Page 8 of Hero & Villain (Super Serum Billionaires #1)

I tapped my lips unconsciously as I remembered the brain-melting pressure that had wiped away all my fear as if he were magic.

I shook my head. He wasn’t magic; I’d just built him up in my head for two years, romanticizing Nitro’s boss, who was super cool and hot and fearless.

I’d looked at his screensaver when I needed not to be afraid, building more psychological ties to him that were strictly one-sided.

Everyone had issues, weaknesses. I would find Dirk Dagger’s and exploit it.

I would break him like I couldn’t break Clint.

I couldn’t even think about Clint without a rush of nausea and humiliated rage completely blanking my rational thoughts.

No, I would take care of Clint later when I’d had time to calm down.

I would destroy him, but not when he expected it.

James Russell Jefferson Dirk Prescott’s family was just him and his parents since his sister died almost five years ago, a few weeks before Nitro crashed and burned.

Could the deaths possibly be connected? If I read between the lines, it looked like he’d been upset about her death and spent too much time drinking, pushing his team hard, which led to Nitro’s death, but it didn’t look like foul play.

No one was surprised when Nitro died. Sad, but not surprised. Maybe I could find something suspicious, give him hope that it wasn’t his fault, save his ego and cultivate his hero complex.

If only I were weak and in need of a hero. He would love rescuing a helpless female, particularly if he felt guilty about killing her only family.

Finally, I put down the folder and studied her. “Pink hair. You always wanted to destroy mine.”

Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “You’re going to infiltrate his team? He doesn’t have a team anymore. He works for Death-Hammer, mostly drinks from what I heard. What if he remembers you? Do you want him to? What’s the plan?”

I smiled and grabbed her wrist. “I’m stealing your identity. Not you, but you five years ago. Pink hair. Punk. Black leather and hot pink.” I giggled before I shut that down. I was not having fun. This was a mission. No emotions involved.

She gave me a skeptical look. “How long do you plan on playing wild girl? I listened to ska. That’s like reggae mixed with rap. It would drive you insane in a matter of seconds.”

“Your tastes have matured in the last five years. I’ll do pink, leather and black lace, but with class. He wouldn’t remember if you were an artist or a musician, but he would remember the colorful hair.”

She grabbed my hair and tugged on it. It was down over my shoulders, straight, dark, lacking in volume and split-ends. “You’re going to hate it. It’ll feel like straw.” She grinned at me, diabolical joy in her eyes.

I shrugged. “I can shave it all off when I’m finished.”

“And you’ll be finished when…”

“He’s Geotech. He develops cutting-edge technology. I’m going to steal it, develop it, and give it to my grandfather. Haverscorp is going to eat Geotech for breakfast, and Philippe will never take his place at the head of the board.” I’d die before I bowed to my cousin.

“That’s it? Just corporate warfare? I hate to bring it up, but forgiveness might be the best way for you to get revenge on all of them, you know, move on and have a good life without letting any of their actions cause your own reactions that…

might… I mean, it’s just that forgiveness is one of those things that they talk about. ”

“They?”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “Look, I’ll support you in whatever you decide to do, but I’ve been a lot happier since I’ve been working through my issues in therapy.”

I blinked at her. “Oh. You’re doing therapy? How cool.” And dangerous. She’d better not be talking about me.

She patted my knee. “Just books and stuff about releasing trauma. Not a security threat. Still, I’ve realized that if I don’t really like who I am, I’m not stuck living out these roles that other people have stuck me in my whole life.”

That’s what was up with all the hero/villain talk.

I leaned over and gave her a tight hug before I pulled away and ruffled her ridiculous hair.

In a few hours mine would be fifty times worse.

“No matter what you do, you’re my minion, perfectly you, whoever you want to be.

If being legal makes you happy, it makes me happy.

Now, I’m going to rip Dirk Dagger’s heart to shreds, ruin his reputation, destroy his career and his life. Am I forgetting anything?”

She grinned cheerfully. “That sounds perfect except for one thing.” She studied me seriously. “What about destroying your ex? He’s the one who betrayed you.”

My heart pounded and hurt tangled my stomach.

I shook my head. “I can’t do anything about him, not yet.

I’m too emotional to get revenge. It’s not like I can’t ruin his life in a few years, when he has a new girl he’s purchased, after I can think of him without wanting to kill and destroy.

” I swallowed hard. “Right now, I’d probably kill him carelessly and leave evidence. ”

She grabbed my hand and squeezed my fingers. “Thinking like a true villain. Let him worry and wonder. Just disappear without a word. That’ll be enough psychological damage until you get your head together.”

“At Nitro’s funeral, what did you talk to James Russell Jefferson Dirk Prescott about?” I asked, wrinkling my nose. It was such a ridiculous name. Also, it made my heart tingle. Dirk. Yep. So stupid.

She nodded, and her eyes lit up. “He said there would always be a place for me, whether there was a team or not. But now, he’s working for Nix Death-Hammer.” Her brows wiggled. “You could take down both of them.”

I wrinkled my nose; the thought of the muscular Death-Hammer did nothing for me. “Gross.”

She patted my shoulder. “That’s right. You save all the other men for me.” She beamed at me. “This is going to be so easy for you. He couldn’t help himself when you weren’t even trying. You trying is going to destroy him. Straight-up seduction, or something else? Also, what do you want me to do?”

“You’re going to stay low until I get to the bottom of everything. Harlem… At any rate, you stay low. As for me…” I chewed on my bottom lip before I swallowed hard and raised my chin. “I think I’m going to marry him. That will give me full access to everything he has.”

She blanched but quickly brightened, nodding. “And it will piss off Clint. Genius!”

I straightened up before glancing over at Straw. “I’m going to have to leave my love behind.”

“He can stay with me, locked in the cellar of disasters.”

I stared at her while my heart ached. Maestro had wanted me to play publicly, to solo with the orchestra, but instead, I’d played to a crowd of riffraff in my underwear down by the river.

And now I was leaving my cello behind for who knew how long?

For the first time, I was actually tempted to run away and be a street musician.

She patted my shoulder. “Marriage? You’re clearly committed to this scheme. Will it bother you to be with someone else? I mean, two years sleeping with one man…”

“My bed is for sleeping. His bed is for him to sleep in. I’m not sleeping with anyone.”

She grinned. “You know what I mean. Seriously, you don’t like sleeping and waking up with someone?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t understand the obsession with sleeping with another body next to you.

I can’t imagine letting someone else have access to me when I’m completely defenseless.

” Of course, I’d been defenseless with Dirk Dagger, and he hadn’t taken advantage of me, just taken my fear and then sent me on my way.

“I’m sure that Dagger has a hero complex if he felt guilty enough about Nitro’s death—a delicate female if ever there was one—” I rolled my eyes, “to quit leading a team. All I have to do is to be the quivering damsel he can’t help but protect. ”

“And then you rip open his underbelly and leave him suffering an agonizing slow death. Then we can take care of Clint.”

I gave her a hug. “You’re the best.”

She squeezed me too tight. “Best at being bad. Well, second best. You’re the Supervillain. Don’t forget that, particularly when you’re playing soft and pretty. Playing parts can mess with you.”

I nodded and pulled away, frowning as we headed up the stairs. “I know. I almost forgot that I wasn’t the perfect fiancé.”

“Right? You’re going to need to break a nail. You can’t be precious anymore. I know that you always protect your hands, being a musician, but you’ve got to be a little sloppy, or no one will take you for me.”

I shook my head. “I have to be a victimized version of you. You’ve gotten pathetic and weak in the last five years.”

She wrinkled her nose. “And that’s what you’re going to play? You’re good, but don’t push it too much. You have to play this role for weeks.”

“Months probably.”

“You can’t break any noses.”

“I don’t break a lot of noses.”

“And no knifing anyone.”

“I’ve done that maybe half a dozen times.”

“Around me. Who knows how often you do that when you aren’t around me?”

“Shoes don’t count. Also, I’ve spent the last two years being demure and charming. Beaten and damaged is almost exactly the same thing.”

She snorted and then grinned widely. “Sure it is.”

“I’m going to show up damaged goods, lost, vulnerable, delicate, the exact package that a hero like Dirk Dagger can’t resist.”

“Sounds perfect. What do you think his game is?” she asked, pulling me into the bathroom and rifling through a cabinet for bleach.

“Game? I don’t know. He could just be a businessman who wants to push his own interests. Or he could have something personally against Haversham. I think if it was me, he’d be looking at me in the pic at the party.”

“With lust in his eyes.”

“Or hatred, but either way. It’s probably just business.”

“Of course it is, like you’re only going for revenge. If you fell in love with him…” She shook her head, clucking her tongue.

I stiffened up. “I intend to fall in love with him as much as possible. That’s the first rule of seduction: you seduce yourself first, or it won’t feel real.”

She frowned and pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, snapping the wrists ominously. “If you say so. Come put your head in the sink. This is going to be a mess.”

It was. A terrible beautiful mess if ever there was one. And it had only just begun.