Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

But it was kind of fun indulging in the fantasy that this was all mine. That, for a few minutes, I had bags and bags of little treasures and pretty, new things that had never belonged to anyone else and any woman in town would envy me for.

I’d even enjoyed the feel of the slate gray lingerie when she shoved me in a dressing room to try it on. I thought about what Kai’s face would look like if he saw me.

“Well, thanks.” I glanced over at Alex in the seat next to me as Will drove. “And thanks for the ride home.”

She gave me a sincere smile. “You’re welcome. And you could’ve worn one of your new outfits, you know.” Her eyes fell down to the same dingy attire I’d worn into the store.

I shrugged. “I’m going to sleep soon. The day is over. No sense in taking a chance at getting something dirty.”

I turned my eyes on Will, watching him take a drag off his cigarette, while Alex started typing on her phone. They had a weird relationship. They were friends, who slept with each other, but they also slept with other people.

But who was I to talk? I didn’t have a single, healthy relationship in my life. At least they enjoyed each other.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I dug into my jacket, fishing it out.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Hey, trouble.”

That smooth, deep tone poured like syrup into my ear. Only one person could make those two words sound like a threat.

My chest rose and fell faster and faster, and my heart raced.

God, I hadn’t heard his voice in so long, and I shot my eyes over to Alex and then to Will, making sure I hadn’t drawn attention to myself. Will watched the road, while Alex had turned her gaze out her window.

“Hey, um…” I breathed hard, licking my parched lips as I kept my voice low. “I can’t really talk right now. Can I call you back?”

“Did you have fun tonight?” he asked.

Tonight? How did…

God, Kai was right. Damon was watching me, too? Or he was having someone watch me. Did he know about last night?

“They will hurt you,” he told me. “And he will toss you out like trash, because that’s what sluts are. Trash.”

My chin trembled.

“If I was going to let my kid sister pass her pussy off to my friends,” he said, “I’d have at least given you to Will for first dibs. He was the most loyal.”

I stared at Will as he drove, completely oblivious to who I was talking to.

“I gotta go,” I told my brother.

“He’s going to die,” he spat out.

He. Kai?

“Not because he betrayed me, but because you did,” he explained. “This will be all your fault.”

My heart pounded so hard it hurt. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Damon would do it. He had nothing to lose.

And he was single-minded in his idea of what was right and what was wrong. Betrayal was unforgiveable.

I cleared my throat, keeping my words vague, since Alex and Will were sitting here. “I’ll take care of it.”

“I’m already doing that. It’s Wednesday night. He’s usually at the cathedral around this time, isn’t he?”

I closed my eyes. “Don’t,” I whispered.