Vic Vaughn is Vicious

Because I own property. Not only that, I have someone to share it with.

Vann is in the breakroom shoving a taco into his face as I enter. He sees the new me immediately. “What the fuck are you so happy about?”

“Ask me what I bought yesterday.”

“Why?” He’s still chewing. A piece of cheese is stuck to his lip.

“Because I bought something.”

Vinn enters the breakroom. “You bought a whore.”

“Fuck you.”

“A round of antibiotics,” Vonn says.

“Fuck you too. No. It’s got nothing to do with sex.” I reconsider. “Well, indirectly, maybe.”

“A piece of land,” Belinda says, leaning against the door jamb.

“How did you know that?”

“You bought land?” Vann asks. “How’d you get the money for that?”

“Same way I got the money for the new windows, dumbass.” I point to Belinda. “Seriously, how did you know?”

Belinda nods her head to the front of the shop. “There’s a pack of girls out there. They would like a word with you.”

“Why? Who are they?”

“Apparently they are Daisy’s BFF’s and they are here to set you straight.”

“What’d you do now?” Vann asks, still fucking chewing.

“Dude. Could you close your fucking mouth when you eat? How old are you? Ten? And I didn’t do anything. We’re in a pretty good place right now. We’re gonna build a house on that property.”

Vann spits out his taco.

I look at Belinda and shoot her the eye.

She nods. “Come on, Vann.” She pulls his arm, directing him towards the hallway. “Your client is here.”

“Send them back,” I call. Then I look at the twins. “Get the fuck out of here.”

They put up their hands in surrender, then also disappear down the hallway, just as three girls who I vaguely recognize from picking Daisy up earlier enter the break room, all three crossing their arms at the same time.

“Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can help us,” the tough-looking one says.

“Our Daisy,” the cheerleader one says, “is precious.”

“You bet your ass she is,” the sporty one says.

“So we’re gonna need you to spell out your intentions.” The tough-looking one wraps it up.

I shrug. “I love her.”

“No,” Cheerleader says. “No, you don’t. Up until last weekend, you two didn’t even know each other and now you’re all out there buying property? How does that make sense?”

“Hey, whatever your name is. I don’t owe you an explanation.”

“It’s Ella,” Sporty says. “So call her Ella.”

I sneer at her. “Fine. Let’s start there. I’m Vic and you are?”

Sporty says, “Luu,” and Tough Chick says, “Rina.”

“Great.” I smile at them. They back away a little. Because this is not the smile I use for Vivian and other princesses. This is the smile of Vicious. This is the smile I reserve for assholes pissing me off. “Nice to meet you.” These words are spit out through Vicious teeth and they take another step back. “I’m sure we’ll all get to know each other eventually and one day we might even think this little conversation was funny. But that day is not today.”

“We’re just looking out for Daisy.” This comes from Ella. “She’s a good person.”

“A nice person,” Rina adds.

“And she’s our friend,” Luu says. “We like her. And if you think you can just walk into her life and tip it upside down with all these promises, and kisses”—she’s saying these words with snark—“and bike rides, and trips to the country—and not follow through with this?” She narrows her eyes at me. I have to give Luu points for effectiveness. She’s way tougher than the tough girl once she puts her mind to it. She looks like a girl with older brothers. “Mister, you are sadly mistaken.”

“So if you’re going to do this”—Ella picks it up—“then…” She sighs. Straightens. Smiles. “You’re going to need our help.”

“Because we can tell that you suck at relationships,” Rina finishes.

“How do you figure? We had a picnic today. On our new land.”

“Eeeennt!” Luu makes a buzzing sound. “Wrong. Your land.”

Ella points a finger at me. “Is her name on that deed?”

“No. But—”

“There are no buts here,” Ella says.

“We’re only gonna say this once, Vicious.” Badass Luu is back in action. “She gets half.”

“Or you can’t date her,” Rina proclaims.

I laugh. “Says who?”

“Says us.” All three of them say this together.

“One,” I say, holding up a finger. “I know a thing or two about relationships. OK? I do just fine. She swooned this afternoon.”

“Yeah, because you’re dangling farmhouse blueprints in her face,” Rina spits.

“Don’t interrupt me. I’m making a list. Two. She’s the mother of my daughter so even if we weren’t going to build that farmhouse, I would take care of her. I’m not a deadbeat. Three.” I pause here. Maybe even soften a little bit. Because I’m not sure I should say these words out loud.

“Well?” Ella taps her toe, impatient. “What is three?”

“Three.” I say it again. But again, I pause.

Luu shakes her head. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. What is the problem?”