, keep me locked up in a tower like a princess where no one can touch me but you. It’ll be like a promotion—instead of getting turned out, I’ll be a sex slave just for you.” My voice gets lower and deadlier with every word, my grip on Luca’s wrist tightening until I’m sure I’m grabbing him hard enough to leave bruises, but he doesn’t so much as flinch.

“I was thinking more along the lines of ‘boyfriend,’ but we can bicker about the title later,” he says calmly.

I let go of him and yank my hand back like I’ve been burned. My throat tightens and I try to laugh but, embarrassingly, it comes out sounding a lot more like a sob.

“Fuck off,” I mutter.

---