Page 45 of Vicarious

To think that Stephen Pray was so concerned about me, about this supposed fixation he thinks Viper had on me, and the bastard didn’t bother to remember what the fuck I looked like after I grew up and wasn’t fifteen. That he looks me in the face now and doesn’t know who I am.

We continue to walk in silence until we finally get to the vineyard. That’s when he says, “It was all such a tragedy, really.”

He stops to look at the horizon as though in deep contemplation.

Then he says, “Wouldn’t want you to become another woman who meets a tragic end after capturing Adrian’s attention. Would you, Addy?”

“I suppose I wouldn’t.”

“Then I suppose I can trust you to take the right actions to assuage this old man’s concerns.”

Distance myself. That’s what he’s saying. Or at the very least, keep the fixation he thinks Viper has on me under control. Don’t expect or ask for anything more than a fun time if that’s truly what I’m in it for.

“You can,” I assure.

“Good,” he says. “We should go find the future bride and groom now. Otherwise, we’re going to miss our dinner reservation tonight.”

And just like that, gone is any trace of threat or that this man is dangerous. Just like that, he puts on the mask of an assuming, kind, grandfather type. He hooks his arm in mine and leads me back to the main house of the estate.

22

Viper

“He. Did. What.” I growl, punching the wall with my right hand.

“Viper,” Dele sighs. “You’re going to break your hand.”

“He threatened to killed you.”

“Not really. Just said that it would be a shame if I met as tragic an end as the other people in your life you cared about.”

I don’t even have the capacity beyond my rage to be unimpressed by her assessment as I repeat, “He threatened to kill you. Why the fuck are you just now telling me this?”

“Adrian,” Phae says, putting a hand on my arm. “Calm down.”

I snatch my arm away from her as I go to where Dele is sitting unconcerned about the information she just revealed, which only enrages me more. How can she be so nonchalant and unconcerned about her life?

“Why did you wait to mention this?” I demand.

She stands to meet my gaze. That doesn’t keep me from towering over her, even with the extra height given to her by her shoes.

“Because,” she says somewhat deliberately and like she’s talking to Leon and Lady. “I knew you’d fly off the fucking handle and try to kill him on his own turf with no one to back us up.”

“No shit.”

“And you probably would have been the one to end up dead,” she snaps, irritation coloring Dele’s tone for the first time since she brought this up.

I punch the wall again, and my hand throbs with the force. But I don’t care. I need the pain right now. I need to channel my rage into something since the object of my rage isn’t here.

“I’m not following,” Phae finally says.

“He threatened to kill her,” I snap. “What’s there not to follow?”

“I know that,” Phae replies, undeterred by my temper. “But why? Why Dele? Or… well, why Addy? He saw you all walking into a store together without Cres and…”

I exchange a look with Dele at this. When we got back to my New York estate, and Dele revealed that Pray threatened her, she vaguely alluded to exactly why Pray wanted to pull her aside about our relationship. But based on the timing, I suspect someone saw us outside that fucking club Cres dragged us to or something of the sort.

But that’s not something we’re trying to reveal to Phae right now.

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