BLOODY WEDDING, PART II #3
Now that? That leaves me so damn gobsmacked, I don’t speak—not because I can’t, but because I have no fucking idea how to respond to that.
Secretly, I’m relieved. Not saying that Dallas is going to be a great replacement King, but he’s better than Jack.
Less cruel, and if Loni somehow wants to be Mrs. Adrian Heller, I have no doubt in my mind that Dallas will back up his cousin when it comes to Adrian’s Claim to her.
Jack Collins was a bastard. He ran the Order into the ground, and at the beginning of summer, when Connor mentioned that the head of the Order was auctioning off non-Offering Order women in the basement of the Fortress for big amounts of cash, we both decided that it was safer for me to stay inside where I couldn’t be captured again.
But now he’s dead, and Loni’s home, and nothing is like what I thought it was two seconds ago and I… I’m suddenly completely overwhelmed.
I start to walk backward toward the bedroom door. Before I can get too far, Connor calls out to me: “Where are you going now, sweetheart?”
I point down.
“Maybe you should leave the knife with me.”
If it makes my husband happy…
I fling it at the nearest wall with enough force that the blade sticks into the plaster. Then, as Connor watches the way it twangs, I hurry for the stairs.
The sanctuary room in the basement is still mine, and that’s where I’m heading.
The room has changed some over the last year.
The bed is nicer now. The single bulb is one of those that can change colors with an app on my phone.
There's a bookshelf against one wall, and a comfortable stool tucked beneath the tiny window where Connor likes to sit when I need to spend some time in there. These days, it’s another guest room if necessary, but as far as I know, the only two who have ever slept in the basement are Connor and me.
My husband is smart enough to stay upstairs while I go in search of some peace and quiet to help me make sense of all of this. I head into the basement, let myself into my sanctuary, and lock the door behind me.
For a long time, I sit on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing. I’m too busy thinking.
I honestly couldn’t care less that Desmond and Jack are gone; as long as their deaths didn’t hurt Connor, it’s good riddance as far as I’m concerned. But Loni…
I never gave up on her. For the first nine years, while I lived my life alone in Harmony Heights, I only hoped that she was happy in the one she’d chosen.
That, if I ever had the chance to apologize for how I treated her before she left—yelling at her for getting caught when that was my own guilt at leaving her behind at Sebastien Reynolds’s party talking—I would take it, even if the words got caught in my throat.
Now, I might have it, and Loni’s spent three months as Adrian’s wife without reaching out.
Unless—
I grab my phone from the pocket in my leggings. Opening up the text message app, I select the only contact in there and tap out a quick message.
Does Loni know about what happened to me?
The love of my life
a good husband doesn’t keep secrets from his wife
…
a good husband takes his time when deciding to tell his wife a secret, in case it will cause her more harm than peace
That’s a very Connor answer. He wasn’t lying to me. Oh, no. He was just waiting until the opportune moment to tell me…
But she’s here. And I can talk to her if I want?
talk?
I knew that would catch my husband’s attention.
Yes
let’s just say that maybe she asked Adrian to reach out to you, to see if you’d be willing to reconnect when you’re up to it
if you’re up to it…
Don’t be mad at Connor, Haven, I tell myself. He was just looking out for you, as always, and at least he’s being completely honest now.
I’m up to it
I think…
Connor’s next message is a phone number, followed by:
whenever you are, she’s ready to talk too
love you
come up to bed when you feel like it… I’ll be here, waiting for you, remembering my good friend des who deserved getting shot by my better friend, adrian
I snort. He’ll be up there, hoping I’ll pity-fuck him after all. Sorry, baby. Not tonight. Not when I need to work up the nerve to dial that number…
In the end, it takes two hours—well into the night—before I compromise. I can’t bring myself to talk out loud with Loni just yet, but with shaky fingers, I finally tap out three messages in quick succession:
Loni?
It’s Haven. Connor finally told me.
Hi
And then I toss the phone across the bed, covering my eyes, not sure if I want her to ignore the text—or if I really am up to talking to my former best friend for the first time in over ten years.
Turns out, I am. Because, despite the late hour, my phone buzzes almost instantly, an answering message from Loni coming through. Instead of ignoring it, I scrabble for the phone, taking a deep breath before I read it.
Then I do, and my eyes sting with tears even as my lips curve into a tiny grin.
LONI
I missed you
We’ve got to talk
Talk. Yeah. To someone who isn’t Connor.
Then again, it’s Loni. The last person, besides Connor, who loved the girl I was before Winter targeted me. Who didn’t see how broken I was at first after Connor found me.
So… talk? Yeah. I think… I think I can do that.
And you know what? I might even be looking forward to it.