Chapter 40
OCTOBER 14 – TUESDAY 5:10 PM
R en
What the hell did one wear to meet family you never knew existed? I’d brought the best of my dressy clothes and still was at a loss. .
Finally, meeting my mum’s side of the family—the ones who didn’t want me dead, at least—was exciting. But now that the moment was almost here, my nerves were out of control. Twice, my lunch had tried to make an appearance. But I fought it down.
The simple black dress I now wore would have to do. I stared at my reflection and took a deep breath. Focusing on the next task, I managed to get the black eyeliner in place and created a light, smoky look.
“You look beautiful, Little Rabbit.”
Liam’s voice made me jump, and I almost drew a black mascara streak up the side of my face. I glared at him in the bedroom doorway.
“Thank you for almost blinding me,” I said, and he smiled.
“Told you we need to work on this jumpiness.”
“Can we not work on it tonight? My nerves are shot. How did you get in here anyway?”
Liam walked up behind me and, without a single touch, made me shiver. He looked so hot in his suit, and I took an extra second to let my eyes wander.
“Myles gave me the key you gave him. He was easy to bribe.”
He teasingly ran the tips of his fingers down my bare arms. The touch was featherlight but the heat he created and the pressure in my chest from the pounding of my heart were opposite in comparison.
Liam lowered his head to my neck but never took his eyes off mine. I gasped as his lips touched the side of my throat before he nipped at my ear, sucking the little diamond stud into his mouth.
“Don’t think that I don’t know what you and Myles did on the bus,” he whispered in my ear. “Naughty, Little Rabbit. I told you what it costs me to see you with them.”
“And I told you…they are part of the package.”
“Yes, but you also said you wouldn’t rub it in my face.”
I rolled my eyes at him in the mirror. “Technically, I didn’t.” A shudder raced down my spine as he wrapped his hand around my throat.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, or your ass will be sore for dinner.” I licked my lips.
“I thought you and Theo were asleep. I thought everyone was asleep,” I said and swayed as his finger rubbed back and forth over my racing pulse.
“If you’re awake, then I’m awake. Remember that. I’ll be sitting with you on the way back.
“Is that so?”
“Oh, it is, Little Rabbit. I’ll teach you what can really be done in a bus seat.”
“Are you trying to one-up Myles?” I smirked as I stared into his cinnamon eyes.
“I don’t need to try. I know I can. Besides, Myles relinquished his seat because he foolishly bet against me earlier and lost.”
“Are you guys always going to compete like this?”
“Probably until the day we are six feet under, but that’s half the fun. Mmmm, I really want to bend you over. But we don’t have time, and I came in here for another reason.”
Liam pulled a long velvet box out from inside his suit jacket.
Gently plucking it from his hand, I stared at the black lid. I knew what was inside. But was I really prepared to put this on? Liam didn’t push or say anything as he waited for me to choose this…to choose him. I swallowed down the lingering nervousness and cracked open the lid.
“Oh my god, Liam.”
Nestled in the silky folds of the jewelry box was a stunning choker necklace no wider than my baby finger. It was entirely encrusted with sparkling blue diamonds.
“You were serious.”
“Always. I don’t joke about this sort of thing. I wanted it to be something you would feel comfortable wearing all the time while giving me what I need.”
I looked up at him. “And what do you need?”
“You,” he said, melting my insides. Tilting my head up, he touched his lips to mine. “Always you. Turn around, and I’ll put it on.”
Lifting my hair out of the way, I turned, and he took the box. It was a good thing he did because my hands were shaking. Once the collar was in place, I ran my hand across the sparkling blue stones that reminded me of the sky on a bright summer’s day.
“It’s stunning. I don’t know what else to say other than thank you.”
Facing him, I looked down.
“What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t get you anything for your birthday, and I’ve been too nervous to ask how your initiation went. I feel bad about that.”
He smirked. “Don’t worry about my birthday. I have everything I need.” He tipped my head back and ran his thumb over my lip. “Or want. As far as my initiation…I’m going to talk to you about that after dinner. If I play my cards right, not only will I get my initiation taken care of, but you’re going to help me.”
“Me? Won’t Lawrence be pissed?”
“Who says he’ll find out?”
I smiled. “And you trust me enough to help you?”
“I wouldn’t ask you otherwise. Now come on, let’s see if we can get the rest of this crew on the move.”
“They really are slow.”
“Very,” he teased, making me laugh.
We wandered down the hall to the next room and our smiles faded as we opened the door. The tension in the room was thick, like heavy smog.
“How the hell did he know we were here in Cali?” Myles snarled.
“Because I told him. It would be an issue if he called me to come in, and I hadn’t told him.”
Myles tossed his arms out to the sides. “It’s already an issue. What the hell do ya mean he wants ya to negotiate for Devin’s release?”
“He thinks that if I get Devin back, then he can regain control of your father,” Nash answered. “He’s probably right, but that’s beside the point.”
“There is no controlling me da. He showed up at the school willing to accept the Curators coming after him. How can Lawrence think that getting the devil freed is going to make things any better?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he plans on just killing them both, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t get him released even if I wanted to. Not only will Nathaniel laugh at me, but Devin knows too much about us and what happened.”
“Shite,” Myles swore and turned around. He froze when he saw me standing there with Liam.
“Mind telling me what you’ve all been keeping from me? And don’t bother lying,” I said, taking in their guilty faces.
“Snowflake….”
“No, don’t you dare Snowflake me. We are supposed to be in this together. I may not be a King, but I think I’ve proven myself to be trustworthy. I hate secrets, and you all are keeping way too many from me,” I said, hitting Nash with a glare. He looked away, and I shook my head.
“I told you it was a bad idea to keep this from her,” Liam said. I was shocked that out of all the guys, he was sticking up for me. “She’s either in, and we trust her, or she’s not, and we don’t. Take your pick.”
Myles sighed and leaned against the dresser. “Nash found out that Devin was trying to harm us. He captured him and handed him off to Nathaniel.”
“Nathaniel. My cousin that we’re meeting tonight?”
“Aye.”
“Wait did you know who my family was when you did this,” I asked Nash, and he narrowed his eyes at me.
“Of couse, you’d think that. No, I didn’t. That was a fucked up coincidence.” He crossed his arms and looked out the window again.
I believed him. “So why Nathaniel?”
“He has a small prison and knows how to handle people like my brother. Da has been losing it ever since. He’s recently gone right off the deep end. He slaughtered an innocent family in Ireland because he thought they were conspiring against him. From what I’ve been able to gather, they were having a drink and talking when Da grabbed his gun and started shooting. Killed them all, the wee ones, too.”
“Jesus.”
“That’s not the worst of it.” He bit his lip and ran his hand through his hair. “When you and Liam were away, he snuck into Wayward and wanted me to hand you over. I woke up with a knife to my throat.”
“I know. Nash told me.” Myles’s head whipped in Nash’s direction.
“You told her?”
“Yes, because she needed to be aware of the danger,” Nash said, and for once, I fully agreed with him.
“You should’ve been the one to tell me, Myles. You swore to me that you’d tell me anything that you could. This wasn’t something to keep secret.”
“I know. I know, but I didn’t want ya to worry. We got it handled and have a plan to stop him. But now Lawrence wants Nash to talk to Nathaniel and get Devin back.”
“Well, that’s not happening,” I said, and I meant it. “Not after what he’s done to you. Whatever cell he is rotting in, he can stay there.”
Myles’s lip twitched up. “Aye, I agree, but Lawrence is getting edgy with my da on the loose. He’s causing a lot of unrest, which makes Lawrence twice as dangerous. He’s set me and Nash the task of finding my da and killing him.”
“Oh, just a small thing then. Alright, so the answer is that we hand Owen over to Lawrence instead of Devin. That gets rid of both monsters. How do we get Owen?”
“Naw, you’re not getting’ involved, Snowflake. It’s one thing tellin’ ya and another havin’ you help,” Myles said.
“That’s not up to you. If I’m in, then I’m in. So, tell me how I can help?”
“There is one way that won’t put her in danger,” Nash said from his spot by the window. “But we can discuss this later. Our ride is here.”
“Tell me first. What can I do?”
Nash looked at me, his blue eyes all business tonight. It was a big change from earlier at the pool.
“How good are you at pretending to be kidnapped,” he asked, smirking.
“Where’s the rope?”
The guys all smiled while Liam tightened his hold on my hip. For the first time since I got involved with Myles, I truly felt like I belonged with the Kings.