The passenger door opens, and I watch my sister walk around the back of the car. My teeth clench at the sight of her smiling at me. “You fucking bitch!” I scream.
The guy holding me tightens his hold, pinning my arms down to my side. “Nice to see you too, sis.” She gives me a smile that I want to cut off her fucking face.
“Let her go,” I order. I can’t let Austin get hurt. Not because of me. Not because I stole my sister’s boyfriend.
She laughs. “Not a chance.”
“Your fight is with me.” My eyes go to Austin, and she’s now on her knees with her head in her hands. The car door hit her pretty hard, and I’m surprised it didn’t knock her unconscious. She’s definitely confused as to what is going on. “You hate me. I took him from you.”
She steps into me, pressing her chest into mine. Her blue eyes narrowed. “I no longer give a fuck that he picked you.”
She spits in my face. Then she gathers her blond hair to the top of her head and spins around, giving me her back. I see four tally marks across the back of her neck just below her hair and then one across it. Fuck, Deke, what did you guys do to her? They had to know she wouldn’t quit. Not after that.
She spins back around. “The sharks did that to me. Because of you. Because of her …”
“You deserved it.” I growl. They should have just killed her.
She slaps me across the face, and I taste blood, but I refuse to make a fucking sound or let her think she hurt me. Instead, I spit it on her.
She laughs, and says, “Do it.”
Before I even get the chance to comprehend what she says, I feel a sting in my arm. “What …?”
“You’re done, Demi. Once and for all.”
I panic as I look over at Austin. She’s getting to her feet, her hands up and fisted because she’s more alert now. Just as the guy goes to swing, she ducks and punches him in the dick.
Good for her. Maybe one of us will survive this.
“Don’t worry. It’ll only hurt a lot,” Becky taunts.
The guy shoves me forward, and I fall to my knees in the middle of the street. I watch Becky walk over to Austin, and I take the chance to pull my phone out of my back pocket and go to Deke’s number.
“I’ll take that.” She yanks it from my hands and throws it out into the woods behind me.
“I hope he fucking kills you,” I growl up at her from my knees.
“He already has,” she states with a smile.
The guy who was holding me walks around and picks her up. She kisses him while he spins her around, and I blink, making sure I’m seeing what I think I see. What did she give me? Am I hallucinating? “No …”
He drops her back down to her feet. “Can’t … be.” My eyes are getting heavy, and my lips won’t work.
She kneels in front of me. “Nothing is ever what it seems.” That’s the last thing I hear her say before my arms give out, and I fall to the snow-covered street.
BECKY
“Put her in the back of the Range Rover,” I order David.
He bends down to pick up my sister and carries her over to Austin’s SUV. I turn to face the bitch who was supposed to be my best friend.
“What’s your plan, Becky?” she asks with a sarcastic laugh, wiping the blood off her bottom lip. Then she sticks her finger in her mouth and sucks it off. I never realized how psycho she is until just now. I had quite a few what the fuck moments when I read her journal, but I thought maybe she was overexaggerating. “Gonna kill us?”
“Yes,” I say simply.
“It’s gonna take more than this.” She holds her hands out wide, gesturing to me and the two guys I brought. I knew she’d be harder to catch than Demi. Austin Lowes grew up having to fight to survive. My sister has always been handed everything.
I also knew I wouldn’t be able to get them both on my own. I needed help. They’ve been helping me all along. “Oh, I’ve got an entire night planned for you.” Her green eyes narrow on me. “And you know what?” I chuckle. “This isn’t the first time I’ve ever fucked you over.”
Six months ago
“I need a ride,” Kellan says, leaning up against the locker beside mine in the senior hallway.
“Go away,” I order.
He gives me a charming smile that makes him look like he’s a nice guy. If I didn’t know he was so evil, I would give him a chance. I hear he’s a good fuck. “Come on, Becky. Help me out.”
“No.” I slam my locker and turn my back on him.
He grabs my upper arm and yanks me into the women’s bathroom. “Kellan, what the fuck?” What is it with me and him always being in a bathroom?
“I’m not asking, Becky. I’m telling you that I need a ride.” His brown eyes bore into mine. That smile no longer present. The charming act over.
“You have a car,” I snap. “I’m pissed off at you, Kellan.” He wasn’t supposed to touch her. Hurt her that night of her birthday. Of course, Cole was pissed, and I was fucking terrified. He could have killed her.
“Like I give a fuck.” He shrugs. I want to knock his head off with my books, but it wouldn’t kill a shark. “Give me a ride, or I’ll make sure that Cole finds out you were the one who allowed me entrance to the Lowes house on Austin’s birthday.”
My heart begins to pound, and I look around the women’s bathroom to make sure no one overheard him. “Don’t you dare …”
He grips my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I think it’s funny that no one has questioned you as to why I shoved Austin’s face into a mirror, knocking her out and taking her phone, yet you stayed the night with her and never heard me.”
I try to shove him away as panic crawls up my spine. “Fuck you—”
“Cole will kill you.” He interrupts me, gripping me tighter, and I whimper. “If Austin doesn’t get to you first.”
“What do you want with Celeste?” I ask, trying to forget the betrayal of my best friend. I failed her, and she can’t know that. Deke can’t know it, and Cole sure as fuck can’t know it. I’ve faked it this long, so I’m not going to allow Kellan to bring me down now.
Letting go of me, he takes a step back, giving me some space. “She fucked with the wrong person.” He gives me a cryptic answer.
I let out a sigh. “Austin—”
“Has a date with Myers tonight.” He interrupts me. “She won’t be home.”
“How do you know that?” I haven’t got to spend much time with her since she and Cole broke up again. They got back together last time the morning after her birthday party. But the night after prom, they called it off. Well, I think she did because he’s acting like a sad little bitch. I’m always with Deke, and he’s always by Cole. Austin steers clear of him.
“I overheard Myers fucking running his mouth about it. They’re going to a movie.”
I bite my bottom lip. “I can’t stay …”
“Just drop me off and go.”
“Who is gonna pick you up?” I ask, confused with his half-assed plans.
“That …” He steps back into me, running his finger along my jawline, and whispers, “Is none of your business.”
“I felt awful when the news broke that you had been shot. Especially since I was the one who drove Kellan to your house.” I smile.
She gasps.
“He couldn’t get the job done, but I will.”
She lunges for me, knocking me onto my back in the middle of the road. “Fuck you, you fucking bitch …” she shouts before punching me in the face.
Instead of hitting her back, I cover up my face, not wanting anymore marks on my damn body from these crazy fucking sharks. “Get her off me!” I shout, trying to dodge her hits.
She’s dragged off me a second later. I get up and dust the snow off my clothes. The snow seeping into my jeans makes me shiver. She’s like a feral cat in his arms, kicking, screaming and trying to head-butt him. “Throw her ass in the SUV and let’s get the hell out of here before someone sees us,” I snap. We had this planned. We’ve been watching S
helby’s house, knowing they were coming in for Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Mother, for that bit of info.
Then today, they appeared. We weren’t going to waste any time since we didn’t know how long they were staying. So we followed them to Blanche’s house and then the mall. We knew they’d have to go back to get Lilly, so we waited. They didn’t disappoint me.
“Turn her phone off and tie her up,” I add. I’m not going to drug her. Not yet. I’ve got some payback to give her and Cole. She betrayed me by walking away from me, and he fucking rammed my face into a mirror before cutting me. She’ll pay.
Blood for blood.
He’ll never want her after I’m done with her. That is if I decide to let her live.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
DEKE
I SIT WITH the guys at the clubhouse. Cole is next to me on the couch. Bennett stands to our right, typing away on his phone. “Can you stop that?” I snap.
“What?” he asks.
“Sexting. My sister.” I grip the beer bottle and take a swig. It’s all I think about. And it’s fucking disgusting. I know he loves her, but that doesn’t mean I’m a hundred percent okay with it just yet. It’s going to take time.
He sighs. “I told you it’s not like that.”
“So you guys haven’t fucked?” I quirk a brow, knowing damn well that they have.
He shoves a hand through his hair. “Of course, we have …”
“That’s what I thought.”
“But I love her,” he admits.
I snort, but don’t say anything because I believe the bastard.
“Where the fuck is Shane?” Cole growls, changing the subject.
I don’t want to be here any more than he does, but we have shit to go over. Secrets just keep coming out like fucking vomit. One of my best friends is fucking my sister. Our other friend was keeping secrets about my ex. Like what else do we not know? At this point, I’m not sure what could surprise me.
Cole’s phone rings, and he shifts on the couch to dig it out of his pocket to answer it. “Hello? When?” He stands after a second. “Okay. I’ll call her.” He hangs up.
“What’s up?” I ask.
“That was Blanche. She said Austin was supposed to pick up Lilly thirty minutes ago but never showed. She’s tried calling her, but she won’t answer.”
I sit back on the couch and take a drink of my beer. “It was snowing earlier. Maybe they got caught in it, and it slowed her down.” Come to think of it, Demi had messaged me a little bit ago about dinner, but she hasn’t read my response.
He places the phone to his ear and then pulls it away immediately. “Straight to voicemail.”
I frown and sit up straighter. He tries again. And again. The worry and anger quickly taking over his features. “I’ll try Demi’s.”
I pull up her name on my phone and push call. It rings five times before going to voicemail. I look up at him and just shake my head as I dial it again. “Nothing,” I say when it does the same.
“It’s not like Austin to have her phone off.” He growls.
“Maybe it died,” Bennett suggests.
Just then, the door flies open, and Shane walks in.
“You’re driving,” Cole orders, not wasting a second.
“Where to?” he asks, spinning around to watch Cole storm out of the clubhouse. “What’s going on?” He turns to ask me.
“The girls aren’t answering their phones,” I answer.
“They’re probably busy.”
“And they never showed up to pick up Lilly,” I add.
Cole and I jump into the back of Shane’s car while he gets in the driver seat, and Bennett falls into the passenger seat. “Where are we going?” Shane asks
“Give me a second.” Cole snaps, his fingers typing quickly on his phone. “I’ve got a tracker on her car. I’m looking it up now.”
“Dear Lord, dude. Paranoid?” Shane chuckles.
I expect Cole to have a snarky comeback or punch him in the back of the head, but he does neither.
“I’m sure they’re fine …”
“What the fuck?” Cole barks, interrupting Shane.
“What?” I ask, starting to worry myself.
He drops his phone in his lap and looks over at me. “They’re at Austin’s dad’s house.”
BECKY
I pull in the circle drive of the Lowes estate. The house looks the same as it always has. From the outside, it looks like the million-dollar mansion her father had built for his young wife ten years ago. It’s over the top, but what house in Collins isn’t? The bigger, the better is their way of life. Three stories, twelve fireplaces, and a six-car garage are more than any family needs. But I understand it. I don’t want to live in a shack when I get older.
The last time I was here was back in May. The day that shit went very sideways.
“Get out,” I say to Kellan as I come to a stop in front of the Lowes estate.
He laughs. “What? Don’t wanna come in for a cup of tea?”
I roll my eyes. My phone starts to vibrate while sitting in my cupholder. I see that it’s Deke and pick it up, placing it on silent. Then I put it in the side door pocket so Kellan can’t grab it and answer the call. He’s a dick like that.
“Thanks for the ride, baby.” He opens the door.
I lean over and look up at him. “You’re gonna keep your mouth shut, right? About me letting you in on her birthday?” He can’t tell on me. Who knows what the fuck Cole would do to me if he found out.
He laughs. “Don’t worry, Becky. Your secret is safe with me.” He slams my door shut and walks toward the house.
Obviously, he informed Shane that I let him into the Lowes house the night of Austin’s birthday. I’m just not sure why he chose now to tell them. What changed to make him do that?
Getting out of Austin’s SUV, I slam the door shut and watch David get out of his car. He and Maxwell come around the back of it where I stand. “We’ll get the girls. Just get the front door for us.”
I run up the steps and push the heavy door open, knowing it was unlocked. No one has been here since Kellan killed Celeste and shot Austin. I cover my nose when I open the door because the stench is overwhelming. The blood still covers the black and white checkered marble floor of the grand foyer. It’s a shame they didn’t have anyone come and clean it up after Bruce was arrested for paying off Jeff to cause the car wreck. He got life for three counts of manslaughter. For each of the guys who died in the wreck he caused.
Maxwell carries my unconscious sister over his shoulder while David drags a very pissed off Austin through the front door with his hand fisted in her dark hair. “Fuck, she’s a handful.” He grunts.
I slam the door shut. “Her room is upstairs.”
“Let go of me!” she snaps as he shoves her up the stairs. “You won’t get away with this.”
We both ignore her. He comes to the landing, and I kick her bedroom door open. It looks the same as it did when she lived here. After she was shot, Cole and Deke came over and packed up all her clothes for their move to Texas, so she wouldn’t have to come back here and do it herself. They left everything else.
He throws her onto her bed, and she grunts from landing on her back, her restrained hands underneath her.
There’s not an ounce of fear in her green eyes, just pure hatred. She wants to kill me. Well, she’ll have to get in line. We have a plan, and once we’re done, we’re going to run like hell. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because the sharks think they are the only things to be scared of.”
She snorts. “You think this is gonna make them fear you?” She shakes her head. “You’re more stupid than I gave you credit for.” Her nostrils flare, and a small line of blood runs down from her forehead where the car door hit her. Her green eyes slide to David, then back to me.
“You guys haven’t officially met. This is David,” I announce, and her eyes widen.
“Your ex?” she demands.
&nb
sp; “Who said we ever broke up?”
He walks up to the bed and looks down at her. “Pretty.” He chuckles, and I narrow my eyes on him. “Hello, Austin, I’ve heard a lot about you.” Reaching out, he runs his knuckles through the blood on her face, smearing it.
She yanks away from him.
I slap her, knocking her head to the side, the sound bouncing off the walls in her room. I go to do it again, but David grabs my arm and spins me to face him. “We’ve got all night with her, babe.”
“You better fucking kill me,” she sneers.
“I’m gonna kill her first. Then I’ll get around to you,” I say honestly. We walk out, slamming her door behind us.
We make our way down the stairs and to the living room.
Maxwell has my sister sitting in a high back barstool that he must have taken from the kitchen in the middle of the room and her head hangs back, eyes closed. She’s still drugged and will be for a while. I gave her more than her body needed. Possibly too much. She may die from that alone. We’ll just have to wait and see.
“Here you go, babe.” David hands me a knife, and I look at it in my hand. It resembles the one that the fucking sharks used to cut the back of my neck with. A black handle with a black rubber grip. I press the button and the blade pops out. Silver with a black center.
“Is she already dead?” I ask.
Maxwell places his fingers to her neck and then shakes his head. “She’s still alive. Just out.” Then he looks over at the hallway. “What about the other one?”
“Alive and awake,” David answers. “Why don’t you go keep an eye on her?”
Maxwell gives him a smile, telling us that’s not the only thing he plans on keeping on her. I don’t even care. They’ve all betrayed me. She’s a shark, just like the rest of them. They never wanted me or accepted me.
“Just don’t kill her,” I call out as he walks out of the living room.
“I’m not a murderer.” His chuckle carries down the hall. “I just wanna play.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
DEKE
SHANE PULLS INTO the drive of the Lowes estate. Once we clear the trees, I order, “Cut the lights.” It’s not dark yet, but it will be soon. The snow has started coming down again.
If You Dare (Dare Series Book 3) Page 34
