The words weren’t loud.They didn’t need to be.The biker chuckled, a low sound that crawled unpleasantly up Ivy’s spine.“Relax.Just doing a little shopping.”
His gaze slid back to her, slow and deliberate, lingering far too long.Something ugly flickered there.Curiosity mixed with appraisal.A calculating interest that made her feel suddenly small, like an insect pinned under glass.
Ivy’s fingers curled into her palm, nails biting in.Havoc took one step forward.That was all it took.
The biker’s grin didn’t disappear, but his body language changed.Hands lifted slowly, palms out, as he backed toward the door.Still smiling and watching Havoc like a predator sizing up another predator.
“No harm, man.No harm.”His eyes never left Havoc’s face.“Tell King I said hi.”
The bell chimed again as he left, the door swinging shut behind him.
The silence that followed was deafening.Ivy realized her hands were shaking.She stared down at them like they belonged to someone else.Havoc noticed immediately.His gaze dropped, then lifted back to her face, his expression carved from something harder now.
“You okay?”he asked.His voice was rougher than before, edged with something she couldn’t quite name.
She swallowed, forcing air into her lungs.“Yeah.I was about to text you.”
“I know,” he said.
That snapped her attention back to him.“You do?”
He exhaled, dragging a hand through his hair, agitation written into the line of his shoulders.“I had a bad feeling.”
Her chest tightened.“He wasn’t Devil’s Crown.”
“No,” Havoc said flatly.“He wasn’t.”
They stood there another moment, the tension slowly bleeding out of the space, leaving behind a shaky calm.Havoc nodded toward the counter.“Get what you need.We’re not lingering.”
She nodded and forced herself to focus, though her awareness stayed tuned to him.To the way he watched the door.To the way he stayed close without crowding her.To the quiet promise in his presence.
Outside, the sun felt harsher than before, too bright, too exposed.Ivy climbed back into the truck, hands trembling as she buckled her seatbelt.
Havoc started the engine but didn’t pull away right away.He turned and looked at her, really looked, concern cutting through his usual guarded expression.
“You sure you’re okay?”he asked again.
She let out a shaky breath.“I thought I was fine.I really did.”
His jaw tightened.“That’s why I don’t like leaving you alone.”
She turned toward him, emotion tangling sharp and sudden in her chest.“I don’t want to need protecting.”
“I know,” he said quietly.“Doesn’t mean you don’t deserve it.”
They drove back in silence, the road stretching long and familiar ahead of them.Ivy watched the landscape blur past, mind replaying the biker’s grin, the way Havoc had stepped in without hesitation.
Her heart fluttered, a sharp, unexpected beat that caught her off guard.
Ivy had never thought of herself as someone who needed protection.She’d built her life on self-reliance, on trusting her instincts and her ability to walk away when things turned sideways.Needing a man to step in had never been part of her story, never something she wanted or imagined for herself.
Yet, in that moment, with the echo of the biker’s grin still crawling under her skin, she felt something soften and shift inside her.Gratitude, warm and disarming.Relief so deep it bordered on awe.Havoc hadn’t hesitated.He hadn’t questioned or hovered or demanded an explanation.
He’d simply appeared, solid and sure, placing himself between her and a threat she’d felt but not yet named.Her heart fluttered again, traitorous and undeniable.
She didn’t like how much it affected her.Or maybe she did, just a little.Because for the first time in a long while, she understood that being protected didn’t mean being weak.It meant being seen.It meant someone choosing to stand beside her without trying to cage or control her.
She glanced at Havoc, at the set of his jaw and the tension still riding his shoulders, and felt something settle quietly into place.Just for that moment, she was deeply, achingly grateful he had been there.
