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I sneak a glance around the two-story, dilapidated houses surrounding the neighborhood and the few cars parked in the street. None of the cars are fancy enough to belong to my dad, but he does own all the houses on the street and I don’t know all of our neighbors, so anyone could be living inside them.
“Looking for someone to help you?” he mocks. “Well, let me let you in on a little secret.” He slants into my face. “That’s not gonna happen. Your dad and all his men are clear across town in their big old mansions, pretending like this shithole of a neighborhood doesn’t exist.” He leans closer, his breath reeking of stale cigarettes. “Pretending likeyoudon’t exist.”
“Get out of my face,” I warn, “before I make you.”
A grin spreads across his face. He’s missing a front tooth and the rest of his teeth are stained yellow. “Go ahead and try.”
My fingers curl into fists. I want to hit him—I really do—but the guy’s twice my size and probably packing. Sure, there’s the stupid agreement that he can’t touch me, but it’s not like Axel and his men are trustworthy. Neither is my father or his men.
“William, leave him alone.” A feminine voice floats over from the car.
William curses under his breath while I lean to the side to see who she is. Then I instantly regret looking.
“Hey, Blaise,” Emilia, Axel’s daughter, greets me with a smile. Her smile is fake, though, just like everything else about her.
“Amelia,” I reply in a tight tone, my nerves creeping through.
It might seem stupid for me to get nervous over simply being near Emilia, an eighteen-year-old girl whose short, petite frame hardly looks threatening. Plus, her pearls, high-heeled shoes, button-down shirt and skirt get-up makes her look like some prissy rich girl, which I guess she is. But Amelia also has a darker side to her, a side only the unlucky ones get to discover, me being one of them.
“Aw, now Blaise, is that any way to treat an old lover?” She ambles around the front of the car, a smirk spreading across her face as William visibly stiffens.
So do I.
“Lover?” William questions, glancing back and forth between Amelia and me. “Amelia, sweetheart, you better be joking.”
“Of course I am.” She smiles sweetly at William. When he turns toward me again, though, putting his back to her, her sweet smile turns naughty as she sticks up her middle finger at me then sucks on it.
I shake my head. I so don’t have the patience to deal with this right now.
“What’re you doing back in town?” I ask Amelia. “I thought you moved to New York to live with your mom.”
She shrugs. “I tried it out for the summer, but turns out I’m not as much of a city girl as I thought I was.” She slants back against the front of the car, resting her hands behind her on the hood. “Or maybe I just missed seeing your pretty face every day.”
“Amelia,” William warns. “Stop flirting with the enemy.”
“Oh, would you relax?” Amelia straightens and steps beside William. “Blaise knows I’m kidding.” When William isn’t looking, she mouths, “No, I’m not.” Then she sucks on her finger again.
I sigh heavily. I’ve known Amelia since we were practically babies and we’ve never gotten along, but she hardly gets along with anyone, so it wasn’t that big of a deal. Well, until around the time we turned sixteen and she took on this weird, seductress persona. Ever since then she’s become harder and harder to tolerate. And honestly, I think part of the reason she acts this way is to piss her dad off.
Honeyton was so much more tolerable to live in when she moved to New York with her mom. From what I understood, she wasn’t coming back until she graduated. So why is she here in Honeyton, at the start of our senior year? I could ask her but, more than likely she won’t give a straight answer.
“Why are you guys even here anyway?” I direct my question to William, but Amelia answers.
“William had to stop at this lovely little place,” she pulls a face at the Harlyton’s house, “this morning because the current resident has pissed Daddy off. Lucky for him, he doesn’t seem to be home.”
“No, he doesn’t.” William fastens his gaze on me. “You don’t by chance know where Mel is, do you?”
“Why the hell would I know some dude’s location?” I ask, shaking my head.
“Maybe because he works for your father?” William throws back at me.
“ButIdon’t,” I remind him. “And I don’t associate with anything that has to do with his business.”
“For now. But in time, this world is gonna drag you in, whether you like it or not.” His ominous words send a chill down my spine. He grins, turning toward the car. “If you do happen to see Mel around, it’d be best to tell him to come to Axel. The less we have to chase him the less severe his punishment will be.”
That sends a chill spreading through my entire body.
Sure, that’s exactly how things will go down. And I’m sure his punishment will simply be a lecture and a soft slap on the hand.
