The Price We Pay by Alora Kate

door open and came face to face with Jaxon. She shifted her weight and blocked my view of him.
    Sofia sat next to me on the bed and whispered, “This should be good.”
    I smacked her leg, she shrugged a shoulder.
    “Morning,” Jaxon grumbled and we watched Harper stand even taller, arms crossed on her chest.
    “Jaxon,” she said firmly.
    “Sleep well?”
    “As well as I could, considering …” She sounded a bit harsh.
    He didn’t let her finish. “Thought after your ride yesterday that you’d sleep-”
    She put her arm out and shoved him out of her way. “Shut up,” she hissed and stormed off.
    Jaxon flashed us a grin. “Couldn’t help it.”
    I shook my head at him and he turned around, hopefully going after Harper.
    “Think they’ll have sex?” Sofia asked standing from the bed. She held her hand out to me and I grabbed it, standing next to her. “Duh.”
    I put my hands on her shoulders and got serious. “You okay?”
    “Kennedy’s fine,” she forced a smile, “I’m fine.”
    “I believe you.”
    She smiled.
    “A little bit,” I finished.
    “He was shot!”
    “I know, sweetie.” I pulled her into a hug.
    “I won’t cry Marv, not today. We’ll explain everything to Latch and Jaxon, they’ll let us go home and we’ll get back to normal.”
    “I hope it’s that easy but someone tried to kill you, Sofia.”
    “My dad will protect me.” She pulled away and straightened her shirt. “How do I look?”
    “You look comfortable.”
    She glanced down. “Surprisingly, they are.”
    “See, it’s not so bad.”
    “I have to go home and change prior to seeing my father and Kennedy though.”
    “God forbid,” I tossed my hands in the air, “you be comfortable or be who you want to be.”
    She glared at me and I felt bad for what I said. Her fiancé was just shot, and her life was in danger. She didn’t need my shit. “I’ll shut up now.”
    There was a knock at the door before she could answer. She spun around and I stood from the bed.
    “Come in,” she called and Latch appeared in the doorway.
    “Company’s coming.” He briefly flashed his eyes to me. No smile. Just a hard face with no emotion. He turned to leave and called behind him, “Breakfast is on the table.”
    “At least they’re feeding us,” Sofia muttered and walked out of the room.
    I was right, I made a complete fool of myself last night. He couldn’t even look at me.
    Whatever.
    It’s not like we would date, fall in love, and have the white picket fence with three kids and a dog kind of life. Or one kid and three dogs.
    I walked down the hallway and noticed dark square patches on the wall where pictures once hung. Randy said this was a safe house, but that it also belonged to Latch. Maybe he took all his pictures down to keep his personal life a secret.
    I heard chatter and a woman’s voice that didn’t belong to Sofia or Harper. I came around the corner and saw a short girl with long, dark hair talking to Latch and Jaxon. She had her back to me and wore a pair of jeans, tank top, and flip-flops.
    “Did you kidnap her also?” I asked leaning against the wall. What I said shut everyone up and they all turned towards me.
    “Marvey!” the girl squealed and came at me. “It’s Laken!” The way she said her name was like I was supposed to know who she was. “We were in a foster home together when we were kids.”
    “I’ve been in a lot of homes,” I informed her with very little emotion in my voice.
    “I know, you told me when you were only eight-years-old. I felt so bad when we lost contact after I was adopted. Our family moved out of town for a few years and I was young, but I wrote a few letters.”
    Laken. There was something familiar about that name but it still wasn’t ringing any bells.
    “I’ve blocked a lot of things out from my childhood.”
    “I’m sorry.” Her voice was full of concern and she tentatively touched my arm. “I wish you could have come with me.” She dropped her hand