I nod my drink at her before bringing it to my lips and sinking the contents in one go. For someone who doesn’t like alcohol, I’ve sure picked up my consumption.
“Wow,” Maya says, gesturing to the second bottle in my hand with her cigarette. “Which one of these fuckers has you drinking already?”
Val takes a seat on her lap, swinging her legs over Maya’s in a way that can only be seen as intimate. It’s clear. They’re together.
I hold back my grin by curling my lips beneath my teeth. “Well, it’s not Val, so there’s that.”
Maya laughs, and I instantly like her. She’s gritty, raw, and unashamedly herself. Like Saskia. Not saying Perse isn’t, but I still think she’s too prim for me, at least right now. And besides, she fucking hates me.
“And it’s plural—boys.” Saskia reaches forward to grab a stick, poking the embers in the fire. “Speaking of,” she says, looking up from the fire and finding King and Killian talking among themselves. “What the fuck is happening, P?”
Perse stands from her chair and shakes her head. “I won’t talk about any drama tonight.” She leaves, making her way to King and Killian, while pointedly standing between them both.
“Seriously, she’s like a mini Delila,” Maya murmurs, watching her. “May my mother rest in Persephone.” They both laugh as Val snuggles deeper into the crook of her neck.
“I haven’t seen you for what feels like forever. Can we go to bed?”
Val is the typical girl next door. A petite body and buoyant blonde hair that matches the cliché blue eyes. She’s beautiful, too. It doesn’t take much convincing for Maya before Val is dragging her away in a fit of laughter, leaving me with Saskia, who is still watching their retreating back. “Would you believe Maya and Killian had a thing? Like she was a massive threat to me for months.”
“Yes,” I say, tossing my second empty bottle into a plastic bin and grabbing another. “I would. That girl is sex on legs.”
Saskia sighs, leaning back farther in her chair until her eyes settle on the boys who are standing opposite us. “I don’t trust them, Lilith.”
The comment surprises me, only in the fact that I figured she and Killian were like two best friends dating each other. I’d figure if anyone, she would trust him. I don’t bother to ask her to elaborate, coming back to if they want you to know, they’d tell you.
“Do you trust me?” I rather ask, looking at her over my shoulder.
She pins me to the spot. “At first, no, but only because you seemed so—volatile. Explosive. Mischievous and… crazy.” She winces. “Sorry.”
I roll my eyes. “Your intuition is right. I’m absolutely all of those things.”
“But now, yes. I do. Probably even more than I do Perse since she’s clearly keeping secrets from me.” I go back to where the boys are standing, and I’m somewhat surprised to find them all staring right at me.
I sigh, standing to my feet. “If I find out anything, I’ll tell you.”
“Wait!” Sass’s hand comes to mine and I turn to face her. “If there’s anything that you should tell me, you would, right?”
“Yes,” I answer truthfully, and I didn’t lie. Even as I make my way back to the RV, I know I didn’t lie. Saskia is the one person who I owe my loyalty, just for her friendship alone.
There were four men in the room this time. It wasn’t training, and it wasn’t a sale. This was different.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five?
Why five? Maybe it was the tears in my eyes that blurred out the fourth man…
“Lilith, are you listening to me?” Kosta said from behind me. “I need you to be a good little girl—my favorite girl.” He spun me around with a tight grip on my upper arm until I was face-to-face with the one man who I was to call father. Sometimes, I’d see the resemblance between us, but then I’d remember. I don’t know what, but it was like something inside of me would remember the dirty shit he would do.
But it was something I was used to, so it never bothered me.
“What do you need from me?” I fell to my knees and bowed my head, knowing it was how he liked me to be.
“I need you to give that man everything he wants.” Kosta pointed toward the group of men and slowly brought me back to my feet with a curled finger beneath my chin. I came up to his chest, even at fourteen. “Give them everything they want.”
I turned back to face the four men, straightening my shoulders and plastering a smile on my face. “Well?”
I took the first step, but just as I was about to make my way to the last man in the group, the fifth, who seemed to be hanging back, stepped between us, closing the gap. I paused.