Page 13 of Protected By the Convicts
Chapter Three
VAUGHN
Vaughn didn’t know what he’d walked into when he returned to their house, but everyone was boiling mad. Ren was cursing up a storm as he worked on the gate Vaughn had broken earlier, and Hannah. . . He’d laid into her for no reason other than his own pent-up frustrations and panic. They didn’t know what he’d done, the secret. . .secretshe’d been keeping from them.
He had hoped to avoid this, but it appeared he had no choice. As he walked with Hannah through the front door, he didn’t release her arm, despite the glare he received from Ky’Li. The man had always been protective of Hannah. Vaughn understood that. Hell, if he were lucky enough to be sleeping with her again. . . Scratch that. If he were lucky enough to have her care about him, really care, then he’d glare at anyone who mistreated her too.
Vaughn looked at his hand on her arm. He didn’t deserve to be in this unit. “Sorry,” he mumbled as he released her.
She rubbed her skin. That’s when he noticed her injury. He moved to look at her hand, but she pulled away, backing toward Ky’Li.
“You knew about his damn ship?” Sersie yelled at Vaughn.
Fuck.Whatever happened here was worse than Vaughn had thought. The vid monitor had been smashed, furniture had been pushed aside, and the tension in the air was thick, stifling, and it was only going to get worse.
“You two never trusted me with anything,” Sersie added, the vein in the side of his neck pulsing furiously.
Vaughn scrutinized the man’s skin, eyes, and breathing for signs of drug use. Sersie’s eyes flared; he’d caught Vaughn assessing him, adding insult to, well, insult, apparently.
“We trust you, Sersie. We’re just careful with you.” Vaughn winced. That wasn’t the right way to phrase it. “There was no need for you to know what Ren was planning. You don’t handle stressful situations well. I only knew because he needed help one day. A simple exchange of services.”
“Not simple, Vaughn.”
Sersie shut up, but Vaughn was more concerned with Hannah. He’d wronged her earlier, in more than one way. “Hannah,” he began. . .”What I said earlier. . . .”
“If it’s all the same right now, I’ve been screamed at enough for one night. I’m going to bed.”
She charged off toward the bedroom, with Ky’Li on her heels.
He deserved that. . . and more. Ren finally came in, still cursing up a storm. “She sabotaged my ship, Vaughn. Three days. . . I had three fucking days left and then I was going to be off this cursed planet. And she came along and ripped out wires, crushed crystals, smashed delicate instruments. . . I’ll never be able to fix it all. Half the pieces are gone, missing.”
Ren slumped onto the sofa, looking more broken than Vaughn had ever seen. “All because she didn’t want to break up this fucking unit. I want to kill her but. . . Hell, Vaughn. How does someone do that to another person they care about? She said she cared about me, and I believed her. How could she do this to me?”
Vaughn steeled himself for the shitstorm that was about to come. “Hannah didn’t sabotage your ship, Ren. I did.”
* * *
HANNAH
Hannah paced the bedroom, trying to hold back her tears and doing a lousy job of it. Ky’Li opened his mouth to speak and then she glared at him. He promptly shut his mouth.
She stopped pacing. “I’m sorry. None of this is your fault. I shouldn’t be taking out my anger on you.”
“None of this is your fault either.”
She laid her head against his chest. He’d said the one thing she needed to hear. Not because she didn’t already know that, but because someone believed her. Ky’Li’s arms wrapped around her as he kissed the top of her head.
“I feel bad for Ren,” Ky’Li said.
That was not what she was expecting to hear. “Oh, so you do think I did it?” She broke out of his hold.
“No, certainly not. And it matters little who did it. In the end, they crushed Ren’s dream. That can be worse than actual death, sha’vi.”
She sighed and leaned into him again. “I know.”
A crash outside their bedroom made her jump. When they opened the door, Ren plowed into Vaughn, sending him into a wall. Hannah stood there stunned, but Ky’Li didn’t waste a second pulling Ren off of Vaughn and tossing him on to the sofa as if he weighed nothing. Then he offered Vaughn a hand up. The doctor accepted.
Hannah clenched her fists and swallowed hard, trying to keep her body from shaking. “Please. . . Can everyone stop fighting?” she asked, hating how weak her voice sounded.
