Vicious (19 page)

Lisa, Michael and Damon were all drinking by t
he time we returned in the late afternoon. Lisa gave me a drunken smile. “How did it go? Brody filled me in.”

“Lisa can relate. Her mom is nuts as wel
l,” Brody said, ignoring the face that she made at him. “Do you want a drink, Violet?”

I shook my head. “I might just get some air,” I told him. The air was cool outside, but I didn’t mind. I liked the cold. Damon joined me
, and I allowed him a brief smile.

“Hey.”

He sat beside me. “How was she?”

“Bett
er. This place Brody put her in is great. Actually, it’s better than great. She was actually lucid, and she does art all day.” I frowned. “I feel bad that I let her stay in that other crap hole for all those years.”

“You were a kid, what could you do?” Damon placed an arm over my shoulders, and I leaned into his warmth.

“This feels nice,” I told him. “Like before.”

“Yeah, it does.”

We sat like that for ages. I expected Brody to come barrelling down the stairs to interrupt us, but he didn’t. It was Lisa who called us for dinner. Brody barely looked at me and certainly didn’t speak to me.

And after dinner, when I went to the kitchen for a drink of water, I got trapped by Michael Mero.  He gave me a smile that reminded me of
a predator smiling down at his prey. It was hard, but I forced myself to match his gaze head on.

“I love my family,” he began. “It may surprise you, but I love both my sons, and I may not be the best father, but I would do anything to make them happy.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

He took a step forward. “Because I want you to know that I won’t let anything come in the way of those two running my affairs successfully. I hope that one day they will have a relationship which is the way it should be. So let me make this clear to you. You are Brody’s. You are not Damon’s. If you leave on
e son for the other, then you and I will have a problem.”

It was hard not to shiver under his gaze. “Mr Mero, it’s a shame you didn’t think about Brody’s happiness when you stole his girlfriend.”

A small laugh left his lips. “You’re right. That did piss him off, but Brody’s smart. He knows not to let a woman get in the way of business. Besides, I can’t undo the past, but what I can do, little girl is control my sons’ futures. Do I make myself clear?”

I twisted my lips into a smile and sucked in a breath.
“
Crystal
.”

He smiled. “Good.” Then he turned and left. I allowed myself to collapse dow
n into a chair. He was an idiot; he didn’t know that Brody knew how to look after everything himself. But there was a chord that struck within me. Coming in between family would be wrong. Besides, Damon had shown no indication that he wanted to be with me anyway, and if he did…what would I do?

Brody was a
lready in bed when I joined him. Keeping my back to him, I shed my clothes before sliding in beside him. I kept my face away from him though. He initiated contact, his lips gliding over my bare shoulder, before kissing up my neck. As always, it felt good, and I felt my body betraying me. If this were a trap that I was in, then I may as well enjoy this. How did this differ than the fine clothes, the food, the wine? All that I took with no looking back. If I was his whore, then I may as well do it at full force.

I parted my legs as he worked his way down there
and started to lap expertly. I closed my eyes and enjoyed it. I was owed this; I deserved this pleasure.
He
owed it to me. I felt ruthless in my taking as I came. But to my surprise he didn’t enter me, or ask me to do anything else. He just rolled over and switched off the light.

I stayed awake, staring into the
dark. Brody was such an enigma, and I wished that I could hate him. But I didn’t. My life was better because of him; my mother’s life was better because of him.

The
next day I went for a walk around the path that led part way around the lake. Damon said he’d join me, and when he did, I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I could have turned him down, but fuck them, I didn’t.

We walked i
n silence mostly. It was pretty and so alien that we were both here in this deceptively idyllic setting. When we rounded a corner and were out of view of the house, he pulled me tightly against him, and I lay my head on his chest while he rested his chin on me.

“I missed you,” he murmured

“I missed you too.” We stood like that for a few minutes before I pushed back from him. “We shouldn’t do this, there are probably people watching us.”

“Yeah, Michael told me about the little chat he had with you. But I imagine he didn’t faze you. You’re so strong, nothing fazes
you.”

I almost l
aughed. “Is that how you see me?”

“Of course.
You’re the strongest girl I know.” Then his smile faded. “Do you love Brody?”

I stared
at him wide-eyed. “No,” I said. “He’s so…conniving. I don’t know how anyone could love someone like that, but I feel…” I trailed off because I didn’t know what to say.

I felt his arms tighten around me.
“You’re too good for him, Violet. You’re too good for me as well.”

“I’m not—“

“You are,” he interrupted. “You’re perfect. Brody sees it.”

I shook my head. “All I am to him is revenge.”

He smiled slightly. “I don’t think so.” Then his face became serious. “You don’t want to get involved with us, Violet. Michael’s world is dangerous. There’s a reason that my Mom didn’t want me to have any part of it.”

“Are you say
ing you don’t want me?” I asked; my voice almost cracking.

He straightened like he was about to do battle. “Not here, Violet. Not now, not like this. We have a lot of enemies, and frankly, I’d rather never see you with these people again, even if it meant never seeing you again.”

I pushed away from him, turning my head so he wouldn’t see my face. We turned back then and didn’t speak anymore.

As we got ready for bed that night, I watched B
rody undress. I liked him naked; it made him seem more normal. “Damon says that you’re dangerous. That it’s wrong for me to be with you.”

He carefully folded his clothes, placing them on a chair in the corner before turning to me. “I’ve never involved you in any of that kind of stuff, nor would I.” We didn’t break eye contact as he got in the bed
, and his hands reached for me. I sunk down on my back as he started to kiss my breasts, after paying them attention that made me start to forget everything else, he lifted his head to look at me. “The only dangerous person in your life is me. I’m all you need to worry about. Do you understand?” We held each other’s gaze almost in a stand-off.  I broke first, pushing on his shoulder.

“That’s enough talking. Just get your head down there.”

He gave a smile like he’d won, and then got to work and did my bidding. It was easier just to do this and not have to think about anything.

Michael shook my hand when we left, and I refused to look him the eye. Lisa looked
hung-over and embraced me. I could still smell the alcohol on her. Damon kissed me on the cheek and told me to take care, before shooting a look at his brother. Brody never wiped that smug smile off his face as he took my hand and led me away. As we drove away, I twisted my head to watch Damon, who was standing there alone now, watching go.

“Stop looking at him with those yearning, school girl eyes
. It’s enough to make me sick,” Brody said dryly.

“I’m not.” I faced the front again.

“Whatever you say, princess. Do you want to stop by and see your mother again?”

“Sure.”

She didn’t know who I was this time and just kept painting, but that was fine. I gave her a kiss on the cheek before I left. “Love you, Mom,” I whispered to her, but she acted like she didn’t hear.

When we were nearly home, Brody turned to me. “I’m going to be out of town for a few days, leaving tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

He shook his head slightly. “You don’t need to know that. I just wanted to let you know that I’d be gone.”

“Okay.”

After flicking several looks at me, he said, “You don’t have to look so happy about it.”

“I’m not.”

“You are.”

On the second day that Brody
was away, Damon turned up. He stepped inside the apartment and cast his eyes around it, laughing slightly. “It’s funny that this is so homely. Knowing Brody, I expected some kind of glass palace where you’re not allowed to touch anything.”

I laughed as well. “I know exactly how you feel. He must have had a great decorator.”

He caught my hand. “Is he good to you?” His eyes searched me, in a way that made me feel naked.

I felt caught up
in his gaze for a second, before nodding. “Yeah. He’s done a lot for my mother.”

He nodded, mulling over my words before forcing a smile.
“Come on.  I’ll take you to lunch.”

“I don’t think Brody and his Dad would like that.”

He laughed. “Who cares? I’m asking you to lunch, not to have sex with me.” He grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the door. In spite of everything, I laughed. I’d forgotten how forceful he could me. He was like Brody in that respect. Then I mentally berated myself and told myself to shut up about Brody.

We walked along the boardwalk by the beach. “I’m in college, can you believe it?”

I laughed, “No, really?” I couldn’t have thought of a more unlikely candidate.

“Yep.
I’m working toward an MBA. It’s at Michael’s insistence. He wants me to run his legitimate empire.” He caught my swinging hand and held it safely in his as we walked.

“Your Dad would be so proud of you,” I told him.

“Yeah. He’d probably have another heart attack due to the shock of it.” Then sadness crossed his face. “I still miss him. He was the best guy ever.”

“He was. He was always
so nice. He used to make you act like a gentleman,” I teased.

Damon’s face brightened. “He was the only
one that ever could. Anyway, let’s change the subject. Let’s talk about you. Have you still got that crazy moon fixation?”

I gave him a light punch on the shoulder, to which he acted gravely injured. Then I pulled back my hair and showed him the silver crescent moons which twinkled from my ear lobes.
They were the first thing that I had bought myself with Brody’s money.

He grinned and reached out and trapped on
e between his fingers. We were so close, all I had to do was reach up and kiss him. As he finished inspecting the earring, his eyes flicked to me and caught me staring intently at him. He seemed to freeze for a moment, before leaning down and pressing his lips to mine just briefly.

“Damon…”

“Shh.” He lifted a finger to my lips. “You were mine first. No one’s going to tell us what we can or can’t do.”

I let out a little giggle, one that was driven by nervousness. “You were always so stubborn,” I said quietly. He rested his head against mine, and I breathed in his scent. Suddenly, I felt warm again. For the first time in forever, I felt like everything in me could potentially be melted again, so all that I was left with was a hot, burning heart.

Then his phone beeped, and it worked to break the spell. We both took a step back, and he pulled out his phone. He rolled his eyes. “It’s just Michael. Seriously, that guy acts like he owns me.”

“Doesn’t he?”

He shook his head. “No way. No one owns me. I’m not going to be like Brody and make my life about work and doing Michael’s bidding. My life is for me.”

I took a breath. “Damon, are you involved in some of the…illegal stuff?”

“Is that bothering you? No. That’s Brody and Michael’s domain. I get the boring stuff.”

I felt relief course through me. “You mean the safe stuff.”

He tilted his head and smiled down at me. “You don’t need to worry about me, Violet. I can take care of myself.” He caught my chin in his hand, and I struggled to breathe, half worried that he would try and kiss me again, half worried that he wouldn’t. “I worry about you though, Violet.” His tone was softer now, and it made me feel embarrassed and weak. I pushed away.

“You don’t have to. I’m always okay in the end,” I lied. “Come on, I’m hungry. You said you’d buy me lunch.”

We sat outside at a café playing remember when. We talked about parties, about the look out. I was the one that brought up Brennan. “Do you remember the boat on the lake?” I asked him. “I think that was the most perfect night that I have ever had.”

A smile slid over his lips.
“Yeah. You were so beautiful. It’s almost like you glowed in the dark. I don’t think I’ve ever cum so hard as I did that night.”

A stupid smile spread across my face, and I could feel myself blushing.