God, how could my family have been so blind? All those crocodile tears Patti had wept after the shooting. How could we have not seen through her act?
Because why would we doubt her?
To the world, Patti was the epitome of a devoted wife. Since the shooting, that woman Meryl Streeped the hell out of her role of Grieving Widow.
All that seemed so distant for the sixteen days Havoc and I spent at the Death Star. Now, it’s too close and too loud. I’m still struggling to reorient myself as I stand in Havoc and Discord’s house with nothing to do but wait for Faith. She’s driving me home because Havoc said he wanted to meet with Crow immediately. But I know the truth. He’d rather slam his penis in a car door than go anywhere near Brighton. And that’s fine. I understand. I just wish he hadn’t left so…abruptly.
He might as well have slapped me on the ass and told me to have a good life.
I roam the surprisingly inviting living room and touch my fingertips to my lips, my temper on the rise. Havoc literally dumped me off at his house within minutes of arriving in Mayhem. He stayed long enough to make a few phone calls, grab some things, and give me a quick parting kiss. Then he was out the door, practically giving me whiplash.
Alone and angry, I drag in a fortifying breath. Exhale and glance around Havoc’s cozy home. I’d expected… I don’t know what I expected. A dungeon, maybe? Chains dangling from the ceiling? Definitely black walls and skulls. Instead, the room is bland. Muted browns and tans, with dark carpeting and a comfy beige sectional. The kitchen is simple. Tidy. Even the artwork on the walls is shockingly mundane.
Not at all the assumed evil lair of two notorious Unholy.
It’s almost like Havoc and Discord decorated their house how a home issupposedto look rather than one suited to their tastes.
The more I snoop, the more I realize it’s like something from a sitcom, with nothing too personal and everything so…normal.
A weird freeze crystallizes down my limbs as I pass the mirror next to the coatrack and catch my reflection. I almost laugh at the ridiculously cheerful sunflower emblazoned on the front of the taupe sweater, but the sound gets stuck in my throat. It’s a glaring contrast to the turmoil twisting me in knots.
It’s still difficult for me to accept that Patricia caused all this pain. But Patti played this wrong. She should have run. Ran far enough that no one would have found her. My regret is that I won’t be there to see her face when Malice knocks on her door.
And believe me, he’s the last person you want on your doorstep.
Standing at over six feet tall and weighing in at around two hundred fifty plus pounds of solid muscle, Malice is terrifying. We decided he’ll be the one to deliver Patti to the Order of the Rose. Those women are an allied organization of gunrunners who have no qualms with extracting street justice on a female.
The Unholy may be criminals, but they have their own set of values. They don’t hurt women,ever. Not even one as evil as Patricia Caldwell.
Crow’s solution to the Patti problem came via a terse phone call from Havoc after he left here and went directly to Sanctum. There, he and the Unholy’s president worked out a plan for Patricia. All they’d needed was my approval.
Which I gave, because to hell with her.
The Order of the Rose are ruthless. If anyone can make Patti pay for what she did to Marcus and my family, it’s those women.
Malice will stay in Falls Creek—Order’s territory—until it’s over. This also means I can, and will, go home.
Today.
Now.
Because a knock at the front door has me halting in my steps and heading back the way I came. I peer through the wooden blinds covering the window next to the door and see Faith standing on the front porch. She’s swallowed by a black North Face jacket, with the bitter wind blowing in from the Appalachians, whipping her waist-length brown hair around her petite frame. Needing a hearty dose of best friend therapy, I fumble with the locks in my haste to throw open the door.
“It’s about time you came home.” Faith rushes in with open arms. “I was getting antsy and bugging Jester to bring me up to that damn place to see you.”
Leave it to her to always catch me when I fall.
And I do fall.
Literally.
I collapse into her embrace and give the door a mule kick to close it without letting her go. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Girl, same.” She gives me a hard squeeze that pushes the air out of my lungs. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Youwere scared? How do you think I felt?” I rest my cheek on her shoulder, wishing I could absorb some of her strength. “I can’t do this, Faith, I don’t want to go home, but I can’t stay here.”
Faith strokes my hair before setting me away and holding me at arm’s distance. “You’ve got this, baby girl.”
