Chapter 24
“I didn’t know where else to go,” I said. “I’m…I’m sorry.”
After Stone had kicked me out of his condo, I had raced down the stairs, not bothering with the elevator, and a couple of blocks away, I had called for an Uber. I’d made sure to stay under a streetlamp, and while I had waited, I had texted Kincaid.
I knew we weren’t friends, but I still had so many unanswered questions, and she was the only person I could think of who I could ask. There was no way I was going to go looking for Alexander if I didn’t have to, and I sure as fuck wasn’t going to ask Laney.
Laney.
The realization of what she’d done to me had been devastating. When Stone had started talking about text messages, stating that I was going to sleep around at the party, there could be only one possible explanation for them. Laney was the only person who had action at my phone and knew the code to unlock it. We’d been friends and roommates for so long, of course I had trusted her. It hadn’t bothered me that she knew my code because I knew hers as well.
My stomach churned with how she had sounded so earnest about making up. I had wanted everything to be good between us so badly that I had missed the signs. When she had asked me to leave my phone in my purse, I should have suspected something. Or at the very least, I should have fired off a text to Stone, telling him about the party.
Tears threatened to erupt at the thought of him, but I quickly shook them off. I could fall apart over him later. Right now, I needed answers.
When Kincaid had texted back her address, I hadn’t care that I looked a mess. I hadn’t cared that I was about to reveal some serious hurt and humiliation. All that mattered was that The Order wasn’t going to go after my family for something beyond my control. I came here for the answers I needed, hoping Kincaid could give them to me. What I hadn’t counted on was Saxton Voss being here, too, and I felt bad for disrupting their night.
“It’s okay, Rylee,” Kincaid replied kindly as she led me to the couch. “Would you like something to drink? Are you hungry?”
It was past eleven, and while I should probably eat something, I’d probably just throw it all back up with as sick as I felt. “No, thank you.”
“I’ll just head out an-”
“No,” I rushed out. Saxton had been sitting in one of the armchairs that were a matching set in Kincaid’s very, very, very nice apartment before standing up to leave. “I…you’re probably the one who can actually help me.”
Saxton Voss had black hair and these piercing grey eyes, and it was easy to get lost in his good looks. And while he looked wary, it wasn’t lost on me how we could all be mistaken for siblings with all three of us having black hair. The only difference was our eye color; mine blue, Kincaid’s black, and Saxton’s grey.
He gave me a slight nod. “What’s going on, then?”
“What are the repercussions for me and my family if Stone breaks off the engagement and cancels the Hera contract?” Saxton’s eyes widened, and he shared a concerned look with Kincaid. Kincaid was sitting on the side of the couch nearest Saxton, so I was able to look at both of them from my side on the other end of the couch.
“Why would Stone break-”
“I meant to ask what will happen to me and my family now that Stone’s cancelled the contract,” I corrected, cutting Kincaid off.
“What do you mean, he cancelled the contract?” Saxton asked. “Rylee…” He shook his head. “There’s got to be some sort of mis-”
“He broke off the engagement, Saxton,” I told him. “There’s no mistake or confusion.”
“Why, for fuck’s sake?” he asked, sounding genuinely shocked.
I took a deep breath, looked between them both, and then told them everything. I started from the texts that Stone had sent me before the night of the initiation and I didn’t stop until I got the part about texting Kincaid, asking her if I could come over. I kept having to wipe away a random tear, but I was past caring about what they might think of me. Besides, what Stone did and said to me wasn’t my fault. I had nothing to be embarrassed about.
When I was done, Kincaid’s voice shook with incredulousness. “He did what?”
I ignored her outrage on my behalf and looked over at Saxton. “I need to know if I’ll be held accountable for this, Saxton,” I said. “Will I? Do you know?”
Saxton leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, and he didn’t look happy. As a matter of fact, he looked dangerous, and it looked sexy as hell on the man. What was it with these guys? “Do you still have the texts on your phone?” he asked.
I shook my head. “After calling for the Uber and texting Kincaid, I checked my phone for the texts he had accused me of sending, and our entire text thread has been deleted.”
“Laney probably deleted them to prolong you finding out,” Kincaid concluded. In my recap of events, I’d told them about my theory of Laney being behind all this.
“Only I don’t think Laney was the only one behind this,” Saxton said, shocking me more than I thought possible tonight.
“What do you mean?”
“August called an impromptu meeting tonight,” he said. “He called it around the same time you say Laney was apologizing to you. He even called in Alexander, Donovan, Arlene, and Jacob, damn near forcing us all to attend.”
“Motherfucker,” Kincaid muttered under her breath.
“What?” I whispered, shocked at the very idea of a possible conspiracy.
Saxton lifted his chin and it made him look like a commanding god. “Coincidently enough, the meeting was about the Hera contacts and their details.”
“I’m going to kill them both,” Kincaid hissed between her teeth.
Saxton leaned his head towards her. “Babe, calm down.”
Babe?
“Don’t tell me to calm down, Saxton,” she snapped. “Betrayal is-” Saxton leveled her with a look, effectively shutting her up. If I hadn’t been here to witness it for myself, I never would have believed in the idea of someone being able to control Kincaid Black like that.
Though none of my business, I found myself blurting out, “Are you two a…thing?”
Kincaid rolled her eye. “No,” she answered. “Saxton just doesn’t know his place.” Saxton smirked at her, and my ovaries pulsed a little.
Leaning back in his chair, Saxton said, “Sounds like Remington and his girl orchestrated this little breakup.” Saxton eyed me. “Do you know why?”
I let out an exhausted sigh. “I think Laney has a thing for Stone, and…and August asked me out right before summer, but I turned him down.”
Kincaid shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense, though,” she remarked. “August knows the penalty for interfering with a Hera contract. And even if he didn’t, he has to know Stone Lexington isn’t one to fuck with.” She shook her head again. “Stone’s fucking vicious. Everyone knows it. He’ll kill August.”
“Look, I really don’t care about August, Stone, or Laney right now,” I told them. “All I care about is making sure my family is safe from this fucked-up situation and never seeing any of you ever again.” The corner of Saxton’s lip lifted a bit. “No offense,” I quickly added.
Kincaid snorted. “I wouldn’t want anything to do with any of us, either, if I were you.”
Saxton didn’t say anything for a long while before finally putting me out of my misery. “You’re safe, Rylee,” he finally said. “The Order would rather a member change his mind than make a mistake as big as marriage interfering with the way of things.”
My head dropped back, and I let out the biggest sigh of relief, not caring about the fresh tears. “Oh, thank God.”
“But Rylee?”
I opened my eyes, wiped my cheeks, then looked at Saxton. “Yeah?”
He looked sympathetic as he threw me for another loop. “I have to tell Stone what’s going on, Rylee.”
“What?” I cried out. “Why?”
“Rylee, August and Laney have interfered with a contact, Hera or not,” he said. “Even if I didn’t like you or Stone, I’m obligated to report the betrayal.” His eyes slid quickly over towards Kincaid, and if his words hadn’t been causing such havoc in my chest, I would have noticed the meaningful glance he shot her way. “To Kincaid’s point, if August has no qualms about betraying someone as powerful as Stone Lexington, then he’ll have no qualms about betraying any of us.”
No, no, no, no, no, I chanted in my head. I wanted nothing more to do with Stone Lexington. I wanted fucking freedom from all this craziness. I almost married a sadistic guy I didn’t know and committed to an organization that was powerful and dangerous, and this was my golden ticket out of this hell. Besides, the hurt I was feeling over my misplaced feelings for Stone was still there.
Stone hurt me, and I wasn’t about to sign up for him to do it again.
Think.
“Okay, but…but that doesn’t change anything, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“The contract is cancelled,” I reminded him. “Whatever Stone and I had, well it’s over. So…even if you tell him, I’m…I’m still free to walk away, right?”
“Rylee, honey, August and Laney set you guys up,” Kincaid said. “You and Stone can work thing-”
I looked over at her and prayed she could see it. I prayed she could see inside all the way to my pain. “Whatever August and Laney did, they didn’t make Stone treat me like he did, Kincaid,” I told her. “There were a million different ways he could have handled the situation, and he went for the most brutal. I’ll never forget that, nor will I forgive it.”
“Admittedly, I don’t know the guy well, but that’s his way, Rylee,” Saxton remarked. “The guy is reputed to be ruthless, so I’m not surprised he took your supposed betrayal as badly as he did.”
I didn’t want to see Stone’s point of view. I didn’t want Stone to have a valid reason for his rage. I didn’t want to understand how he could do what he did to me.
I wanted to nurse my broken heart and move the hell on.
“I don’t care, Saxton,” I replied. “All I care about is that I’m free to walk.”
“It depends,” he said.
“On what?” I felt like I was going to lose it, and I couldn’t believe that one week of phone calls, walking me to class, and making out would have me an emotional mess over a guy I barely knew.
But here I fucking was.
“If Stone’s put in the official request,” he answered, and I could feel my stomach sinking to the floor. “And I highly doubt it since this has all just happened.” He glanced at the expensive-looking watch on his wrist. “It’s almost midnight, Rylee. Odds are in favor of Stone waiting to get a hold of Alexander in the morning.”
Desperation started clawing at my throat. “Then give me Alexander’s phone number,” I practically demanded. “I’ll call him and tell him Stone cancelled the contract.”
Saxton looked sad for me as he said, “Rylee, Stone has to be the one to do it.”
I started shaking my head. “No,” I choked out. “No.”
“Rylee-”
I looked at Kincaid. “What?” I knew I sounded like a hysterical mess, but I didn’t care. “I…” I looked between her and Saxton. “I need you guys to help me,” I begged. “Please, help me out of this mess. Please.”
Saxton’s jaw clenched with regret. “I can’t, Rylee,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I really am. But my obligation is to The Order, and therefore, Stone.”
I looked over at Kincaid. “Kincaid?”
She looked over at Saxton. “Give us an hour,” she said before looking back over at me. “We can go back to your apartment and grab some of your things. I can’t help you avoid Stone forever, but…I can help you get a head start.” I nodded because it was better than nothing.
“Babe-”
“Just one hour, Saxton,” Kincaid repeated.
Saxton stood up from his chair, then looked down at both of us. “I can’t do that.” My entire chest felt like it was caving in. But holding my gaze he added, “When I walk out that door, I am going to send out a group text, declaring an emergency meeting.”
“I…understand,” I whispered brokenly.
“But the roads are really slippery this time of year, so I’ll have to go the speed limit and come to complete stops at every traffic light.” He gave me a soft smile. “I might even have to take a detour through the back roads, because, traffic, you know.”
Tears erupted. “Thank you,” I mouthed because Saxton Voss was one of the good guys.
When he walked out the door, Kincaid asked, “Do you want to stay with me?”
I shook my head. “I want to stay where Stone Lexington will never find me,” I told her honestly.
Only, I had no idea where that was.