Chapter 23
DAMIAN
Eighteen months later
It had been too long since we were in the same room as Alex. Well, too long since she knew we were there. But tonight was a special occasion.
Alex finally stopped waiting for us to appear in Providence. She hadn’t texted us to ask when she would see us again.
We ignored her texts.
Sent her calls to voicemail.
What we were doing to her was borderline psychotic. It was all part of the mind games Luca liked to play with her. He enjoyed watching her squirm, and sometimes, I did, too.
I sat at a corner table with Luca and Bash, away from the other students. Alex hadn’t noticed us yet. My pretty little Pet was at the bar, drinking a craft beer with an artsy-looking guy. He wore ripped jeans, sneakers, and a white T-shirt with colored graffiti on it.
The polar opposite of me.
He reminded me of Aiden Wellington. But this guy had short brown hair that flopped onto his forehead. He was nerdy and gave off an odd vibe.
Alex had been spending a lot of time with this guy. From what we read in her texts, listened to on her calls, and monitored on her computer, she hadn’t kissed him yet. But she was thinking about it, upset that we had left her and felt abandoned.
In our defense, we were in college, trying to pass our classes while handling The Devil’s Knights’ business. Our lives were not simple and never would be.
After our initiation into The Devil’s Knights, we made a pact with Luca. He said the four of us could share Alex in every way as long as we followed his rules.
Luca rose from the table, his eyes on Alex. “It’s time. She needs to know who owns her. And it’s definitely not that loser.”
We approached Alex as a team, and with her back to us, she had no idea we were coming. The artsy guy drank from his beer and then put his hand on Alex’s thigh. I thought about snapping his wrist in multiple places, so he couldn’t use his hand again.
Luca grabbed the guy by the shoulder and yanked him off the barstool.
“Hey, what the fuck?” Alex’s date threw up his hands in front of his face, ready to fight. But judging by his frame, he wouldn’t land one punch. “Who the fuck do you think you are, asshole?”
Luca got in his face, his eyes menacing and intense. “I’m her fiancé. And if you ever touch my woman again, I’ll kill you and feed your entrails to my fish.”
“Luca!” Alex shoved her palms into his back. “Get off him! I’m not your fucking fiancée, you psycho.”
“You are mine, Drea.” His top lip curled up into a snarl. “I let you have your fun at college. But I have been watching you, baby girl.”
“Look, man,” the guy said, hands raised. “I didn’t know she was yours.”
“I’m not,” Alex said, moving between Luca and her date. “Tom, I’m sorry. He’s a lunatic who thinks he can control my life. We’re not together.”
“Yes, we are.” Luca slid his arm across her stomach and pulled her back to his chest. He dipped his head down and brushed her earlobe with his lips. “You’re going to be my wife.”
“No, I’m not,” she hissed. “That ship has sailed.”
“Sorry, Alex,” Tom said. “But I’m gonna go. I don’t want to be in the middle of this.”
“Wait! Don’t leave. Ignore him. We still have to talk about our group project.”
Tom moved through the crowd and exited the bar without looking back.
Smart guy.
“I hate you!” Alex shouted. “Fuck you and your stupid fucking games, Luca. I waited over a year for the three of you to visit me. No return phone calls or texts. I’m done with all of you and your bullshit.”
She attempted to leave.
I pushed my arm out in front of her. “You’re not leaving us, Pet.”
Alex flicked her long, blonde curls over her shoulder and scoffed. “Fuck you, Damian. I’m not yours. Not anymore.”
“You’re mine.” I bent down to her height, sliding my hand beneath her chin. “Ours. Stop denying it, Pet.”
She sighed, her shoulders sinking. “Why haven’t you answered any of my texts?”
“Been busy,” I lied.
“Same,” Bash agreed. “But we’ve been watching you, Cherry. We always know what you’re doing.”
She forced a laugh. “Well, that’s not at all romantic or comforting.”
Luca stepped closer, the three of us boxing her in with nowhere to go.
“If I have to come back here and dispose of that loser’s body, you won’t like the punishment, Drea.”
“What?” Alex choked on her words. “Are you serious? Tom is my partner for a group project. We can’t complete it without the other, or we both fail.”
“You like him.”
Luca knew this from reading her text messages and listening to her conversations with Aiden.
“And if you think about kissing him or doing anything with him, I will kill him.”
“Wow,” she mouthed, shaking her head. “Fucking crazy asshole.”
“Yeah, baby girl. I am crazy.” He tugged on her curls, his lips inches from hers. “Crazy about you and protecting what is mine.”
“I’m not yours, Luca. You don’t even want me.” She sighed, lowering her eyes. “That much you made clear.”
He slid the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip, smearing the red lipstick. “If anyone who doesn’t have the last name Salvatore kisses these lips, I will cut them off and shove them down their throat. Do you understand me, Drea?”
She rolled her eyes. “So I can kiss your brothers?”
He nodded.
“Any of them?”
Another nod.
She folded her arms over her chest. “Even Marcello?”
“Yes,” he bit out. “Were you not listening to me, woman?”
“You know,” Alex said, twirling a curl around her finger. “Your dad is hot for an older man. Maybe I’ll kiss him, too. Since you guys have the same last name and all.”
She was trying to piss Luca off. I loved how she pushed his buttons. No one challenged him. Marcello did sometimes, but we usually just went with the flow and let Luca take charge.
It was easier that way.
“You could try,” Luca fired back, his eyebrows pinched together in frustration. “But I doubt you’d get very far with our father.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “How about you, Luca? You say I’m yours, but you haven’t kissed me.”
“I don’t like kissing.”
“Why not?” Alex wet her lips, keeping her eyes on his. “Don’t you want to claim what’s yours?”
“Don’t play games with me, Drea.” He cupped her cheek, but it was not a sweet gesture. His thumb dug into her cheek, pushing into the bone. “I don’t like it when you act like a brat.”
“Well, I don’t like it when you fuck with my head. So I guess we’re even.” She stood on her tiptoes, tightening her grip around his neck. “Kiss me, Luca. If you don’t, I’ll never let you touch me again.”
Luca hated ultimatums.
He was always in control, but with Alex, he often conceded without admitting defeat. He stopped fucking cheerleaders after she challenged him. And if the past were any predictor of the present, he would kiss her.
And he did.
Luca clutched her face, licking along the seam of her mouth until she opened up for him. Her tits molded to his chest, and I loved how much weight she’d gained since high school. Now, she had the body of a woman and nice, big tits that I couldn’t wait to fuck.
As expected, Luca was aggressive and kissed her like he was in physical pain. Maybe he was. I could see the hesitation on his face with each kiss. This much intimacy was killing him.
I wondered if I would look the same when I finally kissed her. Would it seem like I hated it? I couldn’t imagine kissing her would repulse me, not after seeing how she made Bash feel.
I wanted to know what she tasted like. She smelled good enough to eat.
Sweet like candy.
Luca pulled away first, both breathless and gazing into each other’s eyes as if seeing each other for the first time.
Did he feel it now?
It had taken Luca much longer than the rest of us. He still harbored resentment toward her for what had happened in the past. But Alex was not her mother. She didn’t kill Evangeline Franco. Even Marcello let go of his anger.
“Was that so bad?” Alex asked Luca, clinging to his chest like a koala.
Instead of answering, he dragged her away from the bar. “It’s time for bed.”
She was slightly drunk and wobbling. And when she stumbled and nearly fell, I caught her.
Bash was at my side, stroking her cheek. “You drank too much, Cherry. You need to eat.”
“Are you staying in Providence for the night?” Alex asked no one in particular as we left the bar together.
Luca shook his head. “We’re going back to Cambridge.”
“No,” she said, slurring her words. “Stay the night.”
Alex was desperate for more of us. However, we needed to leave, and she wouldn’t like it when we did. This was the last time she would see us for a while.
Without us nearby, it kept the target off her back. She was in more danger with us. Years from now, she might hate us. She might even blame us for things that were out of our control.
In the end, she would be ours.
I knew it.
My brothers knew it.
So until then…
We waited.