“Sorry,” I say and he doesn’t respond, and his body sways back and forth. This feels nice, being held by him. I feel his lips brushing against my forehead and our bodies mold together like clay.
It feels nice to do something normal despite leaving a funeral. My emotions are all over the place and one minute, I want to beat the living shit out of Devious and the next I want him to hold me like he’s doing now. I still have to keep my guard up and not fall for my enemy because if he burns me alive, who’s going to be there for me, to pick up the pieces of my broken heart?
Roselyn
HE MADE IT CLEAR THAT he doesn’t trust me at the manor all by myself and I might try to escape, and he wasn’t lying because it’s exactly what I would try to do. The last few weeks, I’ve been confused with my body and my mind. I’m starting to see things in Devious and I don’t like it. I used to picture him as the big bad wolf who’s trying to blow my house down or the monster who lives under my bed, but he’s not. Shaking my head, I need to stick to my plan and earn his trust.
We’re on our way to Santorini, Greece. I sit across from him, leaning against the beige leather seat. Taking in the lounge area, everything reeks of money. Devious unbuttons his top button of his black dress shirt, exposing his firm chest.
“What happened to your mother?” Devious asks, tapping his chip nail on the wooden armrest.
Exhaling, her death is a subject, I normally don’t speak about to anyone, but if it would get him to trust me then I guess I can tell him.
“She died. Overdose on her sleeping medication.” I shake my head, trying to wipe my mind clean from the memory.
I still remember the day; I came from sneaking out of the house to go to a party.
“Papa rarely let me go to house parties. He didn’t want any boy taking my virginity because he wanted to make sure my hymen was intact when I marry whatever man he gives me to. When I came home from a party, I was drunk as fuck and I crept into her room to sleep in the bed with her. When I opened the door to her bathroom, I found her face down in the water. I called the cops and they tried to revive her. Papa didn’t care she died, the fact I got the cops involved pissed him off. I didn’t know what to do. I panicked and I couldn’t leave her in the tub, anyhow, they tried to save her and said she had too much medication in her stomach and she didn’t drown.”
A single tear slides down my cheek and Devious wipes the tear with his index finger but doesn’t say a word. The tension between us is so thick, I can cut it with a knife.
“She did it on purpose. I found a suicide letter about how she didn’t want to be abused anymore and she has no purpose of living and she wished I wasn’t a product of rape.”
Devious rests his hand over mine, drawing invisible lines on it.
The flight attendant announces we’re taking off and I buckle my seatbelt. I’ve been on a plane a few times to visit my aunt in Sicily, I’ve never been on one as nice as this one. Not as lavish as this. If I decide to abandon my goals and stay with Devious, then I don’t think I’ll be able to get used to living in luxury. Papa has money, but he was frugal with it. When I went through a phase when I wanted to be a ballerina, I begged Papa to take me to a real class so I could interact with other girls my age. I wanted friends because being locked up in the penthouse was so lonely and momma was always out of it when she on her drugs.
“My mother died in a car accident,” Devious says, leaning back on the beige leather seat, resting both elbows on the armrest.
“I’m sorry for your loss.”
“It’s not a loss. My mother was a bitch abusive.”
“What did she do to you? Did she put those scars on your back?”
Devious eyes are empty and hollow like a shell. His facial expression is blank.
“Draco put those scars on my back, and she watched.” His tone is low.
A small part of me feels bad for him because no one deserves to suffer from abuse. I want to ask him more questions about his past, but I don’t know if he will answer me.
I didn’t expect Devious to open up to me the way he did. Normally, anything about him was off limits.
“What happened to Draco?”
“My brother killed him.”
“Why?”
He swallows hard before answering. “We got tired of his bullshit. His bullying and abuse. He still tried to bully us as adults. He used to take his anger out on us all the time. Aiden slit his throat in pure rage. If word got out Aiden killed him, I would have to charge him for treason.”
“Is it why you have nightmares?”
He pauses for a few moments. “No.”
Tension builds between us so I change the subject. “You guys do awful shit.”
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re stuck with me, my little Nymph.”
“I’m not a nymphomaniac. You have good dick, but I’m not crazy over it. Stop calling me that.”
“Nymph is not short for nymphomaniac. I call you Nymph because you look like a sea Nymph to me.”
My cheek blushes. “Oh.”
“You’re so beautiful, angelic, and pure, Roselyn.”
“I’ve never thought of myself as pretty,” I admit my insecurity. “I don’t kno—”
“You’re beautiful the way you look.”
I wish it was easy for me to fix my self-esteem issue, but it’s not.
Once the plane is in midair, Devious unbuckles his seat
