The Victim (Book #1)

Chapter 46

When 6 PM rolled around and a couple of minutes had passed, I sat eagerly on the couch near the front door. Primarily because I wanted to be the one to welcome JJ. Also, because I hadn't told her about the boys yet, and I didn't want her opening the door to Dominic or Damon looking all intimidating.

When the doorbell rang through the house, I flew to the door and ripped it open.

Immediately I was embarrassed. Instead of the girl around my height and around my age that I had been expecting, a girl who looked like a model stood at the door and smiled warmly at me. Her long dark hair fell over her shoulders smoothly and her white teeth contrasted beautifully with her dark skin.

"Oh." I said in surprise, pulling back inside and laughing a little.

She let out a small laugh that sounded like a bell and said "Hello! I'm Christine. I'm looking for Dominic?"

I cleared my throat to try to think of something clever or at least sensible to say but before I could speak, I was cut off.

"Hey Christine!" Dominic said as he leaned over me and gave her a quick peck on the lips. I ducked down and looked up at him in disgust. He kissed girls? He was... Dominic! I couldn't exactly explain why, but that was just gross. He ruffled my hair playfully and smiled wryly at the girl beside us.

"This is my little sister, sort of." He explained as I got out of the way and she walked inside.

"It's nice to meet you!" She said in an easygoing way that I didn't expect. Was it possible to look like a model but be humble too?

"What's your name?" she asked, as Dominic grabbed her hand and tried to pull her away. She kept her feet firmly planted and gave me all of her attention. Ignoring Dominic and talking to me? I liked her already.

"Maya." I said, finally finding my voice.

"Beautiful name." she said. "Nice to meet you!" She called out as Dominic dragged her away and up towards his room with a wave.

"Call us when it's time for dinner, kid!" he said without a look in my direction. Wow. The second he has a pretty girl with him he forgets that we're friends. I'd have to find a way to remind him later. The only problem with not growing up with this crazy family was that I had no dirt or embarrassing secrets on any of them! Maybe Caleb would share some with me later...

The doorbell ringing once more broke me from my mischievous planning, and I took a giant step over to it, swinging it open and grinning once I saw my friend.

"JJ!" I yelled, giving her a hug. She squeezed me back immediately, yelling "Maya!"

I know we had just met, but there was something about her that made me think we would be friends for a while.

"Welcome to... the place where I'm living!" I said, trying to evade lying to her directly. I didn't want to share with her the truth about my past, but I didn't want to lie to her like I had to do at school with my name, either. It just made my stomach hurt.

"You could just call it "your house", you know?" she asked me sarcastically, rolling her eyes and then scoping out the front room excitedly.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU LIVE IN A MANSION!" she said, as she dragged me from room to room with her to check out all the corners. Finally! Someone who can see that this place is a castle!

"Yep. This is the castle and I'm the princess." I said faux-arrogantly, motioning to myself as if I were highly impressive. She laughed as we finished examining the downstairs.

"Can we go to your room, too?" she inquired curiously. I giggled at the full inspection she seemed to be performing.

"'Course." I said easily, as if I had done this all before. In truth, I didn't remember inviting friends over to my house as a kid. I wanted it to be my safe place, and that meant keeping everybody out, even if my uncle would've allowed anyone over. As I looked into JJ's shining eyes, I decided to let her in.