“How much did you hear of my conversation with Ricky?” Jagger asks from his spot on his bed, and I know I gave myself away asking about how many days it had been.
I look between Asher and Cruz, not sure how much I want to tell them of what I now know. I don’t understand why they didn’t just tell me if they knew who it was my papa was marrying me off to. They don’t make it easy to trust them. “Not that much?”
“Liar!” Jagger grumbles.
I roll my eyes and regret it immediately when my head thumps. “Enough to understand why you took my stuff and kicked my brother out of your club.”
“So, you believe us now? We never would have sold you out to anyone.” Cruz’s eyes are desperate. “I told you to trust us, little darlin’.”
I lock my gaze with his. “Why expect me to trust you? Why not trust me and tell me the truth? I ran because I was scared. I told you I was scared. You could have told me my brother had sold me out to Leone Russo, I would have known what that meant.”
“You know him?” Asher asks, sounding mortified.
“Of course I do. He’s been working with my family for years.” I shiver, the last time I saw him popping into my head. The creepy way he touched my arm while looking dead into my eyes still lingers.
Asher swallows hard. Cruz looks like he’s about to commit murder, and Jagger’s now sitting up taller, his eyes locked with mine in a way that sends goosebumps over my arms. “We won’t let it happen,” Jagger growls.
I huff out a laugh, wishing it were that simple. “What’s your grand plan, Jagger? Lock me away forever someplace my family can’t find me?”
“If that’s what it takes,” he replies a little too quickly, and I know he’s serious. He’s thought about this.
“We both know that’s not possible,” I mutter, scared he thinks it is.
His eyes flash with something deranged, and I know he disagrees.
I search Asher and Cruz’s faces, but they remain stony and impassive with this subject as well.
I sit up a little taller, wishing I wasn’t so weak right now. I need my strength back so I can stick up to them. “You three aren’t locking me up in that apartment!”
“Are you ready to trust us?” Cruz asks like this is another of his games.
“Right now, I don’t trust anyone. I won’t until you start including me in your chitchats about my life. And give me my stuff back.”
“Your stuff is all here in the room with you. Except your phone,” Jagger says like it makes up for taking everything from me.
I lock eyes with him. “I want my phone back.”
“Princess, your brother was using your phone to track you. That’s how the Serpents knew where to find us.”
I stare at Asher. Is he serious? “But I didn’t have my phone. You took it off me.”
“It was in my pocket,” Jagger admits. “After all the shit went down, we pulled it apart and found the tracking device. It was driving Mal nuts when he couldn’t work out how your brother knew we had you at The Precinct that day, but he would have been able to hear every call you made and track your location at all times. You’re safer without it.”
A fresh wave of sadness comes over me. The betrayal sits heavy on my shoulders. I roll over and close my eyes, not able to deal with this in front of them. It hurts too much. And while I now believe what they’re telling me, I’m not ready to be this vulnerable in front of them. “I’m not feeling well,” I mutter, my voice barely a whisper, as a tear slides down my cheek.
Cruz leans down and kisses my cheek, then he strokes my hair over my shoulder softly. “We’ll come back when you’re feeling better.”
“Get some rest, little princess,” Asher says, giving my hand a squeeze, then he’s gone.
They both leave, the door clicking behind them. Pain surges through my chest, hopelessness, knowing how little I mean to my family. I close my eyes up tight and try not to cry over it.
The bed dips behind me, and I feel a heavy arm wrap around me. “I know you feel like you’re alone, but you’re not. You’re ours, and we will never let anything bad happen to you,” Jagger whispers, his words washing over me like a warm blanket. I want to believe him, I really do. But trust is earned, and right now, they’re keeping too much stuff from me. But I let him lie with me; his warmth and kindness have stopped the tears for now.
Chapter 4
Devil’s Dance
Forthenexttwodays, I doze in and out of sleep. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting better, and other times it’s like someone has taken a jackhammer to my head. Jagger is around constantly, and Cruz and Asher come and go, whispering to me of how they’ll take care of me and how I’m safe with them.
