Page 50 of Vengeful Devotion
“I’ll be right there. Gemma’s coming with me.”
I can’t leave Gemma alone. Unless I want her to run again. Not that she’ll get very far. She underestimates my desire to keep her here with me. I’d chain myself to her if I could.
“Got it.”
I hang up without another word. Putting my hand on the small of her back, I push Gemma forward.
“Where are we going?”
“To see Juliette and Dean.”
She slows her walk. “I’ll just wait in my room. I wouldn’t want to be in the way of your job.”
“I’m not falling for that, bláth fiáin. So don’t try it. Besides, don’t you think you should see all that you’re going to be queen of? You’ve never seen the basement.”
“Q-queen?”
I look down at her. Her face flitting through every emotion one can have. I see the war erupting inside her. She doesn’t know if she can trust me or my words. She looks too scared to even try. But one day she’ll know. She’ll know that I’ll always be honest with her. That I’ll always have her back.
“Queen,” I repeat, cementing the statement and the promise that comes with it.
Before she can dive into refusal, I lead her down the hallway. She stays quiet as we trek to the basement. Her teeth biting into her lip like she’s two minutes away from a nervous breakdown. I hate seeing her like this. On the stairs, I stop her. Sliding my hand through hers, not caring that her emotions are making her palm slick.
“It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“In my experience, people manipulate you with promises they have no intention of keeping.”
“No offense, Gemma, but your experiences are limited to the scum of the earth. We’re not all bad.”
She shrugs. Her face tells me all I need to know. She’s overwhelmed by my sudden devotion to her. I clench my jaw. Nothing about what I feel is sudden. It’s been building. Ever since the first time, I laid eyes on her. She just doesn’t know that. I’m just going to have to show her. But right now isn’t the time.
“Come on. Let’s go see what Dean and Juliette have for me.”
She relaxes her hand, expecting me to release her. But I don’t. I won’t. There’s only so much space I can give her. I’m willing to wait, but I refuse to hide how I really feel. I’ve been doing that long enough.
The sound of our footsteps is emphasized by the wooden stairs creaking. Gemma grips my hand tighter as we step down into the finished basement. It’s dark. But only because Juliette prefers it that way. Gemma huddles close to me. The warmth of her body creating a buzz in my veins. I bite down on my cheek, trying to keep all the dirty thoughts from taking root in my head. But it’s not enough. When Gemma is this close, all I can think about is slipping inside her. My tongue desperately wants to know how she tastes, just as my fingers ache to feel her wet heat. I breathe in through my nose, trying to stop all my blood from rushing south. That was a mistake. Her floral scent only makes me harder. The primal urge is overwhelming. Every cell in my body wants to bend her over and rail into her until she can’t remember a fucking thing about her life before me.
Swallowing to control the fire in my veins, I walk down the corridor with only rainbow colored strings of light to guide me. Sometimes I wish my parents hadn’t given her free range of the basement. I’m never down here enough to care, but right now, it’s not doing me any favors. Gemma clings to me with one hand cemented to mine, and the other twisted up in my shirt. We come to the door at the end of the hall.
Turning the knob, the screens of computers are painfully bright in the darkness.
“Jesus, Jules. Why do you need it to be so damn dark in here?”
“Screw you, Declan.”
I hear Gemma chuckle beside me. I squeeze her hand in warning. When my eyes are clear from the shock of the light, I see Juliette glaring at me from her chair. Dean is leaning against her desk, looking down at her with an expression I can’t read.
“Stop wasting time and tell me why you called me here.”
Dean’s gaze moves from my little sister to me. “Right. Blu — Juliette, pull up the video, please.”
Juliette huffs, turning to the computer and pulling up a video of my warehouse. For the first few seconds, nothing is happening. Then, a figure walks right past. Before I can get a good look at him, the video shuts off.
“Go back and stop when he first appears.”
Walking closer to the computer, I inspect the frozen screen. The man on it could be anyone. He’s dressed in all black, with a ball cap pulled down to hide his face. There’s no way for me to prove it’s Warren. I ball up my fists. I’m so fucking exhausted of this bullshit.
“Do you recognize him?” Dean asks.
