Chapter 17 – IVY
Chapter
Seventeen
IVY
The oven beeps, signaling the cake is done.
I sit up, legs feeling like jelly as they dangle from the table. My eyes trail over to my shorts and underwear lying on the floor where Venom disposed of them.
Letting out a long breath, I run my hands over my face then place one over my heart. God, it’s still beating so fast.
I slide off the table, put my bottoms back on and go back into the kitchen to take the cake out before I burn the damn thing. After letting it cool off for a bit, I frost it and set it aside, ready for tomorrow.
I make it back to my room and crawl into bed.
Thoughts of Venom between my legs, and the way he looked at me before he left keeps me from falling asleep.
A part of me wished he stayed, did exactly what he desperately wanted to do to me.
But another part of me feels strange emotions knowing he wants my first time to be special.
Venom has turned out to be someone I gravely misjudged.
I look to the wall to my right, knowing he’s on the other side. Is he lying awake too, unable to sleep because of how everything has changed between us?
Turning on my side, I clutch the covers close to my chest and stare at the wall until at some point, sleep takes me.
“Happy Birthday!” I say and proudly sign to Evelyn. Her surprised expression is everything I hoped for. Tears brim her eyes as she smiles.
“Happy Birthday, Ev. You’re officially older than the mountains and got twice as much dust,” Venom says.
“Hey! You can’t pick on her on her birthday.”
“Oh, is that so?”
I shrug. “I didn’t make the rules, but we will follow them. Now grab some plates.”
I expect him to quip something, but he doesn’t. He walks over to the cabinet and grabs the plates. Evelyn gives him a loving smack on his arm as he passes.
We all sit and eat the chocolate cake, and both Venom and Evelyn compliment how delicious it is.
Sitting here at the small circular kitchen table with them, sharing casual conversation with sign language that I can actually be a part of thanks to Evelyn teaching me, feels good.
I still have more to learn, but for the most part, I keep up. This feels natural with them. It almost feels like I’m part of their small, odd family. A warmth blooms in my chest, a lightness taking over me where I normally feel heavy. I think I feel real happiness right now.
I laugh at an insult Evelyn signs to Venom, and he chuckles too, his eyes finding mine. We stay locked there for several beats, laughter fading to smiles, then to nothing. The air shifts, tension sliding into the space between us as Evelyn glances back and forth, reading it too.
I quickly excuse myself, leaving them staring after me.
I don’t wander far though, I step into the living room and make my way over to the mantle above the fireplace, taking a picture frame and looking at the photo of Venom and his brother again.
The air grows thick with tension, a heat cocooning my back and a particular earthy, sweet scent messing with my senses.
“That’s my older brother, Ben, in the white shirt,” Venom says over my shoulder.
I had a feeling the taller boy was his brother.
“Shouldn't you be smiling?”
“Should I be? Probably.”
“But you’re sad,” I say, stating the obvious.
“I am. Well, I was. It was not a good time in my life.”
“Yet you keep this picture as a reminder?”
He moves to my side. “It’s the only one I have of my brother. He’s dead,” he says flatly as he takes the picture frame from my hands and stares at it.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine. He… he deserved what came for him.”
What or who? I don’t voice my question, though.
“Oh.”
“He was still my brother. Our relationship was just…” He takes a breath. “Complicated. Sooner or later, his poor decisions were going to catch up to him.”
“You didn’t try to talk some sense into him?”
“I only remember one conversation with him about his life choices, and he didn’t care to hear advice from his younger brother.” He lets out a sardonic laugh. “Ben always did whatever he wanted, no matter the cost to anyone else. Selfish prick.”
He sets the picture back on the mantle, his thumb brushing over his brother’s face before he slips his hands into his pockets.
“What happened to him?”
“A vigilante took care of him. Knowing who that was, Ben had a very painful death.”
“You never thought of getting revenge for his death?”
“I certainly got my own form of revenge in a way. It actually happened earlier this year.” A satisfied smile grows across his face as he recalls his revenge.
“But the vigilante… he’s still alive?”
“Yes, he lives. Dare I say we might be on good terms nowadays.” He finally turns toward me and then tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
The gesture sends my nerves buzzing. Unsure how to react, I quickly break eye contact.
My eyes land on a book lying on the coffee table in front of the couches. “So, you like to read?” I blurt out.
He smiles and retreats, releasing me from the hold his intoxicating energy had on me. “I would think a personal library would surely give that away.”
“You have a library?”
“You didn't know? Third floor.”
My mouth drops further open. “There’s a third floor?”
“What in the world have you been doing around here this whole time?”
“Not exploring enough apparently.”
“Spending all your time fighting me instead,” he says with a playful raise of a brow.
“Can I see it?”
“You can do more than just see it. Follow me, beastie.”
In my defense, the stairs to the third floor were in a room I’ve never been into.
I follow him up a spiral staircase to a double set of tall doors. He looks back at me before pushing them open in a grand gesture.
Soft lights automatically switch on, casting a dim glow, already making the space feel cozy.
My eyes brighten as I step further in, taking in the grand room.
Every wall is lined with floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with books.
In the center lies a large rug patterned with florals and two intertwined snakes, perhaps lovers.
A wide black recliner, a burgundy chaise lounge, and a matching loveseat rest atop it.
A small table holds a plant with delicate white blossoms I can’t name, but it’s beautiful all the same.
The air smells like an old bookstore laced with the crisp scent of new pages, softened by a faint trace of vanilla.
“This is impressive.”
“This is what it finally took to impress you?”
I roll my eyes and smile. “It’s just… not what I expected.” You're not what I expected, I almost add.
“I’ve always loved to read since I was a child. At times it was the only thing I could do to escape my reality and keep myself alive.”
I eye him curiously. Venom is still an enigma.
I keep getting little pieces of him, but I want to know more about him.
I want to know how he became who he is. It’s not even a want…
more like a need. A need to know him on a deep level.
I want to peel back his layers and truly see the man behind Venom.
“You can talk about it, if you want,” I say.
“I don't talk about it.”
“You don’t or you won’t?”
“I’ve never talked about it with anyone actually.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. You’ve kept it all in. Bottled it up, gave it a good shake, and it’s been threatening to pop ever since. You might feel better if you share your story, let it out. Let it go.”
I don’t bring up his nightmares and how it might help those too.
“You know from experience?”
“Ha. If only. I should probably take my own advice.”
“Go on then, darlin’. Let it out, let it go.”
I look at him thoughtfully for a moment and then I sit and begin speaking.
“Where do I even begin?” My laugh scrapes out hollow.
“My life has always been shit. At least… the parts I can remember.” I rake a hand through my hair, staring down at the rug.
“I wish I could say the worst of it was with my drug-addict mother, but truthfully, that was probably the best. Because at least then… I had a family. I wasn’t alone. ”
My fingers twist in my lap before I push them through my hair again. “After she died, it was foster homes. One after another. Families who treated me more like an animal than a kid. I suppose I did behave quite—"
“Beastly?” Venom smirks, leaning back with his arms sprawled across the loveseat.
“I was angry. Hurt. Scared.” My gaze lifts to the high ceiling, lungs tightening with the sigh that leaves me.
“Like my entire existence was punishment for something I didn’t even do.
Just… for being alive.” When I glance back, Venom’s brows are furrowed, his eyes unexpectedly soft.
I push the moment away and keep talking.
“The day I turned eighteen, I left. Never looked back. I tried to find work, but it’s not easy when you’re homeless.
Then I met this girl my age. She offered me a place to stay, said she could hook me up with a job, dancing.
Good money. Promised I’d be taken care of. ”
I swallow, my fist curling tight. “That’s when she brought me to the club.
And introduced me to Nikolai.” Venom’s gaze dips to my clenched hands.
“He looked at me like he’d just been handed easy prey.
Promises poured out of his mouth and I was so desperate, so alone, I believed him. Or maybe I just wanted to.”
“I take it that didn’t go well?”
I shake my head. “Nope. I was so stupid. He became obsessive. Possessive. I barely danced a few times before he couldn’t stand other men looking at me.
Touching me. Then he found out I was a virgin.
” My laugh is sharp and bitter. “The girl who brought me in told him. She was just his rat.” The memory forces me to my feet.
I start pacing, anger bubbling hot. “That night he dragged me off stage mid-song. I never went back. He locked me in his home, kept me tied up when I disobeyed—which apparently meant refusing to eat with him, talking back, trying to leave, or not falling in love with him fast enough.”
Venom says nothing, only watches.
“That’s what he wanted,” I spit. “Stockholm syndrome or some shit. He wanted me to beg him to take my virginity, to make it seem like I loved him. Like it wasn’t my choice.” I bark out a laugh.
“He wanted to feel special,” Venom adds.
“Well, I sure made him feel special right before I shot him in the head.”
Venom sits up straighter, eyes wide. “You did what now?”
I drop back into the chair. “One night, I played along. Seduced him. Convinced him I’d fallen, that I wanted him to be my first. I almost felt bad at how happy he looked.
” I lift a finger. “Almost. Not enough to stop me. His guard dropped, he set his pistol down on the bedside table. I grabbed it, aimed, and pulled the trigger.”
“Vicious beast.” Venom’s smile is sharp, almost proud.
Despite myself, I smile back. Then shake my head.
“I won’t pretend I wasn’t scared. I was terrified.
But I left him and didn’t look back. Took cash from his wallet, though I should’ve had a better plan.
I didn’t think I’d actually get out. I made it a few states away before I met that couple in North Carolina.
Sweet on the surface. Offered me work on their farm, a place to stay. Sounded promising.”
Venom jaw tightens, his brows furrowed.
I wave a hand. “Anyway, you know how that ended.”
“I do. They did not have a pleasant death, just so you know.”
I smile at that. “That is oddly comforting. I just wish I was there to witness it too.”
“And I wish I had gotten to them sooner, found you sooner.”
I give him a small smile before I break eye contact.
“Who hired you anyway?”
“I don’t look into my clients, but I was curious after I found you.
The who is not exactly specific, but that vile woman…
that couple, had been up to these extracurricular activities for quite some time.
Trafficking young girls. My client was a disgruntled customer of theirs who was fucked over and felt as though he was scammed. ”
“Scammed?”
“Apparently, he paid a lot of money for a girl who was supposed to be a virgin. She was found to be not that. She also died soon after. He received a used and defective product.” Venom puts his hands up. “Not my own words.”
“Fucking men. Do you know how old she was?”
“I do, but I will not say. We don’t need to dwell on the past.”
“Seems like you’re still holding on to your past. That’s what we’re doing right now, right? Sharing our past and letting it go? I think it’s your turn now.”
I think he’s about to refuse but to my surprise he grins, sits back once more and begins.