Page 75 of The Devil

“So, how are you doing, chickadee? Missing Jess already?” She leans onto the table where she’s sitting but looks up abruptly when a half-naked Lucius appears in the doorway. He rests against its frame, practically filling it with his gorgeously tanned and muscular figure. “Or maybe not?”

She then turns to me with a ridiculously shocked grin on her face.

“Morning,” Lucius says huskily as he walks over to where I am to kiss me on the cheek. I stand frozen on the spot, finding it half-funny from Lily’s reaction, but also feeling half-terrified of Cameron walking in.

“Morning,” Lily trills happily his way before getting up to introduce herself. “I’m Lily, Hels’ sister-in-law.”

“Lucius Hastings,” he responds as they shake hands. “I think you can guess as to what I was to Helena last night.”

I blush and roll my eyes over his usual bluntness, though Lily finds it hilarious.

“Well, good for her,” she says conspiratorially in my direction. “Of course, her brother will be dropping in shortly, so I’m going to say well done to both of you now, and then go and sit over there, where I shall lock my lips.”

Lucius says nothing but looks at me with a dark grin forming across his face. He’s going to enjoy the impending confrontation with my big brother; he looks positively wicked over the mere anticipation of it.

As Lily turns around to sit down, said big brother walks into my kitchen to find Lucius wrapped around my body and his wife looking up at the ceiling as though she hasn’t seen anything. I bite my cheek to stop myself from laughing over her pretending to count the beams that are crisscrossing above her, even theatrically pointing to each one as she mouths each number.

“Morn…” Cameron begins, but then stops and frowns when he spies Lucius enveloping me like a snake. Lucius merely stares back at him with no hint of moving. For a moment or two, Cameron doesn’t appear to be sure of what to do first. I can’t tell what he’s thinking other than his questioning what his very own eyes are showing him.

“Lucius Hastings?” he asks, sounding completely dumbfounded over his being here in the flesh, right inside of his little sister’s kitchen.

“Cameron Carter,” Lucius replies formally, releasing me for a moment before holding his hand out to shake Cameron’s, looking totally unfazed by my brother’s presence. He is quick to resume his protective hold, as if silently telling me he is not going to let anyone give me trouble over this. If they do, he’ll be ready for them. Thankfully, Cameron shakes his hand before walking over to Lily and kissing the top of her head.

“No need to worry, dear,” he says to her quietly, “you can stop pretending this isn’t awkward.”

“Oh, thank God, cos it totally is, isn’t it?” she says bluntly, though she does manage to break the tension. “So, how do you two know each other? We know our lovely Hels doesn’t frequent places for random hookups…which is totally fine if you do, by the way.”

“Oh, Helena and I gowayback,” Lucius answers for us, “don’t we, Topolina?”

I simply nod nervously before continuing to make drinks for everyone.

“Sure, sure,” Lily mutters to herself. “Gives me little to no information at all, but I like the nickname and all.”

She makes me giggle and I even see Lucius crack a smile. Lily is hard not to like, or love, especially in my brother’s case. He’s usually all over her, but at the moment, he still appears to be in shock.

“So, when did this all happen?” Cameron gestures over to us and I feel Lucius tightening his grip all over me again.

“About fourteen years ago,” Lucius answers firmly. “Unfortunately, a few people got in the way of us. But then, you know that more than anyone.”

“Ourselves included,” I interject to try and dissipate the tension that is beginning to form between these two alpha males. Lily looks confused but decides to remain silent. “Actually, I was wondering if Cameron and I could have a quick chat alone?”

Everyone looks at me in surprise over my new-found confidence, but Lily soon stands.

“Sure,” she answers cheerfully. “Mr Tall, Dark, and Brooding can come with me and chinwag about neutral topics while you two have a heart-to-heart chat.”

She walks toward the living room with a cup of tea that I hand her, not even waiting for Lucius to respond. Lucius looks at me for a few moments, as if questioning my request, but when I eye him back to show that I’m fine, that I am strong enough to face my brother, he kisses me on the lips before giving Cameron a predatory glance. He then walks over to join Lily in the other room.

When he’s safely exited the kitchen, I close the door on them, feeling a little bad for Lily having to try and chit-chat with Lucius. He’s most likely going to put up his hard, chilling exterior, knowing that I’m about to confront my brother without him.

Lucius

As soon as I leave the kitchen, I make my way upstairs to put on some decent clothes so I can look a little more presentable for Cameron’s new wife. I think I’ve made my point; I no longer need to sit half-naked in front of anyone who isn’t Helena. When I finally return to the living room, she motions toward my coffee which is still sitting on the small wooden table in the middle of the room. Smiling politely, I sit back with the cup in hand, but make no attempt to converse. She seems nice enough, but I’m on edge over Helena deciding to have this conversation with her brother without me. I am more than aware of her strength, but after everything, I am no longer sure that she is.

It’s not long, however, before I feel Lily’s eyes on me. Never one to ignore confrontation, I glance up to meet them. At first, she jumps, which isn’t an unusual reaction to one of my frosty glares. It happens frequently.

“Sorry, but I’m sure I’ve heard of your name before?” she says to me over the rim of her cup.

“Is that a question or a statement?” I ask with a sigh.

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