Page 18 of Defiant
“So,” I repeated, feeling—oddly—not as freaked out or angry as I’d been earlier, just awkward. A whole lot of awkward. I didn’t owe Vaughn any explanation for what happened, but I knew the weight of last Friday hung over us like a dark grey storm cloud ready to let loose a torrential downpour.
He studied me hard, his intense expression causing my stomach to do a few twists. “What happened, Jaz?”
I shrugged. “I’m sure you saw the video. You know what happened.”
“Why would you go anywhere with Archer Vega?” The way Vaughn spoke his name, like it was acid on his tongue…well, I couldn’t really blame him.
“Because I took a page out of a guy’s book and thought with my dick, okay?” My crass comment caused Vaughn to blink, and I immediately slapped a hand over my mouth, as if trying to push the words back in.
Too late to take them back.
When neither of us spoke for a while, I added, “I made the mistake of trusting him, but don’t worry—I’ve learned my lesson. I can’t trust anyone around here.”
Vaughn’s mouth thinned into a line, and he nodded. “You’re right.”
I heaved a sigh; I knew I was right. I didn’t need his affirmation of it. What really shocked me, however, were his next words.
“But not everyone here is out to get you.”
My eyes met his stare, and I felt…uneasy under it. Did I compare Vaughn to Dante? I shouldn’t have. Dante was an overconfident, wild guy who held no hesitations about showing off his crazy. Vaughn? Vaughn was quieter, more extreme, somehow. If he held a beast inside, he did a better job at caging it.
I wasn’t sure if that made me feel any better, but…maybe it would be a good thing to have someone like Vaughn have my back. He unnerved people, for obvious reasons.
Why would he help me? I didn’t have anything to give him. I supposed I could tell Jacob to stop investigating the Scotts, but could my conscience allow that to happen, all for the sake of my revenge?
Hmm. Having money on my side would help.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked. “Who’s not?”
He took his time in saying, “Even though you’re having my family investigated, I’m not, and if my brothers caught wind of what you’re trying to do, I wouldn’t let them come after you.”
“I don’t—” The rest of my fumbling stopped when Vaughn pushed his tray aside, leaning over the table as much as he could, his knuckles laying between us, the recent tattoos flexing on his fingers.
God help me, but I did find him unreasonably attractive.
“You want to make them pay,” he murmured. “I can see it in your eyes. You want them to hurt like the way you hurt at that party.” Pausing, it was a moment before he asked, “Am I wrong?”
For whatever reason, I found I could not lie to him. “No, you’re not.” He was smack dab on the truth, actually. You couldn’t get a better bullseye than he had right now.
And then he said something that took the remainder of my breath away, speaking it so lowly, so seriously…so dangerously I couldn’t help but feel a chill crawl up my spine: “I can help you, Jaz.”
My appetite was gone, and I was faced with a choice I never thought I’d have. What was the price of his help? Was it one I could pay, would it be worth it, or would I regret the choice I felt myself inching towards?
“And why would you do that? You know I don’t have anything to give you,” I spoke, hedging toward my decision already, assuming he meant it.
“There’s always something,” Vaughn murmured, his eyelids dropping as his gaze fell to my mouth, instantly warming my entire core like a fucking furnace.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing right now. But, if you choose to accept my help, the price will come,” he said, “and you’ll have to pay it.”
What could his price possibly be? Clearly, my body hadn’t learned its lesson before, so if his price was anything of a sexual nature, I’d be fine. He knew I didn’t have money, so asking for payment in the form of green was out of the picture.
I spoke the word I knew I might regret later, a word that might haunt my dreams and my nightmares alike, “Okay.” Sometimes, getting into bed with the devil himself was the only way to get what you wanted. The more people I had on my side, the easier it would be to knock Brittany and her crew down a peg.
Vaughn had me tell him exactly what went down Friday. Every little detail I could remember, I told him. I wasn’t sure what reliving Friday’s events would do, but beyond a general plan for revenge, I didn’t have much decided, yet. Getting almost kidnapped by Dante had thrown off my brain a bit.
Hmm. Dante. Was it wrong to wonder where he was right now?
