Page 84 of Defiant
He gave me a mock bow. “For you, babe, anything.”
“This is serious,” I said, eyeing him up. “Where were you before the choir concert?” That was a good way of asking him without actually asking him outright, wasn’t it?
Dante ran a hand through the brown hair on the top of his head, still smirking. “Now, why would you be so curious about that? Heard the rumors, hmm?” He took another step closer to me, and I found myself with my back against the tiled wall.
I opened my mouth to say something, to tell him to give me a straight answer, but the door to the bathroom opened again. Both Dante and I were about to tell the person it was occupied—but it was only Vaughn, and the moment he stepped inside, he flicked the lock, giving us both a quizzical look.
“If you’re going to have secret meetings in restrooms, you should really use the lock,” Vaughn muttered, frowning.
“Dude, space, please?” Dante asked. “Jaz wanted to see me—”
“He can stay,” I muttered. Felt a little safer here with Vaughn, ironically enough. “Now answer the question. Where were you?”
Dante turned his blue eyes to me as Vaughn leaned his back on the sink, watching, waiting. “Where do you think I was?” Dante whispered. “The park?” He let out a small chuckle. “And if, say, I was at the park, so what?”
“So what?” I echoed, aghast. “Dante, people are dead. Ryan’s still in the hospital—”
“And?” He blinked, waiting for me to explain why he should care.
That caught me off-guard. “And?” This time I did not repeat him with nearly as enough gusto as I should’ve.
Dante tossed a look at Vaughn, who was, besides his frown, emotionless. “And why does it matter what happened to those fuckers?” he questioned me. “Why do you care so much what happened to them, Jaz? You know what they tried doing—and you know you weren’t their first. You don’t get that ballsy on your first try. No, those fucks have done that to other girls here, and I bet everyone else kept their mouth shut because of mommy and daddy’s money.”
I…well, damn, I’d never thought of it like that, but still, how did that make killing them right?
I was looking into the eyes of a murderer, and it was like Dante didn’t even care that he’d ended lives. My stare darted to Vaughn, to see how he was taking all this, and he didn’t look surprised one bit.
“You wanted payback on them, didn’t you?” Dante asked me, tilting his head, looking mighty dangerous as he stared holes into my soul.
“I did, but not like that.” My voice shook. How could I stare into the face of a monster, a killer, and still want to make out with it? How could my heart want to both run for the hills and tell on him while simultaneously give itself to him?
It didn’t make sense. None of this made sense.
“Well, don’t you worry, when you don’t know what you want, I’ll be here to help make up your mind.” Dante glanced to Vaughn, adding, “Plus, Vaughn wanted them taken care of, too. I helped you both out.”
“You didn’t help me out,” Vaughn muttered. “I told you to get rid of them.”
“Right, Boss,” Dante corrected himself.
I moved away from Dante, away from them both. My brain was having a rough time trying to piece together what I’d just heard. “Excuse me, but what?” I looked between the two, wondering if they’d been in cahoots this whole time.
If Vaughn told him that, did that make Vaughn complacent in their murder? Because that’s what it was. Murder. Murder was wrong, no matter who it was who died…right? Fuck. I hated all of these ethical questions. Why couldn’t things just be more straight-fucking-forward?
Vaughn sighed. “I wasn’t going to sit back and let them live their lives, not after doing what they nearly did to you. I wanted them gone, and Dante was more than willing to help.”
“With a bit of cash exchange, technically,” Dante spoke with a shrug.
I could hardly say it. “You hired him to kill them? What the fuck is wrong with you two? I don’t…how—” My hands went to my head, and I rubbed my temples, desperately trying to gather my sanity.
These two thought the murder of Ryan’s friends was okay. What did that say about them? What did it say about me, having feelings for them?
“You’re overthinking it,” Vaughn said, suddenly before me, taking my wrists into his hands and forcing my hands away from my head. His dark, soulless black eyes stared down at me, causing all of my thoughts to halt. Just like that. “Let us do what is best for you. Let us protect you.” He released one of my wrists, but it was not free for long.
Dante grabbed it, and suddenly I was caught between the two of them, each of them holding onto a wrist as possessively as they possibly could. “You know I’d never hurt you,” he whispered, the smirk falling off his face as he gazed at me with an intensity that made my stomach burn. “Unless you wanted me to.” Just like that, the smirk was back.
My lungs felt like they were about to burst. Or maybe that was just me feeling oddly at ease between the two of them. Both of their hands seeped warmth into my skin, and I could not stop the racing heart inside me.
This was too complicated. Too messy.
