Page 14 of Vicarious

Instead, I say, “I think that’s something you should talk to him about.”

Phae winces. “Yeah but… that’s never something we were particular good at in the best of times. He probably talked to you more than he did me.”

I frown this time and, once again, I wonder exactly how much Phae knows and is keeping close to her chest. Because for fuck’s sake, if she thought Viper was cheating on her with me, there’s no way it hasn’t occurred to her that maybe we actually did finally fall in bed together without her constant presence to stop us.

But also, Phae does tend to see the good in everyone.

“It takes a lot of practice to learn to talk to Viper. So don’t let the fact that you’re bad at it deter you. You should the two of us on a day to day basis.”

“You’re right. I’ll just… go talk to him. Later. After I…”

She has nothing to do to delay this. Part of me wants to urge her. To push her forward and ask Viper the hard question. Force his hand and reveal exactly what he’s been up to with me all these years. But another part of me, a bigger part, is as afraid as she is of knowing the answer.

So to save us both the potential heartbreak I smile and ask, “Wanna see pictures of the twins?”

Phae immediately perks up at that, and I go to my tote to get the micro SD card that’s solely for personal photos. I grab my laptop, making sure to close out everything I don’t want Phae to see and switching to a second partition also.

Then I stick the SD card in and run the script that generates a random password to a very meticulous and detailed set of specifications. It’s almost impossible to decrypt and bypass. Not even Viper, who’s good with this kind of stuff, could decrypt it when he tried.

Phae’s entire face lights up when the file loads and the first pictures come to screen. Most of the first ones being of me holding them against my chest as newborns and asleep or feeding them or glaring at the person behind the camera.

“Is Adrian the one taking the pictures?”

“That was when I was in Canada. So it would have been Maxine. You have her to thank for all this. I was extremely paranoid about taking pictures back then. It was only when she promised they were for me and she wouldn’t post them or show them to anyone that I let her.”

“I’m glad she convinced you.” Then, “Where was Adrian?”

“This was before we caught up to each other.”

Specifically, before he stalked me to another country and essentially kidnapped me. But that’s also not a detail Phae needs to know.

Before she can ask about that like I know she’s going to, I say, “There’s videos in here too.”

For the next few hours, I manage to forget that some part of me, some part of me that I’m not sure how long I can control, hates this woman.

7

Viper

I’ve been working in my office for a few hours when it occurs to me that Dele hasn’t come to bother me today. Usually by now, she would have found a reason to come to my office. Or by now, I would have found a reason to find her. I decide that I’ve done enough work and planning and plotting who needs to be killed, who can be bought and scared into submission, and the things I have to keep up to maintain the appearance of complete loyalty to Pray.

The first place I decide to check is her room. While I prefer to work in an office, she likes to work in the comfort of a bedroom. Usually in and oversized lounge shirt. Leggings if she’s cold. I run into Phae on the way.

“Oh,” she says when she sees me. “There you are. I was looking for you. Dele said your office was somewhere this way.”

“Right,” I say slowly. I’d honestly forgotten about her. I keep forgetting about her. Because a couple of days ago she was dead and now… now she’s not.

“Can we…?” Phae hesitates, and I raise an eyebrow. Then, “Can we talk?”

Well. That explains the hesitance. Phae and I were never good at that. So for her to be seeking me out to do just that is new.

I nod for her to follow me back to my office. Seeking out Dele is going to have to wait until later.

When we get back to the office and before she can say anything, I go over to my safe and take out a medium sized chest. I place it on the table and then nod my head to it to direct Phae to open it.

When she does, she gasps and says, “Oh my God. My research. You kept it all. I didn’t know if Dele was able to save it.”

“She did. She showed it to me when I tracked her and the twins down,” I say.

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