“Bel,” Vesper sighed. It was a gentle warning. She was, no doubt, trying to prevent the inevitable fight that Bellamy was absolutely about to pick with Cedar… and maybe Cypress. She was sick of seeing their fucking faces every day, sick of how in love Cypress was. Fucking disgusting.
“We knew it might not work,” Cedar shot back in the exactsame tone, easily taking the bait. “Maybe if you didn’t spend the whole time looking over your shoulder, someone would’ve made a move!”
“Maybe if you were better at your shitty job we wouldn’t have had to waste a whole fucking day.”
“Oh yeah.” Cedar laughed. “This ismyfault. You know I don’t even have to help you, right? Besides, if you’d have killed them the first time like you were supposed to?—”
“For fuck’s sake, shut up!” Vesper yelled over Cedar. “Both of you! It didn’t work. We knew it probably wouldn’t. That was a risk. But now they might know we’re together and alive. They’ve gotta have someone who reported in. Maybe if we try it again…” Vesper trailed off. Bellamy knew she didn’t actually want to try again, knew she didn’t think it was worth it. Ves was only doing this to keep the peace. Bellamy wished she wouldn’t.
“If Cedar wasn’t so shit at her job, we wouldn’t be dealing with all these maybes,” Bellamy grumbled, loud enough for everyone to hear. She glared at the wall behind Cedar, which was covered in Cypress’s shit drawings.
“Fuck you,” Cedar spat. “Need I remind you again that I don’t even need to help your sorry ass? Why don’t I leave you to figure it out on your own!”
“Oh, is that not what you’re already doing?” Bellamy asked innocently. “Who knew your help would be so fucking useless? We don’t need you, so why don’t you just get out of our lives?”
“Bellamy!” Vesper snapped, tone low and dangerous. It was more than a warning now. Bellamy swallowed involuntarily, snapping her mouth shut, watching a slow smile spread across Cedar’s face. The bitch fucking knew what was happening. Cedar knew the dynamic intimately and Bellamy fucking hated that.
“Can you try to get in contact with your people tomorrow? See if they’ve gotten any closer to an idea that could work? Or maybe, if they’ve been able to find where they are, we can take the fight straight to them. I mean, your employers want them taken out too, right?” Vesper spoke quickly, trying to keep anyone frominterrupting her and stopping the fight that Bellamy was itching for. She wanted to wipe that smug smile off Cedar’s face.
Cedar shrugged, finally shifting her knowing gaze from Bellamy to Vesper. “I can look into it. But if I push too hard, they might get suspicious. I’m barely on good terms as it is.”
“We appreciate you doing what you can,” Vesper replied pointedly, giving Cedar a terse smile.
“Doing what she can?” Bellamy snorted. “She’s barely doing anything. We could’ve gotten to exactly where we are now without her help.”
Vesper’s grip tightened on her thigh, a semi-painful reminder that she was not on Bellamy’s side right now, and there would certainly be consequences for her attitude. There might even be bruises from where Vesper was gripping. If Bellamy played her cards right, she could get bruises elsewhere too. She briefly wondered if it was worth pissing Vesper off further—testing her limits to see what would happen if she ignored this subtle warning.
Cedar did not play into her hand though. She didn’t goad her like she should have—like Bellamy kind of wanted her to. All she did was sit there with her shitty fucking smile growing.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I find anything else out.” Cedar’s gaze flicked to Bellamy, and she could’ve sworn there had been a taunting look in her eyes. “Now, will you please let me spend some time with my sister?” Cedar batted her eyelashes at Vesper with an air of false innocence and took one of Cypress’s hands. Bellamy almost laughed when Cypress immediately pulled away.
She couldn’t believe the girl had stayed so quiet, just clutching her hands together in her lap, staring at the floor like always. But it was probably for the better. Vesper might have actually been angry with her if she’d prodded at Cypress too.
“Think you’ll have something tomorrow?” Vesper asked, making no move to get up.
“I think I could have some kind of an update at least,” Cedar replied tersely. “Isn’t there something you’d rather be doing?” Sheglanced down at where Vesper’s hand was still gripping Bellamy’s thigh, then back up to meet Vesper’s gaze.
“We’ll let you get to your sisterly bonding then,” Vesper said with a twinge of sarcasm. She hadn’t even bothered to look at Bellamy again as she released her grasp and stood up. “Hope you had fun, kid.” Vesper smiled at Cypress. “See you in the morning.”
Cypress looked like she wanted to say something. Probably argue about them leaving and insist Vesper stay, but Cedar cut her off by asking about her favorite parts of today. She and Vesper were all but forgotten as Cypress perked up and launched into what Bellamy was certain would be a full recap of the day.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Vesper
The door clicked shut, and Vesper turned to see Bellamy’s rigid posture frozen at the foot of the bed, facing away with her arms crossed in front of her. Bel knew she was in trouble. Vesper had made that perfectly clear. She couldn’t stop the smile that crept onto her face. Sure, she didn’t love it when Bel picked fights. But honestly, she was feeling about the same. Vesper just had the good sense to know that they needed to keep Cedar on their side.
She wasn’t angry—not really. Plus, there was nothing sexier than Bellamy when she was ready for punishment. Bel knew what she was doing. Being a fucking brat.
Without a word, she snapped the lock in place, watching as Bellamy tensed, then strode over to the dresser. There had to be something in there she could use as restraints. Each slam of a drawer, not yielding what she wanted, just built up the anticipation. Bellamy thought Vesper was pissed, there was no doubt about that. She probably should be.
Three drawers later, Vesper found a tie. Perfect. She turned. Bellamy still hadn't moved. Was still fucking pouting. The audacity to pout after trying to cause a fight almost made Vesper laugh. She slunk behind Bel, who stood rigid when she felt Vesperso close, and grabbed her arms, pulling her hands behind her back.
Vesper silently tied her wrists together and pushed Bellamy forward until her knees hit the low mattress. Then, she shoved her head down onto it.
“We need to discuss your attitude, Bel,” Vesper growled in her ear, leaning over her, pressing their bodies together. Bellamy whimpered and Vesper knew immediately this was all Bel had wanted. Every time she poked and prodded, tried to start fights, her only goal was to get Vesper’s attention. And right now, she was more than happy to give it.
“I don’t have an attitude,” Bellamy argued. Vesper pulled back and smacked her ass. The sting set into her hand while Bellamy tried to wriggle free from her restraints.
