Sparrow slides off his stool, but I don’t want him near me either. I step backwards and bump into Scout. He wraps an arm around me, pulling me to his chest. Sparrow and Sully watch with matching jealous expressions on their faces.
“Don’t feel stupid, prickly princess,” Scout says, breath hot near my ear. “We’re really good at deceiving people. Been doing it our entire lives.”
“Scout,” Sparrow spits out, a warning in his tone. “Stop.”
“Stop what, little brother? Being real with her?”
“Stop antagonizing her,” Sully grumbles. “It’s…too much.”
“Don’t tone story time down for my benefit.” I seethe, my blood boiling over with fury. “Scout’s right. Give it to me straight. I deserve that. You know I do.” I want, no, I need to feel every blade of betrayal cutting through me so I don’t fall for their charms ever again. Or anyone’s for that matter.
“Our uncle set us up with fake IDs and gave us our jobs.” Sully gestures to himself. “I was in charge of, uh, infiltrating the home.”
All the hairs on my arms stand on end. A shiver of disgust ripples through me. Scout mistakes it for me being cold and he hugs me closer. I don’t want to be in his grip, but he’d probably force me to stay there anyway. It’s better I’m staying by my own choice.
“I was to be with you at school,” Sparrow mutters. “Hence our same schedules.”
“And you?” I ask Scout, slightly turning my head to look at him. “What was your job? Or was kidnapping your part?”
“That was just a bonus.” He grins at me. “My job was to befriend Ty Constantine.”
I wish Ty were here. At least he’s innocent in all this. All he wanted to do was to be my friend. Apparently, he trusted Scout, too. I’m putting together the pieces pretty quickly. Scout obviously used Ty to get me here.
“Ty was going to help me leave my dad,” I admit, frowning. “We made a plan on our date.” I chew on my bottom lip thoughtfully. “He was going to give me some money to get away.”
“How did you get here?” Sully asks.
I attempt to extricate myself from Scout. He squeezes me tight for a second and then releases me. Curling my arms around my middle, I back away from the three of them until my butt hits the counter behind me.
“Since they’re besties,” I supply, enunciating the word, “he obviously intercepted Ty’s message to me—”
“Beat him to the punch,” Scout interjects. “Go on. You’re good at these guessing games. It’s a shame you didn’t put it all together sooner.”
I want to kick him in his bad knee. Asshole.
“I came here thinking I was going to Ty’s. I thought I was going to get away.”
“You did get away,” Sparrow says, stepping toward me. “You’re safe here.”
Is he serious right now?
I was split up from my sister and forced to sleep naked with a monster. How is that safe?
“Don’t touch me,” I warn, scowling at him.
“Laundry,” he murmurs, eyes flashing in pain.
Unreal.
“You don’t get to call me that, Sparrow. You don’t get to look like the victim here. Fuck you. Fuck all of you.” I plant my palms on his chest and try to shove him, but he’s built like a brick wall, going nowhere.
“It wasn’t all a job for me.” Sparrow’s maple-syrup eyes dart back and forth, willing me to understand. But I don’t. It’s so stupid and wrong. “You and me—”
“There was me and Ford, but there was never me and Sparrow.” I move away from him and look at Sully. “Have you seen the news? What are they saying?”
His lips press into a firm line and he drops his gaze to the floor. “Nothing.”
“What do you mean nothing?”
“No Amber Alerts. No missing person reports. Nothing. No one’s looking for you.”
He’s wrong.
If my dad isn’t taking this to the news, that means he’s trying to fix this before it becomes a thing. Quietly. Efficiently. Him going to the news would be a last-ditch effort.
Dad is looking…
And I dread thinking about him actually finding us.
Being trapped with these three liars isn’t ideal, but it’s still better than being at home. I can breathe and think. I’ll get me and Della out of here.
The triplets used me.
My turn to use them back.
Chapter Six
Scout
She’s so pretty when she’s mad.
Her blue eyes lose their softness, electrifying until they practically glow. The plump pink pillows of her lips twist into a sneer and the skin on her neck and face turns crimson from the emotions stampeding through her veins.
It makes me want to pull her close and twist my fingers in her golden locks, tugging and pulling until she’s forced to face one of the monsters in her life. I want to fuck her while she glares at me, drawing pleasure out of her that forces her snarls to be replaced with needy moans.