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Elise smiled and sat back, unaffected by him. “It is.”

Frustrated where this was going and Elise’s patronizing tone, Victor leaned back in the booth and wrapped a possessive arm around Elsa’s shoulders, pulling her close. He didn’t give two fucks what her mother thought about him.

“You don’t even know me,” he puckered his mouth and tipped his head back to stare down at her.

She lifted her eyebrows and shook her head. “No, I don’t, but I have a good sense about people and what I sense is that you’re going to hurt my daughter. If you haven’t already.”

Un-fucking-believable.

Elsa choked on her drink again and cut in, “Mom, please!”

Elise put her hand up and continued. “I don’t take kindly to people harming the one’s I love, Mr. Laurenzo.”

This woman was seriously getting under his skin. When Elise sat forward, Victor cringed and prepared himself to get a drink thrown in his face. It wouldn’t be the first time.

“It’s never my intention to hurt anyone.” He looked away from her knowing he had just bold-faced lied.

Not your intention?” she mocked. “You’re not a very good liar, Mr. Laurenzo,” she continued to smile smugly.

What the fuck was this woman’s problem with him?

Suddenly he had the inexplicable urge to explain himself to her, but he had no fucking idea why. “Would it make you feel better to know that I work for the FBI?” He felt Elsa swing her head around and through his peripheral vision he could see her eyes were as big as saucers. Elise sat quietly staring at him but remained impassive, prompting him to continue. “I’m a criminal profiler.”

“Well good for you, but I still don’t trust you,” she added and took a drink. “As a matter of fact, knowing you work for the government makes me distrust you even more,” she tossed her long, curled, gray mixed with auburn hair over her shoulder.

This was such bullshit. Can you say impossible? Like Elsa. Why the hell was he surprised? Victor rolled his eyes and shook his head. Elise was the ridiculous one and this conversation was seriously going nowhere.

Elise crossed her arms over her chest and cast her critical stare out the window.

With the tension still thick in the air, their dinners arrived and they ate in silence with only occasional comments made between Elsa and her mother.

It was intriguing to watch them interact. Her mother clearly cared for her deeply, as any parent should. He was glad to know Elsa had someone willing to stand up for her, even if the person in question was a major bitch.

As their conversation picked up, he watched intensely, taking mental notes. If only he could draw from his own experience what it felt like to have a strong connection with a parent, he might understand their relationship better.

Feeling the unexpected sting of jealousy, he waved to the waitress for another scotch on the rocks and told her to add it to his tab for the evening.

“Your drink, Mr. Laurenzo,” he heard next to him in a familiar raspy, female voice.

Without looking up he knew immediately who it was by her voice and scent. Dressed in her usual fashionable yet unrevealing attire, Five handed him his drink and smiled knowingly at him. His cock immediately twitched. After everything he had done to her, including fucking her countless times and doing the most debauched things to her body he could imagine, it was purely an instinctual response; unwanted, but natural.

Without responding, he grabbed the drink from her hand when her finger purposefully skimmed across the top of his hand. Uncomfortable with her physical contact, he glanced sideways to see if Elsa had noticed. She had. He draped his arm over her shoulder to put her ease since she was clearly affected negatively.

What in the hell was Peyton doing here anyway? It occurred to him that maybe she had purchased the establishment. He never even thought to check into that. Why would he? He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in over a year. He sighed irritably and shot Peyton a penetrating fuck-off look. They stared at each other across a sudden ringing silence for only a brief moment before she smiled and turned her attention to Elsa and Elise.

“Welcome to Juniper’s, ladies. I hope you’re finding everything to your satisfaction this evening,” she professionally addressed them. “I’m Peyton, the owner of this establishment and…” her words were drowned out by the sudden jerking of Elsa’s body.

Victor stared down at her and her eyes burned through him as the corner of her mouth twisted with some undefined emotion that looked a lot like rage. Confused by her reaction, he gave her a questioning look but her straight glance seemed to be accusing him coldly.

With Peyton finally gone, Elsa’s breathing became ragged and she reached for his drink and chugged it down in one swift motion. Victor’s mind whirled at her reaction and body language. He had no idea what she was fucking thinking, as usual, and therefore he had no idea how to console her or rein her in.

“El, honey, is everything okay?” her mother reached over the table when Elsa began to tremble.

Elsa gritted her teeth, but nodded and Victor watched as she took in a deep breath and steadied her body. Next she plastered that damned fake smile on her face. God he really hated that phony shit.

Her mother seemed to relax and excused herself once again to the ladies room. As she walked way, he took all of her in. She was an attractive older woman. She was the same size as Elsa in all respects: height, weight and breast size. They even shared the same laugh lines and eyes. Elsa clearly got her mother’s good genes. If only he had been as lucky.

When her mother was out of sight, Victor turned to face Elsa.

“Your mother is an attractive woman. It’s clear to see where you get your good looks and mouthiness from,” he lifted Elsa’s drink and swirled the ice around in it.

Narrowing her eyes, she countered derisively, “She’s a bit too old for you, don’t you think?”

What an absurd statement. He had never let something as unimportant as age stand in the way of what he wanted. Was she jealous of her own mother? He brought the drink to his mouth and laughed. This will be fun to play with.

“I don’t discriminate against age.”

Her lips thinned with irritation and her gaze scorched him. “Or gender.”

What the fuck?

21: Wrath

Victor was so taken aback with Elsa’s statement that he appeared to momentarily lose his ability to speak and almost lost his grip on the glass in his hand. Still angry at Victor for having let her sit in a jail cell while he sat at home not lifting a finger to help her, then inviting himself to her dinner with her mother so he could play with her and comment on her mother’s looks was already more than she could take. But this? To try and humiliate her in front of her mom by bringing her to a place Chapter Five owns? How dare he include her mother in his fucked up game.

She pushed against him to place distance between them as he sat staring at her like an idiot.

“The next time you make reservations for me and a member of my family, make it at a place where we won’t be accosted by one of your fucking Chapters!” she whisper yelled. “How dare you involve my mother in your sick game!”

Victor’s look of shock turned to quick anger and he gripped her upper arm and dragged her out of the restaurant. He moved so hastily she nearly fell over on her three inch heels as she stumbled behind him.

Once outside, Victor further dragged her to a darkened corner outside where Mr. Black verbally ripped into her.

“Say what’s on your mind.”

Elsa closed her mouth tight.

“Ten. Nine. Eight…” he began counting down. “Seven...” he narrowed his eyes. “Six…” he gritted his teeth. “Five…”