Page 101 of Oathbreaker

Hunter holds my hand in the back seat of the new armored G-wagon. It took a solid two weeks of talks with him for me to gather the nerve to get in this car and head to our destination. I emailed Genevieve about it several times, going back and forth with her about how I’m a horrible person and her rebuttal that I’m not.

Ultimately, I required Hunter to take his focus off his work and come with me.

But now that we’re in front of the townhouse, fire ants circle in my belly, making me want to faint.

Hunter clasps my hand in his, and I look over to him. I can almost pretend that we don’t have a driver and a guard in the front seats or a battalion of vehicles surrounding our vehicle from all angles.

“She wants to see you, baby. She loves you,” he says. I look at Veronica’s townhome and try to bite down the fear of rejection. I push my fingers into Kitty’s fur, focusing on the sensory input coming from my palms.

“You didn’t hear what I said to her, H,” I whisper. He doesn’t respond for a moment, but after a beat, he pulls me into him, kissing my temple.

“She’s your family. You both just need to talk this out.” He pulls my hand from my mouth when I bite my nail. Some nonverbal communication happens because our driver and five guards are suddenly standing next to my open door.

“I’ll be right here, baby. Go talk with your sister.” He kisses my hand.

Taking a quick cleansing breath, I get out of the car, Kitty clutched to my chest. If people weren’t trying to kill us, I’d laugh at the comedy of the mass of men in black moving with me toward the steps of Veronica’s brownstone. I battle back the desire to feint to the side to break their formation.

The door opens without us knocking, but I take a step back when Rio appears on the other side. He pulls all of us in. When I get into the foyer, I’m bewildered that seven guards I’ve seen at Amelia Manor mill around Veronica’s home.

Rio shrugs in a non-committal way when I look at him. I pull out my phone.

Why are all these guards already inside Veronica’s house?

His reply is almost instant.

I wanted to make sure she was safe, so I assigned her a detail.

I swallow down the happy tears. This man loves me so much that he wants to make sure everyone I care about is also safe.

I love you.

I love you more. Always. Transcendentally.

I put my phone in my jacket pocket at the sound of footsteps, but I pause when Ella descends the staircase.

“Ella? What are you doing here?” It looks like in the time Veronica and I have been fighting—is that what we call it?—she’s formed a whole-ass relationship with my extended circle. I don’t feel weird about it.

“I check in on Veronica daily, especially now that she’s on bed rest.”

“Bed rest?” My voice is a near shout. Oh, my God. “Is she okay? Is the baby okay?” I rush up the stairs, but Ella puts her hand on my shoulder to stop me.

“Yes, the baby is fine, as is Veronica. Her blood pressure hasn’t been the greatest, so her doctor wants her on total bed rest for the next week or so until she can deliver. Her mom and dad are caught over in Europe for the next week at least, so I didn’t want her to be alone.”

I feel all the blood drain from my face.

“Can I see her?” I ask, and the strange out-of-body feeling that I’m asking someone else to see Veronica causes the world to tilt. We’ve always just been there for each other.

“Yes, of course,” Ella says brightly. “She wants to see you. Just make sure you don’t get her excited or upset. She has to keep everything calm.”

I nod and swallow when I take the steps to her bedroom.

When I’m outside her door, I pause. I don’t know what to say to her all of a sudden. Where do I even begin?

I’m sorry for being an asshole to you. Forgive me?

I shake my head and push the door open...only to duck when a pillow sails toward my head.

When I recover, looking at Veronica, I’m taken aback that she’s smiling, damn near laughing at me.

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