I hear an oompf sound and immediately shut the door and run to help Nathan. But my eyes widen the minute they settle on Lana, crawling out of the trunk.
She kicks him in the stomach, but he swiftly grabs her leg and twists her around. “Let go of me!”
I jump up behind him and grab her other leg, and we both drag her out of the car and shove her to the ground.
“I’ve got her,” Nathan says, and I grasp her by the throat. “What the fuck were you doing in there? Spying on us? Tell me why!”
“I wanted to know what the fuck you two were up to after you tried to extort me for money.”
“Extort you?” I growl, and I turn my head to Nathan.
The guilty look on his face tells me everything I need to know.
“Oh, you didn’t tell him?” she muses at Nathan.
I tighten my grip around her neck to make her look at me instead. “Tell me what?”
“Nathan tried to shake me for money so he wouldn’t send those lewd pictures around.”
“You did what?” I growl at him, releasing her from my grip.
As I stand, he lets go of her leg to face me. “I had them already, and I needed the fucking money.”
“You’ve been taking pictures of her all this time just so you could send them to her family?” My hand suddenly wraps around his throat instead, enraged he’d even attempt it.
I pull my gun from my pocket and point it right at his face, angry he’d threaten the girl who belongs to me.
“I needed the money,” he mutters through coughs.
Lana crawls away underneath me, catching her breath while I focus on Nathan.
“So that’s why you suddenly wanted to become involved with her too,” I say through gritted teeth, feeling betrayed.
“No, it’s not like that,” he replies, his voice weak from my strong grip. “I already liked what I saw. I just saw an opportunity as well.”
“An opportunity?” Lana snorts behind me. “That’s all I am?”
“No. It’s become far more than that, and you know that,” Nathan gurgles.
“She was mine to begin with. I only allowed you two to join because I enjoyed it. Not so you could go behind my back and try to ruin what we had by threatening her with the videos and photos we had by using them to extort her!”
Lana stays put even though I’m not keeping her from running. But something tells me this exchange is the exact reason she’s staying.
“It’s not like that,” Nathan hisses.
“Then tell me why!”
“You know why!” he grits back.
My eyes widen, and my face contorts because he’s right; I do know the reason. I’m just pissed off he’d stoop that low just for …
I release him from my grip, and he drops to the ground, coughing and heaving up spit.
“You know how much I’m willing to sacrifice,” Nathan mutters.
“Even your fucking soul?” I reply.
It doesn’t even take him a second to answer, “Yes.”
I sigh out loud, and for a moment, it’s quiet, so I stare up at the stars above. God, all of this has turned into a giant mess.
I turn to look at Lana, who takes a step back just from my eyes alone.
Or maybe it’s the gun still in my hand.
“How much did you hear?”
“Everything.”
“Tell me.”
“Nathan’s parents owed some bad fuckers money,” she says. “And you paid them off, hoping they won’t come back for more.”
I swallow.
Her nostrils flare. “Is that why you guys have been fucking with me? For money?”
“No. Never,” I answer, throwing a glare at Nathan. “As for him …”
“I did what I had to. That money I asked you for was the last of what I needed to pay them off.”
“Then how come you still had enough?” she asks.
“I gave it to him,” I respond, breathing out another sigh.
“Oh right … because that’s all he needed. A reward,” she hisses, looking anywhere but at me.
Nathan approaches her. “You don’t know what’s at stake here.”
I’ll allow him to have his moment with her.
“Your life,” she retorts as he barges right up to her. “Yeah, I got that part.”
“No. Not mine,” he says through gritted teeth.
“Is that why you kept fucking with me?” Her nostrils flare. “Just for the money so you could bail out your mommy and daddy?”
He grabs her face. “I fucked with you because I enjoyed it, because I like seeing your naked body writhe, because I love to see that lusty face as I bust all over it.” He pauses. “The pictures I took of you are just a bonus, the icing on the fucked-up cake.”
I push up between them. “Okay, enough.”
“No. I want to know why you needed to destroy me,” she says, glaring at Nathan and me. “You owe it to me.”
I grab her arms and make her look at me. “You went through all that trouble, hiding in the back of the car, just to find out the truth?”
She nods.
I take a deep breath.
“Well, now you know,” Nathan says. “I don’t regret anything I did. Not for a single second.”
“Let’s go,” I say, and I grab his arm before we start another fight in the middle of the night on an abandoned road. I walk back to the car, and Nathan jumps behind the wheel.
Suddenly, I hear the back seat door open and in crawls Lana. We both look at her, questioning whatever it is she’s doing.
“I’m coming with you.”
Nathan snorts. “You’ve got to be kiddi—”
“If she wants to come, let her.” I interject.
His nostrils flare, but he doesn’t protest and looks out the window instead.
“What did you want to do? Leave me out there by myself so those fuckers you just traded hands with find me?” she asks, raising a brow.
She’s got a point there.
I do not want anyone’s grabby hands on her … except mine.
“You sure about this?” Nathan asks.
“Go,” I tell him.
So he starts the car and races off.
Lana
I can almost taste the tension between us, the air crackling with the heat of unspoken desires and rage. None of us is willing to speak on the matter, so it just gets churned up a notch.
Nathan’s putting all his anger into hitting the gas, and we swerve across the streets to get back to Spine Ridge U. When we drive onto campus, they head straight back to the Phantom Society. The sight of the melancholic building makes me swallow because of all the history I have here, but I’m too far into this to back out now.
Milo’s waiting outside for the boys to park the car. “How did it go?” he asks casually, leaning over Nathan’s door as he opens it. “Were they satisfied?”
“I guess so,” Nathan replies.
“Found a stray cat on the curb,” Kai muses.
Milo’s eyes land on mine, and his whole face turns white as snow. “Lana? What is she doing here?”
“I don’t know,” Nathan says, shutting the door.
I open my door and step out too. “What? Don’t act like you don’t know why I was there. You wanted to extort me for money, so I came to check why.”
“Wait, what?” Milo follows Nathan as he heads up the steps to the building. “She knows?”
“Wait, you knew?” I frown at Milo.
Milo’s face reddens, and he focuses on Nathan.
“Doesn’t matter,” Nathan says. “They probably won’t leave us alone now that they know I’m able to pay.”
“But you gave them what they asked for, right?” Milo asks. “You paid off your parents’ debt. Isn’t that enough?”
He shrugs. “I don’t want to think about it.”
I catch up with them. “That’s easy for you to say. Your pictures didn’t end up in the wrong hands.”
“Did they?” Kai asks, stopping midway up the front steps.
“Yes.”
His eyes narrow at me, bolts of lightning almost flickering from his eye. “Who?” He cracks his knuckles. “Who do I need to kill?”
I’m sure he’d try. “Jason saw it by accident. And I don’t fucking care. It’s too late.”
Still, Kai won’t let me out of his sight, and he grips my waist, forcing me to stay put. “Does he know we’re involved?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t tell him anything.”
“Good.” He leans in so close I can feel his breath against my neck, sparking desire inside my core. “Keep it that way.”
“Like I’d ever want to tell anyone you’re fucking with me just to keep my kills a secret,” I say.
“Oh … I’m not just doing this to keep your secret, Lana,” he whispers, pressing a coy and dangerous kiss right beneath my ear. “Don’t you know I’ve always craved you?”
I suck in a breath, but it’s hard, so damn hard to ignore the growing arousal.
“You wanted to come, so come,” he says, smiling like he’s crazy before whisking me inside.
And why do I have the feeling he meant something else when he said come?
“God, I just want to forget about today,” Nathan groans as we walk into the mansion.
“Well, I can help you take your mind off it,” Milo replies, winking.
“Not now,” Nathan responds.
“Aw … I was so looking forward to the room,” Milo says with a frown as he closes the door behind us.
Nathan takes off his coat and slings it over his shoulder. “I’ll show you all corners of the wall soon enough, don’t worry.”
Milo grins with excitement.
Is this why he begged me to use him?
Milo is submissive to Nathan, yet he called me his queen.
“Wait,” Milo says, and both Nathan and Kai stop in the middle of the hallway while he runs into the living room and swiftly closes the door behind him.
A few seconds pass before the door opens again. He’s holding hands with a little blond-haired, blue-eyed girl, and the rage on Nathan’s face practically melts away.
“Rory,” he whispers.
“Who’s that?” I ask, but Kai merely squeezes my waist and puts a finger to his lips.
“I thought I’d bring you a welcome home gift,” Milo says with a gentle smile on his face. “Just for a couple of days.”
Nathan immediately drops his coat, runs toward her, and gives her the biggest hug I have ever seen, twirling her in his arms.
“Fuck, Ro, I missed you.”
And for a moment, all I can do is stare at their loving embrace.
She giggles like the cutest little girl ever. “You swore! Mommy said we’re not allowed to use bad words.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, pecking her on the cheek. “I won’t do it again.”
“Pinky promise?” she says.
He holds up his pinky and hooks it around hers. “Swear on my life.”
“At least not in front of her,” Milo mumbles.
“Is that …?” I mumble in shock.
And Kai’s answer suddenly makes all the sense in the world. “His sister.”
