“So you brought your whole mob family down here to lean on my family,” he says. “Because you think we had something to do with your brother disappearing.”
“I know you did,” I growl, all the lusty feelings vanishing with one thought. Guilt and sorrow war inside my chest, but I won’t let Devlin see it. I’ll be as heartless as he is, and then some.
“And you never stopped for a second to consider that maybe we didn’t,” he says, shaking his head in disgust. “Because we’re the evil, evil Darlings, so it must have been us.”
Before I can respond, he turns and jogs over to his tree to retrieve the football.
“No one else here wants to hurt my brother,” I say to him, knowing he can hear me even when he doesn’t respond. This time, he winds up properly, his back to me as he readies the ball and then hurls it toward the tire swing.
“It seems to me that if your dad came down here to escape some trouble he got in with the mafia, maybe they’d want to hurt your brother.”
“You’re wrong,” I say to his back.
He wheels around to face me. “Why are you out here, Crystal?”
I retreat a step when I see the pure fury blazing in his eyes. He might have indulged me a little, teased me a little, but he doesn’t want me out here. He doesn’t want to be around me. The realization twists painfully inside me. Devlin still hates me. I might feel something different for him now, but he doesn’t.
“I don’t know,” I mutter, shaking my head and taking another step back.
“I think you do,” he says, striding over to me and grabbing my chin. “Don’t be shy now. Tell me. Tell me you want me to throw you down on the ground and choke you so hard you black out while I cum inside that tight little pussy. If that’s what you want, stop fucking around and just say it.”
“That’s not what I want,” I say, slapping his hand away. Because as much as I want that, I want more than that. I want something that I see now he’ll never give me. Something he can’t give. I’m so fucking stupid.
He stares at me, his breath coming hard. “Then why the fuck are you out here? You don’t need money. You don’t care about anything but your family. I can’t do anything else for you.”
I stare at him, my heart thudding in my ears. Is that… frustration in his voice? He stares back at me expectantly. Like I should have something to say to that.
But I don’t.
Devlin bends and scoops up the ball in one hand, turning away as he stands. “You broke my cousin’s arm,” he says. “You should know there will be retaliation.”
“Me?” I ask, anger emerging from the swirling emotions inside me. “I didn’t break his arm, Devlin. I didn’t touch him. That’s between you three and my brothers. You’re the one who dragged me into the middle of it. I’ve never wanted anything to do with any of this.”
He pauses, his back to me, his hand hanging by his side with the football still clutched in it. I watch his silhouette outlined by the pale glow of the light in the tree, frustrated that I can’t see his reaction. “Yeah, well, like you said, there you are,” he says at last. “Right in the middle of it.”
“Why?” I demand. “Why can’t you leave me out of it? Why can’t you all just leave me alone?”
Devlin turns back slowly, his eyes glinting like steel as they fix on mine. “Don’t you think I’ve asked myself that question a hundred times?”
I stare back at him, not sure what to say to that. Is he saying he’s tried to leave me alone? That he thinks about me as often as I think of him? Does he lie in bed thinking about me just next door, untouchable, unreachable, completely off-limits?
“So… What?” I ask. “What are you going to do to us now?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “It’s not my call.”
Interesting. I figured he made all the calls. But of course he can’t tell me anything useful. Just enough to keep me hanging on his every last word, begging for scraps.
“Then why are you telling me this?” I ask, gritting my teeth with frustration.
“I’m doing you a favor,” he says, his eyes dark in the shadows of the night. “I’m telling you to watch out for yourself, Crystal. It’s too late to tell you to leave us alone. You did permanent damage. They’ll repay you in kind.”
They.
He didn’t saywe. Maybe he’s not the one running the show. I remember Chase telling me something about the Grampa knowing everything. And Nonna said basically the same thing.
“Do your worst,” I challenge, holding out my arms. “You’ve already broken me. I’m your little dog now, right? Here I am, begging for scraps.”
“This has nothing to do with the Darling Dog,” he says. “You brought that on yourself.”