How the Mighty Fall (The Sinner #1)

SIN 19

Kairos

Vashka kept thrwoing annoyed glances at me. Sunod sunod din ang kanyang paglagok ng alak mula sa kanyang shot glass na parang mahihimasmasan siya rito. He's sat by one of the chairs in my office. Vivendel is taking a shower, pawis na pwawis mula sa workout at weight training.

"At talagang dinadala mo na sa headquarters natin ngayon?" he said in a judgmental tone. He pinned me with an examining stare, as if I have a disease he doesn't know about. "Knowing you, you'd probably be proving mine and Atlas's assumptions wrong by now. You're just backing it up more."

"Staying away from my wife is useless, isn't it?" I retorted. "Kapag nilayuan ko naman siya, iisipin niyong naaapektuhan na nga ako kaya lumalayo ako. Whether I continue being with or staying away from my wife, your assumptions would remain the same."

Vashka rolled his eyes. He's annoyed that I escaped his mind games. He has to be better than that. He cannot beat me. Not when it was I who taught him everything he knew.

"Don't act so butthurt, Vashka," I smirked.

"You really trust your wife?" mukhang labag na labag pa sa loob niya ang bawat paglabas ng pangalan ng asawa ko sa bibig niya.

My brow inched upward. "I don't trust anyone, Vashka. I only trust you and myself."

"Those who seem clueless are ones who hide the most bullets."

I filled my own glass with cognac.

"I don't trust anyone, but I trust myself enough to know that I can best her in case she has something up her sleeve. Pinagdududahan mo ba ako?"

I thought like all the other times, he'd say he never doubts me.

"To be frank? Yes."

I narrowed my eyes. He looked back with equal ruthlessness. Should I spar with him right now and prove him wrong?

"Stop giving me that look, Kairos. I trust you when against others, but against your wife? You'd easily be the one to lose in your game."

"You're full of shit," I flipped him off.

Nagkibit balikat siya. "Can't say I'm complaining, though. I've gained so much money from all the stress you've given me these past few weeks."

I would've scolded him for his gambling habits if he's not so good at it.

"I find that I'm more likely to win whenever you piss me off," dugtong niya.

He retrieved a pack of cigarette and pulled out once stick. Kinuha niya ang lighter sa side table. At that same moment, Vivendel entered my office, dressed in my gray shirt and white shorts. Satisfaction flicked through my system at the sight of her body being enveloped by my clothes which are too big for her.

She wiped her neck dahil nagtutulo ang kanyang buhok. And I remembered the feel of her throat on my palm. The way her pulse quickened, her hitched breaths, and her breathy moans which vibrated from her throat to my palm, down to my hardness. Her life in my hands. Her surrender.

Her life is mine. She is mine.

Those soulful eyes regarded me. Her feelings more transparent than a glass. Despite her claims of hating me and stirring up a fight with me at every turn, the remains of the younger Vivendel still took over. Eyes that glimmered in astonishment, flushed cheeks, hands that would automatically tuck her hair behind her ear, breaths that picked up speed, quivering chin, and trembling knees whenever I get in close proximity to her.

Things that in the beginning, annoyed me, but slowly became something I wanted to gatekeep for myself.

She was a young girl who doesn't know better for herself. Lived in her own head and fantasized everything bad to be good. She always looked at me as if she wanted me to hold her in my arms and be her fucking prince charming. She doesn't know. A man like me won't simply hold her to me. I'll consume her. Every part of her life will be tied to me. I'll demand so much of her that she'll choke and drown in me.