Page 10 of Haven

I turned to face him, grabbing him by his shirt collar and pushing him against the wall. “A bitch? Add queen in front of it. You’re nothin’ but a pathetic excuse for a man.”

“Haven!” my dad yelled.

I glared at him as Luke laughed. “Listen to Daddy, Haven.”

I let go of Luke and looked at my father. “He won’t listen to me, so tell him to get the fuck out.”

“Go, we’ll discuss things later.”

Luke flanked my back, sending a chill down my spine as he whispered in my ear. “I’ll make you scream one day, gorgeous.”

I stomped my heel on his foot and then elbowed him in the stomach. “Honey, I’ll cut your dick off and shove it up your ass.” Luke huffed and slammed the door on his way out. “I want him gone.”

“Haven.”

“Dad, he is telling you to commit suicide! What is wrong with you?”

“He wants the ports. I can’t give him that.”

Cinder Bourgeois had control of most of the eastern ports from the Carolinas to Florida. She also had control of some western ports. When this feud started, my father cut off trade with other territories. The Devils once thrived with marijuana and ecstasy, but once we lost that access, it stopped. Surprisingly, the Vipers were our best trade partners, but then Diesel died.

Diesel was my father’s best friend. I met him a few times; he was a gruff man, but he had a heart of gold. My father killed him, or at least people wanted to believe he did. I know my father didn’t kill Diesel, but I had no proof, and neither did he.

“There’s a reason he shouldn’t have the ports.”

My father sighed. “Haven, I need you to stop antagonizing him and let me deal with this.” I cocked my brow. “I don’t want him hurtin’ you.”

“Dad, I’m thirty. I have a black belt, and I know where every major artery is in the body. I can protect myself.”

He rubbed his temples. “Not when you’re drugged, or worse. I hate this, Haven, but…I can’t lose you.”

“You talk about not wantin’ to lose me and yet you think I can live without you?” I snapped back. “I lost Mama and Daddy. You are all I have left. So stop being fuckin’ boneheaded. You need to do something, and if he attacks the Vipers, you better get on your knees and tell Cinder whatever happens has nothin’ to do with you. I’m not losin’ you because he wants to use you as a damn puppet.”

I wouldn’t be a pawn in a war, but I wouldn’t lose my father either.

Ten

Rory

Iadjusted my position, grabbing the man’s hand once again. My client kept moving anytime I put the needle to his upper arm. He was the one who wanted the partial skull and grey scale forest. It involved a lot of shading, and he wouldn’t stop squirming. His pain tolerance was shit. A normal session for something this simple would take me two hours, maybe three. Except four hours later, and I still had a quarter left to finish.

“Rob, goddamnit, can you stop movin’?” I hissed. “I am almost done with this tattoo and then you can cry in peace. Keep your fuckin’ arm still.”

“Sorry, Ro. You know I’m a pussy with pain.”

“Then why did you want this as your first tattoo?”

“Because it will make me look badass.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on, Ro, I’ll be good for the rest of it.”

I continued the tattoo, letting my mind drift off as I got into my element. Tattooing was one of my favorite things next to art. It was the best way to distract my mind from everything else going on in there. The road burn on my arm hurt and dealing with Rob’s wiggling didn’t help, but I’d take a pain pill when I was done. Vesper said my road rash was healing nicely, but it was itching. I hated the healing stage. The sensation made me want to rip the skin off my body.

Two weeks passed since that night and when I got home after Vesper patched me up, I was restless. I hardly slept that night—I hardly slept in general, but sleeping at night invited monsters. Trauma didn’t sleep when the lights were off. Sometimes I was able to enjoy a few peaceful hours, but even that was rare. Most times if I got a good day of rest, I survived on hope, a dream, and adrenaline.

The few hours of sleep I got while wrapped in Hades’s arms was a miracle, but didn’t affect anything.

I kept myself busy most nights, scheduling my appointments later in the evening or running the streets. It was hard having a helicopter sister, but she couldn’t stop me. She could have the police stop me, but unless they arrested me, they couldn’t legally force me anywhere. I still had yet to figure out how she had the police in her pocket, but that was none of my business. It got me out of plenty of speeding tickets.

Out of all the surrounding towns, Briarwood was one of the best. Our hospital had amazing pediatric, trauma, and cardiac levels with a fantastic mental health clinic. I would know. I lived there for three years. Figuratively. Although, I had to do a seventy-two hour psych hold after I tried to kill myself on my eighteenth birthday.