IT’S GIVING COMMUNITY THEATER #4
Never let it be said he isn’t a man of few words.
Once he’s standing beside the vehicle, he holds out his hand for me. I eye it. Then him. “What are we doing?”
“Riding up front like big boys and girls.”
I tut but let him help me out and stand back so he can open the passenger door for me too.
Once I’m seated, I text Shay:
Me: All’s well. Going to stay with a friend
Shay: Who’s your friend in Poughkeepsie apart from me?
Me: Fuck off. I have friends.
Shay:
Me: Night.
I tuck my cell away as Maxim slides behind the wheel.
When he cracks his neck, I sense his relief that the night’s over is as strong as my own.
The little glimpse behind his armor has me fretting, “We should get you to a hospital.”
Maxim laughs. “It’s fine. I’ve had worse cuts. It’s stopped bleeding for the most part.”
I shake my head. “That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be cleaned.”
“You can clean it for me,” he dismisses.
At the offer, I shut up. Until…
“Why did you tell me to kill him?”
He pulls up at a stoplight. “Why do you think?”
“I-I don’t know.” Very few men of his standing want their women to have blood on their hands.
“Because he would have killed you first. He had a taste for it.”
“A taste?” I ask weakly.
“He hunts. Made a great show of getting the big four. But there’s a rumor that on his reservation in Kenya, he hunted people.”
Black dots dance in front of my eyes as I recoil. Mostly because I can believe it. The way he looked at me…
“How do you know any of this?”
“You’re my business.”
“But… you knew who was pledging?”
“Brother Theodoric sang like a canary with some persuasion.”
“You only found out I was pledging last night.”
“And little sleep was had.”
I suck in a breath. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He cuts me a look. “I’ve proven you can always come to me.”
“Yes.”
“Good. I won’t always be allowed to attend these moronic events with you. If you need me, call.”
“F-Fine. Why were you allowed to vouch for me?”
“It’s to bring outside blood into the society. More ties, connections, secrets. Now that my face has been shown there, they can come to me.”
“For?”
He shrugs. “Whatever they want.”
“You mean hookers,” I mutter in disgust.
“Or drugs. Their poison of choice. I have the right to say no. I’m not a member. But to be associated… has its perks.”
“You’d be associated through me,” I accuse.
“Yes, but you might not make it to the final cut. I think you will, but there’s always a risk.”
“And you always hedge your bets?”
“I’d prefer you not to become an initiate,” he says crisply.
“Why?”
“You think I wanted you to shed blood? For you to owe debts to people who don’t care if you live or die unless you’re a brother in their dumb society?”
“Why didn’t you stop me then?”
His chuckle is dark. Deep. It settles in my gut, swirling around there, making me feel things I should be too exhausted to experience tonight of all nights. “You’re not like your sisters and they’re not afraid of blood either.”
Inessa more so than Camille.
I think back to my teenage years—the kidnapping.
“Did you know Camille bit off Abramovicz’s dick when he abducted us?”
“I did.”
In the glow from the streetlights, I study my nails, amazed that I didn’t break one. “That was the day I knew I could kill.”
“Why?”
“Because I watched her manipulate that old fuck via his small dick and I knew I’d never be able to do that. She sucked him off at first. Let him believe she was submissive. Then she struck.”
“She’s a clever woman.”
“She is. But I’m not like her.”
“No, you are you, Victoria. And you are perfect.”
“Am I?” The praise blooms inside me. “Shouldn’t I feel bad about what I did?”
“The Veronians are a throwback to another time. I think it’s fitting that that bastard’s life ended in a sand pit when he killed so many others.”
“Do you deserve to be ‘ended in a sand pit?’”
There’s that laugh again. “Probably.”
“You knew they’d sabotaged my invitation.”
“They do it to all the women.”
“Why?”
“So a Veronian brother can pick you and vouch for you.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means precisely what you think it does.”
“Is Wynter in danger?” I bite out, shuddering when I realize that’s why Derek was in the front of house tonight.
For me.
“Perhaps. She acquitted herself well in the fights. She can defend herself.”
“She shouldn’t have to!”
“You know as well as I do that women have to work twice as hard to get what less-deserving men seize simply by breathing.”
Familiar outrage at the inequality of life has me snapping, “And that’s what’s happening here?”
“Of course. She’ll either become Dyers's whore or will find her place amid the society.” His hands tighten around the steering wheel. “You are no one’s whore, Victoria.”
“That’s why you were there.”
“Yes.”
The memory of his blood in my mouth has me toying with my bottom lip. “Thank you. I’m not sure I could have—”
“Of course you could.” Grabbing my hand, he kisses my knuckles. “I had every faith in you, but you’re no man’s toy. Not even mine.
“I would allow no one the right to disrespect you because if they did, I’d have to slice their throats myself.
“You, my pchelka, should never be afraid to use your stinger. A predator feels no shame for taking out her prey, especially one as unworthy as that asshole. Now, do you want to go home, or would you like to visit my property?”
“Visit your property?” I ask in a daze, more of his freely given praise making parts of me that are closed off, slowly unfurl and open.
“I have a home in Poughkeepsie.”
“You do?!”
His lips curve. “Want to see it?”