Page 53 of Vicarious

“Sorry,” I say. Not really. “I see you’ve got this all under control. I’ve gotta get ready to go back to the city.”

It’s not a lie. I do need to go back to the city. But not right now, I storm to Viper’s office.

When I get there, I barely have the conscious of mind to make sure he’s not in the middle of a call where it would put my identity and his cover in danger. But once I’m sure of that, I say without preamble, “What are you going to do about Phae?”

Viper raises an eyebrow at the question.

“What do you mean?”

Normally, I might indulge Viper in his feigned ignorance. But I have no time to play coy with Viper right now. Nor am I in the mood.

“You gave her your wedding ring,” I say. It’s not what I meant to say. I meant to start with saying that she’s got her finger on the trigger to take out with one shot everything we’ve built. But I don’t care about that right now.

“I did,” he responds.

“Why?”

He shrugs. “It’s hers. Why wouldn’t I?”

The urge to hurt Viper wells up in me again. The urge to fight him. To slam him against the floor. To make him bleed and have my way with him. And still, it would only be a fraction of the torment he’s put me through.

Right now isn’t the time or place, though.

“It’s true. Isn’t it?” I find myself asking.

“Is what true?”

“That Pray gave you an ultimatum when you first joined him. He told you to kill me or kill Phae. But he wouldn’t let you keep both of us.”

I’d almost missed that little fact, too concerned with the fact that Pray had taken me aside to threaten me. But when I remembered it on the plane ride back, the question of whether it was true tormented me. It could be a lie. To add a little flavor to his point and his threat. But what reason would Pray have to lie about this particular detail not knowing my real identity?

Viper looks at me blankly. Usually even that blank expression isn’t enough to keep me from knowing what’s going through his head. But now, I don’t have a clue.

Finally he answers, “He did.”

“And you chose to kill me? You knew I would go to Phae that night when I thought you’d been gotten too.”

“I did.”

It’s one thing to know he was going to kill me because of my fucking gang association or whatever the fuck the Soles were. It’s another thing to know that he had the option to keep me and chose another woman.

I walk around to the other side of Viper’s desk. He turns his chair to face me but doesn’t get up, watching me cautiously.

Fuck the time and place.

I punch Viper right in the mouth. He’s taken by surprise, which in and of itself is a surprise. He usually would have been able to predict that. Maybe because I wasn’t sure I was going to do it until I did. Either way, I use the opportunity to plant my knee on the side of his chair, grab his collar and pull him into a kiss.

He’s confused so it takes a while for him to kiss me back. But I wait for it. I wait for him to go with it. To lean into me before I take his lips between my teeth and bite as hard as I can.

“Fuck,” he shouts.

I pull away to see the damage. Both his lips are bleeding. Just like I want. But it’s not enough.

“That’s what you get for being such a bastard,” I snap as I let go of his collar with one hand to reach down and grab his cock. It’s already hard. And it irks me that, even though this is painful, it still brings him some amount of pleasure. But I’m used to taking what I can get from Viper. And right now, this is what I can get.

“I hate you,” I say as I take my other hand and undo his trousers. “I hate you so fucking much.”

“What the fuck did you expect?” he snaps and then hisses when I grab hold of his cock firmer than what he’s likely comfortable with and begin to massage and yank it roughly in my hand. When he can somewhat compose himself, he says, “She was my pregnant wife. I was supposed to kill her? While she was still pregnant with the children you call yours?”

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