Page 7 of Dev

“Do you love my brother?” he asks, pressing his palm against the wall behind me and trapping me in. His chest is rising and falling like he’s furious, his eyes are boring into mine, daring me to lie, and even though I know how dangerous this man is, I can’t help but feel attracted to the danger.

“Of course, I do,” I whisper. “I just–”

“I need you to get back together with him.” He shocks me,

“But I thought–”

“Whatever you thought, you thought wrong. Corey loves you, he’d give up anything to be with you, and I need him to give up on wanting to join the club.” His huge, muscular body overpowers me.

“I love him, but–”

“No buts, Millie. ” Dev points his finger in my face, and when his eyes drop to look down at my body, I feel my skin tingle where his eyes touch. “You are the only person who can make him see sense. You tell him he has to choose between you and the club.”

“I’m not doing that, it’s cruel.” I shake my head, hearing the fear in my voice as I stand up to him.

“You said you love him; this is the only way to protect him,” he tells me.

“I do love him, but not the way he wants me to. I’m eighteen, and I’ve grown up a lot since we first got together. I care for Corey with all my heart, but I don’t—” I gasp when Dev's hand covers my mouth, pinning me to the wall and unexpectedly making my panties dampen at the same time.

“You’ll do as you're fuckin’ told. Call Corey, tell him you made a mistake. Tell him you don’t want him joinin’ the club.” His hand slowly slides from my mouth, sliding under my chin and wrapping around my throat. “He loves you, Millie, just let him do that.”

“It wouldn’t be real.” I shake my head, feeling tears slide over my cheeks.

“I don’t care if it’s real; what I care about is keeping him protected. That's all I’ve ever cared about.”

“I can’t, it wouldn’t be right. I love Corey as afriend,and I won’t lead him on.” I put my foot down.

“This isn’t leading him on, it’s keeping him alive. The club has lost two members in less than five months; last night, we nearly lost a couple more. Do you want yourfriendto be the next one we lose? C’mon, Millie, I’ve seen you together. I know how much you care for him. Just…try a little harder.” He swallows thickly as his voice gets weaker.

“I’m sorry, but I can–”

“Why?” His fingers tighten around my neck, and his eyes grow darker. “What fuckin’ changed? Just a few weeks ago, you were runnin’ around my house in your underwear, laughin’. Lookin’ all happy and shit. What fuckin’ changed, Millie?” I know what Dev does for the club, Corey’s told me all the gory details. He’s an enforcer; his job is to punish and to get information by any means possible.

“Don’t.” I shake my head and warn him, as my tears start flowing faster.

“Tell me,” he hisses through his teeth, almost choking me.

“My feelings for you,” I blurt out, watching his eyes widen and his head shake. “I started to realize that the feeling I got in the pit of my stomach whenever I saw you wasn’t fear… It was?—”

“Don’t youdare.” He slams his free hand over my mouth again. “I don’t ever wanna hear shit like that come out your mouth, ever again. I’m a grown fuckin’ man, and you… You’re just a girl.” His lip snarls in disgust.

“You're gonna forget any more thoughts like that and fix this shit with my brother.” He looks as if he’s gonna kill me, and I instantly regret my confession.What the hell was I thinking?

“Do you understand,littlegirl?” he growls at me, and despite the position he has me in, I’m still feeling thrills instead of fear.

“No.” I shake my head against his hold. “I don’t understand. If you loved Corey, you’d want better for him than this.”

“Like I said, I just want him alive.” He releases me and marches to the bottom of the alley while I touch my hand to my throat and get my breath back.

“How was your first day, pumpkin?” Dad asks when I walk through the door.

“It went well, the people there are nice.” I smile at him as I make my way toward the stairs. Hopefully, he gets the hint that I’m not in the mood for chatting.

“Your mom tells me you and Corey broke up.” He speaks in that soft tone that always soothed me as a child.

“It was the right thing to do.” I shrug sadly.

“The two of you have been together a while. What changed your mind?” he asks, stepping closer to me.

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