Page 26 of Die for You (Diamond Devils #4)

Sienna gives me a comforting smile. “Just let us know if you need anything. We really are happy to have you here, Aurora.”

Somehow, her reassurance is what sets me completely at ease. “Thanks. I’m happy I’m here.”

I’m not at all happy about the circumstances that brought me here, but...this is starting to feel like the best possible outcome for a shitty situation.

Sienna takes Luke’s hand and they say goodnight before disappearing into his room.

As soon as we’re alone, Knox tugs me close to him by the hip, his warmth encasing me like a blanket. “I’m the best cuddler. So you can sleep in my bed tonight.”

Damien glowers. “She’ll be spending the night in each of our beds. We all get a night with her.”

I roll my eyes. “Are you going to make a sleeping schedule tomorrow?”

The Devils nod at each other like they’re all in agreement to establish a nightly rotation. Of me.

I step out of Knox’s embrace. “Actually, I want to sleep alone.”

All three of them look at me like I just kicked their puppy.

“Why are you trying to break our hearts, beautiful?” Knox thumps his chest with his fist like I’m stabbing him in the heart.

I clutch my arms to my chest. “I have...nightmares. I don’t want to wake any of you up.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Damien huffs.

“You know the benefit of having three boyfriends is that at least one of us will be awake to comfort you when you have a bad dream, right?” Knox smiles at me, and my heart flutters.

Three boyfriends . Is that what they are to me? I decide not to bring it up. We don’t need to try to nail down the status of our relationship tonight. I’m beyond exhausted, and I’m sure the three of them are ready to crash too.

“This is a non-negotiable,” I tell them.

Damien is pissed, Knox disappointed, but Finn’s expression seems strangely understanding.

“We’ll discuss it tomorrow,” Damien relents.

Finn takes me by the hand, opens a door to a dark bedroom, and points inside. I shake my head and step back. “I told you, I’m sleeping alone.”

He points to himself, then to the living room. “Couch.”

“No, I’ll sleep on the couch. I’m not kicking you out of your own bed.”

It’s his turn to roll his eyes as he nudges me by the ass into his room and shuts the door behind me. His footsteps fade, and I smile at the door. He’s sweet in his own weird way.

I flick the lock and dig through Finn’s dresser for a t-shirt to sleep in. Even if the others are accepting of me staying here, they probably won’t be on board anymore if I wake them all up screaming. Hopefully, I’ll be too tired tonight to dream at all.

But I’m actually worried they’ll be worse.

Jeremiah broke into my apartment. Who knows what his intentions were. To find me and...then what? What was he planning to do to me?

He’s not going to stop coming after me. He made that clear tonight.

He’s more dangerous to me now than ever.

“Please, Ms. Archer. Present your case.” The judge, a woman with brown hair streaked with silver and spectacles perched on the end of her long nose, nods to me.

The courtroom is stuffy, air stale and thick with tension. At my back, the Devils sit on the benches in suits, even though they’re not the ones on trial today.

I am.

Presenting the evidence of my ex-boyfriend’s harassment and criminal activity. Of my need for legal protection from him.

I should’ve worn something other than the collared, long-sleeved A-line dress. The collar is too stiff, suffocating me in the room that is in desperate need of air conditioning.

On Jeremiah’s side of the courtroom, his parents sit silently on a bench together, his father likely giving only a quarter of his attention to the courtroom proceedings and the rest to his phone. Barb’s attention, I’m sure, doesn’t stray from us for a second. All of their gazes weigh on me.

Except for Jeremiah’s. To my absolute shock, he hasn’t glanced at me once since I marched into the room.

He’s been lying low since the break-in. We didn’t catch a single glimpse of him on campus or near the restaurant.

Days passed in a blur of classes, rehearsals, games, and shifts at the restaurant.

Leah’s been promoted to manager, so my days are numbered.

But now that I’m living with the Devils, I’m not paying rent, so maybe I’ll get by without another job until I leave for Juilliard.

If the judge doesn’t grant me this protective order, I’m not sure what I’ll do by myself in New York without the Devils.

Living with them now is nothing more than a temporary solution.

Once Jeremiah discovers I’m alone in New York, he’ll come after me.

Even in a huge city with eight million other people, he’ll find me.

My future is decided today. Now.

“Ms. Archer?” the judge prompts again.

So I clear my throat and begin. Starting from when we met, when I was in foster care and moved in with his family.

How his parents enabled his bad behavior, how he mistreated me in small ways I couldn’t even articulate then, and how he escalated after his parents kicked me out.

Showing up at the Sigma Chi party and my job, ambushing me on campus, and breaking into my apartment.

Everyone stays quiet while I speak. The judge doesn’t tell me to get to the point, and miraculously, neither Jeremiah nor Barb interjects.

Once I’m finished, the judge nods at Jeremiah. “You may now present any evidence to your defense, Mr. Crowder.”

“I have no defense, Your Honor.”

What the fuck? My head whips in his direction. He’s not going to defend himself at all? Jeremiah Crowder isn’t going to lie and gaslight and manipulate to make himself look better? To get his way?

He’s finally clean-shaven—probably at Barb’s insistence—and he faces the judge with his shoulders slumped like a turtle trying to curl back in its shell.

I glance back at his parents. Surely, they would’ve instructed him to say whatever he needed to to get out of trouble. But neither of them has fire blazing from their cold eyes. They’re stoic, resigned.

Maybe this is their strategy. Maybe if Jeremiah can pretend to be remorseful, he still has a chance to escape the consequences of his actions.

“You’re sure, Mr. Crowder? This is your last chance to speak in your defense,” the judge reminds him.

He gives a single, terse nod. “I’m sure, Your Honor.”

With that, the judge grants my protective order. Three years. With the possibility to extend it if necessary.

Three years.

Three years of freedom. Three years without Jeremiah Crowder in my life.

If he doesn’t violate it.

Still, even with everything I know about him, I can’t help the balloon of hope that floats up to my chest. Maybe this really is it. Maybe I can finally close the book on this chapter of my life.

I’m shaking when I leave the courthouse, but not from fear or nerves like I was this morning. From the adrenaline rush. From victory.

The Devils flank me as I practically run out of the building. I wait until we’re in broad daylight, the sun’s rays entirely too warm for their long sleeves and pants, and throw my arms around each of them. “ Thank you . I’m so glad you were here.”

Damien’s suit is about to burst at the seams as it stretches over his bulky muscles.

Knox’s fits him perfectly, like it was tailored to his exact dimensions, and the mint green button-up is a perfect match to his irises.

The sleeves of Finn’s suit jacket are just on the side of too short, but they show off his glorious hands.

He managed to tame his jet-black locks for the courthouse, and all I want to do is run both hands through it and mess it up again.

Knox squeezes my shoulders with both hands and rests his forehead against mine. My nerves hum in every place he touches me, and his wide grin comforts me in that way no one else’s can. “You were incredible , Rory. I’m so proud of you.”

I mirror his grin. I’m practically bursting. I want to jump out of a plane or bungee jump off a bridge. I feel invincible.

Finn catches my chin in his hand, a rare smile spread across his lips too. “All over now.”

“Better fucking be.” Damien tracks the Crowders’ every movement as Jeremiah’s parents lead the way down the steps from the courthouse, Jeremiah following them like a scolded puppy.

For months, I tried to feel like part of their family.

I was sixteen—only two years away from aging out of the system.

Five years in foster care. All I wanted was to belong to someone.

The Crowders were wealthy, popular, philanthropic.

Every weekend, we were traveling or volunteering or attending parties.

A life of extravagance that I’d longed for during nights at my other foster homes when my stomach ached so bad, I thought about sneaking out to rifle through a neighbor’s garbage for scraps.

Jeremiah was the one to brush my knee under the table. The one to kiss me . The one to sneak me into his room after his parents had gone to bed. But I was the one who was punished.

Barb raises her hand in the air, an obscene rock twinkling in the light from her finger. A wealthy family that loves to flaunt their extravagance. “Aurora! A word?”

I stiffen. Shit . We should’ve already left?—

Knox wraps my hand in his. “We’ve got you,” he murmurs.

“You don’t have to worry about them anymore,” Damien growls.

Finn’s palm lands on the small of my back. He breathes a low, ruthless vow that sounds more like a curse. “Ever. Again.”

With the Devils at my side, I can face them. I can feel safe. I can do anything.

The fear and nerves ebb away, and I straighten my spine. I don’t drop my gaze as they approach, and I don’t cower. I don’t plan to ever cower from anyone ever again.

Jeremiah and his father stop a few feet away while Barb continues to approach. At least the two men are smart enough to know when they’re outnumbered. And more importantly, who outnumbers them.