Page 172 of Shattered Pieces

“I’ll just tell her his crew have turned on her and to not let them inside,” Caden shrugged, and Rory sighed slightly as she curled into me more. It was hurting her to know Skeeter was now her enemy, but I wasn’t sure she was really soaking it in either. She hadn’t visited Slash’s grave, choosing to go with the denial route and not face the fact Slash was actually gone, and between that, her time in prison, and now losing Skeeter, it was like she was aware what was going down, but she refused to acknowledge it.

She needed to face it before she gave herself a mental breakdown.

Rory

An alarm blared in the middle of the night, jerking me out of my sleep as the bedroom door was shoved open and Caden appeared.

“You good?” he demanded, panic on his face.

“I’m fine. What’s⁠—”

“Someone’s in the house. Lock the door and get your gun. I need to check on Mom,” he said, cutting me off. “Move, Aurora!”

It took a second for my brain to catch up, but I scrambled from the bed and grabbed my gun and phone, moving towards him.

“You stay with Josie, I’ll stay with the guys,” I promised, and I could tell he didn’t want to leave me, but he finally took off up the hallway. Josie had changed the codes after dinner, not wanting Skeeter to have access, but it would only be screaming if someone said fuck it and broke in, not if they got the code wrong. Skeeter was pissed, but I doubted he was angry enough to barge his way inside and murder me in front of everyone.

Who the fuck was in the house?

Tyler appeared in the hallway, he’d crashed with Caden when I’d said I wanted to be alone, so I grabbed him and let myself into Jensen’s room, where he was climbing out of bed with Lukas.

“What’s going on?” Lukas asked, not hiding the fear in his voice. “Someone’s inside?”

“Apparently. Caden’s gone to Josie and he has a gun. We’ll stay holed up in here until the cops arrive,” I replied, jumping when something slammed in the hallway. It happened again a moment later, and Jensen’s eyes widened as I quickly locked the door.

“They’re kicking the doors in.”

“Get in the bathroom,” I ordered, giving Tyler a small shove when he didn’t move. “Go on. If anyone comes in, I’ll shoot. Simple.”

“Not simple,” Lukas hissed, but I gave him a dirty look.

“Do any of you know how to shoot? No? Then get the fuck out of the way.”

“I’m not leaving you in a room with a potential murderer,” he bit out, staying next to me.

Murmurs filled the hallway, alerting us to the fact there were multiple people, and I raised my gun as a door closer to our room banged open.

“Rory—” Tyler started, but I cut him off fast.

“Shut up. I need to try and listen over the alarm.”

I could vaguely hear shuffling as the people moved through the bedrooms to check them all, and I was ready when the door to Jensen’s bedroom flew open, my brain registering the unfamiliar face and the gun in his hand for barely a second before I pulled the trigger.

Shouts came next, and I didn’t give his buddy a chance to shoot me first when he appeared in the doorway with his gun raised, mine going off instantly.

I could get charged for having an unmarked firearm, but it was self-defense, they broke in and had guns.

It was quiet in the hallway, other than the alarm, so I crept closer to the door to take a peek, jerking back when a bullet shot past my face.

“Fucking asshole,” I growled, listening as best as I could to hear him coming closer, then I dropped lower and aimed around the doorway, firing and praying I hit him.

He screamed and went down, giving me a chance to take a look, and I quickly darted out to tackle him, pinning his arms behind his back as I straddled his thighs.

“You guys good?” Caden asked as he ran towards us, keeping his gun raised and eyes up.

“Yeah, we’re all good. No idea who these fuckers are. I don’t recognize them,” I answered. “Hey, asshole. Who sent you?” He was groaning in pain, ignoring my request for information, so I pistol whipped him and sighed as he went slack under me. “What a pain in the ass.”

“Oh my God,” Josie exclaimed, jogging towards us in her silk nightgown. “Are you all okay?”