Cruel Devil: Chapter 18

“She needs more time,” I tell Allie, who gives me a worried look.

“It’s been days,” she says, like I don’t already know that.

“I know but she… she asked for more time. I’m not going to push her if she isn’t ready.”

Allie gives Bibiana a pointed look. “Maybe we can—”

“B, no. She said no. The answer is no.” Neither girl looks happy with my answer.

“She has classes. She’s—”

“I spoke with the admin. They notified her teachers of the situation.”

Allie’s eyes widen. “Oh. Wow. That was really thoughtful of you.”

I grunt. “She’s got enough to worry about.” They both do.

Aaron’s in the other room, phone held up to his ear. He’s been handling funeral arrangements. Trying to get the body transported back to Sun Valley so he can host a funeral, but it’s a slow-going process with a lot of paperwork and hoops to jump through.

“How’s he doing?” I ask Allie.

She purses her lips. “As good as can be expected. He’s talking about it which is good. He’s not holding everything in and letting the pressure build but—“

He snaps the phone shut and throws it across the room where it shatters against the wall. Yeah, he’s handling shit well alright.

“Aaron?” I call, drawing his attention. “What’s up?”

His chest is heaving as he fights to pull himself together. “I have to fly out to Florida. They won’t release the body without me physically confirming it’s her and signing off on some paperwork.”

He runs his hands through his hair, his movements agitated.

“When do you need to go?” I ask.

“As soon as I can get there. I need to check flights and—”

“I got it.”

He frowns.

“Peretti and Price has a company jet. I’ll set it up. Just tell me when.”

He swallows hard and nods. “Thanks, man.”

“No worries. You want me to go with you?”

He looks at the door leading to the guest room, and I know what he’s thinking. I don’t like the idea of leaving Kasey alone any more than he does, but the thought of him dealing with this alone doesn’t sit well, either.

“You should talk to her,” I suggest, but he shakes his head. “I’m serious, man. She could use her big brother.”

“How does that help her? I can’t tell her it’s going to be okay when I don’t believe it myself, man. So what can I do? How can I fix this, because as far as I see it, I can’t.” He hangs his head and walks out of the room, his shoulders hunched and head hanging low.

“One of us can go with him,” Allie says. “You take care of our girl. They’ll get through this.”

I want to believe her, but it’s been four days since I brought Kasey back to our place. Four days and she’s barely moved from the guest room. She’s not eating. She never talks. It’s like the girl has gone catatonic. I don’t know what to do and Aaron’s been fucking worthless, not that I can blame the guy.

He’s either gone to Allie and Roman’s or he’s locked in his room, and now he’s going to fly to florida. How long will that take? How much longer can Kasey hide before shit gets serious?

“Yeah, okay. I’ll make some calls and set up his flight. Just …” I hesitate, but someone else needs to know. I can’t watch them both twenty-four seven. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Without needing to be asked, Bibiana excuses herself. “I’m going to head home. Call me if she changes her mind and wants to talk, okay?”

I nod and give her a quick hug goodbye, being careful of her swollen belly. She has a few months left, but already she looks ready to pop. When she’s gone, I turn to Allie and consider what to tell her.

“Aaron’s been dealing with … things.”

She raises a brow. “Yeah. His mom just died.”

I shake my head. “More than that. I can’t tell you the how or why. I shouldn’t be telling you any of this so don’t repeat it, not even to Roman. Okay?”

She nods, worry crossing over her face.

“Aaron has PTSD.”

She opens her mouth to ask a question, but I raise my hand to stop her. “Like I said. I can’t tell you the why or the how. That’s his story to tell when he’s ready, but it’s been getting worse. He wasn’t handling it well before his mom died and now, well, it’s not going to get any better. He’s just ignoring one problem in place of the other, and eventually the other shoe is going to drop. He doesn’t sleep enough. He gets these night terrors where he wakes up panicked and drenched in sweat. And loud noises can set him off. Almost like a panic attack where he feels like the walls are closing in.”

“Has he talked to anyone?”

I shake my head. “He won’t see a shrink. I’ve tried but he refuses. I just… you need to know what to look out for because he’s getting worse, not better.”

She nods. “Okay. What do I need to know.”

Fuck. Where did I even begin? “He needs to be in a relaxed environment as much as possible. No parties. No loud, sudden noises. He tries to push it. He thinks if he exposes himself to the shit that sets him off that it’ll desensitize him to it, but that doesn’t work. Video games with shooters can be a trigger. The smell of smoke. If he doesn’t sleep for more than three days he’s got pills he’s supposed to take to help with that. They knock him out, but he wakes up feeling hungover so he doesn’t like taking them, but if he’s not sleeping he has to. It gets worse when he doesn’t.”

She nods. “Okay. I can look out for that.”

I take a breath and tell her the last thing. “If you startle him, he can lash out. Physically. He pulls himself back once he recognizes you but he’s landed a punch a time or two. For me, that’s not a problem. With you or another chick, it will be. Don’t surprise him. If you walk in a room and he’s spacing out, call his name. Don’t touch him until he acknowledges you. Got it?”

“Yeah. I got it.”

“Good. I’m gonna make a few calls and get that flight sorted out. Let me know if shit changes with him or if you need me for anything else.”

She nods and I go to my room to make the call. My parents will kill me for this. Not because they give a shit if I use the jet, but because we had an agreement I wouldn’t use Price assets unless I was willing to be an active member of the family—which I’m not—but it’ll take them a while to notice, and what they don’t know won’t hurt them. It’ll just bite me in the ass later.