Honor II (The Lost Borough: Gravehart Grove #4)

Chapter 1

One

Chosyn Gravehart

Where the hell is Navy?

Too much time had passed since Navy left to use the bathroom.

I started to follow her out of our section but thought it best to give her space.

She was dealing with a lot but not dealing with it at the same time.

Navy was such a sweep-it-under-the-rug kind of person that getting her to open up was like pulling teeth at first. Anything that bothered her, she let go of the moment someone else needed her.

And that someone always seemed to be Honor.

Grabbing my purse, I pulled out my phone to text her just in case she'd left the bathroom and slipped out of the club to go upstairs to the hotel. When I unlocked my phone, I saw a text from Wolfe.

Wolfie

Honor and Crown are on their way. Crown's pissed y'all got River in the club pregnant.

Shaking my head at the text, I grabbed River by the forearm and pulled her close.

"What's wrong?" she asked, eyes already searching my face.

"Crown's on his way." I showed her my phone, letting her read the text for herself.

"Shit," she panicked, unlocking her own phone. "He's going to kill me, Chosyn. He called like twenty times. How did he even know we were here?"

"It's Honor's club, River. It wouldn't be hard for him to find out," I answered with a laugh.

"Shut up, Chosyn," she snapped, reaching out and grabbing Kysre by the arm.

"Whoa, River, when did you get so strong?" Kysre giggled.

"About the same time you got drunk," River shot back. "I need you to drive me home. Crown is on his way, and I gotta leave before he gets here."

"Why, if he already knows you're here?" Kysre asked, frowning.

"I don't know, but it makes sense to me, so are you gonna drive me or not?"

"Or not. Crown won't kill me for driving you home drunk," Kysre said, and she was right. None of us were in any condition to drive after all the shots we'd taken.

"Fuck!" River groaned, tugging at her curls. Her lip started to tremble, and I knew she was about to start crying. "Chosyn, I need to get home."

"River, none of us can drive, and Crown already knows you were here. Leaving doesn't change that."

"Yeah, but I'm still—" she whined, and I looked at her like she'd lost her mind.

"Take your ass upstairs," I flatly told her. "Text Crown that you're in the penthouse, shower, and wait for him naked. You being at the club won't even matter at that point."

Her face lit up. "You might be right!" River giggled, turning toward the girls. "Kysre, come help me up to the room so you can grab everyone's stuff."

"Damn, you kicking us out? I thought we were having a sleepover in the penthouse," Kysre pouted.

Shaking my head, I stepped around them and leaned toward Honey, "I'm going to find Navy. Honor and Crown are on their way."

"Okay." She nodded. "I'll text you if the men get here before you come back."

"Okay."

I moved out of the section, walked past the bar, and pushed through the doors leading into the hallway. I rounded the corner just as the bathroom door swung open.

The fine man we ran into at Navy's office stepped out first, rubbing his jaw like he was trying to work something into his skin.

"Funny seeing you here," I commented, and then Navy walked out behind him.

"Chosyn!" she squealed, jumping back.

"Are you going to introduce me?" I asked, making note of the way the stranger angled himself slightly in front of Navy. "Since you didn't introduce us earlier."

"Oh, uh… Solace, this is my friend—"

"Best friend," I corrected.

"My best friend Chosyn. Chosyn, this is… um, Solace."

"Does Solace have a last name?"

My eyes wandered over his tall, wiry frame, noticing the watchful stillness in his posture, the kind that told you he was aware of everything, yet felt the need to speak on nothing.

"A last name isn't meant to be given freely," he answered. The buttery toffee hue of Navy's skin deepened to red the second we caught eyes.

I raised an eyebrow, smirking, "Ooh, we're mysterious and protective, I see."

Solace's gaze flickered to Navy before it settled back on me. "Something like that."

Navy pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, twisting the ends around her finger.

"Interesting choice of words," I told him.

Solace shrugged nonchalantly. "Interesting or honest?"

"I guess only time will tell. Isn't that right, Navy?"

"Uh… yeah, well… I think—"

"Aye," Solace called toward her, and her eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Breathe," he reminded her. "Remember what I said to you and pretty."

Navy swallowed hard, staring at Solace in a way I've never seen her look at Honor.

With Honor, she gazed at him as if he were someone worth saving, like a hurt dog she'd nursed back to health.

But the way she stared at Solace, a fucking stranger, was the kind of look you wear standing at the edge of a plane right before you skydive, panic mixed with exhilaration.

"I remember," she muttered, so softly that if I hadn't been paying attention, I would've missed it.

"Ight, keep your promise to me, love."

"I'm not—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." He chuckled.

Solace leaned forward, dropping a kiss on her forehead, then turned to me.

"Nice meeting you." He smirked and walked off in the direction I'd just come from.

"Navy," I started, but she held her hand up, shaking her head.

"I can't right now," she sniffled, dropping her head.

"You don't have a choice. Crown and Honor are on their way here," I told her, and the mention of Honor's name made her body shudder as tears spilled onto her cheeks.

"What did I do?" she cried.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. I thought you didn't know Solace."

"I don't."

"Then what—"

"Oh my god, the cameras," she blurted, jerking her head toward the one pointed at the bathroom. "Cho…Chosyn, we have to delete the footage."

I scanned the hall as my mind raced.

Are the camera feeds live?

Did Honor have his phone synced?

"Okay. Is there a security panel anywhere around here?"

Navy grabbed my arm, tugging me toward the corner where the panel blinked.

"I…I don't know how to work this shit," she snapped as she tapped the screen, fingers trembling.

"Shit," I hissed.

"Come on!" Navy grabbed my hand, and we bolted down the hallway, the clicking of our heels echoing off the walls.

"Where are we going?" I asked, feeling out of breath.

"Honor's office," she replied. "Maybe we can delete it from there before he has a chance to watch the feed from his phone."

"Do you think deleting it from the computer will delete it from his phone?" I asked, praying she had thought this through.

"I hope so."

We slipped through the door at the end of the hall. Honor's office looked exactly how I thought it would. No pictures of family, an expensive desk, and monitors everywhere. Navy rounded his desk, then froze, and I could feel her panic spike.

"Now isn't the time to freeze up. Whatever you did in that bathroom with Solace, own it and delete the fucking evidence," I urged. She hesitated for a second, then logged into Honor's computer.

"There," she whispered, pointing at the live feed showing the bathroom.

"Okay, now delete all the footage from today," I said, crouching beside her to watch. My pulse raced, every second feeling like an eternity, and I still didn't know what the hell just happened.

Navy's hands moved over the keyboard, navigating through a bunch of stuff I didn't understand.

"I… I think I did it," she muttered, sweat beading on her forehead.

"Don't think, you need to know for sure."

Her eyes locked on the screen, and the feed disappeared before coming back online a few seconds later. She exhaled shakily, leaning back in her chair.

"Everything before now should be deleted," she whispered.

"Good," I stood up and folded my arms across my chest. "That's one problem solved. Now, tell me what happened."

"Nothing happened."

"Bullshit. You don't walk out of a bathroom calmly with a stranger, and nothing happened."

"Just leave it alone, Chosyn," she fussed, rolling her eyes.

I narrowed mine. "Navy, you can lie and say nothing happened, but I know it did."

"I'm not lying!" she snapped.

"Then why are you so shaky?"

Her eyes darted toward the door, then fell on me. "Whatever happened meant nothing."

"I would hope so since you claim not to know that nigga, but nothing has your skin glowing after you've been walking around looking sad and ashy all day," I half-joked.

"And you didn't say anything about me being ashy?" She frowned.

"It wasn't the kind lotion could fix. Now what happened?"

"I… he's… it's complicated," she whispered.

"Complicated isn't the word I'd use, but you gotta do better than that. Navy, I saw the way you walked out of that bathroom, the way Solace stood like he was protecting you. If I can see a difference in you, what makes you think Honor won't?"

Navy's eyes glanced toward me, and in them I saw conflict. Confusion over whatever she'd done with Solace and the consequences that would follow if Honor ever found out.

"I won't lie and say I don't wanna be in your business because I do. You've only ever been with Honor, so for you to fuck—"

"I didn't sleep with Solace," she blurted.

"Okay. Then whatever you did leads me to a million questions. But aside from that, I want to help and be there for you. We can take this to the grave, or we can tell Honor. Whatever you wanna do, I'll stand beside you, but I have to know what you did if I'm going to stand in the fire with you."

Navy took a deep breath, pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, and started toying with the ends. I started to say something else, but the look she gave me shut me right up.