Vicious Minds (Children of Vice 4)

“Ethan,” she whispered as she sat on my lap. I hadn’t even noticed her move. She put her arms around my shoulders, resting her forehead on mine. “If you can tell me, with absolute certainty, that you will not regret it, that you will not feel burdened by it, that you won’t try to find someone else to replace me, I will go back with you.”

“You’re not replaceable,” I whispered back, wrapping my arms around her. “There isn’t a woman insane enough.”

She smacked my shoulder and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Again, will you regret it if I go with you, Ethan?”

“Yes, and now I realize I am a worse person than I thought.” I wanted her, but I knew she was right, and it bothered me. Why the fuck was she always right?

“No, you are who I’ve known you to be.” She kissed the side of my lips. “A man who will let nothing stand in his way.”

I undid the ties of her robe, opening it, and kissed her chest, kissing right under her breast, and then above her heart. “At any point, whenever you no longer want to do this, la mia anima (my soul), tell me, and I will bring you home, my plans or goals be damned.”

“You are much more romantic than you give yourself credit for.” She bent down, kissing my lips and her hands ripped the robe from my shoulders.

“Do you have your strength back yet?” I asked against her lips.

“Overflowing with it,” she muttered between kisses. When her tongue entered my mouth, I stood up, lifting her, letting her legs wrap around me.

So this what it felt like to be in love with someone.

Happy, worried, confused, certain, passionate, insane, angry, joyful…so many emotions for just one word.

It wasn’t logical at all.

CALLIOPE - AGE 21

Houston, Texas

Saturday, September 8th

I beamed when I saw my phone light up. Taking off my gloves, I answered. “Good morning. How did you sleep?”

“Well. Where are you?”

I glanced down at the man laying at my feet, tape over his mouth.

“Mhhh! MHH!!” he screamed against it.

“I’m at work.” I placed my foot over his mouth. “This has to be done on a deadline, so I left early.”

“It’s 6 in the morning, we just went to bed two hours ago.” I heard him get up from the bed on his end. “You need to rest.”

Ah…this concern again.

“I will, don’t worry, and now you have this phone to contact me on if you are ever concerned and I can do the same.” He was silent for a moment, and the man under my feet struggled again, forcing me to stomp my foot down once more. “I swear I’ll rest once I’m finished.”

“Be safe out there.”

“Always and you too. Love you.” I hung up, placing the phone back on my tray and grabbing my gloves again. Kneeling down, I slapped his white, well, now red, cheek, as he cried. “That’s my boyfriend, no, that doesn’t sound strong enough. Fiancé? Well, he hasn’t proposed but we plan on getting married eventually so I guess the right term would be...baby daddy? No…well, it’s complicated. But whenever I think of him, I get these little butterflies in my stomach. Have you ever gotten that?”

“Eahh…”

“Sorry, hold on.” I tore the tape from his mouth. “Say again?”

“Please…please….my father is rich…whatever you want—”

“Who do you think is paying me to do this?” I asked him before I put the tape back over his mouth and patted it down carefully. His brown eyes widened, and he shook his head to the side, so I nodded. “Yeah, sorry. Some dads are shit. And your dad is tired of cleaning up after you. But I still have to wonder how terrible of a son must you have been to cause him to prefer your death? But in your defense, how terrible of a father must he have been for you to turn out like this? Or were you just broken from birth?”