Page 23 of Die for You
“Let us give you a ride, beautiful.” Knox leans out of the passenger side window with a big, goofy grin.
“We’ll all give you a ride.” Damien’s salacious offer from the driver’s seat curls around the shell of my ear. He must’ve gotten this SUV to replace the car he was driving in the accident.
“I’m almost to my apartment. Since you stalked me and found my address, you should know that.” I aim a glare in their direction and immediately regret it.
All of their tinted windows are down, giving me a clear view of those seductive smirks and hooded gazes that undress me where I march along beside them. The Devils are too gorgeous for their own good. Formyown good.
From the backseat, Finn beckons me toward them. But I force my muscles to freeze in place.
“Why don’t you have a car? You shouldn’t be walking around by yourself.” Knox’s head swivels, scoping out my surroundings for danger.
My fists clench. “Women should be allowed to walk by themselves anywhere.”
“Yeah, they should.” Damien’s instant agreement throws me off. “But you’ve got some asshole following you around, so we need to take some extra precautions to keep you protected.”
“You realizeyou threeare following me around, right?” Finally, I stop to fold my arms and level them with a reprimanding stare. “You’ve also broken into my apartment and spied on me from hidden cameras.”
They must see how hypocritical that is. If they don’t, they’re delusional.
“To help you.” Finn’s rare, ocean-deep voice sends a shiver down my spine.
“Not hurt you,” Damien confirms.
A stupid part of my brain softens at the reassurance. He’s right—they haven’t done anything to hurt me. Yet.
“Why don’t you have a car?” Knox repeats.
“I can’t afford one. Even if I could, I can’t drive.” Immediately, I wish I could pull the words back into my mouth.
“We’ll teach you.” Damien makes the offer like it’s already set in stone.
“Hard pass.”
“You need someone to teach you.”
“Not you three.”
“Who then?”
“Your parents didn’t teach you how to drive?” Knox cuts in. There’s a strange tone in his voice. Like he somehow already knows the answer.
I keep my voice flat. If you don’t show any emotion, people will assume you don’t feel anything. “They died when I was a kid.I bounced from foster home to foster home after that, and no one ever taught me.”
“What about the asshole ex?” Damien grimaces like he can’t stand to even mention Jeremiah. That makes two of us.
“I asked him to. Begged him to, a few times. He didn’t want to teach me. He wanted me to depend on him for everything. It was easier to control me that way.” The memories come flooding back, and now I can’t stop the words from pouring out. “Of course, I didn’t realize that at the time. He’d say it was to protect me—he didn’t want me to get in an accident like my parents. He didn’t want to lose me the way I lost them. He knew exactly how to get to me.”
When I look back on that period of my life, it’s like a dark cloud is looming over every single day. Blotting out any sunlight and casting my whole existence in darkness.
“Fuck that guy.” An unusual, deep-seated fury clouds Knox’s face. “He was manipulating you. He shouldn’t have used what happened to your parents against you like that.”
I didn’t realize it at the time—I thought Jeremiah really had been afraid of losing me in an accident. But now, with time and distance, I’ve learned the truth. He was mirroring my own fear back to me.
Behind them, a truck slows. The driver lays on the horn in an obnoxious string of blares. Damien flips him off as the truck speeds past before frowning at me. “Get in the car, Aurora.”
“No.”
Knox jumps out before I can protest again. Finn’s door swings open as Knox grabs me. I squeal, but there’s nothing I can do to fight him as he picks me up, carries me to the SUV, and drops me in the backseat.
