Page 150 of Shattered Pieces

“Are you drunk? Aren’t you at school?”

“Yes, and yes.”

“Your rich ass can afford rehab, you know?” he said dryly before continuing. “I’m not at the warehouse, but Rory is. Go hang out with her.”

“Is Hunt there?”

“Yeah. I’ll be home super late tonight so you might want to crash with one of your boys.” He hung up as a way to end the conversation, and I huffed.

“Rude.”

“Where am I taking you?” Caden sighed, and I looked at him like he was stupid.

“The warehouse.”

Annoyance filled his face but he started pulling me through the school towards the parking lot, not saying anything until we were in the Challenger on the way to Mount Mercer.

“I don’t like you getting close with these guys. You can’t trust them, dude.”

I turned in my seat to face him, wishing he’d just get along with them. They’d be good friends if they tried.

“Marco’s been the best these past few months. You don’t see it, but he’s had my back and he’s had Rory’s. I know you’re dealing with your own shit, but when I needed you, you left. Mark didn’t. He’s not the bad guy Skeet makes him out to be. It’s just personal between them.”

“I suppose you’re fine with him and Hunter fucking Rory?” he snorted, not looking at me.

“You’re like a broken record. I told you they’re not hooking up, but I wouldn’t care if they did though. I don’t want to talk about it because it will only turn into an argument,” I answered, turning away to look out the window.

“I don’t want to fight with you either. I miss you,” he sighed, and I forced myself not to look back at him, knowing he had more to say. “I’m sorry I’m not around, but seeing her hurts.”

“She didn’t do anything. I know it looked bad, but she honestly just had no choice but to call them for help when Skeet didn’t pick up the phone. You need to sit down and talk to her to figure it all out without Skeet in your ear making you hate her,” I answered honestly, glancing over to see the defeated look on his face.

He was quiet for the rest of the drive, and I managed to convince him to come inside with me for five minutes. It was obvious he hadn’t expected Rory to be here from the way he tensed beside me, but then genuine concern filled his expression when he got a good look at her.

“What the hell happened to her?”

“Skeet didn’t fill you in?” I asked, not at all surprised he’d kept something like that from him.

He studied her as we walked closer, and I had to admit, the bruising was looking pretty bad today.

“He didn’t say anything. Did the Soldiers attack her?”

“No. Skeet tried to kill her yesterday. Strangled her and shot at her,” I explained, his head turning so fast to look at me that I was surprised it didn’t break.

“Skeet did that?”

“Yeah. You really think the Devils are the bad guys here? They’re the ones looking after her to keep her away from your mom. We can’t have cops brought into this right now.”

Rory was standing next to the bar talking to Diesel and Faris while Bobby stocked the fridge, her small frame covered with Diesel’s jacket. It was unzipped, showing off the purple bruising around her throat.

Hunter and Brick were coming out of the office, and Hunter lifted his hand in greeting, which I returned. I liked being here, the vibes were different from the Shed. Probably helped that no one here had made it obvious they wanted to kill Rory.

Rory’s eyes swung to me and she smiled, her voice worse today. “Hey. Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Holloway made me leave,” I answered, and Caden scoffed.

“He’s drunk.” He stepped closer to Rory, who eyed him suspiciously. “Skeet did that to you?”

“You mean he didn’t brag about it?” she said, coughing between some of the words.