Page 97 of If You Dare

I ignore him and pat him down, searching his pockets for the knife. When I can’t find anything, I instruct Luke to search him.

“I don’t have a fucking knife,” he snaps. “Your little bitch is a liar. She wanted my mouth on her pussy. She was begging for my cock.”

Violet shakes her head vehemently, eyes wide. “He said he had one. He’s threatened me with a knife before. I just assumed—”

“Explain the photos then. Why didn’t you tell me after he took them? Why would you hide that from me?”

She steps toward me, face red and features scrunched up as she tries to reign in her tears. “He said if I told anyone, he’d kill you. Please, Wes. You know me. You can trust me.”

That’s exactly what Britt said after I found her riding some other guy’s cock.

What would I have walked in on if Luke and I showed up a minute later? Trey’s dick inside Violet while she moaned, begging him to choke her and call her a good girl? “Tell me, who’s tongue feels better on your pussy? Mine or his?”

She’s full-on sobbing now, reaching for me. I step back. The thought of her touch makes me want to set myself on fire. “Please, Wes. Please believe me. I didn’t want to do any of those things. I would never hurt you like that.”

I shake my head. A different sort of fury coiling in my stomach this time. Not the roaring, raging tiger but the hissing, poisonous viper. “I can’t believe I let myself trust you again. You killed my fucking sister, and Iforgaveyou for that. I forgave you for the worst thing anyone’s ever done to me because I’m the biggest fucking moron on the planet. Why did I think putting trust in someone like you would work out?”

Disbelief and disappointment settle into her features, but she meets my gaze. “I will apologize every single day for what I did. A hundred times a day. But until you’re ready to forgive me, you’ll never believe it. You’ll never trust me.”

I loom over her, cupping her chin and forcing her to look up at me. One last time. That solid concrete wall I erected after she killed Chloe is back up. Slammed down between us, and impenetrable this time. “Don’t let me see your fucking face again. Because I can promise you, you won’t like what happens if I do. As far as I’m concerned, the Violet I knew died the same night as my sister.” I release her, knowing I’ll never touch her again. She knows it too. “You’re dead to me.”

Chapter32

Before

Violet

Trey is at this party.But so is Wes, so I’m not going anywhere.

In the living room, Chloe hands me a red plastic cup full of dark liquid. Her parents are out of town for the weekend, and Chloe and Wes are taking full advantage of their empty house to throw the first summer break party.

Wes is in the kitchen with the other Devils, challenging each other to drinking contests. I don’t know when or how, but I’m planning on getting him alone tonight.

“Are my ears bleeding?” I shout to Chloe over the music.

“I’ll go tell Luke to turn it down!”

“Are you two official yet?”

They’ve been practically glued at the hip since the carnival. She chugs from her cup. “I’m waiting until I bang him. Gotta try before I buy.”

I laugh and lift my cup to my lips. “Pretty sure trying him would be dating, and buying would be marriage.”

She shrugs. “What about you and Wes?”

Before I can swallow a drop, I sputter on my drink. “What do you mean?”

Neither of us has told Chloe about the kiss at the carnival yet. We’ve been waiting for the right time to break the news to her.

“Oh my god.” She rolls her eyes. “How much longer do I have to keep pushing you two together before you finally come to your senses?”

“Wait. What?”

“Violet. I wasn’t exactly being subtle. I’ve spent months trying to get you and Wes together. Leaving you alone together, ambushing you with a double date, dragging you to my parents’ house for the weekend. I literally abandoned you with him at the carnival.”

My mouth hangs open. “So...wait. This whole time, you’ve wanted me to date your brother?”

I can’t believe it. For months, Wes and I have been worrying about upsetting Chloe by giving in to the attraction between us, and that’s exactly what she wanted.

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