Page 13 of Reckless Vengeance

Caden stared at me but I refused to look at him. Slash was a monster at times, but he saved our girl. It wouldn’t make up for all of his sins, but it made him a good man in my book.

“Whenever she was with you⁠—”

“He came over sometimes, yeah. You didn’t see them together, Caden. That wasn’t just sexual attraction.”

“You were really having threesomes with him? He wasn’t into cutting her up like Skeet, right?” he asked slowly, and I turned, holding his gaze.

“He was so fucking in love with her. What they had was nothing like what she has with Skeet. Skeet’s more dangerous for her than Slash in the bedroom. Made her drink water and everything.”

“The man’s a saint then. Water? Damn. The bar is low,” Caden said sarcastically, and I flicked my cigarette away and shoved past him. He grabbed my arm and jerked me back, and it took me a second to realize he wasn’t starting a fight, he was hugging me. “I’m sorry you’re hurting.”

I sank into his hold and hugged him back, my voice quiet. “Skeet’s going to kill her if he finds out about Hunter. I can’t lose her.”

“We’ll figure it out. He won’t kill her.”

“What if Hunter does something? I know he’s putting on an act that he cares, but⁠—”

“Honestly? I don’t think he’s acting,” Caden muttered, pulling back and placing his hands on my shoulders. “You want to go to the funeral when it’s organized? I’ll go with you and Rory.”

I swallowed, nodding. “It still doesn’t feel real. I keep expecting him to walk through the door.”

“I know, me too,” he murmured, his hands dropping from me. “You stay with me as long as you want. I don’t want you alone right now.”

“Thanks,” I sighed, following him inside to where Lukas and Jensen were hanging out in Jensen’s bedroom.

Lukas had fallen asleep, curled against Jensen’s chest and the blanket over them both. The guys were all nervous about Rory showing up on Hunter’s bike this morning, but Lukas was really freaking out.

Crew wars were already starting between the Psychos and the Soldiers, so if Skeeter found out Hunter was spending time with Rory, they’d just add the Devils to the war roster.

Three crews at war was a really bad idea.

“What the fuck happens now?” Jensen asked quietly, flicking his eyes to me.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. “Are we really going to ignore the fact that Rory spent the night at Hunter’s?”

“What else can we do? Telling Skeet will only cause more problems,” Caden said tiredly, dropping down beside me.

“Skeet can’t protect her from two enemy crews and his own,” Jensen pointed out, my stomach twisting at the thought. He wasn’t wrong. The Psychos had always hated her, but who knew what the other crews would do to her if given the chance.

“Maybe Josie’s right and we need to convince Rory to stay away from the Shed. Was it a bad idea to let her spend the night at Skeet’s? Won’t his house be a target in a crew war?” I asked, and Caden winced.

“It’s probably safer than here. Attacking Skeet’s house would cause a bigger problem than attacking mine. We might have better security, but he’s got a whole crew behind him. I doubt they’d follow orders to come here and protect Rory,” Caden mused.

Exhaustion filled me the more we talked about it, and my fingers itched to text Rory and check in with her.

She’d only been gone for a couple of hours at this point, and I didn’t want to be clingy, but fuck.

As if she knew what I was thinking, a text came through.

Rory: What are you guys up to?

Tyler: Thinking about you. Did you and Skeet talk?

Rory: Yeah. He’s mad he can’t punch anyone over it.

Tyler: He can punch me.

Rory: No, he can’t.