“Don’t give me that shit. You spent all your time watching her, following her, learning everything you could about her. You talked to her once and suddenly you’re on her side, just like Kieran.” She laughed again. “I should’ve fucking known.”
Now it was my turn to throw daggers at her with my stare. I didn’t particularly like what she was insinuating. “Careful,” I warned her. “You’re walking on very thin fucking ice right now. As it looks to me, you’re alone. You have no one loyal enough to do your dirty work now. I’d rethink whatever game you think you’re playing here. Are you even really pregnant?”
I shouldn’t have asked, but Laina had thrown doubts into my head in more ways than one.
“Wow. You already trust Laina more than me, your own daughter. I can’t say I expected it to go like this.” She shook her head and got to her feet, rubbing her belly over her shirt all the while. “You’re under her spell, just like Kieran. Apparently I’mthe only one who can see that girl for what she is: a slithering snake. I don’t need you. I don’t need anyone. I can finish this myself.” And with that, with her head held high, she turned away from me and left, not once looking back.
I watched her go, a mixed bag of emotions dwelling inside me. Of course I wanted to tell her she was wrong in her assumptions, that Laina didn’t have me under her spell, or whatever the hell she thought, but I held back, figuring any arguing on my part would only make it worse.
And things were already bad.
Being upset with me was her deflecting and trying to push blame, say it was all my fault. Or, rather, Laina’s. After all this time, it seemed like Tessa blamed Laina for absolutely everything—which was ridiculous. The girl never asked for any of this. If anyone was to blame, it was Tessa, but my daughter refused to see it.
Things would be so different right now if Tessa had simply learned to accept Laina and Kieran’s love for her.
As I sat there, fuming after that little encounter, I had the oddest urge. I wanted to see Laina. There weren’t many people in this world who understood the situation and how fucked it was, but she was one of them.
In the end, I didn’t contact her. That would’ve been weird, but still, the thought was there, and once the thought was there it refused to go away.
Chapter Sixteen – Laina
Jason Miller was an anomaly in this city. A self-made man, although in the eyes of someone like Tessa, he didn’t have much. A tiny, old house in a small town. The apparent respect of many younger, tattooed individuals who probably would have thrown their entire lives away had he not stepped in and helped them. To a woman who wanted the stars, it was nothing, but that’s where Tessa would be wrong.
I understood where Jason came from when he said loyalty to family was everything, and I agreed with him. He’d made a family out there, and he left them to come help his daughter, even after years of going no-contact because she and Kieran were off trying to find bigger and better things.
When I got the file and perused through it, I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like, a town that small. It must’ve been some kind of culture shock for him to come to this city—or maybe small-town life wasn’t all that different from city life when you weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty.
I couldn’t lie, I spent the next few days thinking about Jason a little too much. While we were all waiting for something—my dad awaited the results from the paternity test, while my guys and I awaited word from Lola and Sylvester about whether or not the doctor was trustworthy or a slippery snake—I spent most of my free time at the house thinking about that tattooed newcomer.
It was ridiculous, I knew it. Having a teeny crush on the guy was insane in multiple ways. First, I had three boyfriends already. It wasn’t like I was lacking for dick. Second, he was one of my boyfriend’s father, not to mention the father of the woman who was pretty much my archenemy. There were a million reasons why having any sort of crush on him wasn’t smart.
It must’ve been true, the saying: the heart wanted what the heart wanted.
The only time I didn’t think about Jason was Friday, and that was because Kieran and I had a little date night planned. It’d be a little rude to think about his sexy father when the whole point of our date was to drive a few hours away and play chase while he donned his devil mask for the first time since that night at the frat party.
When he claimed me for the first time, back when I had no idea that Kieran and my Devil were one and the same.
The goal of tonight was, of course, to overcome the distance that had been between us, for me to truly accept the fact that they were the same person—and, duh, to have a sexy, wild hunt that ended in some dirty, passionate sex, even if said sex was on the forest floor and I got bits of dead leaves stuck in crevices I’d rather not think about.
I was excited. Honestly, I think I threw myself into college and trying to play normal with Kelly too much. Now that I wasn’t playing normal, I could breathe a sigh of relief and not have to worry about hiding certain parts of myself. The dark parts. The parts that would make someone like Kelly wretch with bile.
Tonight I didn’t have to worry about anything. It would just be me and Kieran. Me and my Devil. There’d be no pretending on either of our parts. We could both give in to the animal inside, and I for one could not wait until my Devil had me again.
Because it was a chase, I had to dress comfortably. Nothing too revealing or anything, nothing too loose, pants-wise. Getting my jeans caught on a stick or something while I was trying to run would only give Kieran the upper hand. Obviously, I wanted the chase to last more than sixty seconds.
That guy better give me a head start.
I kinked my hair, even did a little makeup. I was acting like I was going out clubbing, not the woods for a hunt, but I wantedto make damn sure I looked good. Kieran, I knew, would take me how I was. He’d gladly take me with bedhead. The man had seen me chained to a bed for two whole years, so he definitely saw the worst I had to offer.
Logic tried to remind me every now and then I shouldn’t care about him the way I do. I shouldn’t love him. What he did may have saved my life, but it still wasn’t right. It wasn’t legal. Love, though, clearly didn’t give a crap about logic or any of that, or maybe it was that darkness within me, the darkness that had only grown since that first kidnapping.
Right or not, I didn’t care. Kieran, my Devil, was mine, and tonight we would celebrate it.
When Kieran messaged me he was on his way, it was after five-thirty. My dad was home, doing something in his office, so I went to see him before I headed downstairs to wait for his car to pull up.
Rounding the open door, I knocked on the trim as I poked my head around, causing my dad to glance up from his tablet. “Just reminding you I’m going out tonight, and I probably won’t be back until the morning,” I said. I’d already told him earlier in the week, when Kieran first mentioned it, but he had a habit of forgetting things I said.
I mean, the guy had a lot going on right now, so I couldn’t be too upset.
