“You asked for stronger shit for your dad, and I got it for you. You were supposed to take half and hold the rest until I had it sold. No one told you to go and get caught.”
That part makes me see red. “You set me up, asshole!” I seethe. “I wouldn’t havegottencaught if it wasn’t for you! Now I’m in some kind of debt to you when you screwed up your own deal? Forget it! Fuck you, Derek.”
“I didn’t set you up,” he says through gritted teeth, his hands balled into fists, knuckles white.
“Yes, you did, you lying prick! You set me up and then you—”
“I didn’t set you up. I setParkerup!”
Shock zings up my spine and widens my eyes as I shudder. A wave of betrayal crashes against me like the angered ocean rivaling a stone harbor.
“W-What?”
He lets out a frustrated breath. “The setup wasn't meant for you. It was for Parker. You were just my means to get there.”
I can’t hide the emotion shaking my voice. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“When he picked you up that day, I told him the cops had a checkpoint on Duclos when it was really on Avery Street. I told him to go a different way so he wouldn’t have time to pass Jamie’s job. But I knew he couldn’t do it. I knew he’d have to pass where she worked, like he did every night before he went home, because he’s a lying piece of shit!” he screams, and I flinch.
“See, I tried to help your brother. But he didn’t want to helphimself. He went around me, around my directions, and because he didn’t fucking listen, he ended up at the backend of the checkpoint, just like I knew he would if he went to pick up Jamie. I gave him the rope to hang himself, and he decided to jump. So fuck him.”
“Are you actually insane? Do you even hear yourself?”
“No. Parker’s insane for thinking he could fuck my sister without my permission! For thinking he could take her away!”
“She’s a person, not a piece of property, you psycho! She loves Parker—”
“Don’t say that! Don’t ever fucking say that!” He slams his hand down on the counter as spit spews from his mouth.
Fear jumps in my chest. Silent, still moments fill my apartment. My heart pounds loudly in my ears. My breaths are short and shaky. My heart is torn by revelations I can’t possibly register right now. My brain feels like it’s running on overdrive. It’s all too much to process.
Derek runs a hand through his hair and stretches his hands out after. He blinks a few times, his body moving in a wave as if he’s trying to clear the anger from his body.
“Why would I setyouup?” he asks with a tilt of his head. He slowly walks toward me. “I liked you, Alana. You were just a kid, but that fire in you, the risks you were always too willing to take—you had me drawn to you even then.”
“I was barelysixteen.”
“You didn’t look sixteen.” His eyes twinkle, and nausea swirls in my belly. “And I was willing to wait. I had every intention of waiting for you to grow up and making you my queen.”
“Queen of thedamned,” I spit. Disgust stirs in me as he closes the space between us with slow strides.
He stops a foot away. An amused huff leaves his nostrils. “See? I missed that.”
The severity of his betrayal hits me again. “How could you do that to him? Parker was your friend.”
“Was,” he corrects. “Parker stopped being my friend the second he started fucking my sister.”
“How can you say that? You grew up together! You spent almost every day—”
“Because he tried to take her from me!” he screams, red-faced. “He tried to take my sister away. They were leaving. I couldn’t let that happen.”
When surprise registers on my face, he continues. “What, did you think I didn’t know? I know everything that goes on in my town, Alana. He was trying to take my sister from me—”
“To give her a better life, Derek! To give her everything—”
“I’meverything!” he yells, his voice splintering. “I gave her everything,” he sniffs, his body trembling.
If he weren’t such a vile excuse for a person, my heart might actually break for him. But knowing who he is, knowing he intentionally sent my brother to prison for six years, takes any sliver of hope I had for Derek and burns it to the ground.
