Nightfall (Devil's Night #4) - Penelope Douglas Page 0,148

was clean of all vices, except one, and I needed to shake her. I needed to shake her, so I could go home.

I left, too much pride to disappear into the wall again. I opened the door and walked out, closing it behind me and leaving her in the dark.

I wanted to know what he said to her—what he whispered in her ear by the front door—when I went in there, but I couldn’t stay another second, or I almost wouldn’t care about anything but her for the rest of the night.

She loved me.

She loved me.

The world swayed in front of me.

But it was just another example of how everyone did what they wanted to me because they thought I couldn’t stay mad.

I mean, Damon almost killed me. Brutally and so badly, I could barely step foot in any body of water that wasn’t a bathtub, and it didn’t take much for me to forgive him.

I wasn’t giving anyone else easy chances.

“Will,” Aydin called as I passed his room.

I stopped, tensing.

I didn’t want to talk to him right now, because whatever shit came out of his mouth would just mess with my head more. God, I wanted a cigarette. Hopefully Winter hadn’t broken Damon of that completely yet, or I’d have to start buying my own packs when I got home.

Micah swiped the straight razor up Aydin’s throat as he sat back in his chair, leaning his head back.

Walking in, I held out my hand, taking the razor. Micah hesitated only a moment and then handed it to me, walking out.

Standing behind Aydin, I picked up where Micah had left off, shaving the next stroke. I gave him the better shave, so he preferred me to do it.

“Do you think you’d be in charge?” Aydin asked. “If I weren’t here?”

I tightened my fist around the handle, sliding up his neck again. One quick stroke right now, and I would be in charge.

He knew that.

He also thought he was brave, letting me shave him when he knew how easy it would be for me to end him right now in order to protect Emmy and Alex.

“I’m jealous your friends sent someone for you.” He chuckled, looking up at me. “I think my people forgot about me.”

“Find people who don’t.”

I glided the blade up over his jaw, feeling the heat of his gaze.

“I did,” he said.

Us? We’re not his people. Not yet, anyway.

“Demanding obedience through intimidation doesn’t encourage loyalty,” I told him. “Only earning it can.”

He fell silent, watching me as I shaved against the grain of his cheek and chin. He knew what the hell I meant. Micah, Rory, and Taylor didn’t respect him. They were afraid of him.

“I know,” he finally replied. “You couldn’t get her to stay in the house. I did, and I didn’t have to raise a hand to do it.” He gazed up at me. “I didn’t even have to raise my voice. That’s loyalty.”

My gaze twitched.

“You have her heart, but I’m in her head now,” he taunted. “With a woman like Emory Scott, which do you think she’ll listen to?

I didn’t even have to think about that answer twice. My hand shook as I cleaned his upper lip.

“When you make your escape, do you think Emmy will run with you and your whore?” he asked.

I shot up straight, the blade clasped in my hand as I glared down at him.

She’s not staying here with you.

“I think when I make my escape,” I told him, “I’m taking a lot more than those girls.”

He laughed, pulling off the towel around his neck and wiping his face clean. “She is stunning,” he said. “I liked it when she grabbed your throat today. Many men don’t even know how much they’d like being dominated. But it’s such a turn on. She fucked you good. I really think she’s come alive here.”

I locked my jaw, using every ounce of restraint to keep my temper in check.

He’d seen us in the greenhouse. He’d watched her ride me.

I dropped the blade and walked out of the room, every muscle in my body on fire.

He didn’t get to have her.

I charged back to her room, threw open the door, and walked over to her bed as she shot up and looked at me in the light streaming in from the hallway.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

But I didn’t say a damn word.

I grabbed her glasses off the nightstand, slid my arms under her, sheets and all, and swept her up into my arms,