Page 9

“ S weetheart.” I hear my mom's voice come from the other side of the door after she’s knocked. “Sweetheart… Can I come in?”

“Sure.” I stretch myself awake and lift my cell off the pillow to check what time it is.

It’s eight thirty, on my day off. Mom never wakes me when it’s my day off.

“Hey, honey.” She smiles at me softly as she lets herself inside.

It’s the same smile she put on for me before she told me our family dog, Flur, had to be put down.

It’s the one she greeted all the guests to Grandma's funeral with, so it has me instantly on edge. I watch as she steps closer to my bed and sits on the edge of my mattress, knowing that she’s going to break something bad to me.

“Your father just received a phone call from the Dirty Souls’ clubhouse.” Her hand rests over mine and clears her throat.

“Dev?” I whisper his name as I stare back at her in confusion. My heart starts to beat too fast, and my mouth suddenly goes dry. “Is he okay?”

“Dev? I…The woman who rang was one of the…Your father believes she was the leader's partner.” She looks unsure. “I assume they must have had his number from that fundraiser they all invited themselves to.” Her nose screws up in disgust. “But that’s not what matters.” She must notice how confused I look because she makes that smile again.

“I’m so sorry, Millie.” Her hand tightens around mine, and I see a genuine sadness in her eyes when they start filling with tears.

“Mom, what is it? What happened?” I pull away from her, starting to get scared.

“It’s Corey, sweetheart. He’s….” She sucks in a breath. “He’s dead.” She wraps me up in a hug before I have the chance to react, and I let her hold me while the words she just spoke sink in.

“Corey?” I eventually pull away to separate us, and she nods her head, taking the tissue that's tucked in her watch and dabbing her eyes.

“ Corey? ” I repeat his name, in case she’s got it wrong. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Corey can’t be dead, there's no way Dev would ever let that happen.

“I’m afraid so, darling.” She places her palm on my leg. “Your father thought it might be better for me to break the news; he doesn’t know any details yet. But the club thought you should know.”

“No, Mom.” I shake my head, refusing to believe it.

“We’re so sorry, sweetie.” My dad steps into my room as if he’s been waiting for the right moment. “And I mean that sincerely. We may not have been happy about you and Corey’s relationship, but we’ve always seen that he was a decent boy.” His hand grips Mom's shoulder.

“I have to go.” I quickly climb out of bed so I can gather some clothes.

“Go? Go where?” Mom stands up and watches me in shock.

“To the club, I have to find out what happened to him.” I pick up some jeans and a clean t-shirt, then, scrubbing my face, I try to focus.

“Your father will speak to their leader as soon as things have calmed down,” Mom assures me.

“President, Mom. He’s their president,” I correct her, feeling my breath getting harder to reach. “And I need to be there. I need to be with Dev.”

“Dev, who on Earth is Dev?” She looks between me and my father as if he knows all the answers.

“Dev is Corey’s brother; he’s going to be crushed.

He’s always been so protec—” Suddenly, I remember the last conversation I had with Corey.

He left thinking that I was going to make him choose between me and the club.

I lied to him, and I hurt him, all because his brother thought it would save him.

In an instant, all my sympathy for Dev turns to anger.

“I have to go.” I barge past my parents to get to my ensuite, locking the door after me and quickly getting changed. Throwing water over my face and patting my cheeks, I stare at my reflection, then quickly head back out so I can get out of here.

“You're not going there, Millie, I won’t let you.” Mom looks ready for a fight when I open the door.

“It's too dangerous. We should never have let you date that boy in the first place.” I march straight past her into the hall, and I’m surprised when my father holds her back and shakes his head at her.

Neither of my parents has ever been happy that me and Corey were together, and the only reason for that was because of his brother’s involvement with the club.

“Let her go, Julia,” he tells Mom calmly.

“Let her go? Let her go there, are you crazy?” Mom bellows back at him.

“Have Greg drive you there.” He points his finger at me. “And I want you to stay in touch. Home before nightfall,” he warns sternly.

“No, Frank.” Her voice sounds shrill.

“Just this once, Julia. She needs answers. Greg will make sure she’s okay.”

“Greg is a butler, not a bodyguard,” she reminds him as he holds her back, and when he nods at me to continue, I smile at him gratefully before rushing off to find Greg.

“I’ll call you when I need picking up,” I tell Greg when he pulls up on the sidewalk opposite the gates.

“I think your father would prefer me to stay here,” he tells me. I see one of the members hosing down the tarmac in front of the gates, and when I notice that the water washing away is red, I feel sick.

“I’ll be fine. I’ll call when I’m ready,” I tell him assertively before getting out of the car and making my way across the street. My palms are so clammy, and my nerves are starting to really kick in, but I have to be here.

“I need to speak to Dev.” I interrupt ass grabber from the diner when I see that he’s the one using the hose, and when he looks up at me, his eyes are black and cold.

“Dev ain't taking visitors right now,” he tells me blankly, before getting back to work.

“I’m Corey’s girlfriend, and I want to know what happened.” I grip hold of the guy's arm to still it, and he stares at my hand so fiercely, I swear I feel my skin burn.

“I know exactly who you are.” His eyes remain fixed on my hand until I sheepishly remove it. “And like I said, Dev ain’t taking visitors.”

“Screw you.” I march straight past him, through the arch, and into the yard.

A few Soul members are sitting around on plastic chairs with their heads lowered, as I find my way to the clubhouse.

I’ve never been inside it before, I’ve only ever gotten as far as the beach, and I muster together all my courage before I swing the door open.

I spot Dev straight away, sitting in a chair on the other side of the room with a bottle in one hand while a woman bathes the knuckles of his other hand in a bowl.

I march straight for him, feeling rage consume me when I remember that last disappointed look Corey gave me before he left my house.

“Millie?” Dev stands up, looking confused to see me here, and when he shakes the water off his hand and steps toward me, I greet him with a hard swipe of my palm across his cheek.

Gasps come from all around me, and I watch how he inhales deeply through his nostrils, making them flare while trying to ignore the pain in my hand.

“Millie? I don’t think you–” One of the girls steps forward, and Dev holds up his hand to silence her. His eyes still fixed on mine, and looking murderous.

“It’s okay, I’ve got it. Come on, darlin’, let's get ya home.” The member with the ponytail who was also with him at the diner wraps his arms around my shoulders and tries to coax me away, but I find strength in determination.

“No.” I force him off me. “I’m not going anywhere. You …” I point my finger up at Dev’s face. “...You made me give him an ultimatum. You made me lie to him, and that will be the last memory he’ll ever have of me. I want to know what happened to him, Dev. I deserve that much.”

Dev remains silent, and I can see all the rage he’s holding back tensing in his muscles. The veins in his arms look like tunnels, and I can hear the heaviness in his breathing. I shouldn’t have slapped him. I doubt it actually hurt him, but my hand feels as if I slammed it into a brick wall.

“Now’s not the best time.” The guy beside me makes another attempt to drag me toward the door.

“Wait.” Dev calls out, and the harsh growl in his voice makes all the nerves dance in my stomach. “She’s right.” He lowers his head, and after the president steps forward from behind him, he whispers something in his ear that makes Dev nod.

“Follow me.” Dev looks back up at me, turning his back and marching toward what looks like an office at the back of the room.

I immediately do as he says, following him and stepping inside what does turn out to be an office.

Dev pulls the blind down over the glass window that separates us from the bar while I close the door, and being alone with him suddenly feels very intense.

“Dev, I’m sor–”

“Don’t be sorry.” He drops to sit in the nearest chair, resting his elbows on his knees, and clutching his tattooed hands together. “All this is my fault.”

“What happened to him?” I take the chair opposite and wrap both my hands around his. His eyes peer down at them before he speaks, and the way he clutches his jaw makes me scared that I’m pissing him off again.

“They put a fuckin’ bullet in his skull,” he growls. “He was tryin’ to prove himself to me, and to them, and those fuckers fuckin’ killed him.” I hear the agony in his tone, and when he stands up, he takes all that pain out on the desk, flipping it over in a rage.

“Who? Who did this?” I question him.

“Those fuckin’ cunts that are workin’ for Quinnell.

We’ve been watching ‘em. Corey must have found out where they were and somehow got in there himself. They brought him back here with a belt bag round his neck, there were cameras inside it, and his phone; they’d changed his screen saver to a photo of me and him together.

” He rests his head back against the wall and slides his huge hand over his face.

He looks so broken, his usually slicked-back hair has fallen down around his eyes, and when he bites down on his fist, I can see he’s holding back his tears.

“You know, he could have changed that picture himself; he loves you, Dev.” I step forward to try and comfort him.

“Not as much as he loved you. You were fuckin’ everythin’ to that kid, and you’re right, I should have never made you do what you did.” He closes his eyes.

“Guess he chose the club, huh?” I hold back tears of my own when I think of the fact I’ll never see him again.

“Stupid fuckin’ kid!” Dev turns to slam his already battered fist at a filing cabinet, and I quickly grab his arm.

“That’s not gonna help, you have to calm down.”

“ Calm down? Corey's dead, Millie. I let this happen. I never listened to him, I dismissed any idea of him being a part of the club, and made him feel he had to prove me wrong. I might as well have put the bullet in his skull myself.”

“Dev, now you're talking stupid, you did all of those things to protect him,” I remind him.

“Yeah, well, go tell that to him. He’s in the room next door, laid out on the table, cold and fuckin’ souless!

” he snaps at me. “So now you know the truth. Corey’s dead because of me .

I fucked up everything, even his last memory with you.

” Any anger I came here with fades when I see how devastated he is.

“Go back to your mansion, Millie, you really don’t belong here.

” He laughs bitterly before charging out the door and slamming it behind him.