A whiff of smoke catches my attention, and I turn to see Nonna standing at the corner of the house, a Virginia Slim clutched in one hand, looking as startled as I feel. Devlin drops my elbow and instead slides a possessive arm around my waist as if we’re a couple. I could puke at the phony display, but I don’t have time for that. If my brothers come out and see Devlin’s hands on me, there’s going to be a literal murder on this lawn.
And I shouldn’t fucking care, I remind myself.
“Well, if it isn’t the boy from the family who ran us out of town,” Nonna says, looking Devlin up and down with clear appreciation. “You’re the spitting image of your father.”
“Thank you, Ma’am,” Devlin says, tipping his head and reaching up, like he’s about to tip a ballcap to her. But his hand drops when he must remember he’s not wearing one. “And… I’m sorry.”
He reaches out a hand, and Nonna transfers her cigarette to her left hand to shake. “I’m Crystal’s grandmother,” she says. “You must be the neighbor boy.”
“Devlin Darling,” he says. “’Fraid I’m going to have to borrow your granddaughter. I’ll bring her back in one piece, I promise.”
She looks to me, and I nod. “I’ll be right back,” I say. “Tell the others I went for a run.”
She puts her finger to her lips, a twinkle in her eye. “If that’s what you kids are calling it these days.”
“Nice to meet you, Ma’am,” Devlin says in such a courteous way even I’m fooled for a second. I can almost forget he’s the devil himself when he turns on the charm like that. I’ve seen him at school, but he’s pretty much a dismissive dick to everyone there, teachers included. I wonder what he’s scheming for this time, why he’s being polite and charming to my grandmother. Surely his family isn’t scared of ours. They ran my grandparents out of town the last time they were here.
“What was that about?” I ask as Devlin marches me quickly past the lilac bushes and onto his property.
“Nothing you need to know,” Devlin replies in typical, infuriating asshole fashion.
“Oh, right,” I say. “I’m supposed to be a good dog and sit by the door until you call me to come play fetch.”
“Do you ever get tired of your own voice?” Devlin asks, shoving me forward into the shadows of his open garage.
twelve
Crystal
“Oh, fuck no,” I say, balking when I see Colt leaning against the trunk of Devlin’s car and Preston sitting on it, scrolling through his phone. Three other cars sit in the garage as well as what looks like a fourth covered by a black tarp.
“Oh, fuck yes,” Colt says, that deceptively easy grin breaking over his face. Damn him and his beautiful, lying face.
“Not going anywhere with that asshole,” I say, cutting my eyes to Preston.
“You are,” Devlin says, grabbing the back of my neck. “Now, this game is boring me. You can ride in the back seat and shut up, or you can ride in the trunk like you did last time. Your choice, Sugar.”
Everything in me wants to be a brat, to turn around and stomp away, refusing to give up my pride and forcing them to strip it from me. But memories of that cramped, terrifying ride invade my mind, and I nod mutely. Better to climb in with any pretense of dignity that remains to me than be stuffed into a trunk kicking and screaming like an animal.
I climb into the back seat, where Colt grins and lays an arm across the top of the seat like he’s going to do that stupid guy move and put his arm around me.
“Touch me, and I’ll nut-punch you,” I warn.
“And then I will,” Devlin says, giving his cousin a warning look before opening the driver’s door and climbing in. “We’re just going for a little ride, Sugar. Things don’t have to get ugly unless you make them. That one’s your call. What happens when you make things ugly, that’s our call.”
I shiver at the bored drawl in his voice, like threatening to rape and murder girls is just an everyday thing for him. Which, let’s face it, it probably is. His vague threat is even more ominous than what my mind conjured. Probably something worse than rape and murder. Probably more like dismemberment and torture. At least Nonna knows I left with the Darlings. There are witnesses. Maybe that means they’re not going to murder me after all. Or maybe it means they’re going to kill my grandmother.
Fuck. This is bad.
“Where are we going?” I demand as we pull out of the neighborhood, turning away from the school. Yep. They’re going to take me to the middle of nowhere and do something unspeakably horrible.
Preston turns in the passenger seat and opens his mouth like he’s going to answer, but one look from Devlin, and he closes his mouth and turns away. But not before I catch a glimpse of something… human in his eyes. Sympathy? Empathy?
Is he even capable of that? Or is that wishful thinking on my part?
Devlin shifts gears and accelerates, and cold November air burns along my cheeks and tears at my wet hair. I wrap my arms around myself, huddling down in the seat. Colt glances down at my chest, where my nipples are quite apparent through my unpadded bra and the T-shirt I had time to slip on before Devlin dragged me out. Then he checks the front seat, where Devlin and Preston are talking, their words torn away by the wind before they reach the back seat. Colt slides off his letterman jacket and swings it around my shoulders. I huddle into it, soaking up the warmth and inhaling the boy smell of it before I can stop myself.
“Why the fuck is our dog wearing your jacket?” Devlin growls from the front seat.