Page 88 of The Saviors: Part One

“Chelsea.”

“Oh shit. She invited you over? That’s got to mean something, right?”

I sure as fuck hope so. I need to make things right with not only her but my team.

I want my family back.

Chapter28

Chelsea

“Hey, Gorgeous,” Sean says with a kiss on my cheek. “You good?”

I lay my phone down on the kitchen counter and turn in his arms, hoping he’s not going to get mad at me for what I did. I slide my arms around his neck. “I invited someone else to the cookout.” We made plans to have steak on the grill since it was a pretty day. Kai and Sean have been getting the grill cleaned and set up. Well, Kai has. Sean’s been fucking with Kai and swimming in the pool.

“That’s cool. Who?”

I take a deep breath. “Axel.” I keep a close eye on his face, and besides the furrowing of his brows, his face doesn’t change.

“Okay,” Sean says slowly. “What made you do that?”

“I feel like shit that you guys are fighting because of me.”

“Gorgeous; I already told you we aren’t fighting because of you.”

I shrug. “I know, but I still feel like it’s my fault, so I extended an olive branch.”

“Are you ready for that?”

No.I’ve found it easier to thaw toward Cole because he wasn’t cold the night they left. He actually looked like he didn’t want to. Axel, on the other hand, looked entirely unaffected. And that hurts when they were my whole life. “I need to do this. For them and me.”

“You don’t owe us shit.” My head snaps to Cole’s voice. Ari and the rest of his team took off to check the fairgrounds, and Cole chose to stay behind when I told him I was fine with it.

Sean kisses my cheek. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he whispers. He walks away and stops when he gets to Cole. “If you make her angry or upset at any point, I’ll tie you to the fence and set your ass on fire.”

I laugh before I can stop myself. “Okay. That won for the favorite.”

“Yes!” Sean pumps his fist in the air, blows me a kiss, and disappears outside.

Cole shakes his head with a smile and then looks at me. “Can we talk?”

I almost say no because I told Axel no talk of the past, but I need to with at least one of them. Cole seems like the safer option. I need to get all these feelings out regarding them. I need to move the fuck on and be happy with my life. I nod for him to follow me to the patio on the side of the house, away from Sean and Kai. We get seated at the table across from each other. “I’m ready to hear your side,” I say.

Cole sighs and sits back in the chair. “First, I need you to know I’m really fucking sorry.” I acknowledge that with a nod. “We didn’t tell you everything the night we left.”

“Sean told me Axel went back and killed your old man. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It was more difficult than that. Charlie found out and was pissed. He gave us an ultimatum.”

“And what was that?”

“Join the Saviors,” he pauses and swallows, “or the minute you turned eighteen, he was taking you as repayment for Axel killing his second-in-command.”

I sit up, leaning my arms on the table. “And you believed him?”

“We were dumb kids. He scared us enough that we believed him. He told us some vile shit he wanted to do to you, Ladybug.”

“You know what I was? Also, a dumb kid. A heartbroken one. You guys left me here withno one.You at least had each other. You didn’t even stop to think maybe you should tell me the fucking truth. You took it upon yourselves to make that decision for me.Thatis what hurts. You guys never took decisions out of my hands. Well, at least you didn’t.”