Page 76 of Awakening the Beast
“Oh, isn’t she the cutest little thing. Can I hold her?”
Her request is straightforward, but it grates on me, making my jaw clench. I stare at her, feeling a surge of protectiveness rise through me, like an instinct I can barely contain. My hands tighten on Lumi, my mind flashing to the idea of anyone touching her without my say.
Jasper catches my attention from the right, breaking through my thoughts. “This is my mom, Arlo,” he says, his tone smoother than usual. “Vivienne.”
She waves her hand back and forth with a scoff, a small smirk tugging at her lips. “People just call me Viv.”
I nod, my expression neutral, though the unease doesn’t fade. I’m still not sold on the idea of her holding my fucking kid. Vivienne looks classy, put-together—almost like she belongs in our world, as if she’s always been part of the Elite. It’s hard to believe she spent years locked away in a fucking institution. Outwardly, she seems normal enough, but it’s impossible to tell what’s going on inside her head.
I wonder sometimes, how she ever became involved with my father. Was she just a fling he picked up, someone he liked to mess around with behind his wife’s back? Or was there something deeper? A connection to our world? I’ll never ask, though. Whatever happened between them is their story, not fucking mine, and frankly, I don’t give a fuck enough to care.
Vivienne's attempt at lightening the mood feels more calculated than casual. “It’s great to have you all here and joining me for dinner,” she says, quickly shifting the conversation away from Lumi, realizing I’m not about to hand over my daughter.
Wren responds immediately, her words polite but edged with curiosity. “Of course, Viv. Thank you for inviting us. This place is beautiful and totally unexpected.” I catch the side-eye Wren gives me as she speaks, clearly picking up on the same unease that's gnawing at me.
Vivienne smiles, leaning back in her chair. “Well, go big or go home. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been able to live my life freely, no longer bound by...” She pauses, her eyes locking with mine for just a moment. “Madness.”
I raise an eyebrow, not entirely surprised by her choice of words. She’s playing her cards close, but not close enough.Wren, sharp as ever, senses it too and keeps the conversation flowing. “I just didn’t expect such a luxurious restaurant,” she presses gently, fishing for something more.
It’s clear this woman isn’t just some forgotten piece of the past. Vivienne’s wealth is clear as day, oozing from every corner of this fucking place, and power seems toleave her as naturally as breath.
Viv shrugs carelessly. “I thought I’d treat everyone to a special occasion. Family is important,” she says, her gaze dropping to the expensive menu in front of her.
Family? The word feels like a fucking insult. I glance at Wren, then back at Vivienne. She's delusional if she thinks this sudden gathering ties us together in any real way. Maybe Jasper has some sort of bond with her, but me? Wren? My kids? We’re nothing to do with her. There’s no fucking family about it.
As the night progress, Vivienne’s attempts to draw me into conversation have been testing my patience. She's been digging, pushing for some kind of fucking reaction, from just me alone, and if it were anyone else, they’d have gotten a cold, hard fuck you by now with a knife in their throat. But something about her keeps me restrained—maybe out of curiosity, maybe because I know she’s doing it on purpose.
“How's your mom, Arlo? I heard about your father’s passing,” she says.
I feel a slow burn creeping up my spine at the mention of my parents, the fucking audacity to even ask about them but I keep my focus on Lumi, my head dipped as I feed her small pieces ofvegetables from my plate, but her words linger in the air like the smell of shit.
“Passing?” I repeat, my jaw tensing as my dark eyes finally lifting to meet hers. “You mean murder.”
She chews her food slowly, like she's measuring her next move. There's something odd about her, too fucking rehearsed.
“Murder?” she echoes, raising a brow. “Oh, right, yes. Murder.”
The fork in my hand clatters onto the plate as I drop it, the sound sharp and sudden. I feel Wren tense beside me, her body still, probably sensing the agitation building inside me. I can’t shake the feeling that Vivienne knows more than she’s letting on and her deliberate nonchalance is pissing me the fuck off.
“You know,” she continues, cutting through my rising anger, “you and Jasper don’t look anything like your father. You definitely took after your mother.”
I grit my teeth, my hands clenching into fists beneath the table. Every word out of her mouth feels like a calculated fucking jab. It’s like she’s trying to get under my skin, or worse, pry into something she has no business in. I feel the weight of her eyes on me, pushing and pushing until it takes everything in me not to snap.
I turn to Wren, my head low. “We’re fucking leaving before I lose my shit,” I mutter under my breath.
She side-eyes me, but I see the understanding in her, and she knows better than anyone when I’m on the edge. When I stand with Lumi, she does too and then everyone joins us.
“Going already?” Jasper asks and I give a small, wordless nod.
“Thank you for such a lovely evening,” Wren says, her words full of a warmth that I could never grasp. “We need to go and get Cree, but we should do this again sometime.”
I nearly roll my eyes at the suggestion—this again? Never fucking happening. But Wren is just being polite, as always. She exchanges goodbyes with Lily, while I keep my eyes fixed on Vivienne, who seems intent on closing the night with one last fucked-up gesture.
She approaches me, her eyes tracing my features when she stops. I stay still, watching her every move. She raises her hand slowly, as if she’s about to touch me, but then she hesitates, her fingers hovering in the air before they recoil. Her eyes drift to Lumi, sitting quietly on my chest, and her expression softens with a small smile.
“Goodbye, princess,” she murmurs to Lumi. “Maybe next time I can have a cuddle.”
Yeah. That’s e-fucking-nough for me.
