Page 57 of The Demons We Hide

“What does Darrio think of the three of you wanting to leave Silverwood?” I ask, curious.

Nolan’s attention burns into the side of my face, pulling my attention back to him. Once he has it, he speaks. “No one has a say in our future, Princess.”

My lips part. Seriously? “You’re in a gang,” I remind him.

“No, we’re not,” Gio bites out, the words gritty and annoyed.

I look at him. “Then what would you call it?” Gio doesn’t lift his head, neither does he give me an answer, so I return my scrutiny to Nolan.

He leans on the table and tilts his head as he examines my face. That look of his threatens to peel me open and delve inside to find all of my secrets, and I almost hate it.Almost.

“Maybe we’ll tell you the truth someday, Jules,” he says. “You need to trust us first.”

Never.The word screams through my head, but never makes it to my lips. It’s on the tip of my tongue to demand an answer now, to ask why not, but he holds up a hand, stopping me.

“Everyone deserves their secrets until they’re ready to bring them into the light,” he says. “Just like you won’t tell us why you’re scared of the dark or why you don’t like Morpheus Calloway, we don’t want to tell you about Darrio.”

My vision narrows to a pinprick. My pulse pounds in my ears.Pretty girl… so pretty.

No!I shake my head. That fucking ugly voice has no place in my head.

“I don’t…”Shallow breaths seize in my lungs. He doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know shit.

“Baby?” Lex’s hand skims my arm, and I jerk away from him.

“I want out,” I snap, turning towards the exit. “I’m tired.”

Gio frowns at me, but he doesn’t resist as he scoots free of the booth and, the second I have an opening, I bolt from the booth and leave the three of them behind. I practically sprint through the club, pushing drunken clubbers out of my way as I find the staircase leading up to the second floor.

By the time I reach the apartment, I’m panting and no longer cold. I’m burning up and my throat tightens in warning. Saliva coats my tongue and I rush into the bathroom, my knees slamming onto the floor a split second before I vomit everything I drank earlier in the night.

Not real. It wasn’t real. Those dreams were never real.I repeat the words over and over again until they’re all I hear.

Not real.

Not real.

Not … real.

23

JULIET

Iknow I locked that fucking door.Yet, when I open my eyes, I find Gio’s arm looped around my waist and his soft breathy snores tickling the back of my neck. I don’t know how he managed to get in the room without waking me, but I’m reluctantly impressed by his stealth.

The rattle of a fist against the door jerks me the rest of the way out of sleep as the man at my back jackknifes into a sitting position at the sudden noise. “Time to get a move on,” Nolan calls through the wood. “We gotta be at the campus soon.”

Gio groans and slumps back against the bed, but I’m already awake and more than ready to get on with the day. Sliding from the sheets, I hurry to get dressed, aware of Gio’s gaze lingering on me as I finish grabbing up the last of my things and head for the door.

“Tell Nolan to make sure the coffee’s hot,” Gio calls as I leave the room.

I cast a look over my shoulder at that and immediately wish I hadn’t. Gio looks like a Greek god on display, his muscled legs poking out from under the covers and his bare chest rising and falling with his breaths. The light pouring from the window above the headboard deepens the divots in his ribbed abdomen with a play of light across his olive skin.

“See something you want, Prep Girl?” I don’t even realize that I’ve come to a stop just outside of the doorway until he speaks again.Fuck. Me.Whirling, I flip him the bird over my shoulder and stomp towards the galley kitchen around the corner.

Thankfully, Lex stands at the ready, coffee mug in hand as he pours from the steaming carafe. He and I stand in relative, blissful silence, sipping our drinks until Gio comes in wearing a pair of less worn jeans and a Silverwood Public Scorpions’ Football t-shirt. The three of us polish off a mug of coffee each before Nolan returns, Lex’s SUV keys in hand, and waves each of us out of the apartment.

The walk back through the club in the daytime is a bit different now that I’ve seen it in all of its glory. My eyes go to the now cleared dance floor as we bypass it to the side exit, and I can’t help but remember what it was like to be there—sandwiched between Gio and Lex as the music made me forget all of the bullshit that usually fills my head.

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