“You accepted every lie I told about where I was going, and why I made the money I did. My boss rewards loyalty, and kills traitors without blinking. He’s vicious and unyielding, and he’s taken quite an interest in Kyle.”
Lily’s eyes were fastened on the small screen as Dennis touched the play button and the video began. Kyle was laughing, his dark eyes crinkled. His black hair was cropped short on the sides, and left longer on top. Kyle sat beside Dennis on top of a wooden picnic table, their friendship obvious from how Kyle interacted with him.
Dennis stopped the video and lowered the mobile phone. “If you don’t get me onto Dreagan, I’m going to bring Kyle into the fold. He’ll disappear, Lily. He’ll become a killer, sell drugs, steal, and whatever else our boss tells him to do.”
“You took quite a chance befriending my brother on the off chance that I would become useful to you,” she said derisively.
Dennis chuckled. “Do you really think you stumbled upon the job at Dreagan accidentally? We pushed you there.”
“Liar.”
“You did what we wanted, and went where we wanted. If you hadn’t gotten that job at Dreagan, we’d have ensured you got another one. I hope this clears up any hope in your mind that you can get out of helping me achieve what I need to do. If not, one of your new friends is going to die, and you’ll never see your brother again.”
It took Lily a moment to realize Dennis was gone. She glanced at the locks on the door, but didn’t bother to turn them. He had gotten in once. Nothing would stop him from getting in a second time.
She walked to her bedroom and sat down on her bed, the entire conversation with Dennis running through her mind. Lily didn’t want anyone from Dreagan getting hurt, but not a single one of them mattered as much as her brother.
From the moment Kyle came into the world, he was happy. He brought smiles to everyone’s face he encountered. There was a light inside him that burned brighter, a spark that drew others to him.
Because of her, Kyle had been drawn into a world he knew nothing about. A world that would destroy his light in an instant.
Lily had no choice but to help Dennis. The thought left a bad taste in her mouth, but Dennis was sorely mistaken if he thought she would sit back and not retaliate.
She would get her brother away from him, and then she would hunt Dennis down and kill him.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Rhys walked by Lily’s flat four times. He told himself it was just to make sure she was home and safe, that he had no intention of going inside. But every time he got close to her door, he found himself heading right to it.
He finally got tired of fighting it and started toward her door. It suddenly opened, and a man stepped out. Rhys halted in his tracks halfway across the street. Of course someone as beautiful and kind as Lily wouldn’t be alone.
Rhys hated the jealousy that rose up, but that was nothing compared to the urge to rip the mortal apart. Lily was his. He knew it to the bottom of his soul that they were meant to be together throughout time.
He stopped his thoughts right there. Lily wasn’t his. Lily was only a human who he wanted with every fiber of his being, someone he would watch over until the day of her last breath.
Rhys turned and retraced his steps. He kept hidden until the mortal was gone. Then his gaze went back to Lily’s door. It seemed like yesterday that he learned her flat was broken into and she was missing. His mind ran rampant with all the ways she could be hurt, and he wanted to kill whoever had dared to harm her.
He felt the same for the man who scarred her, the man who made her fear. If he couldn’t have her for his own, he could make sure that the man responsible never got near her again.
“You’ll no’ have to fear him again, Lily,” Rhys vowed.
He should’ve felt better. Why then did the ache in his chest intensify?
There was only one way to lessen it. He had to see her. Rhys strode across the street and walked up to her door. His hand was raised to knock when the door opened. As soon as he saw Lily’s pale face, concern flared.
“Rhys,” she said, her shoulders sagging as if in relief.
He frowned and glanced over her head inside the flat. “Are you all right?”
His worry intensified when he swore he heard her mumble under her breath, “I am now.”
“It’s just been a long day,” she said louder.
“Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “I would actually like to take my mind off of it.”
“Let me help.” Rhys understood all too well about wanting to forget something horrid. He suffered through it every day he couldn’t shift.
Her dark gaze met his, visibly relaxing. “I’d like that very much.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Anything,” she said as she grabbed her purse.
Rhys stepped aside when she walked out of the flat and closed the door behind her. He waited as she locked all three dead bolts, his heart thumping wildly at getting to spend some time alone with her.