Vicious

Vicious is one of the narrators and protagonists of Vicious. His narration takes place in two timelines, and the first takes place during Vicious’s time as a student at All Saints High School in Todos Santos, California, a fictional school and city populated by extremely wealthy families. In Todos Santos, Vicious is part of a popular foursome known as the “Four HotHoles.” He and his three friends Dean, Trent, and Jamie are known for throwing elaborate, expensive parties with little parental oversight. The four friends remain close in their adult lives and form a business together, Fiscal Heights Holdings (FHH), the name of which alludes to their high school clique.

Vicious becomes obsessed with tormenting Emilia as soon as he meets her, partially because he suspects that she overheard a conversation between himself and Daryl, his abuser. Vicious fears becoming an object of pity among his peers, so he keeps Daryl’s abuse a secret. Fearing that Emilia will expose this secret, he deals with his fear and vulnerability by bullying her, referring to her by the denigrating nickname “Help,” a reference to her parents’ jobs as domestic workers for his family. When Emilia begins dating Vicious’s friend Dean, Vicious becomes consumed with jealousy. He ultimately blackmails Emilia into leaving Todos Santos to separate her from Dean. Vicious is aware that these actions are controlling and unethical, but he does not care. Instead, he values his ability to control Emilia, even if it pushes her away.

Another source of Vicious’s instant animosity toward Emilia is her physical resemblance to his stepmother, Jo, who facilitated his abuse and who collaborated with Vicious’s father and her brother to murder Vicious’s mother, Marie. Vicious notes Emilia’s changed appearance in her adulthood, which includes dyeing her hair pastel purple and getting tattoos. He finds these changes alluring partially because they make her look different from Jo, who prefers more conservative standards of beauty.

In the adult timeline, Vicious is a lawyer who works for FHH. He relishes the ability to use his legal knowledge to manipulate others and treats growing his already significant wealth as a game that he enjoys winning. When he reconnects with Emilia, he seeks to continue controlling her so that he can force her to help him in his plan to get revenge against Jo. The more he spends time with Emilia, though, the more he finds himself interested in her for her own sake, rather than for the potential benefits she can afford him. Their relationship becomes sexual first and then gradually gains emotional intimacy.

Over the course of the novel, Vicious learns to value the interpersonal connection he has with Emilia over both money and his desire for revenge. He eventually makes significant career and financial sacrifices in order to get more time with Emilia, a gesture that she recognizes as significant to Vicious. This choice to privilege love over money also helps Vicious separate himself from his father, who dies in the latter half of the novel. This helps him move away from orienting his life around his desire for revenge against his father and stepmother. As Vicious moves away from his father’s lifestyle, which values money significantly more than people, he finds happiness and a sustainable relationship with Emilia.

Jo is Vicious’s stepmother and the novel’s primary antagonist. She is characterized as highly superficial and obsessed with wealth. She is ruthless and capable of cruelty and violence to get what she wants. When a car accident caused Baron Sr.’s first wife, Marie, to have a disability, Jo conspired with him to murder Marie so that she could marry him and gain access to his wealth. She also facilitated Vicious’s abuse at the hands of her brother, Daryl.

Throughout most of the novel, Vicious intends to find a way to prevent his stepmother from inheriting her husband’s estate, as Baron Sr. is ailing. When he learns that Jo is the primary beneficiary of the will, he first feels acutely that he has lost his chance at revenge before deciding that pursuing his relationship with Emilia is more important than revenge. Jo’s petty desire to harm her stepson ends up leading to her loss of this fortune, as Vicious only threatens her livelihood after Jo fires Emilia’s parents, who have worked for her for over a decade.

Emilia’s decision to lie to Jo at the end of the novel—something that Vicious initially pressured her to do but that Emilia ultimately decides to do on her own—serves as a sign that Vicious and Emilia are suitable and equal partners to one another who have moved beyond their pasts. For Emilia, this means that she no longer has less power than Vicious, her former bully, while for Vicious, it shows that he is no longer forced to face Jo and her cruelty alone. Ultimately, Jo is forced to start a new life without any of her late husband’s money.

Rosie is Emilia’s sister. She has cystic fibrosis, a chronic medical condition that affects the lungs. Due to this illness, Rosie cannot consistently work, something that generates significant financial hardship for her and Emilia. In the novel’s high school timeline, Rosie is an innocent, somewhat naive counterpart to Emilia. While Emilia is skeptical of the rich students at Todos Santos, the younger Rosie is initially drawn to Vicious and his friends. She kisses Vicious at a party, though she comes to distrust him after she learns that he only kissed her to make Emilia jealous.

In the adult timeline, Rosie is protective of her sister and wary of Vicious. When Vicious tries to regain Emilia’s trust, Rosie warns him away. She proves trusting of Emilia’s judgment, however, as she accepts her sister’s decision to continue a relationship with Vicious. At the end of the novel, Rosie has a boyfriend, though she also has a brief flirtation with Dean. Rosie and Dean are the protagonists of the second novel in the Sinners of Saint series, which indicates that this connection will be more fully explored.