Page 46 of Devil's Work: Dark

“But you have to do everything my guards tell you to do.”

“Okay,” she agrees right away, which means my sister must be scared because she’s never in her life agreed with me so readily.

“Yeah, Del… I need to tell you something.”

“What?” she asks suspiciously.

“Green is one of my guards.”

“Green?” she asks, her voice pitching at the end. “My Green?”

“Yeah, sis… your Green.”

“Oh, shit.” She pauses and I hear her heavy breaths, like she’s trying to collect herself. Finally, when she’s got herself together, she says, “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

“Right. I’ll see you when you get home.” About to hang up, I pause then to say, “Love you, Del.” She needs to know at least that. I might be angry but I will always love her.

“Love you, too, Rae.”

We hang up and I immediately press Dark’s contact because I’m not going anywhere without an escort and he should probably hear it from me that my sister is coming to stay rather than having him open the door to her standing on my stoop. I don’t want him killing her. “Hey, babe,” I say into the line when he picks up, only… it’snotDark’s voice.

“Who’s this?” a woman asks. A woman with Dark’s phone? Why would she have his phone?

“It’s Rae, Dark’s—”

“Oh, yeah… the bitch he’s been guarding,” she says, cutting me off. “We’ve all heard about that. Sounds like a drag.”

“Um… yeah, it’s not the best situation.” I am trying like hell to keep the pain from my voice. “Where is Dark?”

“He’s in the bathroom showering.”

Dark is in the bathroom showering and this woman is answering his phone? “Why does Dark need to shower?”

She snickers. “Honey, why does a man like Dark ever need a shower? Do you want me to have him call when he’s finished?”

“No. It’s okay. I’ll contact one of the prospects. You have a good night.”

“It’s been great so far. Don’t see any reason for that to change. But thanks. You, too.” Then she hangs up and my heart breaks. Damn tears welling in my eyes.

“Honey,” Dusty says as she walks over to me, enveloping me in a hug. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lie. “My sister needs a place to crash. She’s in trouble and I hate that for her.” Go Rae. That sounded plausible even to me.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure.” Now I need a prospect. I go through my list of prospects in my contacts list and Winky is the unfortunate fella to actually pick up.

“Whatcha need, beautiful?” he asks.

“Winky, this is Rae.”

I hear a whispered “fuck” then, “Sorry. Forgot myself for a minute. Don’t tell Dark.”

Little does he know I won’t be telling Dark anything from now on. “I won’t so long as you get your butt down to Nic and Vlad’s house. I need a guard and you’re it, buddy.”

“Sure… Sure… Need me to tell Dark?”

“No. I just called his phone. He’s showering.”

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