Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy #1)(26)

“Which draws you most?” he asked me.

Steady. It was hard to choose. My hand slid toward one of the powder vials and pointed.

“Cocaine. Very nice.” He leaned back and sipped his tea again, eyeing me.

I let myself breathe when Pharzuph’s phone rang. He pulled it out, glancing at the screen, and pushed a button to silence it.

“I must return to work. Anna, I trust you won’t mind spending time with my son?”

I shook my head.

“Of course you won’t. Kaidan will take good care of you. He’ll have you working to the best of your abilities in no time at all. Don’t take too long about it, though. Learn what you need to learn, and get to work.” He turned his attention to Kaidan now. “I’m expecting company this evening and you are to join us. Marissa is bringing one of her nieces.”

“Yes, Father,” he replied, eyes darting away from me.

Pharzuph stood and was dialing as he left the room. Kaidan packed up the little black bag.

“Have you ever been to Lookout Point?” Kaidan asked me. He made an exaggerated nod, as if I should play along. I tried to sound natural, though it felt like I’d just survived a series of small heart attacks.

“No,” I said.

“Well, then, that’s where we’ll go.”

We left together in his shiny black Hummer, which felt extremely conspicuous. It was as large as my bedroom. What boy needed a huge Hummer all to himself? As he began driving, he pointed to the odometer and held up five fingers. Five miles? Then he put a finger to his lips. Could his father hear within a whole five-mile radius? I turned enough to peek at the black bag he’d tossed into the backseat as we got in. Kaidan saw me looking.

“You’ll love the view at Lookout Point.”

“Great,” I said, turning back to watch the road ahead. It was a notorious place for losing one’s virginity. I was thankful when we passed the turnoff for Lookout Point and I could breathe a little easier.

“It’s safe now,” he said. “Your friend Jay brought you?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“I was listening when you showed up, of course. I had to make everyone leave.” He sounded put out. I remembered how upset the girl was who’d been kicked out.

“Oh. Sorry. Can I borrow your phone to call him?”

He handed me a high-tech gizmo that I turned in every direction before he took it back and got the touch screen to show a phone keypad. I dialed Jay’s number.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Jay. I just wanted to let you know that, um, Kaidan is going to drive me home.”

“Ohoho!” I couldn’t bring myself to laugh with him, but I saw Kaidan grin out of the corner of my eye. “Sounds good, chica. Call me later.”

I couldn’t figure out how to hang up, so I passed the phone back to Kaidan.

“Where do you live?” he asked. “Here in Atlanta?”

“No. Cartersville. It’s over thirty miles away. Is that okay?”

“Yes. He’ll expect me to be gone awhile.”

My stomach was still churning from the encounter with Pharzuph, not to mention Kaidan’s own perplexing actions toward me. He’d been cold and confrontational when I got there. And then his father showed up and he was... what? Protective? It made no sense. Even now, he was driving me home instead of taking me somewhere secluded and introducing me to the dreaded black bag, among other things.

“Who’s Marissa?” I asked, surprised by my own nosiness.

“Nobody,” he snapped. His face went hard and his jaw clenched. Why was he mad?

“You are the most baffling person I’ve ever met,” I mumbled.

“Me?! Neph don’t just show up uninvited to one another’s band gigs and homes unless they’re looking for trouble.”

Had he felt threatened by me? The thought was so absurd that I laughed at the irony.

“I didn’t even know I was Neph until after that party,” I said.

“I realize that now.”

“Only, you were right. I’m like you, but... I’m also not.” I paused.

“I’m listening,” he prompted.

I’d said too much. I was crazy for wanting to tell him about myself. There was something about him that made me want to abandon all caution. But he was in his father’s back pocket, and I shouldn’t risk it.

“Never mind,” I said.

“No. You may as well tell me now.”

“How do I know you won’t run back and tell him?”

“I don’t tell him anything if I can help it. Maybe you didn’t notice, but I tried to protect you from him back there. I thought if I could distract him and make him think I was working, maybe he would leave us and not see what you were.”

“I did notice.” My voice softened. “Why did you do that?”

“I’m not sure.” He glanced at me, but pulled his eyes away again, studying the road. “I suppose I wanted to figure you out for myself. I wasn’t expecting him home until later this evening. He’s usually not home during the week, but I suppose Marissa called him. You caught me off guard when you showed up. I wasn’t listening, and that’s not like me.”

Although I couldn’t see his colors, I believed him. Still, I didn’t like the insecurity of not knowing for sure.