Page 31 of Villainous
I need to get away from these drunk people, so I tell Devious I’ll be out in the living room. I sit on the couch and watch a few of my second cousins play. My uncles and aunties are around, chatting and laughing with each other. Draco has two sisters and a brother, and Polina has five older brothers. I don’t see them as often as I should; the only time I see them is when we have a death in the famiglia. Our famiglia is not as tight-knit as it used to be.
I spot Zeta, and shock colors her face. I’ve been avoiding her like the plague. She ambles toward me, then flops down next to me, her leg touching mine. Even in high school, she could never take a hint. I never liked her—she was always pushy, and I didn’t like how she treated Maya either.
“Long time no see,” she states.
Berserk is her brother, and he wouldn’t approve of me being with her. He never did. Her parents tried to bargain with me to marry her after Maya left, but I turned them down. And Draco didn’t want me to marry her because it didn’t benefit him.
I don’t respond, but I nod at a few people I know.
“Since I’m in town, you want to get some coffee? If you don’t have a girlfriend.”
I push myself off the couch. “No to the coffee.”
She cocks her eyebrows and picks invisible lint from her pencil skirt. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Maya, I want to say, but I bite my tongue. I don’t know if she would want me to claim her as that. Sometimes when I’m around her, the lines are blurry, and I forget she’s my captive. In my head, I always see her as something more than just a pussy hole I screw.
I don’t bother responding, so I take the elevator to the entertainment room.
The light from the projection screen displays, and I spot Roselyn perched in the second row with a big bucket of popcorn on her lap. I sit next to her, and she smiles, but her eyes have dark circles around them like a raccoon.
“You’re going to miss your own party,” I say to her.
She sits up straighter. “I’m so fucking sick of people asking me if they can rub my belly, to feel if the baby is kicking. I’ve been hiding from your aunt Agnese—she keeps pinching my cheeks and telling me how adorable I am.”
I pet her head. “You’re cute like a puppy.”
She glares at me as if I killed her cat and swipes my hand away. “Shut up.”
I laugh and lean back in the velvet chair. We sit in silence for a few seconds, and my eyes veer to the screen.
“I’ve been having a lot of pain in my abdomen.”
“Have you told Devious?”
Frowning, she shakes her head. “No, please don’t. You know how he is.”
A controlling bastard. But I can’t talk shit about him because I’m the same way. It’s in the Vitali blood.
“Do you need to go to the ER?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “The doctor said it’s perfectly normal to have some pain.” She holds out the tub of popcorn. “Do you want some?”
There is too much butter and fat for me. I don’t eat anything that’s not healthy. I’d rather get hit by a bus than eat salty food.
“No, thank you,” I say.
“Suit yourself, more for me. I was only offering just to be nice.” She stuffs a handful of the popcorn in her mouth. “Don’t tell Devious I’m eating this. He has me on an eating plan for the baby so he can get all the nutrients, but I’ve been craving salty and spicy food.”
I cross my heart. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Her eyes go back to the screen. I really like Roselyn; she has a way of making you feel like you’re a person. I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel at peace around her. I can see why Devious is drawn to her.
“You know,” she begins, trying to make conversation. “Gone Girlis pretty good.”
I’m not big on watching television, and I couldn’t tell you what the latest stuff is that’s out there. My hobbies are sleeping and working out.
“Is this what you’re watching?”
