Page 83 of Saviour
“Yes, they have, Rori, but that doesn’t mean we’d need the four of us.”
I can see where King is going with this and know it’s going to end badly. The man has always struggled with his emotions and he was in turmoil for years after what the prison did to him and leaving Theo behind.
“Theodora is a Harlow,” he finishes.
Theo’s eyes shine with hurt and I go to open my mouth, but of course my Birdie chirps before anyone can get a say.
“Then fucking give her your name and she won’t be.”
Fuck, I love her. I look down at the ring on her finger and smile a little, remembering my proposal at the lake a few days ago. I know I took way too long to do it, nine years to be exact, but there was just never the right time. Now that it’s there, I’m kicking myself for not doing it sooner.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Aurora.” King laughs sarcastically and I look up at him, squeezing Rori’s hand under the table, rubbing my finger over her ring.
“It’s not a bad idea,” I chime in and I can feel King’s eyes burning right through me. None of them have mentioned the ring on Rori’s wedding finger. Hell, I don’t even know if they’ve noticed it. But we decided to keep it to ourselves until someone brings it up. We know there’s a lot going on with everybody, so we’re happy to indulge in this between just us two a little longer.
“I’m not fucking marrying her,” King finally snaps and jumps up from his chair, storming out of the room.
I smile at Theo sympathetically, ready to spiel off a speech about how he’ll come around and he’s no good at talking about how he feels, but she already knows this, so it would just be wasted. Rori is livid next to me, watching Theo retreat back to her room, but there’s only so much meddling you can do before you’ve just gotta let your friends get on with it.
She might hate it, but she knows that too.
“God, Dax, he can be such a cunt!” She emphasises the T and it makes me smile. I lift up her hand, pressing her fingers to my lips, grazing the side of her ring.
“I can’t fucking wait to marry you,” I whisper. Her face softens and she watches me peck each finger, her hand, her palm, her wrist, and she shudders.
“I can’t wait to fuck you,” she retorts and jumps up on the table in front of me. I laugh and squeeze her thighs.
“I told you, Birdie, I’m not fucking you where someone risks seeing you. Apart from that lake,” I add at the end because I know she’ll throw it right back at me. There’s something about the lake that just feels private, ours.
“Then I’ll lock the door.” She winks, hopping off the table and sauntering to the door. I swat her on the ass as she passes me and a mischievous smile graces her face.
This girl will kill me.
* * *
Tension has beenthick in the house the past couple days. King has avoided Theo like the plague ever since the showdown at the dinner table the other night. To be honest, he’s been avoiding me and Rori too, only talking to me about business stuff and then burying his head.
I’ve given him space, but I don’t know what else to do as trying to talk to him is futile. I saw Theo listening in on a conversation through the study door earlier today, but she ran off before I could find out what was wrong. And when I quizzed King about who he was talking to, he just smiled weirdly and walked out.
I have no idea what’s happening, but I can’t put up with it much longer.
Rori is asleep next to me when I hear the heavy footsteps marching along a corridor from the opposite side. There’s a commotion at the front door and when I hear King shout Theo’s name, I jump up, Rori bolting out of bed, having heard it too, and when I get to the window, I see King chasing Theo down the driveway.
We both throw on some clothes and shoes to run outside, following them, when I notice drips of blood down one side of the steps. But before I can investigate further, a loud crash at the end of the driveway echoes in the dark and Rori is hot on my tail as we sprint. Multiple thoughts fly through my head, but when we get to the end of the driveway, there’s nothing but scattered gravel and clear tyre tracks.
“What the FUCK?” Rori shouts, trying to make sense of what happened, but we’re both just as clueless as the other.
“It’s King and Theo. Let's go.” We both jog back to the mansion and I praise the Lord that me and Rori train every single day and she can now keep up with me. I think back to the frail girl she was when I met her to the woman she is today and pride bursts through my chest, watching her run a little ahead of me.
After getting dressed, we head to the study and Rori fires up her laptop, checking into all of the security footage we have, focusing on the driveway and surrounding area.
“I’ve got that fucker’s number plate,” she hisses and I write it down in my phone. Rori types on her keyboard, her fingers working fast, and when I look over her shoulder, I see her draw up all the cameras in the Districts that have footage of the car that disappeared with King and Theo.
I’m amazed that Rori knows how to do any of this, and I look at her with awe and confusion. I know she checks the footage around the grounds, but I didn't know she’d hacked into the District’s feeds. She must feel my eyes on her because she pauses and looks at me over her shoulder.
“What?”
“Nothing,” I say, smiling, unable to put my thoughts into words. “I’m just surprised you know all of this. Not surprised. I’m amazed actually.”
