Shattered

Chapter 33: Safe

Kaden's POV:

"My heart is so full of you, I can hardly call it my own."- Liana Radulescu

I never had trouble sleeping until Violet. Xander sometimes suffered from insomnia and Addie really did until sleeping with Xander helped it become less frequent. Tess's mate, Kane, also had trouble sleeping and sometimes he and Addie would be awake at the same hour and end up the phone to complain about how they missed out on the sleeping lessons it felt like everyone else got naturally.

I couldn't understand that. Not until I spent more than half my time worrying over my mate that wouldn't let me close enough to put my mind at ease. It was starting to feel helpless and admittedly, frustrating. Not because of her or our slow pace, I didn't mind moving slow with her. I did mind who she kept disappearing in the middle of the night with. Chase.

That asshole had some hold on her I couldn't understand. She acted like she didn't care for him but this wasn't the first time she was leaving me and going somewhere with him. This time was just worse because I thought we were good. Everything was fine until it wasn't. Until whatever the hell happened on the street, whatever she was looking at. The only thing I saw were some people headed into a strip club but Violet looked like she'd seen a ghost. An old, haunting, terrorizing ghost that sent our bond into a hyperactive state of adrenaline. Then instead of letting me be there for her, she claimed she was fine when she definitely wasn't and then apparently texted Chase because then he called her and...

Fuck, I didn't mean to eavesdrop but I wasn't thinking in that moment. I saw his name on the screen before she picked up the phone and I hated how jealous I got but I couldn't help it. Her and I felt so close until the incident on the street which I could only call an incident because it clearly upset Violet and a name was mentioned over the phone.

Up until then, I felt like maybe that was the night. I would tell her the truth and maybe it would be okay. Maybe she'd take it okay and then maybe me opening up to her would help her open up to me. I got way too ahead of myself because then she withdrew from me so hard and took a phone call from another guy in her bedroom, away from me because she didn't want me to hear it but Goddess, I heard it and it wasn't helping.

Rich is in town, and I don't intend to let him leave town, my mate said.

Well no shit, neither do I, Chase said. Where was he?

That strip club on Montecito.

Of course he's there. Fine, all right, I'll get shit moving and we'll have to do it fast. That means I need you too, sweetheart, probably tonight unless you're giving me the reins on this one, because I'm not bringing that fucker in. He dies on spot after we get what we need.

Agreed. I'm in.

Whoever was at that strip club, she knew him. She knew him and our bond told me there was a whole lot of pure, white-hot hatred for him. Not just hatred though. There was suffering, sadness, heartbreak. Hatred was the loudest but it wasn't the only one there. I couldn't stop replaying those last words of the conversation when Chase said the guy dies on spot, and Violet agreed to it.

Was this another thing about her mom? Was It something else? I didn't know but I also didn't know how to ask her when it would mean I had to admit I listened to a conversation I shouldn't have.

Sighing, I rubbed my hands over my face and grabbed the end of my shirt, tugging it off and tossing it to the side. There were so many secrets between us and I was tired of them. I was going to tell her tonight and now I didn't even know when I'd see her again. Trying to sleep felt pointless but I was exhausted. In a perfect world, I wouldn't be crawling into an empty bed. She'd be here with me and all the secrets we both kept would be out in the open where they couldn't shoot us from the dark.