Page 44 of Vicarious

It’s the only warning I get before the man with the laptop opens it. A video immediately begins to play. It doesn’t take me long to figure out what it is. It’s clearly me and Viper. During our vacation a few weeks ago. The one where Viper and Cres supposedly got engaged.

The video proceeds to show Viper getting into the car. Me following to straddle his lap. Us proceeding to take off all our clothes and—

“I think that’s enough to make my point,” Pray says and the man closes the laptop.

Another woman, maybe even a much younger me, would be embarrassed about having been caught on camera naked and being fucked. But I’m more concerned about what Pray’s gathered from that. I’m more concerned about what Pray thinks this video means. I’m more concerned about what he’s going to do about it. And maybe more important than that, what he expects me to do about it.

“Still don’t know what I’m talking about now?”

The answer to that is both yes and no. I still don’t know exactly what meaning Pray has taken from this despite what he just showed me, and Pray doesn’t seem to want to be forthright about it.

Well. Sometimes you have to give a little of the truth to hide a bigger lie. If this is all he knows, if this tape is all the evidence he has, then I’m going to give him the meaning that I want him to get from it.

Since Addy Bianchi has never been shy about things like this, I simply shrug nonchalantly and say, “Oh, that. It was nothing. Just a fun time.”

“That’s the part that I’m not so sure about,” Pray replies. Then, “Walk with me, Addy.” He turns to Revnor and the rest of his security. “Only Addy and I.”

They nod and stay back while Pray puts a hand on the small of my back and leads me away.

I can’t help but stiffen under his touch as he leads me out the semi-enclosed garden and out towards the vineyards not too far away that we looked at earlier.

Stephen Pray may be an old man, but I’m far from fooled by what some might consider the appearance of his frailty. A man like him didn’t build a criminal empire from the ground up without getting into a few fights whether that be with his bare hands or with guns. I’d fight him if I had to, but I’m not stupid enough to try anything unnecessarily. He’s been at this longer than I’ve probably been alive and is probably well prepared for anything I might be tempted to try.

“I just wanted to talk to you, businessman to businesswoman, to ensure that what my people captured on that video won’t become a problem in the future.”

“Problem?” I laugh as I say, “Surely you didn’t expect Mr. Blake to become a saint committed to just one woman given his reputation?”

“No, Addy. That’s not the problem. It’s even to be expected. It’s the possibility of him committing to one woman that concerns me.”

I frown. “But Cres…”

“I’m not talking about Miss Ferro. I mean you, my dear.”

Somehow, Pray takes what should be a term of endearment and fondness and makes it sound menacing. It takes everything in me not to shudder because I know exactly how menacing Pray can become.

I laugh. “Me?”

“I’m not so foolish as to believe that was your only encounter with Adrian. And that, my dear, is the problem. You see Adrian? He’s very easily bored. There’s not much that enthralls or interests him. He quickly becomes disinterested in things once he’s figured it out or tried it once and moves onto the next thing that catches his attention. But when he does find something to keep his attention, he fixates on it. That includes women. Only two women have ever enthralled him that way. Now, you would be the third.”

“The third?” I ask. I know Phae was the first, but as far as I know, she was the only one. Addy probably wouldn’t or shouldn’t be that familiar with knowing that. “Who were the first two?”

“The first would be Phae Blake, his dead wife.”

“And the second?”

“One Dele Martin,” Pray says. “He was so fascinated with her, and I could never glean exactly why. I only met her once. When she was just fifteen. Adrian rightly figured out that I wasn’t particularly fond of her and never brought her back. But even then it was clear she’d captured his attention. Of course, when he came to work for me, I forced him to choose between the two.”

“Choose?”

“I’ve never underestimated what a man would do for a woman that he’s enthralled with, Addy. I could tolerate competing with one woman for his attention, but not two. But, of course, I’m sure you’ve heard things about how that all turned out.”

“They’re both dead.”

“Yes.”

He’s lying. He didn’t kill Phae. He thinks he still has her hostage somewhere, and I know for a fact he at least suspects I’m still alive. He’s also wrong about Viper’s fixation on me. It was always Phae. He always went back to her. She never failed to keep his attention, even when he wanted to fuck me. I was just a fleeting fancy. Something tempting that he couldn’t have. I’m still a fleeting fancy of his. I’m trying to change that. I want to change that. But for now, no matter what Pray says, that’s what I am.

But still.

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