𝐒𝐌𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐘

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈 ━ 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔤𝔯𝔢𝔢𝔡

chapter thirty eight
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Kane held (Y/N) for a long time as she cried, her face buried in his shoulder while she gripped the fabric of his shirt hard. He didn't mind this, as he was forever grateful to her for even being his friend in the first place, something he held close to his heart. In fact, if he were being entirely honest, he considered (Y/N) to be his family even if they weren't related by blood, and he knew he would always see her that way.

It was why he so easily could be there for her.

"I'm sorry for everything," he murmured softly after she had finally stopped crying, resting his cheek against the top of her head. "Truly."

"Thank you," she uttered hoarsely.

"You're welcome."

After a moment longer, the silence only broken by (Y/N)'s occasional sniffling, she finally pulled away to lean back against the pillows on her bed while Kane stayed perched on the edge. He watched her for a second more before he looked down at his hands that now lay limply on his lap, wishing he could do more for her than just hug her. Then again, there wasn't much else he could do unless he could miraculously raise Dante and Katherine from the dead.

Then again, it wouldn't be called a miracle to do such a thing if he could.

"You want me to stay the night?" Kane then asked, leaning back on his hand as he gazed her quizzically, hoping she'd say 'yes' so that way she at least wouldn't be alone—minus her stepfather, but Devon couldn't be her friend unlike Kane. "It's okay if you don't want me to, I won't be offended. I just thought to extend my company."

"Yeah..." (Y/N) smiled softly, her eyes warming at his suggestion. "That would be great."

"Would Devon mind?"

"I'm not sure... I should ask, though, since this is his apartment after all..." she sighed as she picked up her phone to text Devon.

However, before her fingers could even graze his contact information to send a message, she heard the sound of the front door opening downstairs, signaling that Devon had arrived home. It was late afternoon by that point, which aligned with the usual time when he came back from work. Letting Kane help her up, (Y/N) walked with him to the railing to look down at the front space, finding Devon there slipping off his shoes and shedding his jacket. When he did so, she slightly curled in on herself, reminded of the time of how he went through such actions to sleep with her.

Quickly, she shook those thoughts aside.

"Devon?" She called whilst looking down at him, watching as he craned his neck back to meet her gaze, a smile lighting up on his lips when spotting her only for the look to disappear into a scowl when his eyes next found Kane.

"What is he doing here?" Devon uttered, clearly displeased by the situation.

"My friend died," (Y/N) announced, noticing how Devon's expression barely twitched as if such information was useless to him, something that heavily unsettled her. "I called Kane because he's also my friend—my closest friend, in fact. I needed someone like that today, and he came. So, I was wondering if he could stay for the evening?"

"Absolutely not," Devon growled.

"Why not?"

"Because I will not allow a boy and you, my stepdaughter, to sleep in the same room without supervision," he continued despite the hypocrisy to his words, having not even noticed them in the first place. "So, again, no. My decision is final."

"Fine, but can't he at least stay for dinner?" (Y/N) tried to negotiate. "It's getting late."

Devon felt his frustrations only building.

Why couldn't she understand?

Why couldn't she just rely on him only?

At this point, he wanted to go upstairs and kill Kane himself if he had to, just to rip him away from (Y/N). He found it irritation how, as soon as he had dealt with Dante, he was reminded of the fact that Kane was also someone who needed to be eliminated. Headache upon headache was what these two boys were who practically latched onto (Y/N) like leeches, holding onto her despite his best efforts. However, as much as he wanted to control (Y/N) and who she was around, he knew he couldn't—at least, not yet he couldn't. If she was content this way, he'd loosen the reigns just a bit. Then, when she would not be suspecting it nor would she notice, he would pull her back in just as quickly.

"Fine," Devon consented with a rather sharp edge to his voice, as if he were forcing himself to concede to (Y/N)'s wishes, which he was. "He can stay for dinner, but not any longer than that. Do I make myself clear, (Y/N)?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Good," he mumbled before disappearing into the kitchen, presumably to cook dinner.

"Well..." Kane blinked as he leaned his elbows against the railing. "It's very obvious he does not like me. Wonder what I did..."

"Yeah..." (Y/N) trailed off.

She stared at the spot where Devon had disappeared into the kitchen, her frown deepening as she recalled the rather wrathful and envious look glimmering within those green eyes of his. It was a look that sent shudders crawling all up and down her body from how intense it was, and how dreadful it felt to be seared through to her very soul. It was something she didn't want to experience again, and now, as she turned to face Kane who was staring at her curiously due to her silence, she realized how dark her stepfather's intentions really were.

She inhaled sharply.

"(Y/N)?" Kane raised a brow, worry soon creasing his features once again. "You okay?"

"I don't know..." she mumbled as she met his eyes, her brows furrowing in a rather troubling way that immediately put him on guard. "I'm just hoping that what I'm thinking is proven wrong."

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To be continued...