Read Online Lost Paradise by Tara Fox Hall - Free Book Online Page A

was all business as we both put our
clothes back on.
    When I was dressed, I turned to him. “I’ll
stay here and wait for Devlin.”
    “You won’t have to,” Lash hissed, going
towards the door. “He’s heard us.”
    Devlin’s room was above the kitchen. I
flushed as Lash unlocked the door to admit Devlin, his golden eyes
tinged red.
    “What happened?” he asked snidely. “You get
her this far and give up?”
    Lash faced Dev accusingly, his normal humor
oddly missing. “What happened is your favorite asshole grabbed Sar.
He and Vince planned to rape her and blame The Lust. In the process
of handling that, The Lust rose—”
    Devlin snarled, his eyes glowing red like hot
embers. He gripped the doorjamb, sinking his nails deep into the
hardwood with a creak. “Did you kill them?”
    “They’re in the ballroom,” Lash hissed. “I’ll
take them to the dungeon.”
    “They said it was payback for me killing some
of them that night you came for me,” I whispered.
    “Take them to the dungeon!” Devlin thundered.
“Now!”
    Lash nodded. “Kev’s out cold for today, but
Vince will recover as soon as his neck is reset. You want them
healed up for you, or you want me to take care of it?”
    “Just take them there now,” Devlin answered
curtly.
    Lash nodded, then left.
    Devlin grabbed hold of me, crushing me
against him. “I’m sorry this happened,” he murmured. “Teleport now
to Danial. Tell him you’ll spend tonight with him. I’ll come to you
later on tonight, be with you there at his house—”
    There wasn’t going to be a later for us, but
I felt too much guilt rejecting him right here after he’d just
heard me have sex with Lash. “It was close, Dev. I’m all messed
up.”
    Devlin was still apologizing. “—I’ll punish
them for this, Sar. You won’t see either of them again, ever, so
don’t worry. Nothing like this will ever happen again, not to you,
not here at my home—”
    “Before I leave, I have to tell Serena what
happened,” I interrupted, remorseful. “She cared about Vince a lot.
She needs to know.”
    “I can have someone else tell her, Love,”
Devlin said, drawing back from me. “You don’t need to.”
    “No,” I persisted, resigned. “A woman should
tell her. I’ll do it, before I leave.” I’d be damned if would let
one of those women who hated her tell her. It was going to be hard
enough to hear it from a friend, especially as there was no way to
downplay the circumstances.
    “Come upstairs,” Dev said, taking my hand.
“She’s in her room, sleeping.”
    I followed him, glad of his hand steadying
me. “Kev said I’d killed his best friend. That was the real root of
it, at least for him. Vince…I don’t know why he went along with
Kev.”
    Devlin released me. “It’s true, you did kill
his friend. But death is one of the risks of working for me. You
were only defending yourself.”
    I hadn’t been looking for a pep talk on the
rightness of my actions. Maybe this was him trying to make me
feel better? “I’ll see you later.”
    Dev kissed me, then gave me a hard look.
“Tell Theo, if he wants to come, I’ll leave one of them for him. He
has a right for vengeance. You are his to protect as much as
mine.”
    I nodded, trying not to give into the surreal
feeling his words had created. “I’ll tell him.”
    Devlin went downstairs. I knocked on Serena’s
door.
    She opened it, her face streaked with tears.
“Lash already told me, Sar.”
    Damn it, Lash . “I’m sorry—”
    She got up and hugged me. “It’s not your
fault,” she said. “Lash told me what happened.”
    I hugged her back, and didn’t say
anything.
    “I should’ve known,” she said softly. “Kev
had fantasies; he asked me to—”
    “Stop!” I said harshly. “Please Serena, I
don’t want to know.”
    “Vince never said or did anything. I don’t
want to believe it.”
    I hugged her harder. “I’m sorry. I know you
cared about him—”
    “I do, but that doesn’t mean