Wolf with Benefits
Page 124

Freddy was packing up his suitcase, carefully folding his Batman T-shirt, when Delilah suddenly sat on his bed.
Hi ya, Del, he said, smiling at his sister.
Hi, Freddy.
Where have you been?
Out with some friends.
Did you hear?
I did. Delilah leaned in and whispered, Actually, Toni sent me.
Freddy didnt understand. Sent you?
Yeah. She wants me to take you out of here.
No. Im going with the family.
Oh, hon. She doesnt want you putting them in danger, too.
But they said
They were just being nice. For Mom. But you want to do whats right for the family, dont you?
Of course I do.
She smiled. Then come with me. Im going to take you someplace safe.
Just the two of us?
For now. Dont worry. Well have you back with the rest of the family in no time. But you wouldnt want to risk them, would you? If something happened to them, wouldnt you feel awful?
It was the first time Freddy had ever felt this way. It came over him, falling on him like a blanket. He knew the word Toni would use, too . . . instinctual. He instinctually knew Delilah was lying to him. Had been lying to him. Was still lying to him right now.
Freddy?
What do you really want, Del? he asked her.
Wheres that notebook, Freddy? The blue composition one you had stashed in your backpack.
I got rid of it, he said.
Youre lying, Freddy.
He shook his head. He was, but he knew giving it to Del would be wrong. It would be . . . dangerous. Im not going to tell you.
But you know whats in the book by heart, dont you? You can write down exactly whats in there, right?
Toni had always told him to trust his instincts, and Freddy knew what his instincts were telling him to do now. They were telling him to run.
Freddy turned and ran toward the door. Had his hand on the knob when Delilah caught him from behind and put something over his face that smelled funny.
He tried to fight but . . .
Oriana was in the backyard, putting off packing until she could finish this letter to her favorite teacher. She knew how important it was to make a good impression. Maybe one day she could afford to be a demanding diva with others besides her family, but until then, shed have to do what she could to make sure those who would be helping her career only had good memories of her. So they would not only remember what an amazing dancer she was but how easy she was to work with.
As she struggled over her second paragraph, she heard the back door open, but didnt bother to raise her head fromwhat she was doing until she heard that Roy guy greeting someone with, Hey, sweetheart.
Worried he was hitting on Cherisewho God knew, couldnt handle the pressureOriana looked up to see the big idiot walk into the kitchen and close the door behind him. Then she heard the side gate open and glanced over. It wasnt Cherise, thoughit was Delilah, which Oriana couldnt care less about. But then Oriana saw that her sister held an unconscious Freddy in her arms . . .
Oriana knew he was passed out because poor little Freddy rarely slept. He especially didnt sleep at nine oclock at night. She shot off the bench and went after her sister, using her hands to flip her body up and over the gate since she didnt want to bother opening it. When she landed on her feet, she charged flat out for Dels back, ramming into her with her full weight.
But Delilah was surprisingly strong. Other than a small stumble, she didnt fall. Instead she turned and shoved Oriana off, then continued walking, heading toward a running car on the street.
Oriana charged again. Give him to me! she ordered her sister.
With one arm holding on tight to Freddy, Del grabbed Oriana by the back of the head, turned, and using the energy of that, rammed her face-first into the side of the house.
And that was pretty much the last thing Oriana remembered.
Kyle saw Oriana running and disappearing over the side gate in the backyard. He knew his sister. Oriana didnt run. She didnt jog. She definitely didnt flip herself over six-foot-tall fencesunless she really had to. Glancing at Troytheyd come out here to fight in peace about . . . something, he couldnt even remember nowKyle ran after his sister. Unlike Oriana, he had to stop to open the gate, but by the time he made it through, he saw Delilah shove Oriana into the house. Hard. Heard something crack. Saw blood splatter even in the darkness.
No!
Kyle ran over to his sisters side, sliding to a stop on his knees. Troy ran past them to follow Delilah as she got into the waiting car and drove off with Freddy.
Troy yelled after the car, just screamed Freddys name.
When Kyle couldnt wake up Oriana, he leaned his head back and let out a wailing howl until every adult on the street was there.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Chuck Roberts left his office in the church and walked to the back door. Someone had been knocking for a bit and hed chosen to ignore it as long as he could. The rest of the church members had gone to the farm, but Chuck had stayed behind because he refused to buy into this con. He knew better.
He and Chris had been friends for a long time and theyd always enjoyed money. But Chuck had no illusions about what they were or where theyd come from. Chris, however, had begun to buy into all this bullshit. Believing the worship. Crazy.