The glass rings when he taps his drink against mine. “Cheers.”
“To what?”
“To the dress you’re wearing.” His heated gaze looks down my neck until I can feel the skin on my breasts burning with his intensity. His voice takes a feral tone. “I haven’t fucked you in way too long.”
“It’s only been twenty-four hours.”
Heat floods my cheeks as he winks at me. Then he tips the glass back and drinks. I laugh and take a small sip, and it’s as though the bubbles make me lighter. Silas flexes his fingers on my side, the small movement making my heart leap.
All I can think about as we descend the staircase is that I might never see him again, that once he’s left the syndicate he’ll seek out the company of other women. It turns my stomach. I don’t want to imagine him with anyone else but me. Does that make me selfish?
Whatever.
The violins swell as we step down to the ground floor, immediately awash in a sea of white and black. My mouth waters as I spot the round, almost pure-white globes of the pork buns, traditionally eaten during lunchtime, never dinner. A woman with a tight black bun, deep-red lips, and a string of pearls around her neck bumps into me.
“Sorry!”
I recognize that smile. She’s the syndicate woman who took a bunch of my shit from my apartment after my father died. My stomach clenches uncomfortably, but the surge of righteous anger toward the bitch who took my things and laughed in my face never comes. I don’t give a fuck. None of it matters anymore.
“Jesus. He’s got a dance floor, too?
Slowly revolving men and women look like spinning tops over the gleaming floor. There’s not a trace of anxiety on anyone’s face. Everyone is all smiles, enjoying the evening as it was meant to be. I pass a mountain of the frosted cupcakes with dragons on them and feel a bizarre urge to laugh.
“This is surreal.”
“He’s pushing the PR thing really hard,” Silas mutters under his breath, raising an eyebrow at the desserts.
And it’s working.
“How many people actually know what happened?”
“I’m sure there’s not a man in this room who doesn’t know what happened.”
“Then why the hell is everyone grinning?”
“He’s watching.”
Vertigo seizes me as I follow Silas’s narrowed gaze to the smiling blond man standing among a crowd of people. He’s surrounded by his thugs, of course. There are at least six of them, apelike in appearance with biceps as thick as my neck.
Silas squeezes my hand and steers me right toward that psychopath, and I feel a weight suddenly bear on my chest.
“Let’s just disappear in the party.”
“No,” he hisses in my ear. “We’ve got to say hi.”
“Why the fuck for?”
“Appearances.”
The music warbles with a slow waltz, violin bows trembling, and the floor slowly fills with people as they pair up with partners and dance. We weave in and out of the crowd, the violins singing in my ears as my heart pounds hard. This is reckless—he’s a man who kills on a whim—and I marvel at the people dancing. They look like dolls, their faces frozen in permanent expressions of amusement. How can they relax?
My stomach rots as Viper spots us approaching. A wide grin that doesn’t quite reach his eyes spreads across his face. He holds out a hand, which Silas shakes with a smile just as friendly as Viper’s. I stare at him, almost convinced by the affectionate smile that he cares about that piece of shit, and I’ve felt the ceiling tremble with his screams about how much he wants Viper dead.
“I’m glad you both could make it.”
As if it wasn’t mandatory, you piece of shit.
“We were happy to come.”
Viper’s warmth seems to include me in the greeting as well, and when his gaze lingers a bit too long on me, I dig my fingernails into my palms. Damn it. I have to actually pretend to like this asshole, even after he told me he wanted to fuck me beside my father’s corpse.
I can do this.
I have to do this.
“I love what you did with the lobby. It’s beautiful.”
The way my voice gushes to this bastard makes me wants to hang myself.
“Thank you. Have you tried any of the food?”
“Not yet. We just got here.”
Another handsome smile staggers over his round face, and pain stabs my chest. I can still picture him murdering Mrs. Lee with perfect clarity. Her face whitened as she lay dying on the floor, and Viper stepped over her like he would any obstacle, his face contorted as he snapped back my body when I turned to help her.
Run away. Run the fuck away.
I tell that voice to shut up. The syndicate doesn’t raise cowards, and besides, I have Silas. That’s right. He’ll protect me.
Still, it’s as though I’m looking at Viper through a tunnel, the sound of the party oddly distorted. I glance around, breathing fast as my heart struggles to keep up with my panic.
Run!
“It’s nice to see everyone enjoying themselves after everything that happened.”
I nearly wince as Silas digs his fingers into my side as a warning. Confusion ripples across Viper’s face.
“After what happened?”
Oh God.
He looks so convincingly lost that I’m almost fooled, but of course he wouldn’t ask for anyone’s forgiveness. He’ll pretend the massacre never happened. I look around, heart hammering in my chest, and I wonder how many of these people even know about it. I want to shake their shoulders and scream at them: Look at him! Look at what he did!
Viper raises his eyebrow, waiting for my response.
“I—I only meant that the change in leadership might be hard to swallow for some.”
“Well, they’ll swallow it or choke.”
Viper gives Silas a quelling look. “I realize that a one-man leadership might be against the Dragons’ tradition, but I think if we’re to survive we need to reinvent ourselves. We can’t stick to age-old traditions just because we’re afraid of change. We need to embrace change.”
I nod and say nothing. If it weren’t for Silas’s hand at my side, I’d fucking lose it.
You’re a liar and a snake.
God, why won’t he stop looking at me?
“Do you like to dance, Fawn?”
Not with you, asshole.
Silas digs his fingers into my flesh, and I can’t tell what he wants me to say. His body heat burns through my dress as Viper gazes at me.
“Yes, of course.”
“May I?” He extends his hand, palm up, and then glances at Silas. “If it’s all right with you.”
Silas lifts his shoulder in a casual shrug and his hooded eyes briefly glance over me. If it weren’t for his fingers nearly gouging holes into my dress, I wouldn’t think he gave a shit.
Say no. Please say no.
“Fine by me.”
Fuck!
My husband gave him permission, and I’ll look like a bitch if I refuse him. Guessing from the pincerlike hold on my dress, rejecting Viper’s request would be a really bad idea. So I take Viper’s proffered hand and force a sweet smile on my face. Silas’s hand slides out of my desperate fingers as I move to Viper’s side. Silas’s look of calm breaks for a moment when Viper’s back turns, but he gives me the briefest nod.
It’s okay. He’s watching me. And maybe this will be a good distraction for Silas to feel out the other members.
My hand feels numb in Viper’s clutches as he leads me to the dance floor, which looks like a black lake. I place my hand on his jacketed shoulder, and shudder when he touches my waist. A curious metallic scent invades my nostrils. His skin feels dead, like cold leather. A line of nausea reaches up my throat when I recognize desire blazing through his eyes that normally are so dispassionate.
“You look beautiful, Fawn.”
“Thank you.” I have to force it from my lips.
“I wanted to apologize for what I
said.”
Is this a trick?
“What are you talking about?”
Viper leads me into a slow waltz, and my feet shift with him. I learned how to dance when I was a girl, but it surprises me that he would know how. The room rotates in a blur of golden lights. Frantically I search for Silas’s face. My hand slips in Viper’s grasp, but he tightens.
“You know what I’m talking about.”
My voice hardens. “You mean when you said you should’ve fucked me next to my father’s corpse?”
“Yes.” His face breaks with a smile. “I clearly misread you.”
I’m dazed by the constant movement, and I find myself tightening my grip on his shoulder. What the fuck is he on about?
“I don’t understand.”
“Don’t you?”
There’s something secretive about his smirk. Then his hand squeezes my hip, a cold feeling spreading through my body as he spreads his palm and slides around my waist. Nausea hits me hard as my breasts flatten against his chest. We’re close enough to look like lovers on the dance floor. I look for my husband, but Viper fills my vision.
Let go of me.
“I know what you tried to do to me.” His grin stretches wider as horror consumes my chest. “In the infirmary.”
Where I tried to kill him.
The lump in my throat refuses to go down.
“The syringe.”
Oh God.
“I—”
“Don’t try to deny it.”
This is it. He’s going to kill me right on the floor in front of all the guests. I open my mouth to scream, but he places a cold finger over my lips and I fall silent, struck dumb.
“I’d like for us to talk.” His eyes search my face as his finger nudges my bottom lip. I flinch, expecting him to strike me down at any moment, but he doesn’t look upset. He doesn’t even look angry. He’s—there’s no other word for it—fascinated.
“Meet me in your suite at ten. Make sure you’re alone.”
The band sings a final, sharp note and his hand drops from my waist.
“Viper, I didn’t do anything!”
The applause swallows my voice as he steps backward, still smiling. One of his eyes shuts in a quick wink before he brings his hands together and claps at the stage.
“Viper.”
“Don’t make me come looking for you.”
The warning trembles in the air for a moment before he turns around. My heart lodged in my throat, I watch helplessly as Silas pushes his way through toward me.
He knows.
And he wants me to meet him in our apartment—for what? Is that where he wants to murder me? Perhaps he wants Silas to find me there?
“What the hell happened?” A voice hisses near my neck. “You look—”
I feel his warmth at my back and I turn around, ready to beg Silas for us to run out the front door, but Viper stands right behind him. Close enough to stab him in the back. He gives me a meaningful look over Silas’s shoulder, and I know I’ll have to keep my mouth shut.
“Silas,” Viper’s smooth voice interjects. “I need you for a moment.”
He makes a jerking motion, torn between me and the man who has us all under his thumb.
“I’m fine.”
Reluctantly he slides over to Viper, who murmurs something in his ear. Silas bends to listen, a frown darkening his face. My insides twist horribly.
Fuck. He knows. What the hell are they talking about?
When Silas turns back toward me and Viper disappears into the party, I clench my stomach against the sour look on my husband’s face.
“I’ve got to go.”
“Now?”
“Yeah.”
“You can’t!”
He bumps his cheek against mine, kissing me. “Just enjoy the party.”
That brief flash of heat dies when he steps away from me and gives me a reassuring smile. I could call him back and tell him what happened. The opportunity hangs in the air, marked by the seconds it takes for him to turn around and vanish into the crowd. A pain in my chest prevents me from calling out his name, and then the back of him disappears, the moment lost forever.
* * *
I let him go.
It repeats over and over in my head as I pace through the pitch-black suite.
Was it utter madness? I could have stopped him. Silas gave me a kiss on the cheek and I let him go to do whatever the fuck Viper wants from him. The truth is that I’m a selfish bitch, and I don’t want to see him hurt. My chest caves in at the thought of Silas being hurt because of something stupid I did that he tried to save me from. I love him, and I won’t put him in harm’s way for my sake. Maybe that makes me stupid, but I don’t give a fuck.
Nine fifty-six. Four minutes.
I keep the lights off and sit in the darkened kitchen, my head between my hands.
He’ll never forgive me.
Let’s be honest. There won’t be anything left for him to forgive once Viper is done with you.
My hand tightens around the blunt kitchen knife we never use as my husband’s voice whispers in my head.
Not before I get one last shot at him.
For the life of me I still don’t understand why I’m alive. Why did he leave me at the party where I could’ve escaped?
Because he knows you have nowhere to go.
I tighten my hold over the plastic handle of the knife, visualizing my attack on Viper. He’ll open the door with one hand, exposing a length of chest, and then I’ll—
Run him through? You’re a fucking idiot.
I glance at the clock sitting on Silas’s nightstand, the red numbers bleeding into black. Two minutes left.
Maybe, I don’t know, I could catch him by surprise. Except he’s the one who has the drop on me—he’s the one holding all the cards. All I have is this fucking knife that’s not even sharp. I thumb the blade carefully, but it doesn’t even peel back the skin.
Fuck!
Suddenly a leg steps out of the shadows on the wall, followed by the rest of him. My teeth sink into my bottom lip, stifling a scream as a man with broad shoulders and shoulder-length hair appears like an apparition out of thin air.
“Fawn.”
Viper stands before me, his thumbs hooked into his slacks. I cradle the chef’s knife in my hands awkwardly like a broken doll as my heart jackknifes into my chest.
“You were there the whole time?”
“Yes. I was enjoying watching you work over how you were going to kill me.” His eyes flick to my weapon, and he smirks. “How’s it coming along?”
Hatred beats in my chest, suffusing my veins with power. His eyes narrow and his lips pull over his teeth like a dog baring its fangs, baiting for a fight.
“Not too great.”
I stand up from the table without realizing it, the knife still clenched in my hand, pointing uselessly at the floor.
“Relax. I’m not here to hurt you.”
He’s playing with me.
“You know what I’ve done.”
“Yes.”
The eyes burn like pale-green fire as he takes another aggressive step forward. My heart seizes and I slash with the chef’s knife, but Viper expects it. He sidesteps my swipe almost lazily, and then his body bears over mine. My wrist screams with pain as he slams me into the wall, crushing my hand until I’m forced to let go of the knife. The plastic handle lands sharply on my foot, and I howl as pain explodes over my skin. The pain—fuck the pain—Viper’s body presses against mine. His fingers curl around my hand, and he exhales a sigh that blows over the sensitive skin on my neck.
“You know, you’re the only one in this place with the balls to try that.”
To try what? To kill him?
“M-maybe it’s because they’re biding their time.”
“Yeah,” he says with a little laugh. “They’re waiting for someone else to rise up and strike me down, except it’ll never happen. I’m always on the lookout for the one who’ll challenge m
e.” Then he takes both wrists in one massive hand and pins them above my head as his other hand touches my face. His fingers trace my lips, which are suddenly dry when I part them, desperately breathing in air.
“I just didn’t think it would be you.”
My heart jumps painfully. Why the hell is he talking to me with that loving caress in his voice? Why is he looking at me like that?
He wraps around my throat, his fingers gentle enough to be a lover’s, but I know the brutal power within those hands. There’s no telling how many women he held just like this as his thumb crushed their windpipes, until his fingers gouged deep-red marks into their skin.
Viper’s face is much too close. My lungs wheeze as he presses into me, leaning in to smell my hair. His hip digs into my abdomen painfully, and suddenly I’m aware of the rapidly growing bulge pressing into my pelvis, and a thrill of fear hits my heart.
“Get the fuck off me!”
He doesn’t. Cracked, dry lips touch my cheek, and then suddenly wetness streaks the side of my face. I swallow my scream as Viper drags his tongue over my cheek. Then he withdraws it, and a sick feeling poisons my stomach as he works the saliva in his mouth and swallows.
I’m going to be—
“I can practically taste your fear. You’re like a dog who bites because he’s afraid, but I’d rather have that than an army of spineless sycophants.”
“I’m not afraid.”
I grit it out as the lie burns in Viper’s eyes. I am scared shitless, but not of Viper. I don’t want to lose myself. I don’t want him to make me beg, but I’m terrified that I will succumb to pain or whatever torture he has planned for me.
“You gave me respect.”
“By trying to kill you?”
“I didn’t think you had it in you.” That velvety smoothness creeps back into his voice right before his lips thin again. “Killer.”
“I’m not a killer.”
“You are. If Silas hadn’t stopped you, you’d have stabbed me with that needle.”
“N-no, I wouldn’t—”
His eyes blaze. “Yes, you would’ve. Don’t lie to me Fawn, we’re not liars like the others.”
God, Silas. Help me.
His Secret Baby (A Bad Boy Romance) Page 36
