I nod to Shane, and he begins to untie her.
“Here.” Bennett hands me her cell. “Everything is gone. I changed all emails and passwords for anything related to Evan Scott and then deactivated his page.”
I drop her phone on the tile and step on it for good measure. Shane picks up the towel and wads it up before placing it in the duffle bag. It’s going with us. Once it dries out, we’ll burn it.
Cole starts dumping peroxide on the tile floor to clean up the blood.
She crawls over to the corner of her bathroom and pulls her legs up to her chest. Her blond hair wild and bloody. She looks so fucking broken. And I give no fucks that I did that to her. This bitch has fucked us over way too many times. She’s the reason Austin was hurt. I consider her my little sister. And she’s tried to hurt Demi, a woman who is quickly becoming my everything.
“Do you love her?” she asks as if she can read my mind.
“Does it matter?”
“Is that why you’re doing this?” she demands. “Because Demi got a little scared? Nothing ever fucking happened to her!” she shouts “She always managed to get away. Unharmed. Untouched.”
I just stare at her.
“Do? You? Love? Her?” She screams so loud, my ears ring.
I walk over to her, and she presses herself further into the wall as I lean over and push some blond strands off her slick face. “I love her more than I could ever love you,” I say truthfully. “Does that make you feel better?”
Her tear-filled eyes narrow up at me, and she sucks in a heavy breath.
“I mean it, Becky. Stay away. I won’t be so kind next time.” Then I give her my back and walk out.
I step out into the dark and cold night as Shane speaks. “I’m sorry, man. I didn’t know Kellan …”
Cole punches him in the face.
That was the first thing Shane has said to him since he informed us of the secret he knew.
“I’m sorry.” He stumbles backward, holding up his hands. “Hit me again. I deserve it.”
Cole doesn’t need to be told twice. He hits him so hard this time it throws Shane into the side of Bennett’s car. Blood pours from his nose and a busted lip.
“You knew all this time …” Cole growls and looks him up and down. “I should have beat you to death that night as well. And had Bennett drop your sorry ass to the bottom of the ocean to rot with him.” With that, Cole opens the passenger side door and falls into the car.
DEMI
It’s been a week since the GWS took care of Seth and then made a quick trip to Collins. Austin and I didn’t need to ask what they did there, but we knew. They were going down a list of people who needed to pay for hurting me or threatening them. No one was going to stop them from doing what they do best. I can’t say I feel sorry for any of them.
I lick my lips as I look in the bathroom mirror. My hair is down in big waves. Placing my hands in it, I bend over and fluff it, giving it some volume. Standing, I run my hands down the front of my holey jeans.
We’re having dinner tonight with my mother.
I asked her if I could have some friends over for dinner, and she looked at me like I was someone she’s never met. I know it’s not a good idea, but at this point, I don’t care. I want her to see that Seth is long gone. And that her lovely plan she had for my life is crumbling. Because Deke sure as hell isn’t what she wants for my future.
I hear the doorbell ring, and I run out of my bathroom and down the stairs, yelling, “I’ll get it.”
Opening the door, I smile up at the prettiest man I’ve ever seen. I hate how he makes me feel, yet I can’t push him away. I can’t deny that Deke has gotten under my skin in the worst way.
“Hey, princess.” He steps into the house and wraps his arms around me, picking me up off my feet. His lips crash down on mine, and I wrap my arms around his neck, kissing him like I’m desperate for him. I just saw him last night for a couple of hours, but it doesn’t feel like enough.
I don’t know how my sister ever thought he wasn’t enough for her. He would have given her the world, but he’s going to destroy mine.
I’m just waiting for that other shoe to drop. For everything to come crashing down and kill whatever this is that we have.
“Oh, get a room,” I hear Cole grumble.
I pull away from Deke’s lips and giggle. That’s another thing I do lately. I used to be disgusted with the girls at school who went all happily stupid over boys. And now I’m there.
I see Austin enter the house, and she holds a dish in her hands. “You didn’t have to bring anything.”
“I figured I could at least bring dessert.” She shrugs, and Cole pulls her into his side, kissing her head. I don’t know what all happened last week, but whatever it was, it’s like they’re finally breathing fresh air. They both seem very happy. And I can’t be more thrilled for them.
“Thank you,” I say, taking it from her, and then ask, “Where’s Lilly?”
“She’s at home with Misty,” Cole answers.
“Deke?”
We all turn to see my mother standing in the foyer. She’s wearing a pair of black slacks with a red silk top. She has her blond hair up in a tight bun and her black rimmed glasses hanging from her neck.
“Becky isn’t here,” she tells him.
I swallow the anger at her words, and say, “Deke is here to have dinner with us tonight, Mom.”
She tilts her head to the side as if she doesn’t understand my meaning. So I reach out, grab his hand, and place it in mine. Looking up at him, I give him a big smile. “We’re dating,” I say in case my show of affection wasn’t enough. I’m not sure what the hell we are exactly, and I don’t care. I’m not one of those girls who has to put a label on things. I just want to piss her off.
I hear Cole cover a small laugh with a cough. He fails.
“I see.” She grabs her pearls and then turns, giving us her back and walking toward the formal dining room.
“This’ll be fun,” Cole mumbles. “Like that one time I had dinner with your father,” he tells Austin, and she sighs.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
DEKE
“THIS LOOKS AMAZING,” Austin says, looking over the table covered with food.
Angelica had her chefs make a variety from escargot to a kale salad and blackened salmon. Just to name a few things. It’s like they couldn’t decide exactly what they were in the mood for.
“So.” Her mother starts before I can even get a piece of bread on my plate. “When did you two start dating? You were just here a few weeks ago to take out my other daughter.”
“Does it matter?” Demi challenges her mother.
She arches a brow. “I’m guessing this has to do with the reason your sister ran back to Collins.”
I’m not sure why in the hell Demi wanted us to come over here for dinner tonight, but when she asked me the other day, I wasn’t going to tell her no. She had a smile on her face, which I seem to see a lot of lately, and was lying underneath me completely naked. I would have said yes to anything. And I’ve decided that’s a very dangerous thing. But one I’m not going to question.
“I’m not sure, why don’t you ask her?” Demi offers.
Her mother’s already sharp jaw tightens. She opens her mouth when Austin speaks. “I love the new color you chose for the formal dining room, Mrs. Lawrence.”
Cole smirks at her trying to divert the conversation in such a bad way. Austin ignores him.
Angelica looks over at her, and her eyes drop to the red ruby engagement ring. “How do your parents feel about you being engaged at such a young age, Austin?” she asks.
She wipes the corner of her mouth with her napkin, looking unaffected by Demi’s mother. “Well, I’m pretty sure my mother is dead.” Cole stiffens beside her, and Demi’s eyes shoot to mine. “And my father is in prison for life. So I don’t think they care.”
Silence falls over the table, and I take a sip of my water. She couldn’t be more correct
. Her mother is dead all right. Cole and I killed her and her stepdad.
I lie in Becky’s bed at her father’s house watching a movie when my cell alerts me of a message.
“Who is it?” Becky asks.
“It’s from Cole.” I open it up.
Cole: You busy?
Me: I’m with Becky. What’s up?
Cole: I have something that needs to be taken care of.
Me: I can be ready whenever.
Cole: Give me five.
“I gotta go,” I say, getting out of her bed.
“What?” She jumps up. “You just got here.”
I grab my black leather jacket off the back of her chair. “Cole needs me.”
She comes over to me, and I refrain from sighing because I can tell she’s pissed. “Cole always needs you.”
“Don’t,” I warn, walking over to her door.
“Deke.” She grabs my hand. “What does he need?”
I don’t answer. “I’ll come back.”
“When?” she demands.
“When I’m done,” I say and exit her room. I walk down the stairs and out the front door. As I jump into my Range Rover, I see her sister pull up. She comes to an abrupt stop and jumps out. She all but runs to the front door and shoves it open before storming inside. Maybe I got out just in time.
I pull out my cell and try calling him, but it rings several times before his voicemail finally picks up. I put the SUV in gear and pull out of their driveway as my phone rings. It’s Cole calling me back.
“Hey, man. What’s up?” I answer.
I hear his tires squealing, letting me know he’s left wherever he was. Probably with Austin. “Austin’s mother is in town. With her new husband.”
“Okay,” I say slowly.
He takes in a deep breath. I know absolutely nothing about her mother or stepdad, or anything about her life before she moved here to Collins three months ago. “They were waiting for Austin when we walked into Bruce’s house.”
“And?”
“And they need to be taken care of,” he answers.
“Where do you want me to meet you?” I ask without hesitation, knowing he has a plan. Cole always has one. And I’ll help him take care of whoever has fucked him over. Or in this case, it sounds like they have fucked over Austin.
We found them hiding out at the cheapest hotel in Collins. But it was in the middle of the day, so we decided on a plan, then he spent the afternoon with Austin and Lilly at the zoo. I went to the docks where our fathers once kept their yachts. There was an abandoned warehouse back there where they used to load and unload the shipping containers. They built a new one on the other side of town but hadn’t demolished this one yet, so no one was ever here.
I laid down a blue tarp in the office to get it ready.
Later that evening, after they left the zoo, I went over to the clubhouse and picked up Cole, and we sat outside the hotel room and waited.
We had our duffel bags with us. We rarely left home without them. Cole knocked on the door like they were expecting us, and a man answered. Cole shoved the door into his face, knocking him into the room. I entered and slammed it shut. Cole was already on the man, so I grabbed the woman and had her face down on the bed before she could even scream. I placed duct tape over her mouth and then tied her hands and feet together with it as well before I threw a hood over her head. Cole did the same to the man. We took them back to the docks I had been at earlier in the day and carried them into the office.
We didn’t play with them for very long. Cole fucked up the man pretty good with his fists, then took his knife and cut off the guy’s dick while he was still alive. I didn’t know what these people had done, but it was clear they had pissed him the fuck off. They were both druggies. I had grabbed their bathroom bag from their hotel and found a syringe and some crack in it. After I heated it up into liquid, I shot it into her. I’m not sure if she died from the drugs I gave her or the fact that I never removed the tape from her mouth and she choked on her own vomit. It didn’t matter. They both died. We killed them.
After they were both dead, we stood there in that office. Cole had told me that Austin’s stepdad had touched her. Sexually. The first time she was ten. It was then that I realized just how much he loved her. And how far I would go to protect his girl for him. She was one of us—a shark—and we protect our own. No matter what.
“Well.” Demi’s mother clears her throat. “I hope you wait a while before you get married. Finish school—”
“We’re thinking January,” Austin interrupts her.
Two months from now.
“That’s awesome,” Demi says with a big smile on her face. “I’ve always wondered why couples have long-drawn-out engagements. If you love each other, why not do it sooner?”
Angelica does not share her daughter’s excitement. You would think this is me and Demi wanting to tie the knot.
“Have you found a venue already?” Angelica asks. Now she’s just being nosy. “Not sure you will have much luck on availability with such short notice.”
“Oh, we already know.” Austin smiles, looking over at Cole. “An abandoned cemetery.”
Demi’s mother chokes on her fucking slimy snail.
“It’s where we first met,” she adds.
Cole reaches out and takes her hand. He brings her knuckles to his lips and kisses them softly. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”
Demi has her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands, and she looks at them wistfully. And I realize that I will do anything to keep that look on her face. It’s crazy how pissed off she used to always look. She hated the world. Now she’s always smiling at me. And laughing. Fuck, that laugh. I tickle her just to hear it. I toss her over my shoulder to hear her squeal my name. And I lie awake at night to watch her sleep. I wonder what it would have been like if I would have picked her instead of Becky. I never even looked at Demi. She was once nonexistent to me. Just like she was to everyone else. But I see her now. And she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
DEMI
“That didn’t go too bad.” Austin laughs as we enter their house.
I told my mother after dinner that I was staying with Austin tonight. I didn’t think that she knew Deke lived with them, and when she didn’t tell me no, then I was positive she didn’t know.
“It could have gone worse.” I agree.
I’ll have to listen to it tomorrow. About how much of her life she is throwing away to marry a man who can leave her at any given moment. My mother believes a woman should pay her own way, unless you’re Becky. Well, then a career doesn’t matter.
I make my way upstairs to Deke’s room. I’m removing my shirt when he enters. He walks into his bathroom, and I quickly finish getting undressed before crawling underneath his cool covers. Seconds later, he walks out and does the same, but he leaves his black boxers on.
I frown over at him as he turns the light off. I wouldn’t say I’m addicted to sex, but that is definitely a bonus when it comes to him.
He shifts onto his side and pulls me into him. “Ride home with me for Thanksgiving.”
Not the conversation I thought we were going to have, but I say, “Okay.”
We all decided last weekend to go home for Thanksgiving. He wants to spend it with Shelby, and I want to see my father. Cole and Austin are also going back. Shelby told them they could stay at her house with Lilly since Cole doesn’t speak to his dad and Austin’s father’s house isn’t in any condition to live in at the moment. She told me the other day that after she was shot, and her stepmother was killed there, no one has cleaned up the house. Her father went to prison, and it was just abandoned.
He kisses my forehead, and I hear his phone ring. It’s been going off nonstop the last few days. “Who keeps calling you?” I ask.
“Shane.”
I pull away from him and sit up. “Why are you ignoring him?”
He reaches up and pulls me down to lie next to him. “It’s nothing. I�
��ll call him tomorrow.”
He’s lying, but I don’t question it.
“Have you heard from my sister?”
I feel his body stiffen against mine. “No. Why?”
“My mother probably called her after we left her house.”
“Hey.” He pushes my hair from my face. “Who cares?”
“I do. My mother wants you with her.” I growl.
He gives me a smile. “I’m with you, Demi.”
We haven’t had the we’re exclusive talk. I just figured it’s a given at this point. I haven’t seen anyone else, and he spends every free second he has with me.
“Yeah, but …”
“Shh,” he says, pressing his lips gently to mine. “You’re mine, and I’m yours. Neither Becky nor your mother are going to change that.”
“Promise?” I ask, biting my bottom lip. My mother can be very persuasive. And relentless. That’s where my sister gets it from.
His phone rings again. He sighs, rolling over, and shuts it off. He turns back to face me. “Promise.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
BECKY
I SIT ON the kitchen counter at a kid’s parent’s house in Collins. My legs swing back and forth, hitting the cabinets. People crowd around drinking, smoking, and high on whatever drugs they’ve ingested to get through the night. I understand it. Wish I could do it. Feel numb. But no matter what I do, it won’t fix how I feel.
“Deke came over tonight. He, Austin, and Cole had dinner with us. He’s dating your sister.” My mother had told me during a phone call last week.
I tried to brush it off by telling her that I was done with him. I laughed it off that they belonged together. But after I hung up, I cried. I laid in my bed and sobbed. Mainly because of what he did to me. But also because he’s with her. They’ve made it official. They wanted it to get back to me.
After he and the sharks cut me, I sat on my bedroom floor with a bottle of vodka, and I drank the entire thing until the pain subsided and the skin was numb. It hurt like fucking hell. I eventually passed out.
I woke up, knowing I needed a plan. I can’t win him back. That’s long gone. Now I want to kill them both. All the GWS.
If You Dare (Dare Series Book 3) Page 32
