Page 55 of Vicarious

I look to my right. On the other side of Viper’s desk and standing near the door is Phae, gaping at us. There’s no way to disguise what we were doing. What we just got finished doing. His shirt is open and his cock is still up my fucking pussy.

So I don’t try to disguise it. I don’t try to move off Viper, and, to my surprise, he doesn’t try to push me off him.

“Need something?” I ask in an even tone.

Phae’s mouth opens and closes multiple times, but nothing comes out. I can’t help the angry laugh that escapes me.

Finally, she states, “Of course, it’s Dele. It’s always fucking Dele.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about fucking Dele anymore,” I declare. “You can have him.”

I lift off Viper’s cock and stand up, letting my shirt fall to cover my tattered tights. Then, before leaving the room I add, “I’m not going to be second to her anymore.”

25

Viper

If I were a better man, I’d probably stay to explain to my actual wife what she just saw. But there’s not really anything to explain. It was exactly what she saw, and now she has to deal with it. It’s Dele I’m more concerned about.

So I’m right behind her as she storms out the room and down to the garage to find a car and leave.

“Bell,” I yell as I follow behind her.

“Go back to your wife, Viper,” she snaps without looking back at me.

“Dele.”

She doesn’t answer this time as she continues on her way. I let her make it as far as the garage door before I snatch her back by her arm. But when I wrench her around to face me, she’s got her gun in her hands and doesn’t hesitate to point it at me. I’d noticed her holster on her thigh earlier, but I didn’t think she’d be able to draw it so quickly and discreetly. Hell, she may be a quicker draw than I am now.

“Stay the fuck away,” she snaps.

I don’t let go of her arm.

“What did I teach you about drawing a gun when you don’t intend to pull the trigger?”

“Who says I don’t intend to?”

“Go ahead. Do it.” And with my free hand, I put my hand over hers and direct the barrel of her gun at my chest.

She doesn’t break eye contact with me. There’s no indication that her resolve is broken. That she doesn’t have every intention of pulling the trigger. Her finger even twitches on the trigger. But in the end, she doesn’t pull it. She drops her hand, and I let her wrench her arm out of mine.

“Fuck you, Adrian Blake,” she snaps before going into the garage. She doesn’t pause to consider which car she’s taking. Just gets in the first one she gets to, cranks it up and pulls off.

It would be the press of a button on my phone to keep the outdoor garage door from lifting, but in the state she’s in, I think she might actually crash the damn car with herself in it if I do that. So I let her go. For now. It’s not like I don’t know where to find her when she gets to where she’s going.

“Aren’t you going to stop her?”

I sigh and let my head fall back in exasperation. Phae is the last person I feel like dealing with right now. But my reluctance to deal with her is why I’m in this situation. At this point, there’s no turning back.

“There’s a tracker in the car. If I didn’t already know exactly where she was going, I’d know in short order,” I reply, turning to face Phae.

She doesn’t say anything. Just silently watches me, like she’s waiting to see what I’m going to do. I do the same. This is the woman who had a plan to take down her uncle and a backup plan to get out the country in case that didn’t work. I’m going to have to get Eileen to tighten the security around here because there’s no doubt in my mind that Phae is going to try to escape after this conversation.

Finally, Phae says in a shaky but venomous voice, “I knew it. I always knew it was her. When I asked Wyan about it, he tried to convince me that nothing was going on. That nothing ever happened between you, but it did. How long were you two fucking behind my back? Did you even pretend to mourn me? Or was the body Pray found not even cold in the ground before you two were celebrating?”

“I didn’t cheat on you.” That’s the truth. No matter what it looked like, I was loyal to Phae in the end. For better or, as it turned out, for worse. “But it doesn’t matter what I say. You’re never going to believe that.”

“How can I? All this time, you led me on and let me believe we might have a future after this when really you were planning to run off with her into the sunset.”

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