Page 17 of Vice

8

Viper

“He’s gay.”

It’s the first thing Cres says to me when she walks into the penthouse we’re renting for our vacation in Malibu.

Every now and then we have to plan these trips to keep up the appearance of an actual rich young couple that’s likely on their way to an engagement. Especially so right now. When there are open rumors that Adrian Blake had a clandestine encounter with the new up and coming influencer and socialite in the beauty world, Addy Bianchi.

Depending on who looks at it, the paparazzi catching pictures of Cres and I together is going to either reinforce that Cres and I are solid as ever and the affair is only a rumor, that Cress is conditionally forgiving me with enough groveling because the affair was true, or both. Either way, we’re not commenting on it.

In actuality, she couldn’t care less so long as my so-called affair isn’t jeopardizing the freedom she gets from her father by pretending to date me and keeping me happy with the intelligence she and her girls gather for me. And we both can’t wait until we can end this ruse. Hopefully before Pray and her father start putting pressure on us to get a move on. Certainly long before we actually have to get married.

Until then, we have to keep up appearances.

“Hello to you too,” I say, grabbing the Latina woman by the waist and pulling her gently towards me and giving her a gentle kiss. Just in perfect view of whatever paparazzi is across the street with their high powered camera and peering in through the balcony doors.

Remembering our ruse, she kisses me back.

It does nothing for either of us. Her because she’s not attracted to men. Me because Dele has hopelessly ruined me for any other woman.

We pull away from each other and then I nod for her to come out on the balcony with me.

She kicks off her shoes first and puts her brown hair up in a bun before following.

I pull her close to me as we lean on the railing together and lean into each other. To anyone else, we just like two lovers enjoying the moment together.

I lean toward her ear and ask, “Now tell me, Cres. Who’s gay and why should I care?”

She lets out a laugh. Whether to add to our act or because of what she’s about to say to me, I’m not sure.

“Jason fucking Travis.”

I pull back from her to look directly at her, forgetting our act.

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

She laughs and then grins like she always does when she can tell that I’m surprised and pleased by the information she’s gathered.

“I shit you not,” she says as she falls back onto the outdoor couch with another laugh.

That’s better than any dirt I ever could have hoped for Cres to get on Travis. He’s an infamous stick-in-the-mud. While he enjoys fine alcohol and food, he doesn’t party, he doesn’t have any degenerate appetites, no rumors of any mistresses with bastard children that he pays off. Something to do with his devout Christian upbringing, I suppose. He can be a fucking trust fund, old money asshole in the pockets of a mob boss, but God forbid him having any kind of fun.

But his devout Christian upbringing was exactly why I was sure there wassomething. There always is for men like those. They’re never as perfectly, devout Christian as they seem. I can’t count how many fucking drug dealers I’ve met since being in this business operating out the church they’re the fucking pastor of.

I never would have dreamed it was something like this.

“And he told one of your girls this?”

Cress cackles. “Of course he didn’t. He’s not stupid.”

Good. Otherwise, I would have had to seriously reconsider keeping him alive after making my move on Pray. A secret like that isn’t one you say out loud.

“And she assumed that just because he refused to sleep with her?”

Because there are a thousand reasons a man would refuse to fuck a woman.

“If it were that easy to figure out, you wouldn’t have needed me and mine for it,” she says, taking the champagne out the ice and pouring herself some. “It was something else. It’s not something I can explain to you. But my girls have been in the company of hundreds of men. They can distinguish all the different reasons a man would refuse them when he does it. Jason Travis is gay as fuck.”

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