Page 15 of The Demons We Hide

“Gio didn’t ditch you yesterday,” Lex continues, cutting me off as he dumps the dishes into the sink and begins to run water over them. “He’s in the hospital.”

My chest thumps unevenly and a sharp pain stabs at me.Is it true?“What happened?” I demand, clenching the fork.

Lex glances over his shoulder at me, his gaze falling to my hand as if he suspects I’m ready to sink it into his back. I release it immediately, the metal clattering onto the plate.

“He got jumped outside of Cory’s gym.” Of all the excuses I’d expected them to come up with, that hadn’t been one. Shock keeps me silent as Lex faces me, crossing his arms. Gunmetal-gray eyes stare back at me. “He’s been there since yesterday morning,” he continues. “Unconscious.”

No way for him to text me or call or let me know what had happened. I sit back in my seat, confusion swirling inside me. All of my anger, my righteous fury, collides against the guilt with nowhere to go and nothing to latch on to.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” I ask.

“Nolan tried.”

But I hadn’t let him talk… hadn’t let him give me excuses.Fuck me.But still… my apartment had burned down last night and that couldn’t be a coincidence. All at once, the anger returns in a tidal wave that consumes and squashes my guilt.

I lift my face and meet Lex’s impenetrable stare. “Let me get dressed,” I say, “then we can go.”And finally get the answers that I’m owed.

Gingerly, I rise from the table and move towards the hallway once more. Before I reach it, Lex’s voice echoes behind me.

“Baby?” My shoulders tense, but Lex doesn’t continue until I give him my attention. “I know you’re upset,” he says. “But try not to take it out on him when you see him. Nolan says G’s in rough shape. He feels bad about not being there for you yesterday.”

I bet he does. If it’s true that Gio was in the hospital all night then he likely had no hand in burning down my apartment. No, it would’ve either been Lex or Nolan. Lex seemed confused by my arrival the night before, but perhaps it’s only because they all expected me to go to Nolan. The fire had been well underway by the time I’d gotten back into Silverwood. He could very well have had enough time to set it and come home to act the innocent.

Lex would do anything for his boys. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Potentially even… kill for them as some people in town suspect. I can’t trust him either. Nolan threatened to do whatever it took to get me back where I belonged. Only he’s wrong about where that is. Where I belong is not with them—it’s on my own, as it always should have been.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I tell him, then I disappear down the hall, pausing only briefly in front of that locked door. I have every intention of finding my way inside the second I can, but for now, I hurry into the bedroom and find the clothes from last night.

They’re stinking of smoke and still slightly damp. I grimace and, after removing my cell phone, toss them back on the floor, fishing out only the underwear and bra which are thankfully the driest pieces. I contemplate my options, but there’s always a need for a plan B around the Scorpion Kings, so I shoot out a quick text before sticking the phone into my bra. My underwear, however, is useless thanks to Lex. Commando, it is.

I slide back into the same t-shirt I’d borrowed for breakfast and rifle through Lex’s closet for pants. I find a pair of long workout pants that are far too small for him in the back—folded and collecting dust. Thankfully, they fit me well enough, and I manage to keep them from falling back to the floor by cinching the waistband as tight as it’ll go and double knotting the ties.

Lex appears in the doorway, his eyes eating me up as I yank my hair back and tie it with a hairband from my wrist. The marks from the cuffs from last night are already fading. Little wisps of blue flutter around my cheeks and I blow them out of the way before bending and reaching for my shoes. When I finish getting ready and stand, I realize that he’s still in the doorway and his eyes haven’t left me.

“What?” I demand, glancing around.

“I like seeing you in my clothes.” Just like the drawstring pants, my chest cinches tight.

I’m so happy that you’re finally mine.Those words echo back to me from earlier when he hadn’t known that I’d been awake. There’s a dangerous quality to both statements. They’re possessive and we’re far too early into this—whatever we are—for him to be acting that way.

With a frown, I step up to his chest. “Don’t get excited,” I tell him. “It’s only for now, since mine are dirty.”

Instead of tilting his head to meet my eyes, Lex merely stares down at me from beneath coal-colored lashes. “When it comes to you, there is nothing I wouldn’t give you, baby.” My breath catches as he shifts closer, his chest brushing against mine. “Whether it’s my cock in your tight little pussy or my clothes keeping you warm, whatever I have is yours.”

7

JULIET

Silverwood General Hospital is small compared to other hospitals in the big cities, but it smells just the same. Antiseptic and bleach. The acrid scent burns my nose as I close my arms around myself and shudder at the frost-like air in the hallway.

Lex’s stride is confident and purposeful as he moves—as if he’s been here many times before. Based on what I know, that wouldn’t surprise me. The Scorpion Kings were known for getting into fights when they were freshmen, only now that they’re seniors and have proven themselves do they no longer really need to fight to claim what’s theirs. The right to rule the younger generation of Silverwood residents.

Nurses hurry from room to room, clipboards in hand and frazzled hair pulled into tight, messy buns. I scan the windows and doors of each room we pass until I nearly come crashing into Lex’s back when he stops too fast for me to notice. My nose smooshes against his spine and I quickly retreat, pulling away as he turns and gestures to an open door.

“—discharged before my ass permanently grows roots in these fucking sheets, Nolan.” The sound of Gio’s disgruntled voice reaches me a moment before the words do.

“You’ll be discharged when the doctor says you can,” is Nolan’s terse response.

Lex lifts a hand and knocks against the side of the open doorway, drawing both men’s attention. That's when I get a good look at Gio’s face. I blink and I know that I can’t keep the shock off my face. No matter what I think of Nolan and Lex, it’s clear that Gio’s not faking his stay here.

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