Chapter 45 Jonah - Past
forty-five
Jonah - Past
THE TWINS.
Pink. Everything that could be pink on “Cupid” was.
Their hair was pastel pink, falling in perfect natural curves to frame their heart-shaped face, and their shirt was a light pink with a darker pink chunky-knit cardigan over the top.
Knee-high socks traveled down hairless legs, and were tucked into pink shoes with a couple of inches of platform on the bottom that still didn’t bring them up to my height.
I would have told Dex to get them the fuck out of here immediately, but my eyes caught on something I needed to clarify first. Along with the dusting of glitter over their eyelids, there was the pink tartan skirt.
I was sure Dex had referred to them as “him,” and that he wouldn’t intentionally misgender someone.
But if I wanted to insult this person, I needed to make sure I referred to them correctly.
“What are your pronouns?” I asked, and the smile that spread across full, glossy lips just made me hate them more.
“Oh! He/him is fine. I just like wearing sk—”
“Get him the fuck out of here,” I said to Dex, not waiting for Matteo to finish speaking.
Dex was tense. He should be. It was one thing knowing he’d fucked this guy before, it was entirely another to know he just came around whenever the fuck he felt like it.
Before I’d seen him, I could have at least convinced myself it was just a convenient hookup of the past. But the fact was that Matteo was fucking beautiful…
I tried and failed to find any part of his appearance I could rip into.
“I’ve never had someone in my bed in the daylight before,” Dex had told me once. That meant he’d had guys in his bed at night. If Matteo knew where Dex lived, did that mean he was one of them? Had they fucked in the same bed Dex fucked me in?
“Rabbit,” Dex sighed, but I cut him off too before he could try to talk me down.
“I said get him the fuck out, Dex. Now.”
“Oh. You guys in the middle of something?” Matteo asked, blinking innocently. My lip pulled up in a snarl.
“Matteo is here because apparently the police have arrested Archer.”
The mention of police gave me pause. The fire building inside me simmered down enough to at least seek more details before demanding again that Dex throw Matteo out. “Why?” I asked, snapping attention back to the pink-haired bitch invading our space.
“Well, actually, they didn’t arrest him,” Matteo added.
“What? You just said they’re swarming his apartment.”
“Yeah, but he wasn’t there.”
“Then where is he?” Dex asked, and at least he sounded pissed.
Matteo didn’t seem to care as he shrugged. “Dunno. Was hoping you did.”
“No, I don’t know. I saw him last at the Strays house.”
“He’s not there. But Raven says it’s just a matter of time before the cops end up there, so not to go there.”
“What’s he being arrested for?” I asked. I was sure the list of shady activities Archer was involved in was long and vast, but there was something uncomfortable building in my gut.
“Murder of three Drakes,” Matteo answered casually.
My mouth and throat dried up. “How do they know it was him?”
“His knife was found at the scene of the murder.”
His knife… Archer’s knife was found at the scene.
My mind brought back that fucking switchblade with the pale wood handle, the one that had felt so heavy in my hands.
The one with a history I didn’t dare ask about.
My own secrets now mixed with it. Henrik had insisted I use it, had handed it to me then taken it and used it himself.
The whole fucking time he’d only used that knife.
“And his blood.”
“His blood?” I asked, my voice softer than I wanted it to be.
“Yeah, it was like everywhere, apparently. They narrowed it down to the twins, but Henny was with his dad, so that just leaves Archy.”
The scene replayed in my mind.
“Your blood is fucking everywhere!”
“Allegedly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means don’t worry about me.”
“You… you just killed three people…”
“Allegedly.”
Allegedly. Henrik had planned this all along.
Now Archer was a wanted person in the murders his twin brother had committed—the ones I’d witnessed.
My mind was spinning. Did that mean the police wouldn’t come for me?
Were they just satisfied that Archer was the one who’d done it?
What if he could prove he hadn’t? What if they turned to Henrik instead?
Would he then turn on me as well? Put the blame on me instead?
Warm hands grasped my shoulders, thumbs smoothing the tension from my neck. “And Archer hasn’t spoken to anyone?” Dex asked.
Matteo shook his head. “Nah, no one can reach him. That’s why they sent me to check with you.”
“My phone’s been switched off. Can you get it for me, baby?” Dex asked, placing a soft kiss on the side of my head. I nodded, accepting the request for what it was, a moment to step away and process.
The world was spinning as I went up the stairs to shut myself in the bedroom. Was this a good thing? Or was this a problem? I couldn’t determine whether this put me further in danger or out of it, torn between panic and relief, somehow feeling both and neither.
Dex’s phone was in the pocket of his clothes. Still switched off. I clenched it in my fist as I took a seat on the edge of the bed.
I must have taken too long. I could have been there seconds or minutes—longer, I wasn’t sure—but Dex knocked softly on the door before entering. He kneeled in front of me with his warm hands covering mine.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” he told me, and I wanted to believe him, but doubt circled inside me like a predator going in for the kill.
“How do you know?”
“Because Henrik is a fucking asshole, but he’s competent.
I don’t know why he did what he did, but I know if he wants to frame Archer for this, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
His family’s very powerful, Rabbit, and if his dad is his alibi, then we have to assume they’re also trying to put this on Archer.
No one will know you’re involved. And you didn’t do anything wrong. ”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” I nodded, repeating his words, holding onto them like a lifeline.
“That’s right. You were just protecting yourself. Protecting me. You did nothing wrong.”
I did nothing wrong. I repeated the words like a mantra. Dex was so certain as he spoke them. My eyes searched his for doubt and found none. He truly believed it. So I could as well.
“Matteo…”
“He’s gone, baby. I sent him away. It’s just you and me.”
I nodded again, tilting forward until I slipped from the bed to kneel on the floor in front of him, my arms wrapped around his neck and his around my waist.
“I’ve got you. Nothing bad’s going to happen to you, I promise.”
I believed him.
With Archer missing, there was chaos among the Strays, all of whom had unfortunately ended up in Dex’s kitchen.
No one had heard from their gang leader.
Dex had dozens of missed calls when he switched his phone back on, but none of them were from Archer.
Apparently, Henrik had also been impossible to get a hold of.
There were two missing twins, and a whole fucking lot of chaos.
I’d wanted to be in the room as they discussed everything, but the group—particularly Reaper—hadn’t at all been pleased by my presence there. Dex promised me he’d update me on everything when he’d pulled me aside and asked me to wait in his bedroom for him.
So here I was, trying not to throw things at the wall while I waited around like a pet. Anxiety swirled around inside me. Fear that one of them could verify Archer’s whereabouts that day and they’d know he hadn’t done it. And maybe that should have been the biggest fear I had, but it wasn’t.
If Archer was out of the picture, the Strays would need a new leader, and the fact that they were all in Dex’s kitchen right now, and that they’d been calling him for everything leading up to this, it was pretty fucking obvious who that would be.
I didn’t want to share him—not with the Strays or anyone else.
I wanted him to be mine and mine alone. I wanted to be his priority, and as long as the Strays existed, I wouldn’t be.
He’d chosen them over me before, and if he officially became their leader, it would only happen more.
I hated it, hated them for needing him. Why couldn’t it be someone else?
Why did he have to always take care of them and let them rely on him?
By the time I heard the front door opening and closing, various bikes roaring to life and speeding away, it was well into the night, and I was fucking pissed.
The stairs creaked under footsteps, and Dex opened the door quietly, his eyes finding mine. “I thought you might be asleep.”
I glared at him. “Really?”
“No.” He smiled softly. “But you should be. It’s late.”
“What happened down there?”
Dex sighed. “No one’s heard from Archer or knows where he might be.”
“We already knew that.”
“No one’s been able to get in contact with Henrik either.”
I stared at him, waiting for him to continue and prompting him when he didn’t. “What’s happening, Dex? Who’s taking Archer’s place?”
His jaw clenched, and my fears were confirmed. “Me. Just for now. Just until we figure out something more permanent.”
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “As if. Something more permanent, come on, Dex. You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you? You’re it. They all need you, and you let them. This is just it now, isn’t it?”
“Just for now, Rabbit.” He crossed the room, hands finding mine. I pulled away from him, but he grabbed me again, pulled me into him, his arms trapping me in. “Just for now, I promise. Just give me a little time to sort this out, and I’ll set Raven up to take over. Then I’ll be done with it all.”
I pulled back to look into his eyes, to search for the truth in his words. “You… you’re going to step away from it? From them?”
Dex nodded. “I had nothing but them for a very long time, baby. They were the closest thing to a family I’d ever known. But they aren’t anymore. Because now I have you. And you’re the only home I’ll ever need.”
His words broke through the shield of rage I was holding between us and punctured the heart of my fear. “You… you really mean that? You’d give it all up for me?”
“Of course I would, Rabbit. And I will. Just give me a little bit of time. Can you do that?”
He wasn’t choosing them. He was choosing me. My arms wrapped around him as I pulled him closer, burying my face in the curve of his neck. “You’re my home too,” I whispered into his skin.
Just a little more time and he’d be mine completely, and I’d be his, and we wouldn’t have to worry about anything but each other.
I sought his lips and found them eager. Promises passed between us in the form of kisses before we were on his bed, pulling at each other’s clothes, tasting each other’s skin.
Until he was inside me and we were as close as we could be.
Until he was home within my body and I wished I could keep him there always.