I’m searching around for a way to trigger the garage door to open from inside the car, figuring with Devlin’s wealth he’s probably the type to have something like that in all of his cars. My gloved fingers fumble over the visor and scan the touchscreen.
Then a shadowy figure moves in my periphery, blocking light from the window.
Within seconds my perfect plan crumbles before my eyes as my body pulses with the overpowering wrongness of someone being there. I jump when the door flies open a beat later, sucking in a strangled gasp as I fly into motion.
“No!” The shout leaves me in a garbled rush as I try to get away.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Devlin snaps in a deadly voice. “Get back here!”
A strong hand with long fingers clamps over my wrist, stopping my wide-eyed scramble across the center console to escape. My heart drops into my stomach, every hair on my body standing on end. Fuck!
I kick with all my might, landing a solid hit against his torso. Devlin grunts angrily, but I can’t break out of his hold.
He yanks on my wrist, dragging me from the car. I’m met with an angry snarl as he towers over me. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Devlin’s face is etched in anger, thick brows furrowed and his damp black hair curling across his forehead, hanging into his eyes. A muscle jumps in his chiseled jaw, sending my instincts into fight-or-flight mode.
Shit, shit, shit. My heart beats in time with my racing thoughts. He was here the whole time—but the Range Rover! It’s not here. I dart my gaze around to confirm that. He’s not supposed to be home yet.
Devlin shakes me, demanding my full attention as he leans into my face. His lip curls, giving me a glimpse of his perfect white teeth. With a grunt, he shoves me out of the way, pausing long enough to reach in the car to cut the engine without releasing his hold on me. I barely have time to consider if I can escape before he’s in my face again.
I am so fucked.
“You are in way over your head, you thieving bitch,” he seethes, tightening his grip on my wrist until it’s painful. With his other hand, he digs his fingers into my upper arm. “You’ll pay for this.”
Every muscle in my body tenses with the need to run.
For the first time in years, I’ve been caught in the act. And now I’ll face the consequences at the hands of someone that hates my guts as much as I hate his. Devlin Murphy, my bully.
I should’ve taken my chances robbing a bank instead.
Two
Devlin
The house is silent as usual when I come out of the steam-filled bathroom, slipping a black t-shirt over my head. It’s just as it was when I hopped in the shower twenty minutes ago. The same lifeless quiet as always.
A new book I picked up on psychology waits on my nightstand.
My phone buzzes, interrupting the Spotify station playing the haunting synth-pop rock beats of MISSIO.
The sweatpants I pulled on slouch low on my hips as I drag a hand through my damp hair. I consider ignoring the phone, but I already know who it is. I step into my bedroom and close the door, shutting myself off from the rest of the vast house.
For a second I can pretend I’m not home alone.
Bishop’s name flashes on the phone screen again with a new message.
The corner of my mouth twitches and I let out a resigned sigh. This is what I get for leaving practice early. It’s not like I’m invested the same way Bishop is, but that’s why he’s been captain of our varsity soccer team since last year. Maybe I stick with it because if I didn’t I wouldn’t see Bishop as much, since he lives and breathes the team.
It’s something to do and keeps me out of the house. At least, until the darkness in my head spills out.
That’s why I had to sneak out of practice today.
I’ve been drifting, lost in a way I wasn’t last year. It’s getting worse, harder to contain, more difficult to pretend I’m carefree.
Frowning, I pass by my bed—perfectly made by the elusive housekeepers that pass through like a reset button, scrubbing even my own existence from this overpriced prison cell—to lean against the wide windowsill. Every morning I leave my bed a mess and every night before I climb in, if I do, it’s meticulously remade. I peer out at the silhouettes of trees scattered over the mountain, glimpsing the lake between the pine needles.
Until a few weeks ago, I wouldn’t be in this mood. Before it had the chance to creep in, I would have been across the lake hanging out with Lucas. It was easier to ignore that anything was wrong at my aunt and uncle’s house. It calmed me down, anchored me to have somewhere to go where I didn’t have to worry if I wasn’t wanted. I stayed there until Lucas kicked me back home across the lake.