Page 40 of Now You're Mine

When he leaves, I suck in a deep breath and burrow deeper under the covers, pulling them up to my chin. This bed issocomfortable. I could just lie here for days, and never leave.

My eyelids flutter closed as I wait for Roman to come back, and I’m just starting to drift off when a melodic chime, like a doorbell, jolts me awake. I roll out of bed, and tug my clothes on quickly—no underwear, thanks to Roman—then I walk barefoot into the living room.

Roman told me not to answer the door, but if it’s Lucas, Christian, or Jackson, then why not? I know he trusts them.

The doorbell rings again, and I approach the front door, standing up on my tippy toes to look through the peephole. A familiar face stares back at me from the other side of the door, a black duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

Unlocking the door, I pull it open. “Nathan!”

He smiles, and twists to show me the bag. “The guys asked me to drop this off.”

I open the door wider, and move aside, so he can come in. “Thanks,” I say. “You can just drop it wherever.”

Nathan moves deeper into the living room and sets the bag down next to the couch. He glances around. “Is Roman here?”

“Oh, he went downstairs to grab something from the restaurant. He’ll be back in a minute.”

“Ah.” He nods and shoves his hands into his pockets. “Listen, Lux, can I talk to you about something?”

My heart rate kicks up a notch. Is he going to bring up Ash taking over the Burning Crown? One thing I’ve learned about Nathan is that he’s very loyal to the Sacred Sons. And like everyone else, I’m sure he’s pissed about what I’m doing.

I try to keep my voice casual. “Sure, what’s up?”

He takes a step toward me, and I don’t know why, but I have the instinct to step back and keep the distance between us. I don’t, though, because honestly, he’s harmless. I’m just on edge because of the whole James thing. It has nothing to do with Nathan.

“I wanted to talk to you about James.”

Those words stop me cold. “Why?”

He takes another step toward me, and this time, Idotake a step back. His boyish face looks pleading. “He just wants to talk to you, Lux. That’s all.”

I narrow my eyes at Nathan. “You’ve talked to him? Where is he?”

Maybe if I can get Nathan to tell me his location, I can call the police and tell them where to find him.

He shakes his head and glances down. “All of this has been really hard on him.”

Hard onhim?Jesus. There’s so much I could say right now, but I bite my tongue. “You’re his friend, right?”

He nods. “We grew up together.”

“Your friend needs help, Nathan. He needs serious psychological treatment, and the only place that can help him is the rehab center. Youhaveto tell him to go back.”

Something shifts in Nathan when I say that. His boyish features darken, and his jaw stiffens. “He was fine until he met you.”

Uh.I tilt my head to the side. “Was he, though? I heard he got kicked out of ExU a year before he even met me.”

Of course, James never mentioned that when we were dating. I learned that little gem a few weeks ago when Ash told me. I didn’t realize he was talking about James back then, but now it all fits together.

“Lux, all he wants is to talk, okay? Just meet with him for five minutes. That’s all he’s asking.” He takes another step forward, and I’m starting to feel cornered now. I have a table behind me, and he’s blocking my path to the door.

My heart is beating so hard, my entire body vibrates. But I hold my ground, straightening my spine, so he doesn’t see my fear. “I’ll talk to him in the police station after he turns himself in.”

Nathan’s face hardens, his lips pressing into a firm line. “I’m not fucking around, Lux.” He reaches out to me, delusional enough to assume I’m going to take his hand and just…go with him willingly. Now I understand why James and Nathan are so close. Birds of a feather, right?

When he reaches out, though, something catches my eye. His long sleeve rises slightly, exposing his wrist, exposing atattoothat’s curled around his forearm.All I can see is a portion of it, but it’s clearly the tail end of a snake.

Exactly like the tattoo that was seen on Bree’s killer.

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