Page 37 of Haven Bound
I clear my throat before speaking, doing my best to disguise the hurt that I know will lace my voice. “Why would he tell Ethan but not want to tell me?”
Hailey looks up from her lap and gives me a tight-lipped smile, shrugging a shoulder. “I’m not sure, Chels. Maybe because he knew that Ethan had already seen some pretty dark things in his life. He probably figured that Ethan could handle it. And honestly, it’s a hard secret to keep. You have no idea how many times I’ve wanted to spill everything to you.”
Knowing that she’s wanted to tell me everything, but kept the secret out of familial duty eases the pain knotting in my chest. Reaching across the couch, I take her hand in mine and squeeze gently. “I’m not mad, Hails. I promise. I can’t even imagine the weight that this secret has put on your shoulders over the years.” She squeezes my hand in return. I pull away to lean against the back of the couch, fidgeting with the soft blanket on my lap.
“To be honest, there are things I’ve kept from you, too. Things from my past that I’ve worked really hard to forget, but they seem to keep coming back to haunt me.”
Her blue eyes bounce back and forth between mine in confusion. “What things?” she asks. I don’t know if I’m prepared to tell her. But if there’s a chance that she can help me battle my demons in some way, it’s worth a shot.
“Do you know who Austin’s target is?” I ask carefully. Just because they’re siblings and part of the same organization—is a group of people that willingly kill the bad guys considered an organization?—doesn’t mean that they keep each other informed about their tasks.
“Wait, what doyoudo for the Legion?” I spit out suddenly, realizing now that there’s so much I don’t know about my best friend.
Hailey shakes her head and laughs at my questions. “Now I’m the one that feels like I’m being interrogated,” she teases, making fun of the other day when I questioned if she and Austin were interrogating me when I filled them in about Jason.
“Oh, c’mon! I have so many questions. I wanna know everything!” I exclaim. She smiles as she tilts her head from shoulder to shoulder, seemingly trying to decide how much to share with me.
She sighs and begins to overload me with information. “For whatever reason, our parents decided to wait until we each turned eighteen to tell us everything, and honestly, the timing was just in my favor. I’d already been talking to my mom about nursing school and they’d just recently lost one of their local on-call nurses. Before you ask, she didn’t die. She moved out of state with her new husband, and the Legion needed someone close to Haven Beach. I expected my parents to fight me on it, but I think they hated the idea ofbothof their children putting themselves in the line of danger every day.”
She gives me a concerned smile, silently apologizing for the reminder that Austin does in fact put his life in danger with every mission that he’s given. “I spent my time making sure I had the education to be the on-call nurse that they needed. As soon as I was finished with school, I stepped up at the hotel and started learning everything I could aboutevent management.” She pauses, and it gives me a chance to reflect on everything that she has said.
Hailey is such a freaking powerhouse. I can’t even imagine the amount of stress she must be under every single day, and she never lets it show. She always seems so organized and put together.
We sat and talked for a little while longer, and I made sure to tell her about my stepfather and the fact that he’s the assignment that Austin came home for. I also filled her in about her brother’s insistence that I stay at the hotel for a while. It was no surprise that she agreed with that decision, telling me that it’s probably safer that way.
I’m in my room getting together everything that I may need or want while staying at the Elysian when I hear the front door open. “Chelsea?” Austin’s voice reaches me from the living room.
“Almost ready!” I don’t think it’s true, but I say it anyway. I have no clue how much I should be packing orwhatI should even be packing. Everything I need for work is at the bakery, but I do need several logo shirts and my favorite bakery meme shirts that I like to rotate through.
I know I need the basics, but now that things are heating up with Austin, I want to make sure I’m prepared for the next time we’re intimate. I want something nicer than black cotton underwear. Not that he seemed to care. I just know that Ifeelsexier when I’m wearing something made of lace.
“Need any help?” he asks, and I turn to find him leaning a shoulder against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest with one ankle over the other.
Fuck me.
“I think I’ve got it,” I tell him.Or at least I did before you came in.
His presence is a little distracting in the best way possible. Flashes fill my mind of the way he looked at me sprawled out on the bed before him, the way his full lips felt pressed against mine, the way he groaned between my thighs, and the way I felt having his hard cock in my mouth.
“We can come back if you forget something that you need, or I’ll just buy it for you,” he says, a smirk tugging at his lips as he watches me.
I roll my eyes at that last comment. “I don’t need you to buy me anything.” That seems to capture his attention because the next thing I know, he’s standing in front of me and tipping my chin up until I’m forced to meet his gaze.
“I know that you don’t need me to, Chelsea. But I want to. You’re mine now, and I’m going to take care of you.”
His words settle something deep within me. All of the tension that I have been hanging on to releases from my body, causing my shoulders to slump forward slightly as I relax against him. Austin’s arms wrap around my waist. He presses a kiss to my temple, holding me tightly against him.
“Ready?” His deep voice sends a tantalizing shiver down my spine. I step away from his embrace and look around the room that I’ve called mine for the past few months.
“Yeah, I think so.”
He grabs the few bags I’d thrown together and nods for me to lead the way.
I’m not sure how prepared I am to face everything that is coming next, but I know that I’m ready to move forward with Austin at my side. No matter what that might look like.
28
Chelsea
