Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
SKEETER
It was hard to hold it together until Rory left the house, my heartbeat pounding in my chest. I couldn’t kill her, the thought had made me sick, so when I’d taken that shot at her head on reflex for her suggesting she could go and fuck Hunter, I almost threw up.
What if she hadn’t ducked? That shot would have killed her, and I found myself slamming the door to keep her the fuck away from me.
My breathing was loud in the silent house, nausea swimming inside me. I hadn’t expected her to show up here, so I wasn’t ready for the emotions that hit me when she’d walked up to the door.
All the anger turned into pain, my stupid heart relieved to see her despite what she’d done to me. Did she actually take a look and see what she’d done? I was losing my damn mind because of her.
“Fuck!” I shouted once I heard the car drive off, dropping onto the couch and tossing my gun on the coffee table to bury my face in my hands. I’d wanted her dead until she was in front of me, then it all hit me at once.
How could I still love her so much?
Letting her go wasn’t going to be as easy as I first thought, not when my whole body relaxed on the inside at seeing her in front of me. I wanted to ask about prison, to look at her scars with my own damn eyes and run my tongue across them, but I had to be strong.
I should have known waving a gun at her wouldn’t scare her off.
She seemed serious about not betraying me, but how could I believe it? I wanted to, it was easier that way, but that damaged part inside of me screamed that she’d done it to break me. That her love had been a lie from the beginning, just like Marco’s.
How could I want her dead but want to hug her at the same time?
My cock was happy to see her, that much I knew.
I sat there for two hours fuming to myself before Brick called to check in with me since I hadn’t shown up for the gun trade deal at twelve. A quick glance at the time showed it was almost one, and I cursed before getting to my feet.
“Sorry. I’m heading to the Shed now. Need anything?” I asked, deciding to clean up the mess later. I’d have to pay out of my own pocket to fix the bullet holes. That was on me.
“No rush. D surprisingly got here on time, so he’s had it handled.”
“Why is that a surprise?” I grunted, wishing I hadn’t asked.
“He’s been with Donovan all morning. Kind of thought he’d bail on us,” he replied before letting out a sigh. “I’ll see you soon. Samuel and Matteo just got back and they’re arguing.”
He hung up before I could reply, and I cursed about Rory the entire drive there, walking into mayhem, as usual.
“It’s about time you showed up,” Matteo spat, waving a hand in my direction. “Where the fuck were you? That bitch is with Rivera again. I was going to—”
I zoned out of the rest of his speech, pissed off all over again that she’d run straight to him. Then again, I couldn’t really blame her for it. I’d strangled her and almost shot her in the fucking face.
“I don’t want to hear about it,” I scoffed, ending Matteo’s rant. “She’s probably just crying to him because we had it out this morning.”
Diesel’s eyes swung to me from the bar, but I ignored him.
“You put her in her place?” Matteo asked with surprise, and I shrugged.
“She showed up at Slash’s while I was there. I helped her back out of it. I don’t think she’ll try again,” I replied, Diesel rapidly texting on his phone. “Hey. She’s fucking fine. I left her breathing.”
His eyes lifted to mine and he scowled. “What did you do to her?”
“She can’t be too bad or she’d have called. Unless she wanted it kept a secret about being with Rivera,” I said lightly, frowning when he replied.
“I knew she was with him. She texted earlier. She didn’t mention you though. What the fuck did you do to my girlfriend?”
It was slightly jarring hearing him refer to her like that so casually.
“Run along and check on her if you’re that worried. Be back here by four though,” I warned, barely getting the sentence out before he was heading towards the door.
“Why did you let him go?” Samuel huffed, eyeing Diesel’s retreating back as the door closed behind him.
“I’m not going to be the reason he offs himself. Let him run off to her and see how cozy she is with Rivera. He’ll either crawl back with his heart broken, or we’ll eventually need a new second in charge,” I said bluntly. “Fill me in on the gun deal, Brick. Sorry I missed it.”
The guys seemed at ease now they knew I was definitely not giving a shit about Rory, but it was hard to focus when I started wondering if I’d crushed her windpipe or something.
Why had she gone to Hunter and not home? Had I managed to scare her? Or actually hurt her?
She hadn’t been bleeding, so I was pretty sure none of the bullets had bounced back and hit her.
I reminded myself I didn’t care, not wanting to miss anything Brick was saying, but it was hard when I knew I was lying to myself.
Hunter
Rory was asleep as a movie played in the background, her body wrapped in the blanket and her head on my lap. I’d been getting her to ice her throat every hour for twenty minutes to try and stop the swelling, and I couldn’t help it as I kept running my fingers through her hair.
Which was how Diesel found us when Marco let him in.
“What did he do?” he asked immediately, approaching the couch and squatting in front of her to try and inspect her. He brushed her hair from her face, trying to find the damage.
“We’ve only heard the short version. I’m trying to keep her from talking too much.
He strangled her and fired shots at her.
We’re icing her throat every hour to try and stop it from swelling,” I murmured, his fingers slowly reaching out to brush hair from her neck to get a better look. “How did you know something happened?”
“Matteo found out she was here and was raging about it. Skeet mentioned they’d had it out this morning so she’d probably run to you to complain about it,” he answered, raking a hand through his hair.
“I have to be back by four. Do the guys know? She’s only been home a day, and Josie will know exactly who did it. ”
“I’d suggest she crashes elsewhere this week. Josie will drag cops into it.”
“I can figure something out so she can stay at mine,” he said firmly, but Marco snorted quietly as he dropped back into the recliner.
“You won’t let her sleep in Sasha’s bed. You won’t even sleep in it yourself, man. She can’t live on the couch beside you for a week.”
“The only other option is Jensen’s place, but Josie’s likely to find out about it.
As much as Jensen controls the staff, if they’re called off work for a week, the butler guy will probably call Josie with concerns.
They communicate about the boys often, apparently,” Diesel huffed, giving me a desperate look. “Can she stay with one of you?”
“You really want her snuggled up in my bed for a week?” I joked, his eyes narrowing.
“You can sleep on the couch.”
“If she wants snuggles—”
“Then fucking snuggle her, it’s not hard,” he hissed, sitting on the floor to watch her.
“I’m fine with her here. Mark and I can take shifts being here so she’s not alone.
It also means if she wants to go out, she has backup all the time too.
The guys won’t agree to it, and I honestly doubt Rory will either.
She hates me for the whole tracker thing,” I winced, picking some dry wall out of her hair as my finger brushed it.
“She doesn’t hate you guys, she just doesn’t trust you,” he murmured, making me frown.
“Huh?”
“She wouldn’t have come to you today if she hated you. You might have broken her trust, but it’s obvious that part of her still feels safe coming to you for help. She knew she couldn’t go to the Shed to me, so she came here.” His eyes softened as she stirred, her eyes flicking open. “Hey, baby.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked. Well, I was pretty sure that was what she said. Her voice sounded rough. He grabbed her drink and handed it to her as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”
“Close to two. I need to be back by four, I just wanted to check on you.”
She glanced at me like I’d called him, and as much as I was enjoying being curled up with her, I moved so Diesel could sit with her while I grabbed my cigarettes.
I’d avoided smoking inside since she got here, not wanting to make her cough, so I motioned for Marco to follow me and give them a few minutes alone.
“You’re seriously going to have her stay here? She’s bruised, not dying,” Marco grumbled once we’d closed the door.
“We can’t have Josie bringing cops in right now. This is smarter for everyone,” I reminded him, lighting my cigarette.
“What if she thinks she’s missing and sends them here looking for her?”
“I’ll tell Josie she’s with me if I have to. I can say she’s not coping being back on the outside just yet so I’m keeping her busy with me. Josie trusts me.”
“And the guys? Ty might be okay with it, but there’s no way Lukas and Jensen will be,” he pointed out, smoking and eyeing our surroundings.
“I’ll handle it. If you can manage the warehouse for me, it’s easy. I’ll come in when I have to, and I’ll try to see if Diesel’s free when we both need to be there so she’s not alone. Skeet could show up and take her out while she’s alone otherwise.”
“I don’t think he will or he would’ve done it today. If he really wanted her dead, she would be,” he answered, peeking in the window to try and see Rory.
“I’m not risking it. It gives me plenty of groveling time with her too,” I hummed, trying to think of ways to convince her to forgive me. The door opened and Rory poked her head out, a cigarette in hand. “Babe, you’ll wreck your throat.”
“I haven’t had one for hours,” she argued, lighting it up and choking to death on it like I’d expected, Diesel’s sigh from inside the house telling me he’d warned her too.
She was gasping like she couldn’t breathe, so I flicked my cigarette butt onto the lawn and took hers from her to flick aside too, steering her back inside to get her some water.