Page 14 of Alliance

But Davis LaFontaine doesn’t seem weak to me.

Beneath his white dress shirt, I can see the ripples of muscles that lead down his arms and the outline of his abs. He straightens himself, slamming the back door in my face before he climbs into the front seat of his SUV.

The car is thick with tension and my breath comes out in shaky waves as I wait for Davis to say something. I’m too nervous to turn my head around and look for Naz. Marcus came to take him away, which means my parents most likely already know. My stomach clenches.

Twenty years old and I’m afraid of my parents.

Everything feels heavy, weighted down. Like there are cinder blocks tied to my ankles, the weight taking me under with them. I can’t breathe under the water, can’t suck in enough oxygen to keep myself alive.

I want to sink into the feeling, let the nothingness take over so I don’t have to feel my heartbeat in my chest at this heightened pace.

“You’re a stupid fucking girl,” Davis finally says.

My breathing hitches, waiting for the next strike. The foot that will drop and destroy me, shredding my life to pieces.

“Did you enjoy your night?” Davis asks, a sinister sound to his voice.

Yes. I let the unsaid word sit between us.

Last night with Naz was everything I wanted. Everything I needed.

The walls of my mind, the mental prison I’d constructed, crumbled to pieces last night. He freed me from my obligations, from my guilt and fear. He released me from my mind, deconstructing all my fences.

I can still feel butterflies in my stomach when I think about his hands on my skin, the taste of his cock on my tongue.

“Answer me,” Davis demands and I have the sick desire to tell him my internal thoughts. Let him know that he’ll never make me feel the way Naz did last night. He’ll never make me slick with desire; my heart will never flutter with need for him.

I will never love Davis LaFontaine.

“Yes,” I say, meeting his reflection in the rearview mirror.

Anger rises in his eyes, turning them cold and mean. “Good,” he says. “Because you’ll never see him again, understand? That boy is as good as dead.”

My heart stops beating, the blood stops pulsing through my veins. It feels like everything around me has come to a grinding halt.

Did I just kill Naz? One night of sleeping with me ends his life? Just like that?

The breath I finally pull into my lungs is loud, gasping. Davis chuckles, clearly happy with the reaction. “That’s right,” he sneers. “It’s a hard lesson, doll, but one you need to learn. You’re mine now, and I don’t share well. If you ever do that again, I’ll make sure what happens to your friend is worse than death. Do you understand me?”

My vision blurs, dark spots block my eyesight. I can barely take in the end of his monologue, my heart racing too fast and blood rushes through my ears.

“Lana.” His voice is bitter and demanding. “Do you understand me, girl?”

“Yes,” I choke out the word, the taste of it feeling like ash on my tongue. I’m certain that I’m going to vomit in the back of his fancy car. My stomach is convulsing, my pulse is racing. I have no control over myself. No control over my life.

I’m falling to pieces.

A sinister chuckle comes from his lips. “Good girl,” he breathes. “I’d hate for you to have to learn the hard way.”

My father doesn’t talk to me before he leaves with Davis. An act I’m entirely grateful for. I don’t think I could handle anymore yelling or scolding today. My body is buzzing as I hike the stairs of our house, heading for Lily’s room.

My mother was quick to empty most of its contents, clearing out her life as if it never existed.

Her four-post bed still sits in the center, anchoring the room with its tall white posts. The mattress is bare, nothing but a simple white cover.

I miss the color that used to saturate this room. Lily was bright and lively. She shined wherever she was, lighting up the room with her personality. Everyone loved her; she was the type of person everyone wanted to be around. Fun and goofy, nice to everyone. I admired my big sister.

Now, she’s nothing. Just a pile of ash, nested inside a gold urn and hidden away in Lafayette Cemetery.

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