“No, you talked. I want out.”
Keon frowns. “Out of what?”
“The Saviors. Cut me loose because I’m done.”
“You need to think about what you’re saying,” Ari reasons. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“I won’t be here later. I. Want. Out.” He storms from the office, and Ari’s eyes follow him until the door slams behind him.
Ari looks at me. “He’s really fucking hurt by this. I’ll talk to him and smooth everything over.”
“If he wants out, he can leave with no strings.”
Ari stands up. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that. We’ll head over to Gavin, or I guess it’s Ace now.”
“Are we good?”
“Right now? No. But I’ll get there. Let’s move.” He stops at Chelsea and kisses the top of her head. “For the record? I would have protected you in the same way.” He nods for Keon to follow him, and they disappear from the office. I hope they can work things out with Tyler.
It will kill Ari if they can’t.
Chapter18
Chelsea
After Ari and his team left, I had what felt like a weight sitting on my chest. I can’t help but feel like this whole thing with Ari and his team is my fault. Deep down, I know that it isn’t, but I want to try to fix it, especially after I saw the look on Ari’s face when Tyler said that he wanted out. Which is why I’m sneaking out to the patio after I stole Sean’s phone off the kitchen counter so I can call Tyler. I figured if he’d answer anyone, it would be Sean.
I find Tyler’s contact, take a few deep breaths, and press call.
“What?” he barks on the third ring.
“Hey, Tyler. It’s Chelsea.” The line goes silent, and I check to make sure he didn’t hang up. “Look, I know this isn’t my place, but I hate how things went today.”
“I appreciate you calling, but I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Please don’t leave Ari because Axel’s an ass.”
A shocked laugh escapes him, and then he sighs. “It’s more than that. We’ve laid down our lives for him time and time again. Then when the first sign of betrayal comes up, he automatically points the finger at us.”
I sit down in the patio chair. “That’s not true, though. He’s looking into everyone, including anyone close to me. The information is coming from the inside, and he needs to find out who before anything happens again.”
“Why do you care if I leave the Saviors or not?”
“Because even with the short time that I was around you guys, I could sense the family you guys created. Ari would be crushed if you left. So would Keon. Axel being an ass aside, so would he. Charlie’s trying to create a divide in the Saviors. Don’t let him win.”
“This really just blindsided us. One minute we’re doing our job, and the next, Ari is getting an alert that our phones are being hacked. I’ve already had someone in my life turn their back on me, and I can’t do it again.” Before I ask what he means, he’s talking again. “I’m going to give this another chance, but this is the last.”
“Thank you, Tyler.”
“I’m going to go call Ari. And Chelsea? I hope one day that I can find someone like you.”
I’m stunned into silence when the call disconnects. I finally get my shit together and stand up. When I turn around, Sean is standing there with a smile on his face. I give him a sheepish look and hand him his phone back. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize, Gorgeous. I heard what you said to him, and thank you.” He pulls me into his arms, and I go willingly. This all started because of Sean’s persistence at the bar. He didn’t let my obvious faults push him away, and he came back for more. “I love you so fucking much.”
“I love you too. You changed my life.” I pull back to look at his face with a smile. “I’d still be hiding if it wasn’t for you.”
“It wasn’t just me. You’ve had the strength all along. You just needed someone to help push you.”