Page 75 of Dmitri

Surprisingly, Kaleb hadn’t destroyed the upstairs rooms, but he definitely slept in my bed last night. Cigarette smoke lingers in my room and there are burn holes in my bedding andcigarette butts have been stubbed out on my end table before getting flicked all over my floor.

Great.

Opening a window, I plug in my diffuser and fill it with a new floral scent before getting dressed. When I return downstairs, Kaleb’s sweeping glass shards off my floor. “I’ll have a new TV delivered this afternoon.”

“It’s fine.”

His expression tells me I don’t have a choice.

And as much as I want to reject his offer, I need a TV and for my house to go back to normal because I can’t let Addie see what a mess I’ve made of our lives. And there’s no way I can afford a new TV right now.

“Want to grab breakfast?” he asks, pouring the broken glass into a trashcan.

“Umm. Sure.” It’s not like I have a choice. “Where do you want to go?”

“You’ll see.” His smile makes my insides squirm. “We’ll wait for Addie to come home. I want her to go with us.”

Oh, hell no. “She’s got work all day.” I’m not sure if that’s true or not, so I pray I’m not caught in a lie. “And I’m starving. I haven’t eaten in like two days.”

“Okay.” He tosses the broom and dustpan on the floor. “I’ll have Ace clean up the rest. Let’s go.”

I don’t want Ace in my house, especially if Addie might come home soon.

“Let me just grab a pair of shoes really quick.” I take the steps two at a time, even though my lower half hurts from last night, and rush into my room. Grabbing a pair of Converse from my closet, I slip them on and sit on my bed. My heart races and hands shake as I text Addie.

Daelyn: Don’t worry about coming home early. Stay at Tasha’s and work on your tan!

I quickly hit the send button.

“Thought you said your cell was dead.”

I gasp at Kaleb’s voice. He eyes me from the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. “I charged it while I was in the shower.”

He extends his hand out, expectantly.

Terrified, I hand him my cell and hold my breath as he quickly checks my battery, then hands it back to me. “You can charge it more in my car. Let’s go.”

I stare at the screen, seeing that, by the grace of God, I was down to one sliver of battery power left, anyway.

Throwing my hair up in a ponytail, I follow him out of my house, and by the time I’ve buckled up in his passenger seat, I’m back to being detached and numb.

I can do anything in this state of mind.

I am, after all, a bad guy.

Chapter 20

Dmitri

“What’s going on, bro?”

I lean against the long stainless-steel counter and cross my arms. Knox is beside me, sauteing veggies. “My dad’s dead.”

Not sure if the more I say it out loud, the better off I’ll be, but it’s worth a shot.

Knox turns to me. Without another word, he grabs the back of my neck and jerks me into his body for a hug. I’m taller than him by about three inches. So why does it feel like he’s the giant here?

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