Verity:

"It was just a dream. Calm down."

Ragnar’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts and back to their conversation.

He sat on the bed in nothing but shorts, one knee raised while the other leg stretched out.

"That asshole is dead. He’s not going to bother you again."

The moment I heard those words, I didn’t have to think twice about who he was talking about.

I knew immediately.

He was talking about my brother.

Justin.

Poor Innocent Justin.

Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision.

It was already dark, making it even harder to focus on his face.

"His sister can’t do anything to you. Don’t worry. He can’t possess her body to hurt you."

Every word that left his mouth made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

I wanted to crack my knuckles so badly, but that would draw his attention.

Still, I couldn’t help wondering what she was talking about.

Why would she mention me? Did she suspect me, or was she simply trying to push me away?

She was the one who had claimed to trust me in front of them.

What kind of game was she playing?

The way he accused my brother, it was as if they had forgotten what they had done to him.

"I didn’t bring her along to dig up old ghosts or make your life difficult."

He let out a quiet scoff.

"Trust me, if I wanted to do either of those things, you’d know."

A brief silence followed.

"I brought her because leaving her behind is a liability. At least when she’s in front of me, I know where she is and what she’s doing."

His tone turned colder.

"And let’s be honest, professionalism isn’t exactly her strongest quality. The moment I’m not around, she treats her position like a paid vacation."

He spoke about me in such a harsh tone that it was almost unbelievable.

I tried my best.

Maybe I wasn’t good at my job, but I certainly wasn’t the worst.

The fact that the two of them were talking about me at this hour made me wonder if Gigi was insecure about Ragnar bringing me with him.

It also made me wonder whether he had told her beforehand.

"Next time, I’ll tell you beforehand, alright?" His voice softened. "I’m trying to make things easier for you here, so stop being angry with me."

"Take care of yourself, Gigi," he added quietly, and it only made me clench my jaw harder.

"And as for the rest of them, why are you even wasting your thoughts on people like that? They’re nothing." A hint of amusement slipped into his voice. "If stepping on Justin and his sister would put your mind at ease, I’d do it without a second thought."

I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists.

"Gigi, you know I don’t like having those kinds of intimate conversations over the phone or through text. But I’ll stay awake with you for as long as you want."

Even so, his words carried a cold edge.

The shift in his tone immediately caught my attention.

What was she asking for?

The only thing that came to mind was sexting.

Then again, what was the problem?

He was such an asshole.

Shame didn’t seem to exist for someone like him.

He had taken another man’s mate.

Compared to that, this hardly seemed like a big deal.

Then they started talking about random bullshit.

He was basically just listening, and I could tell she was yapping.

She was a yapper and that much I knew.

I stayed there.

An hour passed, and anger rose inside me.

"I will fuck Ragnar so hard that he’ll scream for a break and you will watch it, Gigi," I hissed under my breath, my eyes closed.

Then I heard something shift in front of me.

My heart skipped a beat when I sensed a mesmerizing scent.

"Really?"

Ragnar’s voice jolted me upright.

I watched him stand in front of the couch, his hair loose and his shorts barely hanging on his waist.

"You said you wanted to fuck me. Why not start already? Or are you just someone who fights her battles with words?"

With that, he slowly pushed his shorts down.

His cock was erect like a pillar and big like a mountain.

I gasped, unable to even explain myself. This was not how I expected to get his attention.

He then crouched down and took my hand, making me hold onto him.

Another yelp escaped my lips at the sudden contact.

My fingers moved around his shaft, feeling the veins beneath my touch.

It seemed as though it had a mind of its own.

While I was busy gently running my fingers along it, Ragnar crouched down and lightly pinched my chin, making me raise my face.

I watched him look at me with burning desire in his eyes.

His thumb slid from my chin to my lower lip and brushed against it.

The sensation felt strange, sending a tingling feeling through me.

"Put it in your mouth, darling," he commanded.

His hand moved to the back of my head and guided it downward.

I don’t know what happened to him.

He was acting as though he didn’t have a girlfriend he had just been talking to.

He had just promised her he would squash me under his feet for her, and here he was, shoving his dick into my mouth.

That was when I remembered my brother.

Even when it was exactly how I wanted to go, I just couldn’t do it.

"No!" I refused, swiftly shaking my head and stepping away.

I released his dick from my hand and glared up at him.

However, he looked even angrier.

"And you think just because you say no, I will listen?"

In that moment, I truly realized he was worse than I knew.

"When I want something, I get it. And it’s your pussy that I want tonight, whether you like it or not."

With that, he suddenly came at me.