Chapter 14 #2
Hearing Zev echo Isa’s favorite refrain reignited Locke’s irritation. Maybe it was due to lack of sleep or simply the fact that Locke was still stewing over their early-morning conversations, but either way, he couldn’t suppress an annoyed snort.
Rory shot him a look. “Anything happens to him, it’s your ass, Turon.”
He lifted his hands from his cup and held them, palms up, in mock surrender. “Like Zev said, we’re just going to ask him a couple of questions.” He reclaimed his cup. “Besides, Maeve doesn’t like shit going down at her place.”
The Transporter frowned. “You know, I could always ask around, see what I can find out about this Angel guy. Might be safer than getting into it with Beto.”
“No!” The denial erupted in stereo.
She rolled her eyes. “Chill. Jeez, you two. Fine.”
Disgruntled, Locke looked at Zev. “You told her?”
“You wanted a meet with Montenegro,” the other man said, clearly unrepentant. “She could get us one but wanted to know why, so I told her about your run-in at the club.”
“The guy sounds like a douche,” Rory added.
“Oh, he’s definitely a douche. He’s got a hard-on for Isa, but it’s not like she takes it seriously.
” Locke caught Rory’s repeat of Isa’s name and Zev’s responding nod but ignored both as his resentment and frustration boiled over.
“I swear to all that’s holy and unholy, for a smart woman, she’s being pretty fucking stupid, thinking I’m going to—what?
Just leave her curvy ass out there so that dick can tag it? As if that was a fucking option.”
“And yet you’re here and she’s… where?” Zev’s voice was carefully neutral as he let go of Rory.
“Back at the damn bar with Des. Telling me she’ll be fine,” Locke snarled—he was coming to hate that word—“when I know damn well she’s just waiting for me to walk away.”
“And will you?” Rory asked, her dark eyes on him, deadly serious, as she stood next to Zev.
Something in her face had him checking his temper. “No, but getting her to believe that is next to impossible.”
Rory’s lips twitched. “Of course it is,” she said with a whisper of amusement.
He narrowed his eyes. “What?”
She continued to study him, the hard edges fading. Finally, she shook her head. “Nothing, just putting some pieces together.”
“Rory,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Locke,” she shot back in the same aggrieved tone before sighing.
“Look, seriously, it’s really nothing. Though I have to admit I’m super surprised Wonderland is mixed up in this at all.
I mean, Cass is all about staying out of shit.
” Rory grimaced. “Correction—she’ll stay out of shit, but she won’t hesitate to stir it up. ”
“Cass is in Vegas, dealing with a family thing, and Grayson’s with her,” Locke told her, not wanting to get into the death of Cass’s grandmother.
“And Wonderland is not mixed up in this.” If that rumor got off the ground, Isa would never forgive him.
“I needed insight into the club scene, and Isa could provide it. That should have been the end of the story.”
“But…?” Rory prompted.
“But she refused to back off, and now she’s back in that narcissistic asshole’s crosshairs.
” And it’s my fault, gods dammit. Unexpected guilt socked him in the gut, leaving him winded.
It didn’t matter that Isa wouldn’t have stopped digging into Leo’s death.
Locke could have made her, right? He muttered a curse and rubbed a hand over his face.
“I know that look,” Zev said.
Locke dropped his hands to look to his friend. “What look?”
Zev motioned to his face. “That one.” He folded his arms as he leaned a hip against the counter. “I don’t know Isa well, but she doesn’t strike me as the shrinking-violet type.”
Rory’s snort had Locke switching his glare to her. “What?” he snapped.
She pressed her lips together and shook her head, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Nothing.” When he continued to glare at her, she added, “Honestly, I didn’t say a word, Locke.”
“Your face did.”
Emotions washed through Rory’s eyes, too fast to follow. She looked at Zev, brows raised. He tilted his head and shook it.
The entire silent conversation took a matter of moments, then she turned back to Locke. “All right, I’m going to be brutally honest here because I like Isa and I like you, but I know you and can only guess about her.”
He did not like where this was headed.
“I don’t know her history, but chances are she grew up like I did—no family, no real support, only herself to rely on.
Which means trust and loyalty are not given—they’re earned, and not easily.
My guess is only Cass and Des have managed to win that prize, but everyone else?
” Rory shook her head. “They have to prove themselves. Prove that they won’t eventually turn and stab her in the back. ”
He really didn’t like how uncomfortable this made him feel. “I’m not going to fuck her over.”
“No, not intentionally,” Rory said. “But can you admit you might?”
Isa’s words from the previous night settled like a stone in his gut: “I think if it comes down to a question of Family priorities, the Family wins.”
Didn’t I already choose Family needs over hers when I pushed her to use her magic to question Leo, and again when I took her to the Den?
Rory kept going, mercilessly driving her point home.
“I’ve met your parents. They adore you, and for the most part, you’ve always known who you were and what your place was.
Which is why when you commit to someone or something, your loyalty is incorruptible.
That’s a hell of a thing, and for someone like me or Isa, it’ll never happen.
At least, that’s what we believe. We’ve grown up being told we’re less than, that no one values us because we have nothing of value to offer.
Or that our only value is what we can give someone else.
That constant doubt, it’s corrosive, and when someone finally dares to tell us we are worth the risk, it scares the shit out of us because if we let them in, all it will take is one perceived rejection or betrayal to destroy what we managed to salvage.
So when someone like you, who enjoys the chase, decides to run us down, as thrilling as it is initially, the reality is we’re all about self-protection, which means we’ll fight tooth and nail to keep you out. ”
Aching and angry at himself and the whole fucked-up situation, he snapped, “So I should just walk away? Wouldn’t that just reinforce all the twisted shit she believes?”
“Is that really an option?” Zev asked.
“No.” Locke didn’t even have to think about it.
“Okay, then,” Rory said. “So, say she lets you catch her. What happens next?”
“I don’t know, but I want a chance to find out.”
“She might not give it to you.”
“Then I’ll have to earn it.”
“I hope you get that chance.”
So did he. “I’m not sure I like you right now, Rory.”
“That’s okay. I still like you.” On the counter, her phone vibrated. She picked it up and checked the screen. “Shit, I’ve got to go.” She turned to Zev, gave him a quick kiss, then told him she’d text him later. She gave Locke a finger wave, then she was running out the door.
In the quiet that followed her exit, Zev asked, “Want some advice from someone who’s been there?”
Emotions churning, Locke managed a short nod.
“Be patient,” Zev said.
Locke waited a beat. “That’s it? That’s all you’ve got?”
Zev shrugged. “You want her to let you in, so you need to show her you’re willing to do the work to be there. That you see her as an equal, not someone to fix or save. And heads up, it’ll be a lot of work.”
Of that Locke had no doubt. “But it will be worth it.”
“Definitely,” Zev said.
Locke settled into a chair across from Zev at a table in Haven’s Corner.
The small, witchy café was nestled in a strip mall up in the Camelback Corridor.
From her stool behind the counter, Maeve, the owner, was armed with her ever-present knitting needles as she kept a benevolent eye on the customers.
Her current project was an eye-searing collection of greens and yellows.
“Who suggested meeting here?” Locke broke off a piece of crumbly scone and popped it into his mouth.
“Me.” Zev’s gaze roamed over the midmorning patrons. “It’s not his normal scene, so less of a chance of running into anyone he knows.”