Free Blood Lust by T. Lynne Tolles

and texted Blake and Rowan.
    I’m coming home. NOW. See you tomorrow. And then she turned off her phone and grabbed her suitcase. She continued down the hall to the stairs where she met Dominic coming up.
    “Oh dear, please don’t tell me you are leaving.”
    “I’m so sorry, Mr. Larsen. Blake should have never made that deal with you and Devon. It was a mistake to come here. I’m so sorry for imposing. I hope your son will get better soon.” She hugged him tightly and without letting him say another word she went out the front door.
    “Wait. Please, Darby, come back.” By the time Dominic was at the door, the cab was pulling away. He bellowed, “Devon Michael Bloomington, come here, NOW!”
    As Devon approached Dominic, his shirt pocket started chiming. He reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone to see a text from Blake:
    What the Hell Bro? What did you say to Darby?
    Dominic looked at him sternly.
    “Yes, Dominic, what is it?” Devon said.
    “What exactly did you say to Darby to make her leave?”
    “She left?”
    “Just caught the tail lights of the cab.”
    “Perfect,” he said with sarcasm.
    “Perfect? Hardly. What is wrong with you? It’s one thing to be rude to me, I probably deserve it, but you have been horrible to her ever since we left California.”
    “Well, this isn’t the easiest situation to deal with.”
    “This situation to which you are referring…was something that happened years ago, Devon. You’re willing to screw up your future, for something that’s been over for years?”
    “Over for you and Anton, but not for me.”
    “Well, if that’s the case, then it’s a good thing she left. You don’t deserve her love.”
    “What? What do you mean by that?”
    “I mean, you’d be a very, very stupid man to let Darby go.”
    “What do you know of it?”
    “How happy were you before I showed up in California? I’m guessing pretty happy. All those happy faces of friends and loved ones at the table, having a good time, until I walked in and you changed immediately. I may be going out on a limb here, but you’ve been taking out all your aggression towards me, Anton, and this situation, on Darby. It’s what you do, Devon. I’ve watched it happen over and over again for years, like a broken record. Whenever you get into a situation you don’t like or can’t handle, you go into your turtle shell. Then the anger comes lashing out at anyone and anything that tries to help or befriend you.
    “Darby oozes love for you and you won’t even look at her when she speaks to you. I heard you in the library the first night. She tried to help you, talk to you. She gave you an opportunity in the car, too. She sat with you for hours in the cottage. There have probably been numerous other times since you’ve arrived.”
    “This doesn’t concern you, Dominic. I’m a grown man. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my own problems.”
    “Are you, Devon? From where I’m standing, you haven’t even had a serious relationship since...”
    “That has nothing to do with this.”
    “I think it does. I think all of this has to do with that, right down to Darby herself.”
    “That’s ridiculous.”
    “Really. Have you even tried to talk to Anton since you’ve been here? That is why you came, isn’t it?”
    “No, I haven’t talked to him. I’ve been busy.”
    “Busy doing what? Avoiding Darby, Anton, and me? Why was it so inappropriate for Darby to take Anton his breakfast?”
    “Because she wasn’t dressed. She had never even been introduced to him. You don’t meet someone in your pajamas.”
    “You do if you are the milkman, maybe a paperboy. Or maybe it has nothing to do with introductions at all; maybe you’re afraid that history will repeat itself? You bring someone home to meet the family and whoosh , you’re right back in the loop again. That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You didn’t want Darby to meet Anton. You were terrified it would happen again. So