Chapter 15 Chaos
Chaos
“Why are you always running toward chaos?” I swear I hear my mother’s voice in my head as I stand with my back pressed to a wall, waiting for a break in the gunfire. “Guess that’s why you’re always chasing after that girl. She’s gonna light your life on fire, Dean Graham.”
I suppose Mom was right about that. Although Mom thought my pining after Willa was a good thing. She liked how Willa kept me on my toes.
Sometimes I’m thankful Mom wasn’t around to see it all fall apart. That she doesn’t know what I’ve become.
Shots ring out as I weave through the room, somehow managing to get to the other side without taking a bullet.
Thankfully, Willa stays put, crouched low where a beam is blocking her from the line of fire.
She hasn’t taken her eyes off me. People don’t find me comforting, but she locks her eyes on me like I’m the center of the spinning room. Like she trusts me to keep her safe.
I press against the wall near the bar, joining Venom.
“What the fuck is going on?” Havoc slides around the corner, shirtless, not even wearing his cut. His jeans are zipped but not buttoned.
“Did we interrupt something?” His gaze is lethal at my comment, so I shrug. “Just saying.”
We all duck lower when a new wave of bullets hits the back of the clubhouse. Whoever they are, they came prepared. We can barely defend ourselves.
“What do we know?” Havoc asks, slipping into his role as sergeant at arms. Unlike most people, he thrives in situations like this. Something he honed in his years in the military.
“There are at least four guys, from what I can tell with the breaks between rounds. They’re rotating.” I update Havoc just as we get another break, so I empty my chamber into the desert. “Fuck, I’m out.”
“Same,” Venom seethes beside me.
The clubhouse is a mess of glass, bullets, and blood.
“There are at least two people down outside. Maybe more. I saw Patch slip into the kitchen, so I think he’s circling out the side door to check on whoever is hit, but we can’t do anything until they stop firing.”
“Do we know who’s shooting?” Havoc asks, his gaze darting to Willa in a silent question.
Is this our enemies or my brother?
“Don’t know for sure, but I doubt these are the same guys Kincaid sent to bring Willa back to Texas. They weren’t that brave, and even the ranch doesn’t have this kind of ammo.”
“Well, Zane isn’t this stupid.”
“Maybe a new crew?” Venom guesses. “Another club moving in since the Iron Sinners are out of the picture.”
“Just what we fucking need,” Havoc grumbles, and the gunfire stops.
The conversation stops.
We all move forward at once, crossing as much distance as possible before they start unloading again.
When I step outside, I finally spot the intruders.
They’re farther back than I expected, using the outbuilding where we house our gym to provide cover.
Ghost is going to be pissed at how far into the property they got without us noticing.
How did they do that?
The only entrance back here is through a highly armed gate that should have triggered alarms when it was breached. Whoever these guys are, they have the skills or money to get past our system.
At a distance, the shooters scramble. I doubt they’re out of bullets, but they’re clearly done with whatever statement they were making since they’re running back toward their truck. My brothers shoot into the darkness, aiming for them—the tires on the truck—anything to stop them.
It’s too dark, and they’re scrambling all over the place. Most of us are out of ammo or can’t make the shot. Until a single bullet snags one of them in the leg, and he stumbles to the ground.
His buddies don’t bother trying to help him. They drive off, leaving him in a cloud of dust.
Legacy stops beside me, lowering his gun, explaining the perfect shot in the dark. He can hit just about anything, moving or not. If he wanted, he could have killed this guy, but he kept him alive on purpose.
“When did you get here?”
“Just now.”
He’s not wearing much more than Havoc, but he at least had time to throw on a shirt.
Havoc and Venom rush forward to secure the shooter trying to crawl away. They don’t bother dragging him back toward the clubhouse. He’ll be going somewhere else until we can deal with him.
Commotion comes from behind us, and I look back to see Steel walking out onto the back patio, where Patch is already tending to the guys who took the brunt of the attack when it first started.
Wick, one of our new prospects, lies motionless, brain matter painting the side of the clubhouse. Mayhem is slumped over his chair beside him. The cigarette he was smoking is at his feet, even though smoke still curls into the air.
As the tail gunner, Mayhem is second to the ranked members of the club, filling in for us as needed. When I was in prison, he coordinated all the club’s runs in my absence. We all expected him to one day rise in the ranks to sit beside us at the table in church.
I’m going to skin someone alive to make them pay for this.
Steel orders everyone back inside when Patch shakes his head, confirming there’s no saving Wick or Mayhem.
He’s the club’s resident doctor, which is helpful when run-ins with our rivals go south.
But right now, there’s nothing he can do out here.
So he moves inside to help those who are hurt but still walking around.
Glass covers the patio. Blood splatter paints the side of the clubhouse.
I stop at Steel’s side while he directs a few members to do a sweep of the property. Ghost joins the group, setting out to secure the perimeter, while Legacy stays with me to update our president.
“Venom and Havoc took the hostage to the Shack.” I cross my arms over my chest, assessing the scene.
“Good.” Steel’s fingers clench at his sides like he’s already picturing what he plans to do with our captive.
I don’t blame him. I feel it too.
They came to our clubhouse—our home.
They attacked our family.
My brothers lie dead on the patio. Patch bunnies and old ladies panic inside the clubhouse. Bullet holes make a mess of the walls.
Blood will be drawn for this.
“What the fuck happened?” Steel asks.
Legacy shakes his head. “I got here when you did. Ghost let me know an alarm at the clubhouse was triggered, and we took off.”
“What about the alarms at the perimeter?”
“He said there was nothing. Whoever attacked had our video feed playing in a loop, and they bypassed all our sensors.”
“Fuck.”
Legacy nods in agreement.
“Is the neighborhood good?” I ask, realizing that if they got this deep into the compound, they could have gone there as well.
“The neighborhood is clear.” Steel drags his hand through his hair, and even if the neighborhood wasn’t attacked, it’s clear the stress of what could have happened rests heavily on his shoulders. “These guys breached the compound like it was nothing. Did you see anything before it happened?”
I shake my head. “No. I got back from Sapphire Rise right before this all went down, and the property was quiet. No lights. No movement. Nothing. I was talking to Willa when shit started. The guys outside didn’t have a chance to yell or move. The first thing anyone heard was gunshots.”
“Ghost is going to be pissed.”
“I’m fucking pissed.” Steel shakes his head.
I glance into the clubhouse at Willa, who is standing in the center of the room, frozen. She grew up around guns, like I did. There’s no shortage on the ranch. But nothing like this.
Willa’s focus is on Mayhem, motionless in his chair on the patio. All color has drained from her cheeks, her expression hollow.
“Can I have a second?” I angle my chin at Willa, and Steel follows my line of sight.
“Yeah.” He slaps my shoulder. “We need to get the girls out of here. Church in thirty. I want everyone there.”
I nod, pulling out my phone to shoot off a text. Around me, everyone’s phones ping. Church is often reserved for ranked members. Tonight, that won’t be the case. What happened is a matter for the entire club. And Steel won’t stop until he gets to the bottom of it.
I leave Legacy and Steel on the patio to head inside to check on Willa. She’s still frozen when I reach for her hand. My fingers lace through hers, and she jumps.
“Sorry.” She rubs the heel of her hand on her chest. “You scared me.”
“You all right?” I scan her, grabbing her face and forcing her eyes to me when she tries to look away.
She nods, pressing her lips in a firm line as her eyes gloss over. She’s watching me, but she’s somewhere else in her mind, and I have a feeling I know where that is.
“Talk to me, princess.” I brush my thumb over the apple of her cheek.
“I just—you could have died.” A tear slips free.
I catch it with my thumb. “You were worried about me?”
“Of course I was.”
The warmth that fills my chest burns me up from the inside out. My stomach meets my throat.
What happened tonight was nothing special except that it happened at our clubhouse.
But as far as shoot-outs go, I’ve been in the line of fire more times than I can count.
No one worries about me or wonders if I’ll make it out the other side.
If I take a bullet or a blade, it’s stitched up, and I walk away.
Living on the brink of death is a part of being in this life.
But as Willa blinks back tears, I suddenly see what’s been changing around the club lately. My brothers have been increasing security and leaning into our legal businesses. Especially Steel and Legacy, who have kids to worry about.
This is what it’s like to have someone sitting around wondering if you’ll come home in one piece—if you’ll come home at all.
I’ve never cared much about my mortality or who I am outside of being a part of this club. But staring into Willa’s eyes has me questioning everything.
“I’m all right, see.” I pat my chest. “No bullets.”
She nods, glancing at the patio again.