Page 40 of Villainous
My pulse beats faster as his sandalwood scent lingers in my nostrils. I wish I wasn’t so sexually drawn to him. I wish I didn’t have the urge to fuck him. I wish I wasn’t so in tune with him. How many times does this man have to shit on me for me to get the memo that he doesn’t want me?
“You were barely in here anyways,” I snap. I didn’t mean to, but he pissed me off to the max. I’m starting to feel like I’m going so crazy that I need to be locked in a mental hospital.
He snorts, but I don’t care. He shuts the glass balcony doors and curls up in bed with his icy body next to mine. I hate the tension between us and how my body wants to wrap itself around him, and I know him sleeping this close to me seems intimate, but it’s not. Not once has he wrapped his arms around me when we lie together. Even when he knew I was cold. He’s so heartless, so cold, and yet my heart still beats for him. I should write “stupid” on my forehead.
I turn on my side, hoping he isn’t trying to have sex with me. I was a fool to think I could win him over. I’m prey to him. Another person he can hurt. He’s always been like that. Always needs a reason to hurt someone. He’s going to make me crumble until there is no more of me left.
Maya
Iwant to get a head start on the small garden that I’m going to build during my time here. It gives me something to do, and I can keep my mind off other things. I brush my teeth, comb my hair, and throw on a black T-shirt, sweater, and sweatpants. It’s going to be warm in the greenhouse, so I don’t need to wear too much clothing. I close the bedroom door and head downstairs, passing a few maids and a butler who has a tray of food in his hand.
He slightly bows, showing me his bald head with sprouts of gray hair. “Miss Devoy. I was headed toward your room. Where would you like your breakfast?”
Oddly, I’m not in the mood to eat, but I grab the two plums from the tray and storm off toward the backyard. By the time I make it to the greenhouse, I’ve already eaten the fruit and tossed the seeds into the wastebasket. I remove my sweater, and after setting it in a green iron chair, I slide thick gloves on over my tiny fingers and take a look at the greenhouse with different varieties of plants. I begin to plant new flowers and veggies. This place makes me feel as if I have control over my life, as if there is a reason to live. It makes me forget everything. Sometimes you have to find peace in the midst of your chaos, and that’s what I’m going to do.
Several hours go by, and I hear the glass door open. I’m assuming it’s lunchtime and the annoying butler who follows me around like a puppy is ready to serve me.
“Can you leave the tray on the table near the entrance?” I ask, using the back of the glove to wipe my forehead.
“Is that how you greet me?” a familiar voice says.
I tear my eyes from the plant and glance up at Noemi. A smile spreads across my face as I rush up and hug her, getting a little soil on her thick blue coat. I have missed her this past week. It’s very lonely since I’m stuck here by myself, not having anyone to talk to. “I missed you.”
She pulls back from my embrace and removes her coat, then lays it on top of my sweater. “I missed you too.”
I lean against the metal table. Memories of Villainous fucking me over the table creep in my mind, and my cheeks flush. I shouldn’t allow him to get inside of my head. And I damn sure shouldn’t be thinking about him after the way he treated me. Why can’t I get this man out of my head? I need to let go of him. No more obsessing over him.
I push my head back and square my shoulders. “What happened? I thought you said you were spending time with your mother.”
She shrugs, then grabs herself a pair of gloves that are hanging on the glass wall next to a bag of soil. “She’s decided to go on a cruise with her new boyfriend, so I decided to see a few other relatives and come here and spend Christmas with you.”
I don’t think Villainous is going to allow me to have a proper Christmas, though. I shake my head—I’m not going to say it out loud because I don’t want to kill her Christmas spirit. At least she’s jolly around the holidays. Christmas is like two weeks away, and I’m going to dread it.
How does Villainous spend his Christmas? Does he spend it with his pets? Does he get them gifts? I want to know more about the last pet, Kate, that he had. But I doubt Noemi will tell me, and if I say anything to Villainous about it, then he’ll know Noemi told me, and I don’t want her to get into trouble.
I give her a fake smile. “That’s sweet. So, how is Vermont?”
She leans on a stack of heavy bags of fertilizer. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. I’m just…missing home.” My tone is light.
She grabs a hand shovel, then starts tossing dirt into a pot. “Where exactly is your home?”
“Seattle. With my mother and adoptive brother,” I tell her with sadness in my tone.
She gives me a curious glance. “Oh. I didn’t know you had an adoptive brother.”
The thought of not seeing him or hearing from him this year breaks my heart. I miss him dearly, and I’d give anything to see his chubby face, baby blue almond-shaped eyes, and reddish hair.
I nod. “I wish I could see him, you know?”
“What’s his name?”
“AJ.”
We are silent for a moment, listening to the sprinklers as they water the gigantic plants in the back.
She sets the hand shovel on the metal table and opens a pack of seeds, then dumps them in her pot. “There is a rumor going around that you used to date Villainous in high school. Is it true?”
