Page 50 of Buried Beneath Sin

“I do,” I hedge, thinking about last night with Chase. “But I’ve done this song and dance with these two before and it…” My voice trails off as I try not to replay the horrors I’ve gone through with Trevor and Sebastian. I move forward into the kitchen and make a beeline for the drawers.

“It…?” Knox presses, following close behind me.

“Doesn’t end well,” I finish reluctantly as I pull open a drawer and pull out a knife. Knox raises a brow when I turn around and he sees what’s in my hand. “I’ll walk you back down the hill and keep them off you.”

Knox tilts his head to regard me curiously. “You’re trying to protect me?Again? You don’t even know me. What if I’m as bad as they are?”

I stroll toward the front door, and he follows me.

“Then I’ll deal with you too, Knox. But they’re here for me, and until you show your true colors…” I shrug as I scoop up the things I’ve gathered of Patrick and Lauren’s and tuck them under one arm. “I’ll watch your back.”

Knox says nothing to this as he follows me out.

I keep close to my guest as we walk across the front porch and head down the hill. As my head moves as if on a swivel, I note Trevor’s red sports car in the parking lot. It sits beside a small, nondescript, dark green sedan. On the other side of the sedan is a massive black truck, lifted, with a four-door cab. In the bed of the truck is a motorcycle that’s been strapped down.

My footsteps slow as I check out the truck. It looks oddly familiar.

“Is that… yours?” I ask Knox.

“Naw, mine is the sedan. I prefer something less flashy.” I look over my shoulder at him, giving him a pointed look at his lacy shirt and gold bracelets. He follows my gaze then laughs. “Well, at least when it comes to cars. Not when it comes to the rest of me. The truck and bike belong to my friends.”

I frown. There’s no one standing around his car or sitting in the truck, nor is there anyone hanging around the front of the funeral home.

“They’re here? Where?—”

“Yup, they just texted me. Thatcher said they’re inside.”

I stop in the parking lot and Knox stops with me.

“I locked the doors behind us when we left, how are they inside?” I demand sharply.

Knox flashes me another one of those boyish grins as he cocks his head to one side. “They’re really good at picking locks.”

“Damn it! Youaretrouble,” I snap. “Wait out here…” I say that but then glance up at the house looking for signs of Trevor and Sebastian. I don’t seethem, but they could be lurking anywhere. Maybe they’ve made it into the house already. If anyone took the time to check, most of the windows on the first floor don’t lock properly and are easy to shimmy open. I bite the inside of my cheek in frustration.

“Actually, go wait in your car. I’m going to kick your friends out,” I order before shoving the handle of the knife into his hand.

Knox blinks down at the weapon then up at me.

“For protection if you see the others,” I grumble before stomping over to the front door of Bright Starr and grabbing the handle. The door opens. Furious that someone would do this today of all days, I storm in, ready to give whoever’s inside a piece of my mind.

I make it about four full steps into the funeral home when arms come around my body to pin mine to my side. My blood flash freezes, and my heart skips a beat. Just as I’m about to scream, a voice murmurs into my ear,

“Hello, Little Viper. It feels good to hold you again.”

My scream dies instantly, but my body remains stiff. I didn’t notice the last time he visited me, but now in his embrace his scent envelopes me. It’s like taking a deep breath of freshautumn air. He smells of cool crisp air with a hint of evergreen and soil, like he’s been outside for long stretches and nature’s perfume has permanently sunken into the fibers of his being.

“It’s you,” I whisper, my voice twisted with fear and maybe a little excitement.

“Hm, it’sme,” my devil agrees with a pleased hum. “Happy to be back in my embrace?”

Am I? I don’t know. Last time he embraced me, it was to hold me down while he made me cum so much I was left in tears, shaky, and breathless. I’d been so confused, so scared… but god, I’d never felt so alive. His touch is what sent me into Chase’s arms last night, looking to recreate the rush he’d given me.

But I don’tknowthis man. He’s killed people. It doesn’t matter if he killed them forme, the fact that he can do that… That makes him evil, right? He’s someone to be cautious around. Then again, am I evil foraskingfor his help?

Rather than answer him, I ask him a question in return, “What are you doing here?”

“I thought it was time we met, face-to-face.”

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