“I…” She trails off, her gaze skipping from him to the other Darlings and lastly, to me. “I was doing a favor for Gramps.”
I’ve never even met the girl, and I can tell she’s lying. But I’m more interested in how she fits into this family dynamic. She’s either a Darling, and she’s talking about the patriarch of their family, or she’s familiar enough with them that they know her grandfather. The blonde hair and attractive features lead me toward the first conclusion. Family resemblance must be why she looks vaguely familiar. This town is fucking crawling with Darlings. They just keep popping up like pimples that won’t go away no matter how many expensive facials you get.
Devlin’s eyes narrow. “What favor?”
“I was… Picking up something.” She raises her chin to him, a move that must take a lot of balls even for a member of the family.
“What?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow at her, his arms still crossed over his broad chest.
I want to hate him, but I can’t stop staring, watching, absorbing everything they do. I have a sick fascination with their entire family. It’s so much like mine, and yet, so very different.
The girl glances up and then holds up her hands, which have nothing in them but the keys she just used to lock the door, along with a handful of other keys on the ring.
“Your keys?” Devlin asks, obviously not believing her, either.
“Yeah,” she says. “I forgot them here.”
“Then how’d you drive over?”
“I used a spare,” she says, seeming quite pleased with herself.
“You were picking up your keys,” Devlin says slowly. “As a favor to Gramps.”
“That’s what I said,” she says, circling the Prius and climbing in. I’m guessing by the car she drives and the fact that I haven’t seen her around that she must be one of the Darlings who goes to Faulkner High. She slams the car door and drives away before anyone can stop her.
I give her a silent cheer, despite being an enemy.
“That was fucking weird,” Colt mutters.
“Yeah,” Devlin says, turning to me. A cruel glint enters his eyes that I don’t like one bit. “Now, we’ve delivered our message to this one. What do we do with her now?”
“I’ll fuck her if you’re done with her,” Preston says, slipping his hands in his pockets and assessing me with vague disinterest. “If the pussy’s too loose, I’ll stick her in the ass. The freaky ones love that.”
“No,” Devlin says, his psycho eyes dragging down my body. “Let’s show this one where her family belongs.”
I shrink back, but there’s no use fighting them. There’s nothing I can do but get in the car and go where they want me to go. I take comfort in the fact that Nonna knows who I’m with. Maybe she’ll have told my brothers by now, and they’ll be out looking for me. I no longer care if they murder these assholes. They’ve got it coming.
“Why don’t you just take me wherever you have Royal and throw me in that cage?” I ask, crossing my arms and pouting in the back seat like a spoiled princess who isn’t getting her way. I wouldn’t care if they really did that. Not if Royal was there. I’d rather be kidnapped with my twin than free without him.
“Why do you keep bringing that up?” Devlin asks.
“Because you’re obviously responsible for his disappearance.” My chest tightens at the thought, and I can’t continue even though I have a hell of a lot left to say.
Devlin snorts. “Instead of crying to the cops every chance you get, why don’t you ask your dear old daddy if he owes someone money before you come in here accusing my family of that shit?”
“What are you saying?” I demand, sitting forward in my seat.
“I’m saying it probably wouldn’t be the first time your dad made someone disappear,” Devlin says. “You said he was in the mob.”
“You don’t know shit about my family,” I snap.
“Maybe he faked his own death,” Colt says.
I roll my eyes. “I’ve heard a lot of stupid things in my life, but that one takes the cake.”
“People have done worse to get away from their families.”
“Royal doesn’t want to get away from his family,” I say, though I can’t help the flood of memories that come with that half-truth. Royal never bought into the whole Dolce image thing. He can’t stand Daddy. He’s always gone along, like me, but he’s never embraced it and become it the way my other brothers have. If there’s one person who wants out of this family, it is Royal.