But he just responded, “She’s mine.” And then I heard a click.

“Damon!” Empty air sat on the other end of the phone. “Damon!”

“What the fuck is going on?” Michael stared at me.

But I didn’t know. Why did he call? Why not say that shit to me in person?

Why was he jerking us around? Again?

And then it hit me.

Leverage.

“He’s not coming,” I said.

“What?” Michael inched closer.

And I turned my eyes on him. “The girls. He knew we’d leave them at the house.”

Banks

Present

“Ugh,” Alex growled, pulling her hand out of the pumpkin and whipping the orange slop off her hand and onto the newspaper.

“You said you wanted to bake pumpkin seeds,” Rika pointed out.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t know this was where they came from.”

I forced a half-smile, trying unsuccessfully to get my mind off Kai and my brother. Placing a tea light inside my Jack O’Lantern, I picked up the lighter and reached back inside, lighting the wick.

Carving pumpkins was a pathetic way to keep myself busy when all I wanted to do was jump in a car and go search out Kai and Damon, but if I left, Rika would follow, and then, of course, Alex, and I couldn’t be responsible for them. I’d bide my time until Kai called. If he didn’t within another hour, though, I was going, and I didn’t care who jumped in the car with me. I loved them both, and they wanted to hurt each other. How in the hell was I going to get us all out of this?

Lev and David strolled in, picking at the snacks on the counters as they watched us finish up. I carried my pumpkin to the kitchen windowsill over the sink and placed it facing out toward the garden.

The colorful trees blew in the wind, and I heard needles of rain drops hitting the window.

A crack of lightning flashed through the windows, and I jumped, my heart skipping a beat. Thunder followed, its hollow drum pounding overhead.

Turning around, I jerked my chin to the guys. “Storm’s coming. There’s candles, flashlights, and batteries in the hall closet. Go grab some, would you?”

“’Kay.” David stood from where he leaned on the counter, his and Lev’s smiles both on Alex before they turned around.

She offered a flirtatious look in return.

“Those are some mighty healthy-looking boys,” she teased, following them with her eyes as they left the kitchen. “Are they a team?”

I popped my head up, and Rika just shook her head, smiling as she carved her pumpkin.

“When I’m bored I think about sex.”

“And when she thinks about sex,” Rika chimed in, “somebody’s getting laid.”

Alex plopped the top back on her lit pumpkin. “It feels good, doesn’t it? Should we be ashamed of doing things we enjoy? No.”

I watched her wink at me and then saunter out of the kitchen, hopefully not in search of the guys.

Rika continued working on the eyes, and I wrapped up my newspaper, pumpkin seeds and all. If Alex wanted to bake them, then she could have at it. I’d gotten about as domestic as I was going to get today.

Tags: Penelope Douglas Devil's Night Romance
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