Page 34 of Dev

“Yes, you can, and you’re gonna. This was all for Corey’s future, and now it’s for yours,” I tell her.

“Dev, do you wanna grab a coffee? You seem on edge,” she offers, clearly worried that I’ve lost all my senses.

“No. I just need you to promise me you’ll get outta here.” I go to touch her hand, despite knowing it’s a bad idea, and manage to divert it to slide through my hair, instead. Just looking at her now is a trigger. I wanna kiss the confused, worried look off her face more than I wanna take my next fuckin’ breath, and it’s all so fuckin’ wrong. Worse, is the fact that I know that if I stick around too long, I won’t be able to fight off the temptation.

“What are you doing, Dev?” I hate that she looks so scared.

“Just promise me.” I grab the top of her arms again, she feels so delicate and small, and I realize that I’m shaking her harder than I should. “I need to hear you say it, Millie. Tell me you’re gonna get out of here.”

“This is my home, you can’t just tell me to leave.” She laughs a nervous laugh.

“It’s too dangerous here, can’t you fuckin’ see that? This place is cursed.”

“If it’s so bad, then why are you still here? I don’t see you packing your shit up and leaving,” she bites back at me.

“That's different.” I shake my head.

“How is i–”

“Because I live for this fuckin’ chaos, okay?” I shout over her. “I need it, I chase it, and that's what got my brother killed. Millie, just take the money and go somewhere safe.”

“Millie?” I hear someone calling out to her from inside, and when she turns her head to look back at the door, I wanna reach out, grab her neck and feel her dainty little pulse beat against my fingertips again.

“I’ll be right there,” she calls back, sounding on the verge of tears, and when she looks back at me, I see them filling up her eyes.

“Dev, you're scaring me. What’s going on?”

“I’m just making things right.” I admire her one last time, before I turn and run, heading up the alley toward the front of the building where my bike is.

“Dev.” I hear her calling after me, but I don’t turn around. I don’t wanna suffer the pain of seeing her and knowing she can never be mine ever again.

Ihear his bike engine start and rush back inside, heading straight to the staff room and trembling as I stuff the bag full of money into my locker.

“Millie.” Fiona opens the door, looking worried. “Are you okay? Beatrix said one of those biker guys dragged you outside.”

“I’m fine,” I assure her, quickly pulling Corey's phone from my pocket and trying not to shake as I scroll through his contacts. I have a sickening feeling that Dev’s about to do something very stupid. All the urgency, and the fact he came here to give me this phone and money, feels so final. I try to remember some names of Dev’s club brothers as I scroll through Corey’s contacts, hoping that he will at least have one of them in here.

“Millie, are you okay?” Fiona asks again.

“I just need to find one of their numbers,” I explain, starting to panic when I realize nothing is coming up under Wrath, Vike, or Raze.

“One of the Souls?” she checks.

“Yes, I just need to warn them of something,” I snap back, wondering if I should head to the club myself. It’s only a few blocks away from here.

“I may be able to help.” She blushes back at me. “I have one of their numbers. He came in here a few weeks ago and invited me to a party at his apartment.” She takes her cell out of her apron and scrolls through her screen. “Here.” She smiles awkwardly as she hands it over, and when I see the name Sinner, I don’t have time to be shocked. I press call and pray to God he’ll pick up.

“Hello,” Sinner answers after a few rings, sounding a lot friendlier than I expected.

“Sinner, it’s?—”

“Sorry, darlin’, Sinner’s out of the office.” The person on the other end of the phone tells me with an impatient sigh.

“What do you mean ou—? Listen, this is Millie Dawson, and I need to get a message to the Souls. It’s about one of their members, Dev.”

“Millie, Corey’s Millie…? Wait, is Dev okay?”

“I don’t know, he just showed up at the diner where I work to give me a bag full of cash and Corey’s phone. He told me I should get out of town. Maybe I’m overreacting, but he…He was…I don’t know. He just didn’t seem himself,” I try to explain. I guess, in all honesty, I don’t really know anything about Dev’s true self; it’s what makes how strong the feelings I have toward him seem even more ridiculous.

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