Page 46 of Villainous
Maya
Imove my checker across the black-and-red board, and Noemi perches across from me, sitting on a decorative black pillow. She places her hand under her chin as if she’s thinking really hard. We’ve been playing this game for thirty minutes. I’m glad she’s here to cheer me up—it’s refreshing to have someone smiling all the time. The staff working here don’t even smile most of the time. They walk around like robots.
She moves her black checker next to mine and plasters a gigantic smile across her face. “You’re not going to win this round like you did the last one.”
She lost two games already, and if I were her, I would have called it quits. “If you want to be a sore loser, go ahead and be my guest. I won’t stop you from embarrassing yourself again,” I say, channeling my inner competitive self. I’ve always been a competitive person. When I was in high school, I used to be on the volleyball and dance teams. It’s in my blood to be driven and wanting to come out on top. My da used to always say if you’re not number one, then you’re a loser.
I hear the front door slam shut, and chatter fills the foyer. Villainous stomps into the room, anger clouding his eyes. His jaw is clenched, and he grinds his teeth. Who pissed in his cereal this morning? For once, it wasn’t me setting him off like a ticking bomb. His gaze meets mine, and my heart beats loudly in my ears, my palms sweaty. His sandalwood scent flirts with my nostrils, and every cell in my body comes alive. Like a lovestruck fool, I want to go to him so he can wrap his arms around my waist. I need to see a therapist for this, because these feelings I still have for him aren’t normal. As I push my shoulders back, I school my features and put on my brave face.
Noemi gets to her feet, dusting off her dark clothing, and holds her head up high as if she’s about to endure whatever Villainous is going to throw at her. This could be a smart or stupid move because none of his staff stands up to him when he’s been an asshole. So I’m going with the latter, and if she values her job, she needs to do what he says because he will fire her. Villainous’s gaze burns a hole through her and then me and the checkerboard. He unhooks his cufflinks, exposing a small knife in a case taped to his wrist. Rolling up his dark sleeves to his elbows, he exposes his forearms, and I try to keep from staring..
“Get the hell out of here, Noemi,” he snaps.
She bows. “Yes, sir.” Then she leaves the room.
He eyes me up and down, pacing the beige marble floor as if he has something on his mind. I get up from the pillow and toss it onto the couch. “You know you don’t always have to be a dick. Sheesh. Do you ever have any happy days?”
A vicious smile spreads across his face, and he stalks up to me. I shouldn’t have said anything, because whatever he’s feeling, he might take it out on me. Swallowing hard, I take a step back and bend down to pick up the board and checkers and place them in a box. “She was trying to be nice, you know? Since I’m locked up as a sex slave and neglected.”
My words come out fast. It hurt my feelings that he didn’t even come home to check up on me. And I’m such an idiot to even crave his touch—he deprives me of the little things in life, and I hate it. Stupid, beautiful bastard.
After he made it clear he doesn’t want me and I’m just a warm hole for him to fuck, there is no reason for me to want him.
He shakes his head, sliding his hand inside of his pocket. “Do you have any happy days?” he mocks in my tone. “And the answer to your question is yes. Now, ask me when.”
I’m not in the mood for one of his mind games, but if I flat out ignore him, then he might punish me. But any attention is better than no attention. Right? As I place the box on my hip, I stomp up to him, and my gaze lifts to his. I hate how much taller he is than me. It makes me feel small and weak.
The box slides down from between my arm and hip, so I set it down in the leather chair. “When are you happy?”
He folds his arms across his chest. “When I find out I have a son that goes by the name AJ, as in Aiden Javier.”
How does he know about AJ? It doesn’t matter. I never wanted him to find out about him. My mother probably told him so she can see me crumble. She knows how angry Villainous can get. Tears threaten my eyes as my pulse hammers loud in my ears, and my head feels lighter than a balloon. Villainous holds my gaze, and different emotions flicker through his eyes. Anger, bitter, and broken.
I can’t fathom a word for a few minutes, but when I do, I say, “How do you know about AJ?”
“He showed up to my job with his cousin Wyatt, and he wanted to meet me and to know where you were. You have a lot of explaining to do, but for now, I’m bringing AJ in here.”
Happiness floods my chest. I haven’t seen him since…since last Christmas. My eyes sting as tears trickle down my cheeks, and I wrap my hand around his waist. “Y-you mean he’s here?”
Villainous’s shoulders are stiff as a board, and tension builds between us.
“Thank you so much for bringing him to me. My m-mother.” I sob like a newborn baby, and Villainous doesn’t move from his spot to console me. His eyebrows rise so high that they touch his hairline. “She’s been keeping me from him.”
He glares down at me, taking a step closer until he’s in my personal space. My body yearns for his touch and warmth. I need him more than ever. “What do you mean?”
Embarrassment colors my cheeks. I tear my gaze from his and stare down at his Italian loafers. “I need to tell you before you bring AJ in here because he doesn’t know.”
Villainous tilts my chin to meet his gaze. “Go on.”
“I don’t know where to start,” I say honestly because I don’t.
“Start with you leaving me without a word. Start with the truth. For once, you owe it to me,” he says with hopefulness.
He’s right. He does deserve to know, but he might hate me even more than he already does. Hopefully, he doesn’t kill me sooner. I exhale. “I found out I was pregnant the night you went to your away game. I was so happy I was pregnant, and I knew you wouldn’t care because we were going to get married in the fall of the following year.” I remember the day clearly. I knew exactly how I was going to tell him. I had bought a small box with a baby pacifier inside of it. I remember going over how I was going to say it. “I told my mother about me getting pregnant, and she flipped the fuck out. She told me I needed to abort AJ, and I told her no.”
Pain radiates in my chest as the tears dry up on my eyelashes and cheeks. “And you wouldn’t want that. She told me our marriage wasn’t going to unify our bloodlines. My da wanted me to marry you so he could take over Draco’s businesses and force me to divorce you after he did a hostile takeover. She wanted me to abort AJ, because if Da found out I was pregnant, he was going to kill you and force the abortion on me. My da was using me as a pawn to get to your family. He was only pretending to be Draco’s friend. My da was a greedy man and a shady businessman. That’s why the Five Points kicked him out, because he wasn’t keeping his end of the bargain on deals. Da also lied about his income to Draco to get in his good graces. We had wealth, but not as much as your family.”
I wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “I loved you too much to betray you. So, she told me if my father found out about me choosing you over my family, he was going to kill me, so I should leave. She would adopt AJ so no one would ask questions. I didn’t have a problem with it. I was young, but she took advantage of my trust and kept me away from him and told me I wouldn’t be a good mother. She only allowed me to see him on major holidays and on his birthday. She wouldn’t even give me her address. I always had to meet her in public places. So, I hired Chuck as a private investigator. He was helping me find my mother, and we sort of fell in love. I thought he was helping me get my child back, but I guess he was using me too. Just like everyone else.”
