When a strong hand slipped into my free one, grasping it tightly, I found myself slipping out of Tino’s hold and holding onto the intruder’s like a lifeline.
This wasn’t a choice. There was no choosing. No one could ever compete with the man radiating waves of anger and clutching at my hand like he owned me. Because he did.
Tino didn’t bother to hide his glare. “Viktor.”
But Vik didn’t bother with niceties. “Grab your shit, Ani. We’re leaving.”
Like me, Anika knew better than to argue in front of a crowd. With a huff of complaint, she pushed off the wall, gave her friends a small wave, and shot the guy she was talking to a dejected smile. With complete grace and elegance, she all but glided past me, and while she got away to safety, I was stuck here with the jerk who equally made me want to kill for him while also wanting to kill him.
The space around us changed. I knew something was coming. There was a tension in the air that felt suffocating, and it was building. I just didn’t know what it was building to.
That was when Vik opened his mouth. There was a rough quality to his voice. “If you know what’s good for you, Ricci, you’ll stay away from Nas.”
Ah. There it was.
I wished Tino was the type to back down. Alas, he was not. “Or what, Vik?”
Oh no. No.
A tiny part of me wanted to go over to Tino and slap my hand over his mouth. I would have if I didn’t know how weak it would make him appear.
Vik took a threatening step forward, releasing my hand, and the words shot out of his mouth like bullets from a gun. “Or I’ll put you down like the diseased animal you are.” He pulled up his shirt, and it didn’t take a genius to know that Vik had shown him his piece. “Don’t fuck with me, boy. You got hundreds of girls out here.”
My anger spiked. Yeah, I was mad, but sometimes when Vik spoke, he said things that made my insides do funny things.
His voice low and full of menace, Vik declared, “You can’t have her. She belongs to me.”
Simultaneously, my nipples tightened painfully as my core began to pulse.
Fuck me sideways.
Ugh. Why did that turn me on? What was wrong with me? I was a freak.
Also, why was the air so thick in here? My fingers came up to pull at the collar of my blouse. I was struggling to breathe in this bitch.
When I saw Tino struggle to keep his mouth shut, I saved him from doing something very stupid and stepped forward to slip my hand into Vik’s, holding it tightly while my other hand circled his wrist, pulling gently. “C’mon.”
But Vik wasn’t ready to leave. He looked Tino up and down, his darkened gaze holding a promise of violence if we didn’t get out of there soon.
“Vik.” I pressed my body into his arm, and when I regained his focus, he looked down at me. “I’m ready to go now.”
His expression softened, and he spoke quietly, “Okay, baby. Let’s go.”
I was a teenage girl in the arms of a beast, and I’ll be honest—as Vik walked me through the house with his hand gripping mine, peering at the people around us, daring them to say a fucking word, my chest expanded with an unnamed emotion that felt a little like pride.
This was new and exciting. I really shouldn’t have, but I liked this feeling.
My brothers provided a protective barrier around Anika as we made an exit, and when we approached our respective cars, Vik released my hand and shot Anika a look. She appeared puzzled for a moment but then lightly rolled her eyes and said almost robotically, “Are you still going to sleep over, Nas?” Which had never been the plan.
“Uh—”
Before I could say a single word, Vik pressed a button, unlocking the car. “Get in.”
My heart stopped, then started again with a boom. I hesitated, because my brothers weren’t dumb. They had to know what was going on. Vik wasn’t even making an attempt to hide it.
Imagine my stunned surprise when Sasha said, “Call me when you want to come home.”
“I—”
But I was once again rudely cut off by Vik. “No need. I have to come down for the meet tomorrow. I’ll drop her off then.”
Vik rounded the car and helped me in, shutting the door behind me, and for a moment, Ani and I were alone in the car.
“You didn’t have to do that.” My voice was barely a whisper.
Ani just looked out the window. “You make him happy, Nas.”
The words made my heart grow four whole sizes, but the way she said it made me feel awful. I tried not to take it personally. Of course, she felt weird about my odd non-relationship with her brother. It was a big secret to carry, but she did that for us without a word of complaint.