“Why did you tell Viper about my problems with Callum?”
My mother sat up and silently excused herself from our conversation since she was innocent in this.
My father held my gaze before he sighed and shut his book with a single hand.
“I thought you liked Callum, and then you’re pulling strings with Viper like some kind of puppet master.”
“Lily.” He rose to his feet and looked at me. “I gifted Viper two dragons because he came to your aid twice. But he said he didn’t want that. He wanted me to let him know if things between you and Callum ever…disintegrated. I kept my word to him, and now my obligation is completed.”
“I feel like you betrayed my privacy.”
“It’s what he wanted, and I gave it to him. But now I can ask him to leave or even cut off his head because the deal is done. Would you like me to do either of those things?”
“No.”
“Then what would you like me to do?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I—I don’t know.”
“Lily.” He released a heavy sigh as soon as he said my namealoud. “This whole love triangle is probably the single most awkward parenting moment of my life.”
“It’snota love triangle.”
“Whatever it is, it’s a lot,” he said. “I’d rather stay away from it as much as possible, but unfortunately, I’ve been roped into it against my will. That was what Viper wanted in exchange for his aid, and I gave it to him. Be angry at me if you want, but I didn’t have a choice. It’s done now, and we can move on.”
I continued to stand there with my arms crossed, wanting to burn my father with my flames even though he didn’t deserve it.
“Would you like me to remove him?”
“No.”
“Is there anything else I can do?”
“No. ”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you still angry with me?”
I hesitated as I looked into my father’s eyes. “No.”
A knock sounded on my door, and when one of my family members didn’t announce it was them, I knew it was probably Viper. It could be Callum, but I suspected he wouldn’t come to visit me after I’d asked for space.
I gave a heavy sigh before I crossed the room and opened the door.
And there he was, with the slitted pupils of a vampire. Instead of the armor and sword, he wore casual clothes, all black. Tall, muscular, the kind of guy who could bed literally any woman he wanted, but he chose to keep getting rejected by me.
He was persistent—I would give him that.
He nodded toward the courtyard. “Want to head into the village and get a drink?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard to leave my couch.”
“We can drink on your couch.”
I felt weird having Viper in my villa alone, even if my boundaries were set. Felt disrespectful to Callum, even though we weren’t technically together…but notnottogether. “The bar is fine. But if you try to kiss me or touch me inappropriately in any way, I’ll cut off your dick.”
The surprised look on his face quickly morphed into an amused grin. “You aren’t making it any easier, that’s for sure.” He stepped aside so I could join him outside the villa and we could walk together.
“You like it when women threaten you?”
