Savage Little Lies: Chapter 40

Sloane

“This is ridiculous,” my brother proclaimed. Sitting up on the bed, he picked up his phone. “I’m calling Callum.”

Well, if he found him, he needed to let me know.

I’d been trying for the last two hours.

I wanted to know if he’d actually purchased the home he’d talked about, and if so, if the place were in any type of condition we could crash at. I couldn’t go back home.

I’d given Ares the codes.

I didn’t think Ares would hurt me, but he did have a problem, and I didn’t feel comfortable going to a place he had access to. He’d basically been blowing up my phone since I’d left his house, saying I needed to call him and shit. His texts all said the same thing. He needed to talk to me and explain, but there was no fucking way he could explain stalker shit. He was fucking crazy, so being at my house tonight wasn’t an option.

Contacting Callum would be easier. I didn’t currently know where he was on the globe, but he wasn’t in town, so if he had a house, my brother and I could chill out there.

However, this plan went belly up when I couldn’t get a hold of him and Plan B had been this—a motel. I found Bru and me the quickest one I could find and used the credit card Callum had given me for food, general necessities, and emergencies. If this wasn’t an emergency, I didn’t know what was.

My brother tapped on his phone, and by the grace of God, he hadn’t fought me much on coming here. I’d told him Ares and I had an argument, and I wasn’t going back to the house for him to roll up and get in my face about it. Once Bru heard that, he hadn’t been happy and immediately wanted to drive back to Ares’s place. He had no choice but to go with me since I’d been behind the wheel at the time, though.

Bru’s counter from there was to call Dorian. He wanted to tell him to check his friend, and though I agreed with that, I refused that option too. Dorian himself had called and texted me many times, but I couldn’t talk to him. Not about this. This was…

I forced out a breath, watching as my brother’s call to Callum must have gone to voicemail. He huffed. “No answer.”

Just like me. I scrubbed into my hair. “Well, we’re staying here, then.”

“Okay, well, what about tomorrow?”

I shrugged, and he groaned.

He gripped the bed. “This is stupid. You and Wolf need to figure this shit out.” He tossed a pillow. “I’m not trying to sleep in this roach motel.”

He was completely overexaggerating. The place wasn’t a roach motel, but it wasn’t a five-star hotel either.

“You’ll deal with it,” I said right as my phone rang again. I looked at it hoping it was Callum, but when I saw Dorian’s name, I lowered my phone. I let it go to voicemail, and seeing that, my brother frowned.

“Why aren’t you talking to him?” He raised a hand. He directed a finger toward the phone. “He needs to talk to his friend if the guy pissed you off.”

I wished it were that easy.

I made no moves to do anything, and rolling his eyes, Bru got up. He put his jacket on, going to the door, but I grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

He eased his arm out of my hand. “Getting some food. I saw some vending machines when we came in.” When I eyed him, he shot it right back. He gripped his arms. “The guys were about to get pizza, remember? I never got to eat it, and I’m fucking starving.”

“Well, call a pizza here, then.”

“I will, but I need something before it gets here.”

I didn’t like the sound of him leaving the room, but I didn’t think Ares followed us out there. I didn’t see anyone following us. I pointed a finger. “You come right back.”

“I will.” He popped his collar. “And relax. You’re acting weird.”

If he knew what I’d seen in that office, he wouldn’t say that, but since he hadn’t, he simply shook his head at me. He left, the door clicking behind him, and I ventured outside too.

I watched him as far as I could before he disappeared around the corner, feeling really that paranoid. Ares was acting completely psycho, and I really didn’t want my brother or me around him.

My phone buzzed, a text this time.

Dorian: Look. I talked to Wolf.

My heart raced.

Dorian: Call me please. I don’t know why you haven’t or why you aren’t answering my calls, but you can. You can talk to me. You have me, little fighter. I told you that. I’m in your corner, so if you’re running, you don’t have to. I got you always.

The thing was he didn’t even have to say it.

Because I knew it.

I hadn’t wanted to forgive Dorian Prinze. I hadn’t wanted to love him, but that feat proved to be as impossible as forgetting him. Even when he’d gone and hurt me so bad, I couldn’t will him from my thoughts. He was embedded, a part of me, and because he was, I physically couldn’t bring myself to hurt him.

And that news about Ares would.

If his friend truly was conflicted, I could think of nothing more than the hurt that’d cause Dorian himself. Ares wasn’t only his best friend, but his brother. Something like that would kill Dorian, and he already had too much hurt.

You really do love him.

Dorian: Please, little fighter.

Dorian: We need to talk, and I need you to come back. Wherever you are, just come back to me.

Dorian: I love you.

I loved him too. So much, and if me wanting to protect his heart wasn’t that, I didn’t know what was. It pained me to even think about coming between him and his friend.

God, I love him so much.

Me: I did run. I’m sorry. I got scared. You said you talked to Ares?

I hoped he had. Like I said, I couldn’t do that to him.

My phone rang in the next second, Dorian again. I felt relief like I never had, and that only reaffirmed my previous thoughts. I was completely in love with him. I needed him.

I answered. “Dorian—”

The hands came from behind me, large hands.

They covered my whole face.

I couldn’t even scream, the phone slipping from my fingers. I punched at the hands, kicking, and soon, the hand over my mouth was replaced with a cloth.

I breathed in, things getting hazy. I stared down at my phone, the thing shattered but my last thought had been Dorian’s smile. That lazy grin had always made it into my thoughts, and I hated myself that I hadn’t told him how it made me feel. That I hadn’t told him how he made me feel.

I should have told him.

My eyes rolled back as I gave into the darkness. I hoped I got to see that grin again.