Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

RORY

Shifting in the hallway, slowly moving toward the voices filling the main room, I find myself more nervous than ever before.

After I said my piece to Aries and ran into the bathroom, I haven’t seen him since. He left.

I didn’t ask anyone about it. Nor did I tell anyone what was said between Aries and me. It’s no one else’s business. They didn’t need to know.

I hadn’t had the energy to deal with anyone else last night, so once I got myself together and knew he wasn’t coming back, I climbed into the middle of the bed and just allowed myself to sleep. It was restless, and I tossed and turned. I didn’t want to think about him, about what I told him. For years now, I’ve done my best not to think about any of what happened or that letter I’d had no choice but to write.

“He’s going to end up self-fuckin’-destructing, Prez,” the voice is one that sounds somewhat familiar, but I can’t be a hundred percent sure.

“That’s why you’re heading out to help Wolf make sure he keeps his head on straight,” Viper states.

I step into the main room, to see Cordelia standing just to the side, hands on her hips, glaring at another man. I assume he’s the one Viper is talking to considering Viper was also facing him. The man had a beautiful woman standing next to him, her arm around his waist, her eyes in my direction.

“Kevlar,” she whispers and nods toward me.

Great. Everyone twists to see me step into the room fully.

“Rory,” Viper grunts.

“Hey, Rory,” Cordelia says, giving me a sad smile.

“What’s going on?” I manage to ask.

“Un-fucking-believable.” Kevlar sneers. “You don’t realize what the fuck you’ve done by coming here, do you, bitch?”

There was no hiding my flinch at his harsh words.

“Kevlar,” the woman mutters.

“Not now, Rosemary, that bitch had him wrapped up around her finger years ago, and now, she’s got him running off from his own goddamn club. What the fuck did you say to my brother, bitch?”

“That’s enough, Kevlar,” Cordelia snaps. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Brother, you need to calm down,” Viper remarks.

Staring at Kevlar, I realize exactly who he is and do my best to swallow down the fear. This is Aries’s best friend. A man who used to also be like a brother to me. I had no choice but to cut him out of my life just as I had Aries. His road name suits him. He’s always been one for being like steel and facing off with others and not letting it affect him.

No matter how much I want to run and hide, I don’t. Instead, I square my shoulders and join the group as I clear my throat and speak for myself while glaring at Kevlar. “You know, asshole, I’d leave here if I could. I did leave, but your friend found me and brought me back. I know I made the mistake of telling Cordy to bring me to him. I shouldn’t have done that.” I stretch my arms on either side of me. “Regardless, here I am, and they won’t let me leave.”

“Rory, you need to calm down,” Cordelia says softly, coming to my side.

“No, I won’t calm down. I’m sick of everyone telling me to calm down. To do this. To do that. Well, for once, I won’t listen,” I snap, ignoring the feeling of acting like a child with a temper tantrum. “All I’ve ever done was obey orders. The times I didn’t, I paid the price. I’m sick of all the bullshit. My God, haven’t I had enough to deal with thanks to Roger being a sick bastard? I’ve given up my happiness to make it so others could.”

“Babe, you need to calm down,” Mace remarks, his hand touching my shoulder.

“I said I didn’t want to calm down,” I scream, shaking my head. I reach up and sink my fingers into my hair with one hand, the other doing the best with the cast to do the same. “I just wanted to finally be able to get away and be alone for once in my life.” I drop my hands and glare at Kevlar. “You can think whatever the hell you want about what I did to Aries, but you don’t know the hell I’ve been living in ever since.”

Whirling away from them all, I run back in the direction I came from, my head filled with thoughts of all that I’ve done and lost because of all this. Yet I still blame myself for allowing the man who should have been nothing more than my stepbrother to take control of my life.

I seal myself away behind the doors of Aries’s room, locking it and even going as far as moving a chair he had sitting next to his dresser beneath the handle in hopes to barricade the thing and keep anyone from getting in if they have a key. Once I am sure no one is going to come through the door, I move to the bed and curl back in the middle of it, not knowing what else to do.

There is so much anger in my mind, so much rage and anguish, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get rid of it. All I’ve ever wanted to do was protect those I hold close to my heart. But it seems all I’ve done was hurt them just as I did myself. If not more.

I need to figure out a way to overcome everything. They’re not gonna let me leave here. Nor are they going to ask me to go.

What I need to do is just wait for Aries to get back. Finish the conversation I ran away from, and only then am I sure he’ll let me go, and I can finally get out of here. Then, I can find a place of my own to fit in and not worry about anything else but living out the rest of my life in peace.