The stupid smile on his face is wiped away.
“He can’t find out,” Ty grumbles. “Which, you loaning me the cash, actually works better. Less chance of him tracing anything back to me.”
Ty eventually stops yapping long enough to go grab us a couple of sandwiches. While he’s gone, I think about Landry.
Her breathy moans.
The way her body clenched around my fingers.
How pretty her mouth looked and tasted.
My brothers are just as captivated by her. There’s something different about Landry. Something addictive and tantalizing. She lives with a monster, so it’s only natural for more monsters to gravitate to her.
Obviously it’s not the first time we’ve fixated on the same woman. It’s a habit we can’t seem to shake. But, unlike in the past, where we ended up fighting over the woman, this time I have a plan.
Ty returns and passes me my sandwich. It’s a shame he’s a Constantine. I don’t completely hate the guy. Because of his last name, though, I’ll always dislike him.
“Want to go clubbin’ this weekend?” Ty asks around a mouthful of bread. “While I wait for Landry, I may as well have a little fun.”
“Yeah, man. It’s a date.”
Ty says a whole lot of nothing. It doesn’t require much engagement aside from the occasional laugh, head nod, or exclamation. Mostly, I think he talks to hear himself speak.
I pity the guy.
I really do.
He thinks he’s going to save the girl from her monster. People like him aren’t heroes. They’re not ruthless enough. The ones who ever make it ahead are the ones who aren’t afraid to cut their competition off at the knees.
His cousin Winston is that type.
Like me.
Willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants. Ty is nothing but a dreamer. A watcher, not a doer.
I watch until the time is right.
And then I do absolutely everything in my power to get exactly what I want.
Ivy and Ash and countless others slipped through my fingers. When I get my hands back on Landry, she won’t be going anywhere.
“Sorry about your luck, bro,” I say, grinning at Ty, though I have no idea what the fuck I interrupted him saying.
He gives me a strange look and then laughs. “You’re so fucking weird, man.”
“And you’re desperate as fuck if you chose me, of all people, as your friend.”
We both laugh, but one of us isn’t joking.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Landry
This is happening.
It’s really happening.
I take the entertainment magazine from Sandra and try to play it cool. The sticky note on the front does a good job of masking the real reason for it.
Landry,
Seeing a movie with you was fun.
I want to take you out again.
Let me know if anything interests you and we’ll make a date.
-Ty-
“He wants to go on another date,” I say, smiling at her. “I wonder if Dad will let me.”
She stares at me for a long, penetrating beat, but finally gives a shake of her head. “That’ll be between you and him. I’ll need to make sure I’m available whichever day because I know he prefers I stay to care for Della in your absence.”
I don’t let her guilt trip me. She signed up for this job. There’d be no way in hell I’d ever willingly work for that man.
“I’m going back to my room now,” I tell her, feigning disappointment.
“For the best. Your dad won’t be pleased to see you out and about when he expressed his wishes you stay in your room.”
“Grounded for life.” I shudder. If only she knew this was so much more than a simple grounding. He’s ripped my life completely out of my hands and I don’t think he’s ever planning on giving it back.
I try not to hurry to my room as not to garner any unnecessary attention. Once the door is closed and I’m seated on my bed, I flip open the magazine, looking for my true hidden message. I find it on a Starbucks advertisement written along the inside edge of the page in neat, precise writing that could almost pass for a typewritten font.
It’s an address and another note that says, plus 5k and a getaway car. He even draws a winky face which makes me smile. Even though I’ll probably have the address memorized by the end of the night, I still tuck away the entire magazine into my school backpack. Since Dad never found anything of interest in my bag and ended up confiscating my computer later, he won’t be digging through my bag. I also fill it with a couple changes of clothes, a framed picture of Mom, and a few toiletries.
My purse, ID, and anything else that ties me to this life stays here when the time comes.
I’ll need to make sure I pack Della a bag we can grab and go with too. She loves her stuffed animals, so making her choose just one is going to be difficult. I know, at first, she’ll be confused, but once we’re out from under Dad’s thumb, she’ll be so much happier. I’ll find a way to buy her lots more stuffed animals.