Page 36 of Villainous Rise

“Your Keeper?” I replied, finally looking at him. “I haven’t taken your Keeper.”

I watched Annie from the corner of my eye, noting the tension in her shoulders, the slight clench of her jaw. She knew exactly where this was going, and she hated that I’d outmaneuvered both her and Havoc.

“Don’t play games, Cipher.” Dark energy was visible around Havoc’s hands now, a warning I acknowledged but wasn’t particularly concerned about. “Our contract clearly states⁠—”

“That I can’t kidnap your Keeper,” I finished smoothly, enjoying this moment perhaps more than I should. “But I didn’t take Annie as your Keeper tonight. I took her as Valor’s girlfriend. The asshole was being disrespectful, so I decided to teach him a lesson by taking his date.”

The argument was technically legally sound since Annie herself had uttered the words that she wasn’t there as a Keeper. But the truth behind my words burned. Seeing Valor’s hands on her, watching him pull her against him like she was a prop for his ego, I’d nearly lost control right there in that ballroom.

Havoc’s eyes narrowed, flicking to Annie. “Annie?”

I felt a flash of irritation at the way her expression softened when addressing him.

“He’s right,” she admitted. “Technically, I was there as Valor’s date, not as your Keeper. If you try to void the contract on those grounds—” she shook her head.

I couldn’t help the satisfaction I felt, though I tried to temper it. Showing too much triumph would only antagonize her further.

“I meant was Valor being disrespectful to you?” Havoc corrected.

The question caught me off guard. I hadn’t anticipated Havoc’s concern being directed at Annie rather than his precious contract.

“Valor was being Valor,” Annie replied diplomatically.

Her answer only confirmed what I’d seen. That golden-haired fucker had overstepped, and Annie, professional to a fault, was downplaying it. The rage I’d felt watching him manhandle her flared again, hot and dangerous.

Havoc’s jaw clenched, chaos energy darkening around him, but he nodded. “You’re walking a very fine line, Cipher.”

“I always do,” I replied, injecting confidence into my voice even as part of me acknowledged the truth of his warning. I was risking much for this confrontation. My Nemesis contract, my standing with the League, potentially even my rank. But three months without Annie had made one thing painfully clear: none of it meant anything if she wasn’t part of my life.

“Bring her home,” Havoc demanded. “Now.”

I reached forward to disconnect the call, allowing myself one final moment of defiance. “Eventually. When I’m finished.”

The screen went dark, leaving us in silence once more. I turned back to Annie, watching as she processed what had just happened.

She looked down at her hands. She’d been wringing them in that particular way she did when anxious. Her fingers twisted around each other, knuckles white. I wanted to reach out and take them, to stroke my thumbs across the backs and calm her.

She wouldn’t welcome that. At least I fucking knew that much.

“What do you want from this?” she asked. “From me?”

What did I want? Everything. Nothing less would satisfy the hunger that had been gnawing at me for months.

“I’m done watching you through fucking cameras.” No point in dressing up my words. “I’m done with distance.”

Her eyes snapped up to mine, widening slightly at the admission that I’d been monitoring her. Not surprise though, she was too smart for that.

“I need to occupy the same space as you.” I took a step closer, watching her pulse jump at the base of her throat. “I need to touch you. Taste you.”

She didn’t back away. Progress.

“I want you to take me. All of me. Not just the parts that are convenient or comfortable.” I moved closer still. “I want you to take the Villain, the man, the monster. Every fucking part.”

Comms chirped again, cutting through the tension between us like a fucking chainsaw. I wanted to rip the entire system out of the wall.

“Boss? Sorry, but it’s urgent.”

“Mute,” I snapped, and the system obediently went silent.