The Devil Behind Me (14 page)

Daimon had texted me, I guess our date night wasn’t called off.

What was he doing here? I looked at my phone it was just past eleven. I was too exhausted to go out, but I had no choice. I reached my door and took a hoodie I had hanging there and put it on. Maybe if he saw how sloppy I looked he’d leave me the hell alone tonight. I opened the door. The night was cold, strange since it was the beginning of summer. I walked down my little pathway to see Daimon leaning up against his car waiting for me. I opened my gate and made my way closer to him. He reached out his arms and took me in a hug. I stiffened and pushed him back.

“What the fuck?” I hissed.

“Am I that disgusting to you that you need to push me away?” he asked.

“You have to give me fair warning when you do that.” I stood st
upefied at how natural it felt, having his arms around me.

“You looked so pitiful that I couldn’t help it.”
Ah, the famous Daimon was now back. 

“I'm glad you pity me, I wonder how y
ou would treat me if you didn’t,” I remarked.

“How’s your dad?” he asked leaning back onto his car.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“
Yes.” He looked affronted. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his forehead. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“Checking to see if you have a fever
.” I laughed a little, putting my hand back into the pocket of my hoodie. He tried looking at my face, but I made it hard for him. The marks were now almost gone, but the bitch hit me hard. I could still feel it on my face even though it didn’t show.

“So as you can see I let you slid
e for today,” he said, shaking his head and giving up on trying to see if my face was all healed up. 

“Yeah thanks,
” I muttered under my breath.

“Don’t th
ank me so soon, Addie,” he smirked. “I want you to meet my family,” he said with a smile.

“That wasn’t part of the deal,
” I hissed.

“Yeah
, well, shit happens,” he shrugged.

“
Daimon, I’m not meeting your parents,” I challenged.

“I let you go early from last week’s gala
. I let you off the hook for today. Tomorrow you will come over and meet my fucking family and you will act loving and adoring,” he said grimly. “So much so it will be sickening.”

“
You fucking asshole! You did that on purpose so that you could have one up on me,” I said coldly.

“
Think what you want,” he said bluntly.

“
You’re an asshole,” I said bitterly.

“Addie,
don’t fucking push me.” He took one menacing step closer to me. “I will be back tomorrow to pick you up. Where are you going to be? At work or at home?” he asked waiting.

“Where do you think?”
I shouted.

“I’ll pick you up at four then.” He took out his key
, beeped his car alarm and slid inside. He drove off, leaving me there. Great! There goes my run. I headed inside and walked up to my father’s room.

“Daddy?”
I called out softly.

“Yes?”

“Daimon wants me to meet his family tomorrow. I’ll open the diner and you and Sofia can close it.”

“Ok
ay, Addie. Goodnight.”

I s
talked off to my room and threw myself onto the bed. Damn it all to hell.

Daimon
had sent me a pencil skirt all in black with a white sleeveless lace shirt and a jacket to match. Nothing to expose my back, I guess the debacle at the gala had taught him that much. 

“He has good taste,
” Silvia said as she looked over my suit. 

“I guess,
” I murmured as I saw the shoes, which were a simple black pump, even though I knew the price on them wasn’t simple at all. I looked at the time and it was nearly three thirty. Once my dad walked in, I headed to the bathroom and started to get dressed. 

“
Well you look beautiful.” My father smiled as he stood up from his seat and watched me come out of the bathroom.

“
You think?” I smiled gently at him. 

“
Daimon treats you well. I'm glad,” my father said softly. If he only knew. 

“
Daimon is good to me, Daddy.” I smiled reassuring him.

“I
am,” his cocky voice snapped me right back to reality. “Hello, Mr. Sakis,” Daimon said to my father as he reached out his hand and shook it.

“
Hello, Daimon. I see you’re taking my Addie with you tonight.”

“I promise to have her home
safely. I just wanted my family to meet her,” he smiled at my dad. “Well?” Daimon reached out his hand and waited for me to take it. I begrudgingly took his hand and he led me out to his car, which was parked right out front. 

“Get in
, Addie,” Daimon said as he unlocked the car doors. “So I treat you well do I?” he smirked as he walked around the front car.

“
Don’t push it, asshole. I'm still pissed,” I hissed as I got in.

“Wow
, Addie, here’s hoping that mouth of yours stays bitter and angry all night. Maybe I’ll have some entertainment.” He put his car into gear and drove off.

“Screw you,
” I bit out as I sat back into my seat and stared out the window. Daimon merely laughed.

He drove us to a
gorgeous home with a stone façade and plenty of windows. He parked the car and waited for me to get out.

I
nervously stood there. An intricate iron railing lined the stone steps that lead to two large dark wooden doors. There I stood in front of a four-story home in the middle of Manhattan. It must have been over a hundred-years-old, with its various high pointed rooftops and arched windows. Daimon took my hand and up we went to what I was certain would be one of the most uncomfortable nights of my life. He rang the bell and a few moments later a butler opened the door.

“Mr. Evans,” t
he butler said in a monotone voice. 

“Henry,”
Daimon said as we passed him. I pulled on his hand making Daimon stop. 

“I
t’s going to be all right, Addie. No one is going to hurt you here. No one would dare to. You’re mine. Remember that,” he said as he watched me closely.

I didn’t feel like his, I felt nerv
ous and lost. This was way out of my comfort zone. The foyer itself was bigger than my home and diner put together. Large paintings and expensive looking vases were placed everywhere. I was too afraid to even walk on the beautiful line carpet that headed inside. “Come on,” Daimon said under his breath. 

“Is that you
, Daimon?” I heard who I assumed was his mother.

“Yes
, it’s me,” he said sounding already annoyed.

“I'm glad you’re here. I met someone today and
invited her to stay for dinner,” she said happily. 

Once
Daimon and I turned the corner of this enormous home, I was confronted by a scene right out of Dallas, the TV show that is. A large fireplace was situated in the middle of the room lined with dark wood paneling. Large white drapes gracefully fell over the windows that looked outside to the busy streets of New York. That’s right, I was still in New York City. I stood awestruck at the sheer lavishness of the room. His mother, who looked younger probably due to plastic surgery, stopped what she was about to say. A thin line appeared where her lips were as she rose up from her seat and headed toward us. 

“I’ve invited Clara,” s
he said looking at me. Her eyes were piercing right through me. “But I see you have also invited your own little friend,” she said with such disdain that I already felt horrid about being here.

“You ha
ve your friends and I have mine,” Daimon said as he squeezed my hand.

“I can see that.” S
he gestured for us to walk in. “So I'm assuming this is the Addie who Clara has spoken so highly of.” She looked at me as she pointed to the couch that faced her. Daimon, still holding onto my hand, sat us both down in front of her.

“
Yes, I'm Addie Sakis,” I said quietly. 

“
It’s nice to meet you, Addie. You can call me Cindy. So I hear you work with your father at his little restaurant,” Cindy said coldly.

“
Yes.” I knew I was walking into a minefield. I needed to tread lightly and carefully choose my words.

“
It must have been hard to lose your mother at such a tender age, is that why you work with your father?” Cindy asked. I felt like I had just been hit, like a bomb blew up in my face. Daimon slowly turned his head at me and looked at me like all the pieces of who I was finally fit. 

“
Yes. Once she died, I needed to work. We had no other choice,” I said meekly. Daimon continued to stare at me; the sounds around the room were now muffled. His powerful glare and his intimidating posture, made me feel meek and small. I sunk back trying hard to hide behind Daimon. I not only wanted to shield myself from his mother’s constant barrage of questions but also from Daimon’s frightening demeanor. I watched as Clara snickered when she reached for her glass of wine.

“
Are the unnecessary questions done? I mean whatever happened to the regular getting to know you questions?” Daimon said harshly as he turned back.

“Darling
, I'm just asking her a few questions. If you were so afraid of that, then you shouldn’t have brought her here,” Cindy said calmly.

“
You’re right, I'm sorry.” Daimon said.

“
It’s quite all right, honey,” she said smugly.

“
Not you,” he said to her in a cold manner. “You were right and I'm sorry I brought you here,” Daimon said as he turned to me. “Well we’re here now, so we might as well enjoy the food.” Daimon pulled me up from the couch and yanked me out the room. We didn’t stop until we reached the kitchen. All the staff who were working ran out, leaving Daimon and I alone. 

“
Why didn’t you tell me about your mother?” Daimon bit out.

“
It isn’t something I easily talk about,” I said under my breath. “Besides, it’s your fault I'm here. If you didn’t have this weird need to control everything, I wouldn’t have been subjected to that,” I hissed and pointed to the door leading to the room we were in.

“
You think I did it to control you? You always fucking think the worse of me. You tell me to trust you, but you’re the one who fucking doesn’t trust me. So I wanted you here, so what? So it wasn’t part of the contract, what’s the fucking big deal? I brought you here because you make it bearable. I hate being around them, but with you here, I at least have my own person with me,” Daimon said bluntly as he hit his chest.

“
Trust? You want to talk about trust? You’re the one who can’t be fucking trusted. You do everything for your personal gain and nothing else,” I shouted in a hushed voice.

“
Me? You’re the one who never told me about your mother’s passing. Had you told me I could have prevented that,” he said outraged, pointing to the living room.

“You think to
o highly of yourself, Daimon. I doubt you could handle your parents, remember?” I alluded to him having to marry Clara. 

We both stood
glaring, both of us breathing erratically. Our hissing match was interrupted by the sounds of high heels knocking on the handcrafted ceramic floors. Someone was coming. But Daimon and I didn’t move an inch, neither one of us wanting to give way to the other.

“
Daimon?” Clara sang. 

“Oh
hark, do I hear the future wifey calling you?” I mocked, as her steps were growing louder. 

Daimon
looked fiercely at me as he reached for the back of my neck and dragged me in. Our lips met and our teeth hit, as he forced a stiff kiss on me. I tried to fight him off, but he fought harder. I had to stop it. I could hear her coming closer. His lips were firm as they moved fervently against my mouth. He held my face with both hands, feverishly kissing me. I needed to play my part, I kept saying to myself, as my body eased into it and gave in, kissing him back as hard as he was kissing me. I grabbed at his shirt and pulled him in, seeking his taste. He growled at my possessiveness. I was lost in his intoxicating flavor, a mix of whiskey and man.

“What t
he fuck!” Clara shouted. I pulled back, Daimon’s hands still held onto my face, but I pushed him off.
What the fuck just happened?
I thought as I tried to catch my breath. 

“
Do you mind Clara?” he snapped.

“Obviously
, you don’t,” she hissed. Daimon looked down at me, but I looked away. I couldn’t face him right now. 

“Clara,
do you mind telling me what your fucking problem is? Was it necessary for you to tell them about Addie? How old are you, really?” he said annoyed.

“
What? The little bitch told you I hit her, is that it?” she challenged.

“
It was her?” Daimon thumbed toward her as he asked me.

“I told you
it wasn’t anyone of importance,” I said still not looking at him. 

“You listen here.”
Daimon nearly leaped toward her, but I instinctively pulled him back. “You stay the hell away from my Addie,” he threatened as he pointed at her.

“
Please, your Addie. What is it with you two, you own her, and she owns you. Don’t you care that I want you?” she glared at me.

“No, not really. You seriously disgust me,” he snarled. So Daimon was a prick to everyone and here I thought I was special.

“
What? Why?” she asked in shock.

“
You really want to know?” he asked as he inched closer to her. “Because only you would stoop low enough to use Addie’s mother’s death as an advantage. It’s sickening, and you’re sickening,” he said maliciously.

“
Come on, Addie. I owe you a nice dinner.” He grabbed my wrist and stalked out of the house. He kept pulling at my arm for at least two blocks. I finally yanked my hand away, pissed that he kept doing that. 

“What?” he hissed.

“Can’t you at least ask me to leave with you? Why do you have to grab my fucking wrist every single time? Seriously, do you think I'm Drako? Even your dog gets more freedom than me,” I seethed, massaging my wrist. 

“Why did
n’t you tell me about your mother?” he asked again, his voice hard and cold.

“I told you
, I don’t talk about it, not to you and not to anyone,” I snapped.

“Does Darren know?” he asked. His question threw me.

“What?”

“Does Darr
en know?” he took a step closer and repeated

“Yes, he came to the funeral,
” I said as I looked at him stunned.

“Son of a bitch,
” Daimon brooded.

“What’s your problem?” I snapped.

“My problem is you, Addie,” he shouted. “You! You’re my fucking problem. I paid you to be my girlfriend; I spent money on you. I took the fucking time to think of you and yet here you are tight lipped about everything,” he yelled. “I had to find out about your dad and your mom from other people. Thankfully, I somehow wrangled Frank out of you. What is it about you that you can’t trust anyone? I told you my problem, you can do what you want with it, yet you tell me nothing about you. Fuck!” he roared at the top of his lungs.

“
Why should I trust you? You and I made a deal, Daimon, nothing else,” I tried reminding him.

“
You’re right, Addie. I forgot, if money isn’t involved Addie doesn’t play,” he bitterly.

“
Daimon, I don’t get you. You said no one is to know. Yet you’re out here yelling it out for the world to hear,” I shouted.

Daimon
’s piercing blue eyes watched me; he was transfixed as he stood in the middle of the street, thinking. I had no clue. Daimon slowly put his hands on his hips and began shaking his head as the very lips, which kissed me; those soft, perfect lips began to disappear into a thin line. He gave me one last look then left me there. The fucker stranded me in middle of downtown New York, with no money and no way home. God, why was this man so fucking frustrating? Fine! I didn’t tell him about my mother, so what? I didn’t want him to know, but he kept diving in deeper into my life and unraveled nearly every thread.