Chapter 26 #3
A loud bang sounded as the front door was kicked in, and I flinched, Hunter tucking my face against his chest as if he could hide me there.
“Police! Hands where I can see them!” someone shouted, my heartbeat thundering in my chest. There was nowhere to hide, and the second bright flashlights appeared in the doorway, I had to look away. “Aurora Donovan?”
I glanced at Hunter, who sighed with a nod, telling me to answer. “Uh, yes?”
“You’re under arrest for the murder of Max Donovan. You have the right to remain silent. Anything—” I was yanked out of Hunter’s grip as cuffs were slapped on my wrists, my rights read out to me as Hunter scrambled to his feet.
“Hey, take it fucking easy. She’s not fighting you.”
“Stay out of it, Rivera,” one of them warned as they started dragging me from the room.
“I’m calling her lawyer, assholes! Donovan, I’ll get Josie! Don’t say a fucking word!” he called after me as I was dragged out into the night air. The ground was rough under my feet, and the icy air bit into my exposed skin.
Cameras flashed, telling me someone had been told the cops were coming for me, and I could hear Hunter yelling about letting me have my shoes and some pants.
I was shoved into the back of the cruiser, the door slamming behind me, and I watched Hunter yanking pants and a shirt on in the doorway as he headed straight towards the car that was parked in the driveway, Marco right behind him as he tugged a shirt on too.
At least they’d get Josie, which was good.
Now, I just had to pray that she could get me out of this.
Skeeter
It was two in the morning, my hands going numb from being out in the damn cold for so long.
Between Diesel spiraling to the point I honestly thought I needed to lock him up to stop him from touching our stash, Samuel having a deal go wrong and needing two bodies handled, and my fucking phone blowing up all damn afternoon and evening to the point I had to turn it off, I was done for the day.
I stalked into the Shed, finding Matteo coming out of the office with a dark look on his face.
“I fucking warned you,” he growled, annoyance washing through me.
“Not tonight, man. Or ever, for that matter.”
“Where’s your girl tonight?” he asked, the tone enough to make me stop walking to look at him.
“Why?”
“Might want to check the news, boss. Told you that slut couldn’t be trusted. She played all of you,” he scoffed, shaking his head a little and brushing past me, heading outside to his car.
I hurried into the office to turn the computer on, impatiently waiting for it to load as I sat down.
Diesel looked like shit when he walked in, but at least he was still sober.
“I’m heading home,” he yawned, and I pointed at him.
“You wait.”
“What for?”
“You’re staying with me, bro. I’ve never seen you this bad, and I don’t want to hear any protests about it. End of story,” I muttered, the computer finally waking up enough for me to open the internet. “Have you heard from Aurora?”
“She called a couple of times earlier when I was talking to Hendricks. I was going to stop by and check on her when I was done, but then I ended up helping with the cleanup. Why? Something wrong?”
“I’m not sure yet,” I replied, opening the latest news updates and stopping dead in my tracks.
There was my girl, being dragged out of Hunter’s house in nothing but a T-shirt.
My chest felt like it was being torn open, her betrayal hitting deep. It was obvious she’d been dragged out of bed, the darkness starting to creep in to protect myself.
I couldn’t do this, not again.
She wouldn’t do this to me, right? She hadn’t been playing a game.
Marco had, so what made me think she was any different?
I wanted to throw up.
Diesel moved around to look, his voice low. “Skeet—”
“That sly little cunt,” I laughed, no humor in my tone. “She really fooled me. Do you think Hunter put her here to begin with?”
“What? No. Don’t jump the gun. Look, has she tried calling you too? He probably came to her rescue. It says she killed her dad.”
“I don’t give a fuck what it says!” I shouted, my chest aching the more I stared at the picture, clicking the video as if it had all the answers. The reporter rambled about Rory being arrested for murdering Max, no body being found but an eye witness had come forward.
The footage showed Rory being dragged out of the house, Hunter chasing after them in his boxers as he shoved clothes on, Marco right behind him.
She’d fucking played me.
Had they been doing this the whole time? For a few months?
I watched it on repeat as if it would start making sense, but I kept coming to the same conclusion. They were fucking. No wonder she didn’t seem pissed off about him showing up all the damn time and why she was so comfortable around them.
How dare she do that to me, to Slash, and even Diesel. Sucking us all in with her bullshit while running straight to him.
I wanted to ask her why, to try and understand the real story, but I shut that shit down fast.
Marco had made a joke out of me, and I wouldn’t allow her to do the same.
“We need to go and see what’s happening. We can’t leave her in a cell,” Diesel said, snapping me out of it.
“Sure we can. She wants to play with the Devils? Let her. She’s their problem now,” I growled, switching the computer off and getting to my feet. “Let’s go home.”
“But Rory—”
“She made her bed, now she can lie in it. She’s a snake. What has she been saying to them? Telling them all our plans? Secrets?”
“It’s Rory,” he insisted, determination in his eyes. “Let her explain. She doesn’t know anything anyway.”
“You mean let her make up a bullshit reason why she was in Hunter’s bed? I don’t want to hear it. She’d want to hope they lock her up, or I’m going to fucking kill her, Diesel,” I gritted out, hearing him following me as I left the room.
“Let me talk to her then.” He was sounding desperate, and I turned to jab a finger against his chest.
“If you go near her, then you’re a traitor too. I mean it.”
“You’re going to kill me if I do?” he scoffed, and I gave him a slight shove.
“Yeah, D. I will. Keep pushing this and you’ll be back with Sasha before you know it.”
“Fuck you,” he said sharply, pushing past me and heading towards his truck. I was being an asshole, but I didn’t care.
Rory had better hope that Hunter was serious about her because he was the only thing standing between her and a bullet right now.
I forced the familiar pain down, stalking towards the McLaren once I’d locked up for the night, and I shut it all out as I headed towards home, turning my pain into anger.
Aurora Donovan was fucking dead to me.
To be continued in Shattered Pieces…