Page 77 of The Devil's Chaos

“How much do you want?”

“I don’t want your money. I have enough of my own.”

“Then why would you help me?”

Archer suspected ulterior motives, which was understandable. But Haven's response surprised me.

“I want out, and the only way I can do that is to deliver Mila to you. I know who you are, Archer. I’m well aware of the reach The Brotherhood has. I know once Mila is safe, you will get your revenge. And when you do, I want to watch you burn him alive. I want to be free of my brother and The Collectors once and for all.”

I snapped my head in her direction because she had never said words like that to me.

She avoided my gaze.

“You want me to kill your brother for you?” Archer asked her.

“There’s no love lost.”

“Can you excuse us for a second?” he asked, gesturing toward Theo and me.

Fuck.

“Of course. Take all the time you need,” she responded before leaving us and entering her bedroom.

Once she was gone, I turned to him. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking the last time you trusted a woman, she helped kidnap Mila,” he pointed out.

I couldn’t tell if he was angry or making a joke.

“I’m sorry, man. I feel terrible enough as it is. I didn’t know. But I wasn’t looking for anything other than pussy with Maddie, so I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary,” I explained.

“How do I know it’s not pussy clouding your mind again?” he retorted, raising an eyebrow at me.

Well, this conversation may be taking a turn for the worse.

“With Haven? Come on, man. She’s Alexander’s sister.” I tried to deflect, but I was unsure if he would buy it. Now wasn’t the time to get into a fight over how close I had really gotten to Haven in the past couple of months. That conversation was for another time.

“She turned you down,” Theo chuckled, attempting to buffer the interaction.

“Shut up. That’s not why we’re here. Look, Haven is nothing like her brother. She’s ruthless and cunning, but I trust her when she says she can help us.”

“How do I know it’s not a trap?”

Valid question.

“You don’t,” Haven’s voice interjected from behind us.

Haven approached us with a large black bag slung over her shoulder like she was preparing to leave.

“Sorry to rush you. I just got a text from Alex. He needs me to pick up a shipment and bring it to work tonight for some of his buyers.” She moved through the apartment, gathering her jacket and keys.

“A shipment?” Archer questioned.

“Yeah, a shipment. I’m sure Kai has filled you in on my role in The Collector hierarchy,” she snapped, looking irritated.

“Not yet, actually,” Archer pointedly remarked, glancing at me.

“I’ll explain later. For now, you’ll have to settle for the cliff notes. I sell his drugs to high-end buyers at my place of employment.”

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