I trailed down the stairs, taking one last look at the art-filled walls of my childhood home. Marcello was out the front door before my feet hit the bottom landing.
We arrived at Haven Airport ten minutes later. My body shook as my brain told me to run the second we parked. After my last encounter with Luca ended in pain and tears, I promised to never return to Devil’s Creek. I vowed never to put myself at the mercy of the cruel prince.
Pops needed my help.
Aiden could still be alive.
I had to go through with this.
Marcello opened my door, his jaw set hard as he looked down at me. “I’ll get your bags. Get on the plane.”
Even as an impressionable girl, I knew Luca Salvatore was the Devil. Most of the time, he scared the shit out of me. There was something off about Luca as if someone had taken all the good parts of him and then tried to sew him back together but stitched him wrong.
It was the end of the summer before the start of my final year at the Rhode Island School of Design. Hundreds of people crowded around the Olympic size pool at the Salvatore Estate. Couples made out in the pool, while some people played drinking games as others shouted commands from their chairs.
Strings of fairy lights floated above us, dangling from the trees like stars against the dark sky. “Party Up” by DMX cranked through the outdoor speakers. As if the beat made everyone lose their minds, a group of girls in bikinis jumped up on the table where Luca sat with his brothers. Girls gyrated against each other to gain Luca’s attention. He didn’t even look at them. They could have been naked and sucking his cock, and his eyes would have found mine.
He bobbed his head to the music, shooting daggers at me from across the pool. I could see him mouthing the words to the song. Luca loved rap music. He once told me it was murder music, the shit that made him want to crush fucking skulls.
So when I saw that crazy look in his eyes, I shot up from my chair, desperate to find my twin brother. Aiden was around somewhere. A few songs ago, two girls had sat on his lap and dragged him toward the bar, and I hadn’t seen him since.
Luca raised his hand and beckoned me with his index finger. I shook my head. Screw him and his demands. He owned everyone in Devil’s Creek, but the handsome prince would never own me. I only made him think he could.
We both got off on the chase and the high it provided us. Some days I wanted to give in to my desires. I loved the way his skin and lips felt against mine, but I could not allow him to win.
Luca’s eyes traveled up and down my bikini-clad body from across the pool. The red fabric barely covered my D cups, and the bottoms did little to hide my curvy ass. From the moment I stepped into the backyard, Luca zoned in on me, but his friends kept their distance. Just the thought of his wrath incited fear in everyone.
Luca was tall and gorgeous, with a Roman nose, powerful jaw, and a thick mane of black hair he kept short on the sides and spiked in the front. He looked like a dangerous version of Ian Somerhalder, only with more muscle and blue eyes that always had a murderous look in them.
I sipped from my beer, shaking my hips to the beat as I passed a group of drunken guys. One of them hit on me before his friend said, “That’s Luca’s girl. He’ll cut you if you even look at her.”
I feared for the guy when I saw Luca’s nostrils flare.
“Oh, fuck,” the blond surfer guy said to me. “My bad. Please tell Luca I was joking.”
Like he would care.
It took little to bring Luca’s inner psychopath to life. Every summer since our first encounter, Luca claimed his ownership of me in front of his friends. They all knew the deal. Our families were the founders of the town. Because of that, Luca thought I was his queen.
Whatever the hell that meant.
As I walked past Luca’s table, he slid out his chair and hooked his arm around my thigh, tugging me onto his lap. I slapped his hand and attempted to get away, but he tightened his grip.
“Luca, stop it,” I shouted. “I’m not in the mood.”
Heads snapped in our direction.
“What are you looking at?” Luca growled at no one in particular. “Mind your fucking business or get the fuck out.” He pulled my back against his chest, holding me down by my stomach. “Stop playing games with me, Drea. You’ve been avoiding me all night.”