VIPER (Fallen Angel Book 2)

by Brooke Blaine

  “Yes, that’s right,” Halo said, a smug grin curving his lips. “I mean, that’s what Vi—David calls me.”

  Jesus, he was enjoying this a little too much. Not that I could blame him—I’d totally do the same thing, and he knew it. As he turned back to my mom, he continued on like the lovely young man he was no doubt raised to be.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms.—” Halo cut his words off and started to chuckle. “I’m sorry. I just realized I don’t know what to call you. Ms. Viper doesn’t seem right.”

  My mom laughed along with him. “Oh, you are a total heartbreaker, aren’t you? Our last name is Neil, but you can call me Wendy.”

  “Then thank you for having me over for dinner tonight, Wendy.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” she said, and as they dropped hands, she turned back to me and said, “I hope you’re both hungry.”

  “Starving,” I told her, and winked as she headed inside the house, leaving us to follow.

  As I held the security door wide for Halo, he walked forward and then stopped before entering and said, “Thanks, David.”

  “Having fun with that?”

  “Mhmm. Although, I have to admit, you definitely seem more like a Viper to me.”

  “Is that right?” We stepped inside and shrugged out of our jackets. I hung them on the hook in the foyer.

  “Yeah. David seems too, I don’t know, normal for you.”

  “And I’m not normal?”

  Halo grinned, and it took every ounce of self-restraint I possessed not to grab him and kiss him. “No way. You’re—”

  “Careful,” I said, and the expression in Halo’s eyes went from mischievous to something much deeper in a split second.

  “I think you’re extraordinary.”

  I couldn’t move. I could barely even breathe as I stared into a face I now knew by heart. And as we stood there in my mom’s foyer, I realized what a monumentally stupid move it had been for me to bring the angel here.

  What had I been thinking? But I already knew the answer to that. I hadn’t been thinking. Not now. Not in Florida. It seemed I’d given up using my brain from the moment Halo walked in and auditioned for us months ago, and now I was neck deep in something I didn’t completely understand. Something that had the potential to blow up in all our faces if Halo didn’t stop looking at me and thinking of me as extraordinary.

  No matter how much I liked it.

  Thirty-Six

  Halo

  “DAVID TELLS ME your mother is Cheryl Olsen. She’s such a lovely, talented musician. You must be so proud.” Wendy smiled at me as she spooned another serving of some kind of sausage, peppers, and onions potato bake onto my plate. She was the ultimate hostess, refilling drinks and food before you could do it yourself, and though I was stuffed, I’d finish this off too. I wouldn’t risk being rude in front of Viper’s mom.

  I thanked her and nodded. “Yes, ma’am, I am.”

  “And you’re quite the musician as well. I’ve heard nothing but praises from David since you came along.”

  “Oh really?” I raised an eyebrow in Viper’s direction, but his eyes were focused on his plate and he didn’t respond.

  “Yes, nothing but ‘Angel this’ and ‘Angel that.’ I was wondering if I’d ever get a chance to meet you. You’ve certainly made an impression on my boy.” Wendy reached over and squeezed Viper’s arm, and he finally looked up, giving her a tight smile.

  What was going on with him? Ever since we’d sat down, he’d barely looked my way, and he’d had even less to say, only giving short, clipped answers whenever his mom addressed him. Had I done something to piss him off? Or maybe now that I was here, he was regretting inviting me over.

  I scooped another mouthful of his mom’s bake and tried not to let the change in Viper’s mood bother me. But it seemed I wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

  “You’re so quiet tonight,” Wendy said, giving Viper’s arm another squeeze before pulling her hand away. “Is everything all right?”

  “Mhmm.”

  That was all he managed, and as Wendy looked my way, I forced a smile. “This is delicious, Ms. Neil.”

  “It was nothing,” she said, but she beamed and reached for the serving spoon again. “Can I get you more?”

  “Oh, no—thank you, though. If I eat another bite, you’ll have to roll me outta here.”

  “Well, hopefully you boys saved room for dessert. I made David’s favorite, tres leches cake.”

  That should’ve gotten a response out of Viper, but his mouth stayed stubbornly shut, and I wondered again what the hell was going on.

  Wanting to steal a couple of minutes alone, I told Wendy, “Tres leches cake sounds amazing.”

  “Let me go grab it out of the fridge and get some clean plates,” she said, already pushing away from the table to rush into the kitchen. When she was out of earshot, I turned my attention to Viper.

  “Hey.” When that didn’t get a response, I kicked him under the table, and his head shot up. “What’s going on with you?”

  “Nothin’.”

  “We both know that’s not true. Did something happen?”

  Viper’s black eyes didn’t hold the fire behind them that they usually did when he looked at me, and the blankness in them now made my stomach turn. I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer after all, but I swallowed and asked anyway.

  “Is it me?” I said. “Do you want me to go?”

  “Course not.” His gaze shifted toward the kitchen. “There’s cake.”

  Another non-answer, and he was starting to piss me off. “You’re acting like a real dick, you know that?”

  “Nothin’ unusual there.”

  “That is fucking unusual. You don’t act like this with—” I almost said me, but Viper’s eyes cut to mine.

  “With you?” The way he said it sounded like an insult. Like it was the most preposterous thing he’d ever heard, and that felt like a punch in the gut.

  “Dessert time!” Wendy announced as she entered the dining room holding a white cake decorated with berries and three small plates. She set the cake in the center of the table and then looked between us. “Who wants the first piece?”

  Suddenly, the thought of having to sit here and small-talk over dessert with the tension radiating off Viper was too much to take. I wiped my mouth with my napkin and set it beside my empty plate before getting to my feet.

  “I’m sorry, I’m afraid I need to get going,” I said to Wendy, ignoring the way Viper’s eyes bored into the side of my head.

  “Already? But—”

  “Thank you so much for dinner, and I’m sure the dessert is wonderful as well. More for Viper…David.”

  I didn’t even wait around for Viper’s reaction, and it didn’t escape my notice that he hadn’t exactly jumped up and asked me to stay. As I grabbed my jacket and shrugged into it, part of me waited for him to follow me out, to tell me he was sorry for being a jerk and that we needed to at least try his mom’s cake or she’d be disappointed.

  But when only the sound of Wendy’s voice, still in the dining room met my ears, the only one disappointed tonight was me.

  I reached for the doorknob and looked over my shoulder to confirm what I already knew—that no one was following me—and then I stepped out into the night, shutting the door quietly behind me.

  My cheeks burned even as a cool breeze greeted me, my hurt at Viper’s obvious dismissal mixing with the anger that had decided to rear its ugly head.

  What the hell was his problem tonight? Everything had been fine on the way over here. We’d been joking and laughing, and it’d been all we could do to keep our hands off each other. Hell, I’d even told him he was extraordinary, and—

  My feet stopped moving. That. That had been the moment when I sensed a change. When something had passed over Viper’s eyes, something I couldn’t read, and I hadn’t even gotten a chance to think on it, because Wendy had ushered me through the house to give me the full tour. But that was it. I�
��d bared the slightest bit of feeling, and Viper had freaked. He hadn’t bothered to talk to me about it, just boarded up the windows and put a “closed” sign on the goddamn door.

  Jesus, why was he so scared to admit I was any more to him than some casual fuck? He had to know that wasn’t true, not anymore.

  Cursing, I shoved my hands in my pockets and began to walk toward the subway, but halfway there I changed my mind and turned back. We needed to talk, and since he wasn’t following me and I wasn’t about to cause a scene in front of his mother, I’d wait.

  I’d thought Viper was a lot of things over the time I’d known him: an intimidating rock god, a playboy with a sharp tongue, and an intensely passionate lover.

  But I’d never, ever thought of him the way I did now.

  As a coward.

  Thirty-Seven

  Viper

  FUCK.

  FUCK. FUCK. Fuck. The soft click of the front door shutting might as well have been a slam, as Halo exited my mom’s house and left without trying some of her famous tres leches cake.

  I was such a fucking idiot. Wasn’t that what Killian had been telling me? Yeah, well, tonight I had to agree with him, and not only that, I was a giant asshole to boot. As I sat there silently admonishing my shitty attitude, my mom’s voice cut through.

  “David?” When I didn’t answer, or look at her, she put a hand on my shoulder and shook me. “David? What’s going on? Why did Angel leave?”

  “Halo, Mom,” I said, and shoved my chair back from the table. “His name is Halo.”

  But even as I said it, the name got stuck on my tongue. It was so strange how a name made such a difference in how you viewed someone. Ever since I’d met Halo, I’d thought of him as Angel, and the only time that had changed was when I’d forced it. When I’d desperately been trying to create some distance, like now.

  I think you’re extraordinary…

  I got to my feet and threw the napkin on the table, and my mom grabbed my arm and dug her fingers in, halting me.

  “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man. What’s going on with you two? One minute you were laughing, joking around, and the next you’re acting like a grizzly bear.”

  “Nothing’s going on with us, and nothing can. Okay?” I pulled my arm free, and shoved a hand through my hair, frustrated. “Just leave it,” I said as I brushed by her heading for my jacket and the pack of cigarettes that were in the pocket.

  As I got hold of them, I pulled open the door, and at the last moment stopped and turned back to see her looking after me. Her expression was full of hurt and disappointment, the same one that used to make me feel guilty as a kid, and it still did the trick as an adult. But this time there was something else mixed in with that look, something that made me want to shout at the top of my lungs…pity.

  I clenched my jaw and held up the cigarettes. “I’ll be back in a few.” She merely shook her head, hating this habit of mine, but there was no way I could sit there in the house now that Halo had left. Yeah, because you made him, asshole.

  As I walked onto the porch, I lit up and shut the door behind me, then I looked out onto the street and my feet came to a standstill. Halo was standing on the sidewalk under the streetlight staring up at the house. His hands were jammed in the pockets of his jeans, and the pissed-off expression on his face was one I’d never seen. His mouth was drawn taut, his body tense, and as I made myself move and walk down the stairs, his eyes zeroed in on me. Halo looked seconds away from exploding, and because I was the king of assholes tonight, I opened my mouth and hit the detonator.

  “Decide to come back and apologize for being rude, huh?” As I stopped in front of him, I noticed the ticking in Halo’s jaw and told myself that the smart thing to do here was to back the fuck off. But I’d never been really good at doing the smart thing.

  “You’ve got some nerve,” Halo finally said, and took a step toward me, and I wasn’t sure if it was because I wanted to be close to him or because I figured he should have a fair shot at punching me if he wanted to, but I didn’t back up.

  I raised the cigarette to my lips and took a drag, and as I angled my head and exhaled, I said, “Oh yeah? How you figure?”

  Halo’s eyes narrowed as though he were trying to work out who the fuck I was, and where the man he’d known for the past few months had up and disappeared to. But fuck, with the album close to dropping and the band about to explode, it was time to lay all this shit out. Put into perspective what could and couldn’t happen, and him thinking of me as extraordinary could not happen.

  “Because you invited me out here tonight to meet your mom and then turned into a total dick. That’s how I figure.”

  “A little bit touchy, aren’t you?” I said, bringing the cigarette back to my lips. But before I could take a drag, Halo reached out, snatched it from my hand, and threw it on the ground. Then he got all up in my face.

  “I’d rather be touchy than a fucking coward.”

  I reared back, the blow a low one, and as the impact of it slammed into me, I gritted my teeth and let my frustration at the situation rise to the surface.

  I hadn’t wanted this. I hadn’t wanted all these complicated emotions pulling at me every time Halo was near. But as I stood there reeling from his blow, I did what I always did when someone backed me into a corner: I punched back with no thought other than landing a winning blow.

  “I’m not a coward,” I said, my voice low. “I’m just smart enough to know when things have run their course. And this is one of them.”

  “Is that right?” Halo let out a disgusted sound. Whether it was with himself for ever having touched me or me because I was being a piece of shit was anyone’s guess.

  “You know it is. Bringing you here tonight was no different than bringing Killian or Jagger here. But then you had to go and make it something more in your head. Sorry, Angel, it’s just not like that for me. I told you. I don’t do love. I don’t do relationships—”

  “You just do fucking.”

  “That’s right.”

  “And that’s all this was to you. That’s all I was to you? A fuck?” Halo spat the word at me, and I made myself stand still and not react to his emotions, because if I did that, I would likely grab him. Grab him and kiss his snarling, pissed-off lips, and the whole point of this shitshow was to end things. I hadn’t planned it to happen tonight, but we’d both known this thing had had a time limit, and Halo sure as fuck wouldn’t be the one to end it—so okay, I’d be the asshole. It was a role I was familiar with.

  “A really hot fuck,” I said. “Don’t forget that part.”

  Halo stumbled back a step, the anger now replaced with hurt from the blow I’d just landed, and he blinked several times and then slowly shook his head. I balled my fists by my sides and ordered myself to stay put. This was what had to happen—he knew it, and so did I.

  “I’m such a fucking idiot,” Halo said under his breath, and as he took another step away, he shook his head. “I thought… I…” When his words stopped, he looked up, and those light eyes were wide and full of disbelief and betrayal.

  “You knew how this was going to end,” I said, as though that would make things any better. “You’re the frontman, Angel. Your career, our career is about to explode, and this can’t be more than what it’s been. So it needs to be done. I told you this already.”

  Halo’s eyes flashed, and the anger from a second ago reignited. “And I told you I won’t be someone I’m not.”

  I shrugged. “That’s fine. But whoever you are has to be without me. I won’t be the reason this band comes to a grinding halt.”

  Halo’s mouth fell open as he walked back the couple of steps he needed so we were toe to toe.

  “There it is,” Halo said, his annoyance now spreading to his cheeks in a red flush. “The real reason here. It’s got nothing to do with me. It’s everything to do with you. You’ve been so closed off to anyone giving a shit about you that you don’t know how to actually trust someone a
nymore. I’m not Owen. I’m not going to fuck you over or exploit you if this doesn’t work out. And I’m not about to walk out on something I’ve been working my ass off for because I’m no longer allowed to fuck the Viper. So why don’t you get the fuck over yourself already.”

  Thirty-Eight

  Halo

  WOW. SO IT had come to this. I should’ve known better than to expect a warning before Viper decided he was done with me. The change in his mood had flipped on a dime, giving me whiplash, and worse, he’d done it in front of his mom.

  And it was all because I’d told him I thought he was extraordinary? Was he fucking kidding with that shit? He was extraordinary, all right. An extraordinary jackass.

  “What, nothing to say?” I asked when Viper shoved his hands in his pockets, looking entirely unaffected by what was happening, and that was fucking infuriating.

  I knew better than to think I meant nothing to him. He could tell me I was just a fuck all day until he was blue in the face, but his actions spoke louder than his words, and it was the little things he did that showed me he cared more than he’d ever let on. So all this bullshit? This cement wall going back up around him? It was because he was scared. Viper was so scared of letting anyone in, because God forbid the man be vulnerable and put himself out there.

  “Why can’t you admit it, huh?” I said. “For one second why can’t you admit this shit’s got you running scared?”

  Viper pulled his hands out of his pockets and spread his arms wide. “Look at me. You see me runnin’? Do I look scared to you?”

  “Riiight. Big, bad Viper,” I sneered. “Gotta maintain your image of not giving a shit about anyone or anything. What a miserable existence.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You done?”

  Was I? No. Fuck no. I wanted him to fight back after he admitted he couldn’t sleep in his own damn bed without me there. I wanted him to tell me he felt the same way I did—that this casual fling between us had changed over the last few months into something more.