The Broken Puppet (The Elite King's Club 2)

Starting the car, I put it into Drive and head toward the front entrance, where Damon is standing. He looks at my truck and then quickly looks behind him, checking to make sure no one is coming. Pulling open the passenger door, his jaw tenses. “What are you doing, Madison?”

“Get in.”

“I can’t—”

“Get the fuck in this car now, Damon. I’m dead serious. Nothing will happen to you.” He looks over his shoulder and then looks back to me. Removing his hat, he tosses it across the sidewalk and gets into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind him. Skidding out of the ranch, I make my way down the long driveway, the darkness of the night soaking through all the trees. During the day, this driveway looks incredible, all bright colors and positive energy, but at night, it looks like it could be the driveway to Hades. The trees reach over the long road, casting shadows in the night. I look toward Damon, the dash lights illuminating his features a smidge.

“Are you okay?”

He shakes his head. “This is not good. Katsia—”

“Will do nothing,” I snap, then relax a little. “Look, I don’t know if you can understand fully what I’m saying, but I’m going to go with it anyway. I don’t know who I can trust in this world or who I can’t. I’ve trusted the wrong people before, and it won’t be the last time, but I trust you.”

He looks to me now, his eyes softening. “You trust me?”

“Yes,” I respond, taking my eyes back to the road ahead and making a right turn onto the main highway. “I can’t explain how or why, but I do. But know this,” I murmur. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Damon.”

“I don’t need your protection, Madison.”

“I know. But Katsia won’t do anything.”

“You not understand,” he whispers. “I’m the alpha Lost Boy.” Even the word alpha sounds weird coming out of his mouth because he doesn’t seem like that kind of guy to me. I haven’t seen him in an alpha form, so I giggle a little.

“Madison,” he shakes his head in disdain, “so much you don’t know.”

“Well, we have a forty-minute drive back.”

“You never should come back, Madison.”

I look at him then the road and then back to him. “What? Why?”

“He knew no take you there but did anyway.”

“Who?”

He looks at me dead in the eye. “Your father.”

The drive back was done in silence after Damon’s little outburst of how I shouldn’t be back in the Hamptons. I wanted to press to learn why, but I can’t. Not yet. I can see how Damon will only share what he wants to share, and he’s not the type of person that can be swayed.

We pull into our underground garage, and I look at the clock in the dash. Just past midnight, so everyone should be asleep, if my dad and Elena are even home. I don’t see Nate’s car anywhere, so I know he’s not in for the night. Probably out terrorizing some poor girl. Pushing the button to close the garage door, I get out of the car and round to the passenger side. Damon follows, shutting the door behind him.

“Come on. You can sleep in my room until I figure some stuff out.”

“I can’t stay.” He shakes his head.

“The fuck you can’t.” I take his arm, and he tenses at my touch, yanking away from me.

“Sorry,” he mutters when he sees the shock on my face.

“It’s okay. So you don’t like being touched. That’s probably the least of the weird thing I’ve come across as far as phobias go.” Beeping the car, I make my way toward the door with Damon following closely behind me.

“It’s not a phobia,” he confesses, just as we make our way up the stairs to the main living area.

I turn over my shoulder a little. “It’s okay. You don’t have to talk about it.”

He pauses, his eyes searching my face before he nods. “Thank you.”

I smile softly, and then round the stairs, taking the first step. “I’ll get some of Nate’s clothes for you. He won’t mind, and even if he did, he could eat a fat….” I notice he’s not following me anymore and turn around, finding him still on the first step and looking to the ground like he’s trying to add something up in his head. “Damon?”

“Nate?” he whispers. “Nate?” he repeats, searching the ground once more.

“Yes?” I take a tentative step back down. “Nate Riverside?”

Damon stills. “Not Riverside.”

Huh? I swear this is too much. “We can finish all these conversations tomorrow. Come on, let’s get some sleep.” I reach my hand out to him and he takes it, letting me lead him up the stairs and into my room. As soon as he’s inside, he pauses, looking around.

“No pink?”

I shake my head. “Not a pink girl.”