Chapter 4 Chaos
Chaos
The only time I’ve entered a church bearing a cross was to attend my mother’s funeral. The rest of my time spent praying is here, around an oak table with my brothers in their seats. This is my holy ground.
Steel is the last one to take his seat, which is rare.
As the club’s president, he makes a point of being the first one to arrive.
Today, his grumble tells me he’s on edge.
And when his gaze skims the room, irritation pulls between his brows.
With one hand, he pats the pocket he used to keep his cigarettes.
It’s been a while since he quit, but patting that pocket is a habit he’s yet to kick.
Steel’s eyes stop on Venom for a beat. He’s at Legacy’s side, seated across the table from me. These meetings are usually locked down to ranked members, but since he was at the motel with me and Soul, Steel wants a full report.
“A shoot-out.” Steel wipes his palm down his face, tipping his gaze up to the ceiling while he tries to compose himself. “At a fucking motel in downtown Vegas.”
“They shot first.” Soul chuckles, and Steel levels him with a gaze that proves why he’s feared by every other club in the country.
Not that it fazes Soul.
“Just saying.” He shrugs.
“Fuck.” Steel leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I was clear. With the Feds up our ass and Zane trying to pin us for the Iron Sinners, we need to keep a lid on this kind of shit.”
“Cops were still five minutes out when our guys cleared out of the area,” Ghost says, leaning back in his chair. “We should be good.”
That relaxes Steel’s shoulders the slightest, even if it’s clear he’s still pissed when his eyes land on me. “Who’s the girl bringing trouble to the club?”
“An old friend.”
His gaze drifts to the window that separates church from the rest of the club.
The bar is in clear view through the blinds.
Willa sits on one of the barstools, drinking a beer, when I specifically told the guys not to serve her anything but water.
I shouldn’t be surprised when the girl can get just about anything she wants.
She meets my gaze through the glass and smirks. Lifting the beer to her lips, she sticks her middle finger out as she takes a sip, flipping me off.
“Real friendly.” Havoc laughs.
I scratch my chin, flipping Willa off in return, and that draws a real smile even though she tries to bite it back.
“It’s been a while,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest as I return my attention to my brothers. “I haven’t seen her since I left Texas.”
Legacy’s eyes narrow, and I hate how he seems to read straight through me.
It might be that he’s the club’s treasurer, and he’s used to picking out the small details others miss.
Or it might be that he’s a father, so he knows how to look past bullshit.
But without words, I swear he sees everything I’m trying to hide.
“She’s Kincaid’s ex,” I finish, and I swear the room gets quieter.
“Your brother’s ex-girlfriend is sitting in my clubhouse?”
“Apparently.” I still don’t quite believe it myself.
“Do you think your brother sent those guys to kill her or retrieve her?”
“Kincaid’s a self-absorbed asshole, but he wouldn’t hurt Willa.” At least, not physically, considering he apparently cheated on her throughout their relationship. “My guess is he hired some guys to bring her back, and they got a little too excited when they saw she was with us.”
“That was quite a show of force. He’s that determined to get her back?”
“Either her or this.” I pull out the envelope from my pocket and slap it down on the table. “She came here with some information I might be able to use in the lawsuit.”
Legacy snags the envelope and takes a look at what’s inside. “These are the investors bidding for mineral rights on your family ranch?”
I nod. “He’s been careful to hide who he’s talking to, so I haven’t been able to get any of them to back off. With this list, I could really fuck things up for him, and he must know that. If I had to guess, that’s why he’s got guys in town.”
Legacy passes the list to Ghost, who immediately pulls out his phone and starts researching the names.
“Why would she hand you ammunition against your brother? Bad breakup?”
“Yeah. She said she wanted to help.”
Steel arches an eyebrow. “You don’t sound convinced.”
“I don’t know what to believe. I haven’t seen her in a little over a decade. And bad breakup or not, my doorstep is the last place I’d expect to see her, even if the world was falling apart.”
Steel leans back in his chair, considering.
It’s not a great answer, but it’s the truth. Willa Elliott doesn’t trust me. She made that clear when I tried to be there for her, and she chose my brother. I accepted it, and I left. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to sit around and watch.
Now, she’s in Vegas—at my clubhouse, no less. Reminding me of everything I’ve been running from. Reminding me that I’ll never be more in her eyes than this—a fuckup. A disaster.
Although apparently my brother wasn’t much better if he was cheating on her.
When I see him again, I’m going to cave his face in for doing that to her.
She might act like it doesn’t matter to her that Kincaid was unfaithful, but it’s unacceptable.
There’s a reason I don’t get into relationships.
I have no desire to be monogamous. So why is it that people commit when they plan on messing around the entire time?
Be fucking single.
It’s an option.
Then there’s the fact that Kincaid cheated on her.
I look up again and find Willa still watching me, like she hates me. But damn, her eyes are pretty when they’re filled with anger. How could anyone fuck around on that? It doesn’t make sense. If she were in my bed—
No.
I can’t let myself think like that.
There was a time when I might have let her turn me into a different man, but she burned any hope of that to the ground. Like she said, Kincaid was the easy option. I was chaos.
“We can’t have her bringing heat on the club with how fragile things are right now.” Steel taps his thumb on the arm of his chair.
“It’s not her fault my brother’s a raging dick. I’m not sending her back out there unguarded after what happened.”
“And if Kincaid’s men draw the Feds to our doorstep?”
“They’re already at our doorstep for a hundred other reasons. This doesn’t change that. If they need someone to take down, I’ll do what I do best.” I grin, but it’s fake, and Steel’s expression turns grim.
“You’re not taking the fall for the club again, Chaos.”
“Someone might have to. What’s the other option if the Feds close in?
I’m not looking Tempe in the eyes and telling her that her kid’s dad isn’t coming back.
Or Reagan.” I look from Steel to Legacy.
“And it’s not even about your old ladies being pregnant.
Or your kids. You want Luna or Aimee to have to deal with losing you guys?
It’s not fucking happening. If shit goes down from this Iron Sinners fallout or this crap with my brother, you let me fucking fall. Promise me.”
It's all I have left.
A sad fucking realization, but the truth.
I don’t have an old lady who will give a shit if the bed gets cold. No kids for me to miss them growing up. All I’ve got is this here. This family I made when I no longer fit with mine. All I have is what I can give my club.
And what I can give her.
Protection.
I glance at Willa, who watches me like she senses something stirring. Even if she hates me, and even if I’m still pissed at her, I’ll take the fall for her like I always have.
“Although I appreciate the grandstanding, we’re going to make sure it doesn’t come to that.” Steel tries to reassure me, but we all know it’s something he has no control over.
Being a biker comes with the acceptance that we’re more likely to die in a shower of bullets than from old age. If I go down protecting my club, I consider that a life well spent.
Glancing across the table, I meet gazes with Venom.
Then I look to my right, where Soul offers me a single nod.
They’re on the same page as me, even if they don’t say anything to add fuel to this fire.
The three of us have talked about it when the other guys have gone home to their old ladies.
We’re in agreement on how this will play out if it comes down to it.
Burning the Iron Sinners compound to the ground was a bold move. Someone at some point will need to take the fall. We’ll make sure it’s one of the three of us. All three of us, if necessary.
So long as it isn’t them.
“So what’s the plan then?” Steel asks. “You’re keeping your brother’s ex here?”
“For now.”
“She doesn’t seem too happy about it.”
“She’ll get over it.” I shrug. “Tempe did once.”
He grins at the reminder of meeting his old lady when she snuck into our clubhouse to steal something for our rivals. He wouldn’t let her leave until he sorted things out with the men who sent her here. She fought it at first. But then, he moved her into his house, and the rest was history.
I was still in prison at the time, but I heard enough to know everything had changed for Steel the moment Tempe and her younger brother walked into his life.
“Well fuck, if that’s what we’re comparing it to, good luck, brother.” Steel turns from me to Ghost. “I want you to confirm who the truck is registered to and where they’re staying. We need to know how many guys are in town looking for Willa.”
“You got it.” Ghost nods.
“Any update from Monroe on what Zane might be up to next?”
“He tipped off the Feds that Sapphire Rise is where we’re storing new gun shipments. He’s wrong, of course, but they’ll use it as an excuse to raid.”
“Fuck.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “When?”
“Tomorrow, if what I’m hearing is right. That’s why I was there earlier uploading additional firewalls on the computers. If they try to break in, the system will self-corrupt.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near Sapphire Rise tomorrow.” Steel points at me.
“If they’re going in—”