Page 72 of The Vampire Kingpin
“I will.” I hesitated because who likes to be a snitch, but DeeDee made me uneasy. “Have you looked into DeeDee? She’s the newest member of your lair, right?”
A line formed between Velma’s black brows. “She checked out clean. I know she’s jealous of you—she has a thing for Spider—but other than that, she’s been a good fit for us.”
“It’s just a feeling. Maybe it’s just that she’s jealous, but it’s felt like she’s been gunning for me since Day One.”
Spider rubbed his lower lip. “I can tell her to back off.”
I winced. “No—that’s okay. Just keep an open mind about her, okay? Something’s off about her.”
“We’ll dig a little deeper,” Velma promised, and I had to be satisfied with that.
“So.” Spider leaned back in the chair and eyed me. “How did you end up in Darkman’s sights?”
I blew out a breath. Embarrassed and a little humiliated at what it said about my family, but Spider and Velma needed to know the truth if we were going to solve this.
“Because my parents couldn’t resist easy money. Jared made it clear he was interested in me, and I played along because he would’ve made Las Vegas too hot for us if I hadn’t.”
“What a dick,” Velma muttered.
Spider nodded, a muscle in the side of his jaw jumping.
My laugh held zero humor. “He is. A rich, thinks-he-can-have-any-toy-he-wants dick. But nothing happened. We danced a few times, we flirted—that’s all. But he started acting all possessive, like I was already his. I told my parents that he was bad news, that we needed to leave before things blew up in our faces.”
“So why the fuck does he think you owe him?” asked Spider.
“Because,” I said, knowing I sounded bitter but not really caring, “behind my back, my mom and dad sold me to him. They signed a fucking contract with him. I found out just in time, and told them I’d had it. Then I got the hell out of there. They…didn’t.” My voice broke. I swallowed and kept going. “But I didn’t know he was coming that night—I swear I didn’t. It all happened so fast.”
Velma whistled. Spider cursed.
The last part burst from my lips. I’d been holding it in so long it was a relief to have it out. “Maybe if I’d stayed, they’d still be alive.”
“Fuck that.” Spider straightened in the armchair. “They knew they were taking a risk. You’re not gonna tell me that’s the only job that ever went south.”
“No. But it’s the first time I told them no way, that I wasn’t gonna be a part of it.”
“You weren’t allowed to say no?”
I moved a shoulder. “Yeah, I guess. But it was too late by then. They went behind my back. They said they never meant for me to go through with it—the plan was to take Jared’s money and disappear.”
My stomach tightened. The familiar shame gnawed at my insides—that I’d left my parents to face Jared on their own.
“So they did this behind your back.”
I grimaced. “Yeah. I found Dad practically salivating over the briefcase of cash he’d gotten for me.”
“Sweet Kali,” muttered Velma.
Spider’s handsome face was dark, but he kept up with his patient questions. “And you were what, twenty-three? Twenty-four?
“Twenty-four.”
He cursed. “So you were a fucking adult—they should’ve gotten your agreement before signing any contracts with Darkman. You’re not the one who should feel guilty.”
I swallowed over a golf-ball-sized lump. “But I do. I told them I was outta there, and booked it. I would’ve got in touch when I cooled down, but it was too late.”
“Look at me, Lark.” When I did, he said, “Your parents did this to themselves. If you would’ve stayed, Darkman would’ve gotten his hands on you, too. You owe them nothing.”
“I guess.” I squirmed on the chair. “They weren’t bad people, just…blinded by dollar signs. They really thought they could get away with it. They never meant for me to honor the contract.”
