Page 121 of Diem

“Hm?” He runs his hand down my side and I shiver.

“Do you think Hailey knew about my dad before you told her?”

“You mean before you told her,” he says. “Why?”

Shaking my head, I move to walk away, and he grabs my arm, “What?”

“Diem, what if it really was my dad who killed Dixie?” I whisper.

Diem’s eyes drop and he grunts before saying quietly, “It wasn’t your dad, Mae.”

Rolling my eyes, I walk away. When I glance back at the door, he’s staring at me with a weird frown.

∞∞∞

All day, I fight off the fatigue caressing my bones. I’m pretty sure I failed another test, but I don’t care. I spy Dad outside his classroom and take the long way around to the parking lot where Diem corners me, insisting I get in his car.

“What now, Diem?”

His sexy smirk curls into a frown. “Look, you’re worried about your dad. I’m going to show you why you shouldn’t be.”

“They do bad things, don’t they?” I ask and Diem raises stark eyes to mine before nodding.

Exhaling slowly, I slide into his car and once we’re out of the lot, I say, “Okay, so why don’t you think my dad is the Lucky Charm killer?”

He shakes his head but I cut him off. “Dixie—”

“Wasn’t killed by that dick.”

“Then who?”

“I don’t know. Let the police handle it,” he growls.

“What if it was my dad?” I insist.

“So? Do you really want to play mystery machine to learn that truth? Let the police do their job,” he insists. “Besides, I’ll tell you why I don’t think it was your dad.”

When I open my mouth, he talks right over me. “I think the Lucky Charm killer was mine.”

“Oh.” Once again, I’m speechless. One of the Sinners is going to share precious secrets with me? Why?

“But you said—“

“I know what I said…”

Diem glances at me and reaches over, grabbing my hand. Frozen, I wait for whatever is coming next, but we drop into silence while he curls his fingers between mine.

Once we hit the highway, I say, “What happened that night?”

“What night?”

Jerk is purposely avoiding the question because he knows what I’m talking about.

When I level him with a stare, his fingers tighten on the wheel before he says, “It’s done. I can’t go back, and I don’t want to.”

“Go back to what?”

“Pretending you're just my bro’s baby sister.”

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