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“What if I disagree?” Tino snaps.
Oh, Lord, here we go again. It seems the dynamic between these guys is shifting constantly.
They are like three tectonic plates butting up against one another, and I’ve come along and created a dangerous new fault line. Now, we just need to avoid an earthquake, because if one happens, it will damn well be me who falls through the cracks.
“Tino.” I gently put my hand on his forearm. “I’ll stay in the car. I don’t want to be here alone. I don’t feel safe. I need to be with you.” I blink up at him innocently.
It’s not a lie, because I don’t feel safe, but that’s not the reason I want to go. I want to go because I am terrified for Kirill. What if I never see him again? I can’t stand even the thought of it.
“Fine,” Tino says. He shrugs my hand off his arm like an annoying fly and runs his fingers through his hair.
I like it the way it is. A little longer. It’s sexy. On a whim, I step up on my tiptoes and plant a kiss on his lips. He instantly deepens it, taking control and making my head spin.
When he’s done, Dom spins me around and gives me his own kiss. His is harder, but not as deep. As he kisses me, Tino plays with my hair. My nipples peak, and it would be so easy to lose myself in this. I can’t, though.
I pull away from them. “No, we need to get Kirill.”
Dom shakes his head. “Fucking Kill.”
But he moves toward the door. I follow, with Tino bringing up the rear. We move swiftly through the building, a small pack, with me in the center, and the men flanking me like two rabid guard dogs. We must be giving off some serious vibes, as people we pass get out of our way fast, and I catch them turning to one another and exchanging whispers about us behind their hands.
We step out into a beautiful fall day, the gravel crunching beneath our shoes. Dom leads the way to one of the cars, using a fob in his pocket to unlock it, and we all pile in.
The drive is tense and mostly silent. I try to make conversation, but Dom only grunts, and when I turn to look at Tino sitting in the back, he’s bouncing his knee and staring out of the window.
His expression is relaxed enough, but his body language is anything but. He suddenly stops the bouncing of his leg and sinks back in the plush seat, absentmindedly scratching his arm.
We’ve taken one of Nataniele’s many cars. This is a Mercedes and a smooth ride. If Mom stays with Nataniele, she’d be set for life, financially. He’s handsome, too, but he’s fucked up. Still, so is his son, and I’m falling in ever deeper with him and his weirdo friends. How can I judge my mom when I’m doing this, and for what?
My mom is doing it for a noble cause, to save me. I’m doing it for myself. It’s a sickness infesting me, this obsession with these men. It makes me crazy and self-destructive.
They control me and boss me around, and they use me. It’s a fact I must face.
The same way the professor did.
The realization hits me hard. Oh, my God. I’ve always been fucked up. This isn’t my first time getting myself into a deeply disturbed relationship.
I stare out of the window, too, like Tino. Is he out there? Perhaps he’s back at Verona Falls, lurking in those woods. Watching the college. Waiting… What will he do with me if he gets me?
Murder me?
No, I think he’d torture me first. He’d make me his plaything the way the Devils do, but unlike with the Devils so far, he’d hurt me for real. I believe there’s a part of Paxton that deep down and hidden away is pure evil.
Dom, Kill, and Tino are messed up, but they aren’t evil. Or at least that’s the lie I tell myself to allow myself to sleep at night.
It takes twenty minutes for us to reach the small town of Arbington. It’s the closest one for another hour’s drive. Like most of the places around here, it has a population of only a couple of thousand, and Main Street is lined with stores that point toward the outdoors lifestyle that’s so prevalent around these parts—fishing and camping stores. As well as the small-town outdoorsy charm, there’s also an artsy vibe, with a gallery and a theatre.
As we drive slowly through, Dom, Tino, and I all look for Kirill’s car. We pass a guy carving wooden animals on the street corner, and he lifts his head to watch us pass. This place must see its fair share of tourists, though we’re outside of the high season now, but I imagine most of the vehicles they see are a little more mud-splattered and generally built for off-roading.
This certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of place a couple of Russian gangsters would choose to murder a man, but then perhaps that’s why it’s perfect.
I think of all the remote cabins, or the tiny islands in the middle of the vast lakes that are so prevalent around these parts. It would be easy enough for Kirill’s dad to take him somewhere like that and do whatever he wanted without anyone seeing or hearing a thing. If he wanted to hurt Kirill, surely he’d have taken him somewhere like that, not this small town where they’d all stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.
“There,” Tino announces.
He yanks me out of my thoughts and points to a parking lot containing Tino’s car.
“There’s a space a few vehicles down,” Dom mutters as he pulls the car into the large gap.
