Hideaway (Devil's Night, #2)

by Penelope Douglas

A man cannot destroy the savage in him by denying its impulses. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. –Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Rain was like night. You could be different in the dark and under the clouds.

“We’re only ever good because there are consequences,” I told her. “Take those away, and everyone shows their true self. Kind of like taking off a mask.”

when Rika hung with us one night and Banks had become a memory, I’d been captivated by our Little Monster because she reminded me of Banks. The innocence, the fight, the way I wanted to look out for her . . .

In all the times I’d spotted Kai around Thunder Bay, around my house, at a basketball game . . . he was cool and calm, touched by nothing. But not today. I’d made him nervous.

I go home with the last image of him on that lonely third floor, the dark boy in that dark room, and I grow uneasy. He’s not okay.

And eight days later, he shows up on my mother’s doorstep. He hands her nine thousand four hundred sixty-two dollars, a Rolex, and some emerald earrings. And he takes me home with him.

It could be so strange how things happen. How the people you never suspect become your only lifeline, and you hold on to them as hard as you can, because you have no choice.

Although what Damon said was true. Every animal bites when it’s provoked.

“You took the threesome I wanted with Michael and Rika, and now her?” she retorted. “I’m beginning to think you’re my competition, Kai.”

“Keep looking at me like that,” Kai spoke up, “and we’re going to have problems.”

He acted like he did six years ago. Like I was just a girl. But not average, either. I was special. Wanted. Desired.

My brother was the only man who wanted me strong. The only man who would never hurt me.

“When we’re young, we are who we are out of necessity—we are who we’re taught to be. With freedom, though, comes the liberty to broaden our horizons. When we only have ourselves to answer to,”

She looked . . . satisfied, oddly enough. I didn’t know why, but it felt good to feed her. She wasn’t the kind of person to let others do things for her, so this was going to be a rarity. I might as well enjoy it.

The cold rain pierced my face like an icicle, a welcome relief from the shit coursing like lava under my skin right now.

Because of all that, Damon became very possessive of the few good people in his life. Me, his friends . . . Anything that threatened us was immediately an enemy.

His arms circled all the way around me, one resting on my waist and the other one on my arm, while the heat of the water mixed with the heat of his skin through his wet shirt lulled me into a feeling of peace I couldn’t remember ever having before. Not even with Damon. I couldn’t remember the last time I was this close to somebody.

This was our space, and no woman was above me in his life at home.

“I sometimes feel possessive of Rika Fane like that, too,” he said, turning his gaze on me. “Although she’s not my sister.” I dug in my eyebrows, suddenly on alert. How did . . . He knew?

I turned my head and snatched up his mouth, so fucking hungry. His words. God, his words. “Fuck me,” I breathed out. “Chase me, steal me, and fuck me. Hide me, I don’t care.”

“I like chasing you,” he said, a hint of a smile on his lips. “I like our foreplay.” I nodded. “I like it, too.” “Hide with me, then?” Hide from my brother? Hide from David, Lev, and Ilia and sneak around with Kai? I nodded again. “Okay.”

The dojo was secure and clean, and she would have everything she needed here. Except a car. I should make sure she had one, so she didn’t get caught in the rain like she did this morning.

“No matter how you cover yourself, it’s never enough. You’re beautiful.”

I opened the door wider, both of us walking out. “How much can I spend?” she asked. “I’ll call you when the text alerts start scaring me.”

How I loved Damon once, and how I knew Gabriel Torrance was wrong. I would do anything for his son. I have done anything for his son. I killed for him, and last year he turned around and nearly killed me.

“Not tonight.” What? “I’m not Kai,” he said, “and you’re not Banks.” There was something pleading in his voice that gave me pause. “Thunder Bay doesn’t exist, and we’re not in The Pope,” he continued. “It’s six years ago when I was happy and excited, and you were curious about everything, and my words were all it took to touch you.” My entire body stilled, and tears suddenly blurred my vision as he whispered to me. “You’re the girl I didn’t know, and we could be anyone in that confessional. Everything else fell away. Everything. We could hide and fuck with the world in that little room. It was just us.”

Stay with me. I held his eyes. I know who you are. You protect me, you take me shopping on my birthday and let me pick out whatever I want, and you wake me up with my favorite fucking milkshakes when you come home in the middle of the night. I know who you are.

So many kids who suffer abuse don’t like to be touched, but when Damon was spiraling out, he couldn’t get close enough to me. Like he just wanted to crawl inside my head, where he knew it was safe.

People will think what they want to think, not because they believe they are right, but because it’s in their nature to maintain that they are. By defending yourself, you feed the appetite for drama. By not, you’ve ended the conversation. You. Not them.

What had Damon told me, time and again? It’s always best to say as little as possible. The more of a mystery you are, the less leverage they have.

“You make me feel driven. You make me hungry and on fire and wanting to slow down time instead of wanting to rush through it. It’s you I look for when I walk in the doors in the morning. Not her. You.”

I spun around. “I want out!” I told him. “Or I’m kicking out a window!” Another text popped up. You said I wasn’t scary. Are you scared yet? I looked up to the second floor. “I’m annoyed.” Liar. Asshole.

“I love you guys,” Michael said, “but are you fucking dense? You’re my friends. She is everything. Maybe someday you’ll know what the fuck I’m talking about.”

“Well, good. Happy to hear it, because I’m the only man whose attention you should be trying to get, and baby, you got it years ago while wearing another man’s clothes.” He kissed my temple, his hot breath sending chills down my spine. “So, you can imagine how fucking beautiful you are to me right now wearing mine.”

He gripped my hips and breathed in my ear. “I like you, little one.” I smiled, hating that stupid nickname as much as when he called me “kid.” “I like you, too.” I love you.

shook my head, thinking. But then a text rolled in, and I took out my phone, swiping the screen. Games are better with more players, don’t you think?

Kai grabbed me, wrapping his arms around my torso, under my arms, and lifting me up. “I love you,” he whispered against my lips as he backed us away from the others. “And he can send me to prison again for a very long time. I’m not letting that happen now that I’ve found you. Please.”

I could feel my brother’s shallow breaths behind me as he backed us up a step, still resisting. “The only ones who can hurt you are the ones you love.”