Broken Trust(Devastation Duet #2) - Winter Paige Page 0,7

shrugs. “I really thought you all broke her, but hearing your conversation yesterday really brought back that fire.” She grins.

“Just tell us where she is, Rachel,” Abel sighs. “We’re garbage. We know. At least, I do.”

“Out. She’ll be back, but right now, she is making a point, and I suggest you all listen really closely.” She steps up to us, lip curled. “You fucked up. You abandoned the only person in this house who ever gave a shit about any of us. And after all these years, she has finally realized that she doesn’t need us. We need her. You can look if you want, but I’ll bet fifty blowjobs that you won’t find her until she is ready to be found.” She walks to the door, looking back over her shoulder. “I love that girl. She deserves a chance, and I can’t wait to see what she does with it.”

The door closes, and Abel sinks to the lounge. “Fuck.”

“What were you doing in here, Costin?” Jaxx studies me.

“Not that it matters now, but I came to get her out of here.” I walk to the window, noticing the garage door ajar, shaking my head with a grin, and whisper, “Fucking, Always.”

“What?” Abel stands to see.

“Her bike.” I nod. “She took the bike. Rachel was right; she’s back.”

“I’ve tracked her. Let’s go.” Jaxx leads us out the door and down to the porch.

“Where?” I ask, climbing on my bike.

“The field. She’s with the cow.” He shakes his head.

“Figures. We’ll follow you, Jaxx,” I yell as the three of us leave in hopes that groveling will be enough to bring the Princess back to us.

Forty-five minutes later, we’re stomping through what I hope is mud and realizing that this might have been intentional on her part.

“Son of a bitch! She didn’t,” Jaxx barks, jogging ahead. Leaning over, he yells, “She did!”

I laugh out when I see what he’s holding up. “Is that her pendant? Tell me it was on Joey Ramone!”

“Yeah.” He brushes back his hair, looking up to the sky. “Now what? She isn’t safe alone.”

“Well, seems she wasn’t always safe with us, either. I told you all this would happen. None of you listened because you were all too busy fighting over who was right to actually do anything. It’s no surprise that she doesn’t trust us enough to reach out,” Abel says, defeated.

“We were keeping her safe,” I argue, knowing it’s weak.

“We were letting Andrew keep her compliant and out of his hair, Costin. We all know it,” Jaxx bites out, pushing back his hair as we make our way back to the bikes.

“I’m done keeping my mouth shut. Twice, I’ve seen things all of you refused to acknowledge, and both times, I stood down, outnumbered. My self-doubt and your bullheadedness left her to fight alone.” Abel stops, picking up his helmet.

“She was a mess. She couldn’t even sleep without-“

“Without what, Jaxx? Screaming for us? Begging for our help? Sobbing out our names because she trusted us to protect her? To stand by her?” Abel fumes then lowers his head. “A lot of good that did her. We left her to rot instead of helping her. That changes now, and if I have to do it alone, then fine.” He pulls away without a second glance, leaving us in a cloud of dust.

“Fuck.”

“He’s right, Cos. We can make all the excuses we want, but the truth is we left her because none of us was man enough to admit that we could have prevented it. She said she knew I would never let her down, and when she needed me the most, I stood back and watched her fall.”

“Look, Jaxx.” I pick up my helmet, pulling it on. “We fucked up. I do that. A lot.”

“That’s the damn truth.” He shakes his head.

“Blow me.” I flip him off. “Anyways, here’s the thing – E forgives me. Every. Single. Time. Not because I deserve it, not because she has to. She does it because that’s who she is. She loves hard and fights for the people she loves. So put on your big boy pants, stop with the boohoo bullshit, and let’s finish this with her just like she asked in that hospital bed. In her heart, she knows we tried to keep her safe. She just needs to be mad first.” I grin, climbing onto my bike.

“Last time you just let her be mad, she started dating Laporte.” Jaxx grimaces. “Who knows what she’s up to now.”

Well, that