“I know, right? You get so used to just being cold all the time. I’m not sure I like it.” Desi laughed as he drove. “Don’t get used to it. This is just on loan.”
“Are all of you rich?” I asked, shaking my head in disbelief. I had now met four of the Seven Sins, and the three that weren’t Desi all lived in mansions and lived lavishly. Corrine had given Desi this car to get us to New York.
“Our money was earned,” he muttered. “But there is a lot of it.” He gripped the steering wheel and then brightened. “Now that you’ve met Corrine, what do you think?”
I frowned. After Desi saved me from near death due to sun exposure, he took me back to her home to drink and sleep. I was exhausted. Corrine, oddly enough, took care of me. She had tons of staff, but she was the one who brought me warm cups of blood and drew me a bath. She gave me clean clothes and offered me some pretty smelling soaps and expensive shampoo for my hair. It didn’t make it any less unruly, but it was clean.
“I thought she’d be a lot meaner,” I answered honestly.
He laughed. “Oh, she’s vicious. But she’s just like the rest of us, two sides to the coin. She’s Pride because she takes care of us. She won’t let anyone hurt her family.”
“I thought I was a threat to that, though. Why would she want to be nice to me?”
He hesitated, and I knew he was about to lie. “I think she might be coming around to the idea of you and me together.”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t call him on his bullshit.
“If it weren’t for her connections, I wouldn’t have found you.” He reminded me. I crossed my arms. They had told me a handful of times already about how she had been called by the police. They thought maybe Corrine might have known me. She let Desi take her car, this car, to the police station, where he talked to the same officer I had, and he spent hours trying to find where I had gone.
“It was the smell of your blood in the air that got me to stop. It was strong. I thought I was going to find you dead.”
“I was close.” I sighed and shrugged. “I still don’t trust her.”
“You shouldn’t.” He agreed with me. “You shouldn’t trust any of us if I’m being honest.”
“Even you?” I smirked. He scowled. He hated when I called him out on his edgelord bullshit.
“Even me,” he said darkly, and my heart sank. Memories of that night on the bridge revisited me and reminded me that he was right. He shouldn’t be trusted.
“So we’re going to visit her friend in New York?” I asked. I had only been briefly explained about this job. It was someone important to Corrine.
“Yes,” he said tightly.
“What for?”
“I’m delivering a message.”
“What year is it?” I snickered. “I know Corrine’s decor is from the eighteen hundreds, but she’s got to have a phone.”
“They don’t talk.” His lips curled into a snarl. His fangs flashed as he grew more irritated. “He’s a big piece of shit. Old Bloodborn.”
“Like your family?” I tilted my head. His jaw tightened.
“Kind of. Mine are assholes, but not as bad as this guy. He should’ve been killed years ago.”
I blinked. What did he just say? I saw Desi’s mouth slam shut. He caught his slip too.
“Can I ask something? About your guys’ whole dynamic?” I asked carefully.
Desi glanced at me. His mismatched eyes were wary. “Could I offer you a candy instead?” He reached for the bag he had insisted we stop for before we hit the freeway. I shook my head. He shrugged and took one for himself. He did his signature flashing of the candy between his teeth for me with a wink.
“Your cuteness won’t distract me,” I said. “You guys. Each of you have like a— thing.”
“A thing?” He smirked. “Yeah?” He was trying to play it casually, but I watched his grip tighten on the steering wheel, and he sucked a little harder on the candy.
I nodded. “Arsenio has his fights. Ludovica has her-” I paused, unsure of how to say the obvious.
“Drug ring?” Desi said it bluntly.
