Page 59 of Haven

Vesper arched her brow. “What about her?”

“Your job is to retrieve her when she gets to town and take her to the clubhouse.”

Her brows furrowed. “Why would Axel’s kid cross enemy territory?”

“Apparently those two are ‘dating’.”

Vesper didn’t look surprised. We knew she wasn’t a monogamous person. We’d even had conversations about sharing women before, so Rory dating someone else while fooling around with V wasn’t exactly a surprise. What was a shock for both of us was the fact she was dating our enemy's daughter.

“That’s why she kept going to Crestview.”

“You knew?”

Vesper sighed, running her hands through her choppy mane. “Yeah. I patched her up after a car ran her off the road. It was a few weeks back.” I opened my mouth to bitch her out, but she silenced me with a lift of her hand before I could get another word in. “Rory is an adult. I didn’t like it, either, but she would still do it regardless. She doesn’t need to be controlled.”

She was right. Rory dealt with enough of that when it came to Cinder. Still, she was putting herself at risk. It wasn’t hard to miss her hot pink bike and matching hair. “Find Haven and let me know when you have her. I’ll call you when Rory wakes up.”

Fifty

Hades

Ilooked at my phone again, paranoia gnawing on my bones. Rory should’ve been here by now. If she and Cinder had a big argument and she was driving angry…stop it, Haven. She was fine. Maybe she just needed a little air before coming to me, but she would have answered me. Rory would have sent me a quick text, responded to the messages I sent her, or answered my phone call.

My leg bounced at the speed of light it felt like as I impatiently waited. I didn’t want to be a paranoid girlfriend, but I was terrified. The doctor part of me was coming up with scenarios of what happened to her, and the last thing I wanted to imagine was Rory bleeding out on the side of the road.

There were things I wish I could stop myself from imagining, and seeing my girlfriend injured was one of them. I needed her to be safe. I wanted her with me so I could hold her while she cried and cursed Cinder for hurting her. If she wasn’t her sister I would kill her, but I couldn’t do that to Rory.

I called Rory again with the same outcome. “Rory, please answer me.” When she didn’t answer, I sent her another text.

ME

Baby, please. Talk to me. Text me. Just let me know you are okay.

I wanted my girl safe in my arms. Her message was cryptic, but if she got into a fight with her sister, I knew it would hurt her because she loves her sister. I wanted to love Rory. Our relationship was new, but I knew there was something strong between us. Call it a fucking Disney feeling, I didn’t care. Falling in love at first sight was true, and it was Rory. Of course it was too early to tell her, but God, I was falling head over heels for her.

Rory was worth breaking an agreement and risking my life. I didn’t care about the feud, my father, or Cinder probably wanting to kill me because of it.

Briarwood was different from Crestview. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my town, but after the Predators defiled it, Crestview got tainted and people were running amok creating chaos. Briarwood reminded me of those fancy towns. At first glance, one wouldn’t realize it was owned and operated with bikers. If my dad would work his issues out with the Vipers, we could have fantastic growth, but no one listened to the girl who took a semester of econ classes.

ME

Rory, if you don’t answer me, I am breaking every goddamn rule.

If you’re hurting and pushing me away, I would appreciate a fuck you or a leave me alone instead of avoiding me.

Not knowing if she was okay was driving me insane. I needed to see her, to hold her in my arms and kiss her, to make sure she was real. It was an odd feeling falling in love with someone so perfect, but I was on cloud nine. And with that euphoria came the constant panic. This was why I never dated or even thought about it, especially in Crestview. I couldn’t afford to find someone and was worried all the time. I did just that. She didn’t live five minutes up the road, she lived almost an hour away.

I leaped out of my living room and made a beeline for my bedroom, changing into a pair of jeans and an old, cropped, grey t-shirt. I attached my ankle holster, adding my knife before pocketing my gun. Rory didn’t like guns, but if I had to shoot someone to save her, I would ask her for forgiveness later.

Rory was either hurt or something happened to her, because she was coming to me. She said she needed me, but that was hours ago and I refused to wait any longer. I already waited enough. She was in danger.

The treaty was officially ruined…I was going to get my girl.

Fifty-One

Vesper

Widow messaged me to warn me that Haven had left Rory a voicemail, saying she’d meet her at the pier. It was my job to get her to the clubhouse. If she had something to do with what happened to Cinder, a war would be started because Haven would leave here with a bullet between her eyes. I needed to make sure my anger didn’t cloud my judgement, because I was liable to just shoot Haven to get it over with.