Chapter 79 Aspen
Aspen
The Tavern isn’t calm anymore.
It’s alive.
Boots pounding.
Voices sharp.
Weapons clicking into place.
Danger.
Real.
Close.
I sit on the edge of the bed, Dylan pulled against me, his small body tucked into my side as he finally starts to wake.
“Mom?” he mumbles, blinking up at me.
“I’ve got you, sweetie,” I whisper, smoothing his hair back. “You’re okay.”
Even if I’m not sure that’s true.
Even if everything inside me is still shaking from the gunshots.
From the look on Havoc’s face when he burst through that door.
I’ve never seen anything like it.
Not fear.
Not exactly.
Something darker.
More controlled.
More dangerous.
Like whatever just happened flipped a switch inside him.
Dylan shifts, sitting up now, eyes wide.
“Was that thunder?”
I force a small smile.
“Something like that.”
A knock comes at the door—quick, controlled.
“Clear?” a voice calls.
Havoc.
I don’t realize how tight my chest is until I hear him again.
“Yeah,” I answer.
The door opens, and he steps back in.
Different.
Still him—but sharper somehow.
Every line of his body coiled tight, eyes scanning the room before they land on us.
On me.
On Dylan.
And just like that—
Something in his shoulders eases.
Not much.
But enough that I see it.
“Hey, buddy,” he says, voice softer now.
Dylan looks at him, still half-confused, half-awake.
“Did you shoot something?”
I almost laugh.
Almost.
Havoc huffs out a quiet breath.
“Yeah,” he says. “Something that shouldn’t have been here.”
Dylan nods like that makes perfect sense.
Because somehow, to him, it does.
Kids are strange like that.
“Stay with your mom,” Havoc adds, his tone gentle but firm. “Okay?”
“Okay.”
Dylan leans into me again, already trusting him.
Already safe in a way that makes my chest ache.
Havoc straightens, eyes shifting back to me.
“We’ve got a situation,” he says.
“I figured.”
“Front and back entry were compromised. One down inside. We’re sweeping for more.”
My stomach tightens.
“More?”
His gaze hardens.
“Yeah.”
I swallow.
“Was he… coming for us?”
He doesn’t answer right away.
And that’s answer enough.
My hand tightens around Dylan.
Havoc steps closer.
Lower.
His voice drops so Dylan can’t hear.
“He was heading upstairs,” he says quietly. “Weapon up.”
A chill runs through me.
“He thinks I have something. Can we just tell them I don’t have the flash drive? Can we let them know you guys handed it over to the CIA?”
“We will do our best to let them know,” he says.
And there it is.
The truth we were both trying not to say out loud.
This just got personal.
I lift my chin.
“What do we do?”
His eyes hold mine.
And for a second—
I see it again.
That shift.
Not just the man protecting people.
The man protecting us.
“You stay here,” he says.
I shake my head immediately.
“No.”
His jaw tightens.
“Aspen—”
“I am not sitting in a room waiting to see if someone comes through that door,” I say, my voice low but firm. “Not with my son here.”
A beat.
“You want me safe?” I add. “Then don’t leave me blind.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Measured.
Then—
A sharp exhale.
“Damn it,” he mutters.
Which means I won.
Not that he’s happy about it.
He steps closer.
Close enough that I can feel the heat of him.
Close enough that the memory of last night flickers between us.
But this isn’t that moment.
This is something else.
His hand comes up—cups the back of my neck briefly.
Grounding.
“Stick to me,” he says. “No matter what.”
“I will.”
His eyes search mine.
Making sure.
Needing to know.
“I mean it, Aspen.”
“I know.”
And I do.
Because this isn’t just about danger anymore.
This is about trust.
He nods once.
Then turns toward Dylan.
“Hey, buddy,” he says, crouching down to his level. “I need you to be brave for me, okay?”
Dylan nods immediately.
“I’m brave.”
Havoc’s mouth twitches slightly.
“Yeah, you are.”
He gestures toward the far wall. “I’m taking you to Grandpa’s room. Rylie is there. I want you to stay with them.”
The room is next door; it only took a couple of seconds before we were there.
“You ready?” He asks.
No.
Not even close.
But I nod anyway.
“Yeah.”
Because I don’t get the luxury of not being ready.
Because this is my life.
Because whoever came into this Tavern—
came for us.
And I’m done running from that.
Havoc reaches for the door.
Pauses.
Glances back at me one more time.
And there’s something in his eyes that wasn’t there before.
Not just protection.
Not just responsibility.
Something deeper.
Something that makes my breath catch.
Then it’s gone.
Replaced by steel.
The door opens.
Noise hits us immediately—orders, movement, tension thick in the air.
The team is already in motion.
Weapons up.
Eyes sharp.
War mode.
And as I step out beside him—
I realize something that should terrify me.
But doesn’t.
Not completely.
Because I’m not alone anymore.
Because Havoc is beside me.
Because whatever this is—
we’re facing it together.
And whoever thinks they can come for us?
They’re about to learn the hard way…
That we don’t go down easy.