Vik (Shot Callers 2)

“God.” Alessio ran a hand down his face. “You’re so tiring, woman.”

He sounded so drained, so very weary, that I decided to give him a break. I sat up against the headboard and pushed down the need to fuck with him some more. “Look. I’m sorry, okay? It’s just that everyone has some type of shit going on at the moment. Lev and Mina are busy doing…”

“Each other?” he offered, and I nodded.

“And Sasha is…” I paused.

“An asshole,” Alessio provided.

“Well, yeah.”

This was exactly why I hung out with Alessio. I was under no illusions about the person he was. He was cold, and hard, and he could be downright cruel. But still, he understood me.

“Cora is studying. Anika is around, but I don’t feel right piling my crap onto her. And Vik….”

My heart squeezed.

Our current sleeping situation hadn’t mended the invisible wall between us. Every so often, something funny would happen, or I would get frustrated about work or my brothers or life in general. Someone would piss me off, and I’d need to vent, or I’d experience something that I wanted to share. And there was only one person I wanted to share those things with.

I had lost count of the number of times I held my phone in my hand, writing out a text or had my finger hovering above his name. Just wanting to share myself with him like I had since we were teenagers.

The unfortunate fact was he wasn’t mine to call anymore.

It was rough.

Suddenly, after thirteen years, I didn’t know where I fit in. And it was a new experience.

Alessio looked at me a long minute. I felt his eyes on me, looking hard, searching for something. I didn’t know whether he found what he was looking for, but he sighed, then finally said, “All right, get up. We’ll get coffee and”—his lip curled as he said the dreaded word—“talk.”

He slipped out of bed, wearing nothing but gray boxer briefs, and as he dragged on his jeans, I stealthily took out my phone. He sprayed himself with deodorant before pulling on a navy long-sleeved tee. When he bent over to put on his shoes, I quickly snapped a pic of his butt and sent it to Cora. He stepped into the joining bathroom and began to brush his teeth as I got a text back.

Cora: Um… is that who I think it is?

Me: It is.

Cora: Why are you torturing me??? I thought you loved me! *crying face*

Cora: Also, FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP

I laughed out loud, and Alessio’s head peeked out of the bathroom, his mouth frothy and white with foaming toothpaste. He made a curious face but had the sense not to ask.

Me: Gotta go. We’re getting coffee. Talk later.

Cora: Talk me up, bitch. x

Me: Always. x

When we walked down the hall side by side, Alessio stopped into his father’s office to tell him where we were headed, and when Uncle Laredo looked between us, a tender smile graced his lips. “I like that. This is nice. You should spend some time together, with family.”

With the promise of bringing him a coffee upon our return, we got into Alessio’s black BMW M2, and he drove us to a nearby café. Once seated, I told him what I wanted, and he went to the counter to place the order. He returned with his cappuccino and my hazelnut latte, then went back to the counter a moment. When he placed a slice of chocolate cake in front of me, I glanced up at him, surprised.

His shoulder jerked lightly. “You look like you could use a little sweetness right now.”

A sluggish smile stretched my lips. If that wasn’t the nicest thing Alessio had ever said to me. “I’m starting to get what Cora sees in you.”

“Nas,” he moaned in irritation. “Please don’t start. I’m not in the mood.”

“I know I give you a lot of shit. That’s just what family does, Alessio.” I brought a crumb of cake up to my lips. “But I was being serious.” I rolled my eyes, as if saying it out loud pained me. “You’re a good guy.”

I saw the very moment he recognized my sincerity. He looked taken aback. When he cleared his throat and let out an unsure sounding, “Ah… thanks, I guess,” I found myself feeling something more than impartiality for this broken and scarred man.

“You’re welcome.”

A small bout of silence passed before Alessio shuffled on his chair and lifted his coffee to his lips, sipping. “I heard what happened yesterday.” Yeah, he would have. “That’s pretty fucked, even for a cold bastard like me.”

I nodded down at my cake. It was. And I didn’t know how to make it better.

He put down his cup. “I’m surprised everyone left in one piece.”

“They almost didn’t,” I revealed. “I thought Vik was going to rip Philippe’s head off and piss on it.”