20. Roxy
Roxy
With a groan, I throw my pillow at my phone, hoping the thing will finally shut up.
Funnily enough, the loud ringing stops as soon as my pillow connects with it, and I slump back into the bed with relief.
I’ve spent the last two days drawing and designing tattoos, a new wave of motivation hitting me knowing my studio has been repaired and paid off for the next year. I swear my eyes were only shut for three seconds before my phone started screaming at me.
As soon as I start to fall back asleep, the thing screams again. The ringtone blaring through the quiet space.
“Fuck,” I groan, rolling onto my side to reach for the damn thing.
My eyebrows draw when I see it’s Maddy’s fifth call.
Answering it, I barely get the thing to my ear before the sounds of her panicked breathing find me.
“Roxy? You’re awake?”
It sounds like she’s trying to sound calm, but there is no hiding the high-pitched lilt to her voice.
“Am now, Maddy baby,” I croak. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing...” I can practically hear her twirling her hair around her finger, pretending to be calm. “Just seeing what you are up to.”
I snort. “I was up to watching the backs of my eyelids, girl. But I’d much rather be speaking to you.”
Her laugh comes out forced, as if her throat is tight and her breathing is uneven.
“What if I tempted you to a drink? Say, at the club?”
A drink is the last thing I want right now, though it’s clear my friend needs me. Propping the phone to my ear with my shoulder, I swing my legs from the cozy, warm bed, turning back to mourn the comfort for a split second before stretching my stiff body.
“What’s the dress code? Are ratty pyjamas okay?”
Looking down at myself, I’m wearing the same thing I always wear to bed. The grey trackies and hoodie I found at a second-hand store that are far too big for me and swallow my body like the warmest hug.
“Ratty pyjamas are a must,” she sighs, before adding, “Thank you, Roxy.”
“See you soon,” I mumble, hanging up the phone.
It’s stupid how disappointed I am when I open my front door and find the big man that Leon has a crush on standing in the hallway. Obviously, it can’t always be Kai. He needs to sleep and eat, and all the other Devils things he has to do.
Still, my shoulders slump when instead of charcoal-black eyes, golden ones scowl at me.
“Maddy wants me at the club,” I murmur through a yawn.
He grunts, following me to the elevator and leading me to a huge black truck.
I’m almost asleep by the time the tires crunch over the gravel parking lot, eyes squinting open to find the red glow of the club. The second my Ugg boots hit the ground, the front door squeals open, revealing a wide-eyed Maddy.
She runs at me, arms open to wrap me in a tight, frantic hug.
“Thank God you are here.” Her voice shakes, so I wrap my arms around her tighter. “I’m scared, Roxy. Ash has been gone for hours and I haven’t heard from him.”
Pulling back, my eyes widen. “What?!”
She’s fighting back tears, her eyes blinking furiously.
“Wait,” I interrupt her. “Let’s do this over a drink.”
She lets out a watery laugh and nods, linking her arm in mine.
I’m surprised at how warm the club is. With the yellow glow of the dim lights and the scent of cigarettes, it’s weirdly comforting. It is emptier than it usually is, only a dozen or so men slowly sipping drinks with heavy lids.
The older man at the bar watches us approach, Griff close behind.
“Can we please have two wines, Matty?” Maddy asks.
“Of course, kid,” he winks, before grabbing the wine bottle and two glasses.
As he pours them, he eyes me curiously. I offer him a small smile, then turn to my best friend.
“Tell me everything.”
She reaches for her now-full glass of wine and takes a long gulp. “Ash has been... unravelling, Roxy. It feels like it’s just one thing after another, and tonight he came home and held me in a way that made me sick before he ran out, promising to be back by morning.
It’s been four hours!” She shakes her head, tears finally forming. “I haven’t heard a single thing from him.”
I reach for her hand and squeeze it.
“I need to go find him, or something. I can’t just sit here, knowing he’s out there somewhere, and might need my help.” Her voice is growing more and more frantic with each word.
A large hand lands on her shoulder and squeezes. Griff looks down at us with his perpetual scowl. “Sit down, Mads.”
She looks up at him, eyes glassy and red. “I can’t,” her lip trembles.
“You can,” he grunts. “Panicking isn’t bringing him home any faster. He does this kind of stuff all the time. He’s come every time before, and he’ll come home today.”
A shaky breath leaves her. “Where is he?”
Griff seems to hesitate, eyes dipping to me, before turning back to Maddy. The look makes my stomach knot up for her.
Finally, he exhales through his nose.
“Retaliation. The Wraiths, or the version of them that’s still in Havenport, has a truck entering the city. Ash got word and took a crew to destroy it.”
Maddy’s shoulders loosen and she sighs.
“So... he’s attacking them?
Griff nods, a loose curl falling down his face.
“If everything’s gone to plan, there’s probably a huge semi blown to pieces on the highway by now.”
Maddy lets out a shaky laugh. “That’s so much better than everything going through my mind.”
Some of the colour returns to her face as she takes another sip of wine.
She looks at me, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “That man will make me gray before I’m thirty. Freaking hell!”
I laugh, choking on my wine. She’s just too damn cute. Sitting here surrounded by Devils in her pink, silky pyjamas and wide eyes.
“Plus,” Matty drawls from behind the bar. “He’s got the twins with him. The murder machines themselves.”
The room tilts and my fingers tighten around the stem of the wine glass.
Maddy giggles at that. But I don’t find it funny.
Because now I’m imagining Kai hurt. Even though he is most likely the one doing the hurting.
A cold sweat forms on the back of my neck. Maddy and Matty are still talking, but I can’t quite grasp the words they are saying.
Trying to gain a semblance of control over my racing heart, I finish the huge glass of wine and hold the glass out for more. Matty fills it up without missing a beat, and that one meets the same ending.
My stomach warms with the alcohol, but my nerves are frayed thinking about that man in danger.
It’s not until the door squeals open that I notice anything happening around me.
Maddy gasps, jumping off her stool and sprinting over to the man in the doorway. Ash catches her easily, taking her lips with his own. His wild black hair stands in every direction, and with his eyes flaring, he looks completely untamed.
Maddy wraps her arms around his neck and legs around his waist, holding onto him for dear life.
Completely in fucking love with the wild man.
But all I can focus on is looking over his shoulder, waiting for someone else to walk in. And he does.
Dark eyes and dark skin, with a long leather jacket covering his sculpted body.
When I stand, the world spins. The two huge glasses of wine have gone straight through me, and my fingers tingle.
I’m also blaming it on the fact that my stomach churns when his eyes land on mine and stay there.
Ash is laughing quietly into Maddy’s hair, and men are whooping and celebrating whatever happened tonight.
None if it matters to me.
Kai stalks towards me, and my feet move before my mind catches up. Stopping just before him as he loom over me. From here, I can see the way his pupils are blown out and his lips are parted just slightly.
My hand lands on his hard chest.
“Are you okay?” I whisper, eyes still searching him all over for any new injuries.
His hand whips out and grips my wrist painfully, pulling a gasp from my lips.
Then I smile. A slow curve of my lips, before sucking my bottom lip between my teeth. Because this isn’t Kai. No. This is his much crueller and colder brother.
“Oh, hello Kaleb. Nice to see you.”
His grip tightens just a fraction, and I don’t bother pulling my hand away.
Over his shoulder, I see Maddy grinding over Ash and men approaching them. The air turns thick and heavy, and my own breaths quicken.
“Wish I could say the same,” he rasps but his eyes flick between mine and a hunger burns in them.
If I had to guess, the man has just returned from killing people. And that seems to be his sick sort of foreplay if his erection from the other night was anything to go by.
My body ignites with heat at the thought of it.
Without warning, he twists my wrist over, exposing the inside of my forearm. His thumb stills.
His eyes fix on the pale, raised scar tissue on my skin. The matching burns to his brother’s. He studies them with his scary focus, eyes narrowing just a fraction.
All of a sudden, he’s shoving me backwards. My feet barely keep up as he pushes me away from everyone.
No one stops us or even looks in our direction. The Devils are too busy celebrating their win.
I’m shoved into a familiar room in the back. One with a long table that’s currently empty. The moment we’re through, the heavy door slams shut behind us.
Every sound becomes dull between the wood, and silence settles between us. Just his hard body pressed close to mine. His rough hand around my wrist.
It’s the wine. It must be. Because my eyes settle on his pillowy lips, and a hunger I can barely contain swarms my mind.
I jump on him, my mouth crashing against his.
He growls, teeth latching onto my bottom lip and clamping down until I cry out, coppery blood filling my mouth. Pulling back, I glare at him.
It’s his turn to pounce, as he releases my wrist and grips the back of my hair instead. This time, when he kisses me, his tongue is in my mouth.
Searching, tasting and fucking devouring.
I grind against him, his thick erection demanding attention. Fuck, he’s sick. What does that make me?
When he pulls away, his lip curls in disgust. Like he’s disgusted with himself for his reaction.
Right now, I don’t really fucking care.
“Get undressed,” he demands in a low, dangerous voice.