“What? What happened? Did she talk to you?”
I took a large gulp of whisky before glaring at him.
“Oh, she talked alright. I interrupted her movie night with Razor. They’re together, brother. She’s Soldier’s territory now. She shot you, and she fucking looked down Razor’s gun at me tonight and told me she’d shoot me. She’s done with us. If she shoot’s anyone else from the Psychos or Devils, she’s fucking dead.”
His eyes went wide, mixed emotions swirling in his eyes.
“But…”
I slammed my fist down on the bench, shouting at him because I had to take it out on someone.
“No! If she causes any more fucking shit for our crew, you put the crew first! She will get a bullet right between the fucking eyes like she deserves! No one deceives the fucking Psychos and gets away with it, so she’s lucky I didn’t do it tonight! Stay the fuck away from her unless you’re putting the whore in the ground!”
Then I stalked to the office with my whisky, locking myself inside for the night.
Let It Burn by Red seeped under the door from the main room, making me snort.
How fucking fitting.
I was done with Aurora Donovan.
Diesel
It felt like my chest was caving in.
I could hear Skeeter throwing things around in the back office all night, and I could feel the tension in the main room between the other Psychos.
There was no way in fucking hell that Rory had turned her back on us.
Not without a reason.
I couldn’t sit around the shed and listen to Skeeter break, so I put my tail between my legs like an abandoned dog and climbed into my pickup truck, driving to the graveyard to sit with Sasha.
I sank down beside her headstone and scowled at myself as a tear slipped.
Fuck, I was pathetic.
My arm was hurting from the bullet wound, but Rory turning on me hurt more, despite the fact I called bullshit on her claiming to be with Razor, and didn’t believe she’d do it out of spite.
“Hey, Sash. It’s been a pretty shitty fucking day here. The Soldiers did something to Rory, I just know it. She’s turned on everyone, and she actually fucking shot me the other night. Skeet’s breaking bad, and I’m pretty sure this is the start of a bigger war than we originally intended.”
I knew I’d never get a response, but I had to talk to someone about it.
I’d just lost my best friend, and it stung more than I wanted to let on.
I had to help Rory as much as possible, but I didn’t know how far Skeeter would go to keep us away from her.
I couldn’t risk him actually losing it and killing her.
I had to find out the truth, before someone ended up dead.
Rory
Over the next week, I kept to myself at school, going home the moment the school day was done.
Friday sucked, due to Claire not leaving me the fuck alone all day, and I was well and truly ready for the bottle of whisky that had been calling my name since first break.
I was lonely, and I hated not having the guys to call or catch up with.
I’d do anything to curl up with them and just sleep for days.
I seriously missed my Corvette, too.
I’d parked it at Slash’s house and quickly snuck inside to leave the keys for Skeeter to find.
It didn’t feel right to keep it after what I’d done.
I was driving home from school in the old Chevy pickup truck I’d managed to get at a cheap price, sighing as I noticed Caden’s black Challenger parked out front when I arrived.
I was too fucking drained to deal with his shit.
He was sitting on the front steps with a cigarette hanging from his lips and dark sunglasses covering his eyes, scrolling through his phone as if he had all the time in the world to wait for me to show my face.
I pulled the pickup into the driveway and killed the engine, climbing out and putting a blank expression on before walking towards him confidently.
He glanced up and lifted his sunglasses, giving me a once over as if he hadn’t seen me at school all week, before snorting.
“You look like fucking shit.”
Wonderful.
“Thanks. Now you’ve told me that important piece of information, feel free to carry on your merry way, Holloway,” I muttered, fumbling with my keys and letting myself in the door.
I intended on slamming it in his face, but his foot jutted forward at the last minute, stopping it just in time.
“We’ve got to talk, Rory.”
Not happening.
“No, we don’t,” I bit out, trying to close the door but failing.
He pushed past me with a scowl, his eyes full of anger and hurt.
“Yes, we fucking do. The hell is up with you? You were fine one day, then a completely different person the next. I know you better than you know yourself. You’re covering something up, and I don’t even care what it is right now, I just need to know if you’re in danger, because I want to help you. You’ve always been a shitty fucking liar, so I know your anti-love speech the other week didn’t mean shit.”
My hands itched to reach for him, so I grabbed the bottle of whisky from the shelf and downed a mouthful of the burning liquid before meeting his gaze.
“You don’t know shit.”
“That’s what I’m saying. Talk to me, so I understand what’s going on,” he begged, and I had to fight myself to not let my emotions show.
I wanted him to help, but he couldn’t.
It was for his own good.
“You need to leave. Stay the fuck away from me,” I finally growled, turning to leave the room, but he grabbed me and hauled me back, getting in my face as rage took over.
“You know you broke Skeet, right? I’ve never in my life seen him so messed up over anything, let alone a girl before. Hunter’s going to do something stupid because he’s trying to get vengeance for shit he doesn’t understand, and you have no fucking idea what the fuck’s going on with Jense and Lukas. Ty and I have tried to keep everyone calm, but they’re slipping, so give me something to work with. You do dumb shit when you want to protect yourself or someone else, so who’s in danger? You, or one of us?” He demanded, the cord along his neck straining as his body became tense.
He’d hit the nail right on the head, but I stared at him and gave nothing away, which just pissed him off more. “Aurora, tell me the goddamn truth right now. You’ve started fucking war between the crews, you know that? Can you honestly tell me you could kill Skeet or Hunter? Diesel is crazy worried about you, when he should be pissed because you did shoot him. The Soldiers are nasty pieces of shit, and you’re going to get fucking hurt or raped. Again.”
I tried to give him a dirty look as I yanked back, the words bitter on my tongue.
“It’s not rape if I like it. Razor and I…”
“Don’t piss on me and tell me it’s fucking raining. I know you inside and out. I’ve spent hours inside you, and even more hours just in your company. I know you, Rory, and right now all I see is someone who’s fucking miserable and scared. What do they have on you? We can work on this together if you just let me help you,” he said with frustration, startled when I pulled my gun from the back of my pants and aimed it at him.