Sweet Venom: A Why Choose Romance
Sweet Venom: Chapter 3

I know she’s here. I put a tracker on her bike after she left town. I’d be lying if I told you I was sure I’d need to use it. The way she left town, I was sure she wasn’t coming back, but Ellis wasn’t convinced. He wouldn’t allow me to move back into my old room because it’s technically hers. Don’t ask me why his girlfriend—a term I use loosely—sleeps in a separate room from him. If I had a girl, she wouldn’t be sleeping in another room. I wouldn’t allow it. Ellis’s approach to relationships is definitely different than mine. I would have written Vivian off already. But she’s back, and this time, it will be harder to push her out.

Ellis has an open-concept penthouse. It has two bedrooms, an office that is currently doubling as my room, and a meditation room that no one is allowed to enter. The fucker has a fingerprint lock on it to ensure it. So as I storm down the hallway toward the bedrooms in search of Vivian and come up empty after throwing the last door open, I’m furious. I followed her home from the coffee shop, but lost her on the highway. I swear she has a fucking death wish. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I pull up the security footage of the rooftop deck. Bingo.

I could wait in the condo for her to return, but right now, I want her to feel my wrath. Storming out the front door, I take the stairs to the roof rather than the elevator, ensuring no further delay. It would be just my luck that I’d take the elevator and get stuck waiting at three floors, and she’d be gone. I’m just opening the door when I catch her thong-clad ass dive into the heated pool. Fuck.

Of course, she would be up here skinny dipping. Ellis is away. He’d never know. That was my problem with her then, and it’s my problem with her now. She’s a fucking tease who doesn’t know how to be faithful. If she’s back for my brother, why is she swimming naked in the rooftop pool that is accessible to the entire building? Anyone could walk up and catch her. Ellis deserves better than that.

Before heading to the pool’s ledge, I grab one of the courtesy towels from the cabana. The last thing I need right now is her nakedness on full display. I might loathe her, but I’m not fucking blind. The woman is the definition of god’s gift to man. Her physique rivals any athlete or model out there, which makes sense, given her dedication to the gym. Toned legs, defined waist, smaller breasts, but that ass… I’ve seen her workouts. She could make money off her glute workouts. It rivals any one of the Kardashians, minus an ounce of cellulite. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against my women having dimples or more to love. In fact, I like my girls thick. I’m not exactly an easy partner. I don’t make love. I fuck. But Vivian, she could take it.

I sit on one of the chaise loungers beside the pool and watch as she does laps. I’m going to be here for a while. Vivian’s been back in town for a little over a week now, and the one place she hasn’t visited is the gym. It’s clear working out is a type of therapy for her. Hell, she’s opening a gym, something she’s been trying to hide for reasons unclear to me, but that’s neither here nor there. Vivian and I don’t talk, so her not telling me about the gym isn’t all that telling. However, I don’t replace it coincidental that while she hasn’t returned to her old gym, her old partner is back in the picture.

The longer I sit here, the angrier I get. All I can think about is everything that happened before she left. I returned to San Jose a month before Vivian split to take care of business. During that month, I saw all I needed to see from her to know that she was nothing more than a heartache waiting to happen for my brother. Ellis met her through Charlie, and I can’t fault my newfound sister for the introduction because Vivian was an accessory that came with her new husband. But I knew from the second we formally met that she was bad news, and seeing the company she’s continued to keep upon returning only confirms that.

Walking to the edge of the pool where she’s been pushing off, I wait for her to cycle back, and just as she’s about to spin to push off, I grab her by the hair, and she shrieks. She is wholly startled and clearly scared until her eyes focus on the face before her. The second that fear is replaced with hate, I say, ‘Get the fuck out.’

‘Sebastian, what the hell is your fucking problem?’ She screeches as she exits the pool, dripping wet in nothing but a damn thong. Fuck. Once she’s out, I throw the towel I grabbed at her to cover up.

She catches it and scowls at me, clearly pissed off, before I see the slightest of smirks pull at her plump lips. If I had blinked, I would have missed it. Rather than wrap the towel around her naked body, she bends at the waist, flipping her long brown hair over, and wraps the towel around her hair. Once her hair is wrapped, she stands with her hands on her hips.

‘Happy?’ She mocks.

I want to spank her ass so hard for her smart mouth. This right now is why I hate her. She knows exactly what she’s doing, and she shouldn’t be doing it. ‘No. I’ll be happy when you’re gone. I’m not sure why you came back, but you need to leave. Ellis knows you’re back.’ I pause and throw my arms wide before adding, ‘And yet he isn’t here. So, I’ll tell you what your thick, narrow-minded brain isn’t allowing you to see: he doesn’t want you back. You need to leave.’ For a second, I see hurt and believe my words land their mark—until they don’t.

‘Sebastian, you can fuck off. If Ellis doesn’t want me here, that’s fine, but I think I’ll wait for those words to come from his mouth.’ She starts collecting her discarded clothes, still completely naked, without even remotely trying to cover her perfect tits. They are small, a little more than a handful, and just enough to push together and run my dick through. ‘If anyone is going anywhere, it’s you.’

Before she can walk by as if I’d let her have the last word, I grab her by the wrist, catching her off guard, and that’s when I see it. The fear and the hunger. She likes what she’s doing. This is all a fucking game to her, one she will not win. ‘I don’t believe I said it was an option. I didn’t give you a choice, but since you think you have one, I’ll show you that you don’t.’

Without another word, I bend down and throw her over my shoulder, earning yet another screech. ‘You wanted attention. Now you have it.’

‘You’re fucking crazy. Put me down.’ She yells as I start walking back toward the fire escape to head down to our floor unseen.

The last thing I need right now is a neighbor seeing a naked woman thrown over my shoulder, but when her teeth sink into my side, I can’t help but grind out, ‘You little fucking whore. You’re going to pay for that.’

I smack her bare ass hard. The welt from the hit is immediately visible. Her cry echoes throughout the stairwell, and I warn, ‘You better shut that fucking mouth. I’m not Ellis.’

Striding into the condo, I head straight for her bedroom, intent on one thing. Shutting her up. I knew Vivian was different. Fuck, it’s one of the reasons I hate her. I don’t particularly like what I see when I look in the mirror, and I’ll be damned if her attitude isn’t derived from the same deep-seated anger that lives inside of me. One that is overall misplaced but somehow still manifests daily, only eating you alive and driving you to the point of madness.

I throw her on the bed, and she sits straight up. Her big brown eyes are fully incensed with hate as her body betrays her. She might be outraged and wholly pissed, but her stiff nipples tell another story. Figures, the little slut would like it rough. As if the past few months haven’t been hard enough, now the universe really wants to fuck with me. They sent me a girl who could handle my demons… in the form of a woman I don’t want.

Not wanting to waste another ounce of thought on the woman before me, I grab her purse before scanning the room for her computer. When I spot it on the dresser, I quickly make my way over to it, ensuring my actions don’t compute until I’m out the door.

‘I told you to leave, and since you refused to listen, you’ll learn the hard way. The next time this door opens, you won’t want to come back.’