Chapter Twenty-Two
LUKE
The fight was still ringing in my ears long after the door slammed behind Chase. The whole place shook with the aftershock.
Jax stood where Chase had left him. Blood streaked down from his mouth, his ribs rising in jagged bursts, but he hadn’t lifted a hand.
Not once. He’d let Chase beat on him until the rage burned itself out—and he hadn’t broken.
I wasn’t sure if I admired him for it or wanted to grab him by the shoulders and shake him until he fought back.
Avery pressed herself against him as though she could hold him upright by sheer will.
His arm wrapped around her—steadying her more than himself.
She sobbed into his chest—muffled words I couldn’t make out—and he lowered his head, murmuring something softly.
His voice was calm, even—the way it got when shit spun out of control.
“It’ll work out,” he told her. Just like that. Like he could take a shattered friendship, years of loyalty, and a fresh betrayal and call it something that would “work out.”
I wanted to believe him. God, I wanted to.
Mila hovered nearby, her arm grazing Avery’s back, a steady touch in the chaos. She didn’t speak.
Jax lifted his head finally. His eyes found mine over Avery’s shoulder, steady but hollow. Then he looked to Mila. “Take her with you. To your place.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing blood across his jaw. “That’s probably best. For now, anyway.”
Avery stiffened. “I’m not—”
“You are,” he cut in, but softer this time, brushing his thumb along her cheek. “Go with Mila. I’ll see you later.”
Her lip trembled, but she nodded. She let Mila guide her away, sneakers squeaking on the floor, until the two of them disappeared down the hall. Jax’s eyes followed them until they were gone. His hand curled into a fist, then uncurled, like he wasn’t sure what to do with it.
We headed toward the locker room, the weight of the exchange trailing behind us.
Inside, metal benches lined the walls, gear bags gaped open beneath them, the cloying stench of disinfectant doing nothing to cover sweat and damp fabric.
The room buzzed with low, uneasy mutters.
Every eye still carried the imprint of what they’d seen—Chase’s fists, Jax’s silence, Avery’s tears.
That was when the silence broke. A voice I’d been waiting to hear and dreading all the same.
“Well.” Logan leaned against the lockers closest to the door, arms folded, his smirk sharp enough to cut.
Two of his guys lounged nearby, grins matching.
They hadn’t been part of the fight, but they’d sure as hell had watched.
“Didn’t take much for your group to crumble, huh? Family, loyalty…what’s next?”
A low buzz went through the guys still hanging back, nervous energy sparking as if the air itself carried a charge.
I didn’t even look at him. “Fuck off, Logan.”
His grin widened, like he’d been waiting for my reaction. “Hey, I’m not involved in tearing my team apart. That’s you, King.” He tapped his temple in mock salute then pushed off the lockers and sauntered away with his shadows.
The muttering followed him, a reminder he wasn’t wrong. Every crack in the foundation had just been put on display.
Jax let out a long breath and turned toward our lockers. Theo fell in beside him, quiet as usual, but his shoulders squared, protective without saying a word. I followed, the weight of leadership pressing heavier with every step.
No one spoke as gear fell against benches and pads clattered to the floor. Jax pulled his jersey over his head, wincing when the fabric dragged across his ribs. Red was already blooming beneath the skin.
“You good?” I asked.
His mouth twisted into something that wasn’t a smile. “Been worse.”
Theo shot me a look as if he wanted to press it, but I shook my head. Not now. Not with the guys’ voices drifting in from the other side of the room—half-whispers about Avery, about Chase, about the disaster they’d just witnessed regarding the twins.
We changed in silence. My hands moved on autopilot—untape, unlace, peel sweat-soaked pads free—but my mind was already two steps ahead.
Chase was off on his own, probably at home.
Furious. We couldn’t bring him back tonight, not while his pride was still raw.
But we couldn’t leave the rest of us hanging in this limbo either.
Finally, I dropped onto the bench, elbows braced on my knees. “Let’s go to my place.”
Theo nodded immediately. Jax lifted his head, blood cleaned but his jaw started to swell, and gave a single stiff nod.
It would be just the three of us. They knew as well as I did—Chase needed space. Time to burn off the fury before any of us could reach him.
The door creaked, and Logan’s laughter drifted faintly down the hall, a reminder we didn’t have the luxury of falling apart.
Eyes were on us. Our rivals were circling.
And if Dunn was making moves on the business, if word of tonight’s fight slipped beyond these walls, we’d be bleeding on more than just the ice.
Jax shoved his gear into his bag, his movements sharp, clipped. Theo’s shoulders were tense, but his voice was steady when he finally broke the silence. “We need to figure out how to deal with Chase tonight.”
“Yeah.” My chest tightened, but I forced the words out. “We do.”
We left the locker room as a unit, the three of us. Chase’s absence at our backs felt like a missing limb. The girls’ cars were already gone from the lot. Good. Avery needed distance from this wreckage.
The night air was cool in my lungs. None of us spoke; the silence carried as we crossed the lot.
I hit the unlock on my SUV and tossed my bag in the back.
Jax headed for his own car without a word, Theo for his.
Engines whirled to life one after another, headlights cutting through the dark as sharply as blades.
I gripped the wheel tight, knuckles aching. Chase’s voice still rang in my skull—You knew. He wasn’t wrong. Maybe we should have told him. But how the hell do you warn about something that wasn’t your story to tell?
The road stretched out in front of us, empty and dark. Home waited at the end of it, but peace didn’t. Not tonight.
We would regroup at my place. We’d find the fracture lines and try to stitch them closed before the whole thing came apart. Tomorrow we would figure out how to bring Chase back.
Streetlights slid over the windshield in clean white bands then vanished into black as I headed home.
We pulled up the driveway. Inside, the lights were low, the hum of the fridge a constant. I tossed keys in the bowl by the door and jerked my chin toward the kitchen.
“Ice.” My voice came out rough.
Theo didn’t argue. He moved—cabinet, freezer, a dish towel dragged off the stove. He wrapped two ice packs then slid them across the island to Jax.
He didn’t reach for it right away. Instead, he drifted to the sink, gripping the edge as though it was the only solid thing in the room.
Blood had dried rusty along his mouth from the cut that stopped bleeding before we’d left.
A bruise was forming on his cheekbone. He stared at the drain for a beat, like answers lived there.
Then he twisted the faucet, cupped water to his lips, and spat pink.
“You should sit,” Theo said.
Jax ignored him and took the ice pack, pressed it to his ribs. He didn’t flinch. Getting banged up on the ice was nothing new to us; getting a beat down by a friend was.
My phone buzzed. I glanced down.
Mila: We’re at my place. She’s doing okay. I’ll keep her here tonight.
Some tight coil in my chest loosened a notch. I typed back.
Me: Good. Lock the doors.
Dots. Then:
Mila: Will do. Get things straightened out.
A breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding eased out. I planned to do exactly what she said.
Theo dragged a chair out with his foot and dropped into it, ankle hooked over his knee. His gaze cut to Jax. “Elise texted again?”
We’d seen the text about Jax and Avery in the locker room after getting dressed. Salt in a wound.
Jax shook his head once. “She will. That public shit show just gave her a bullhorn.” He kept the ice on his ribs and braced a palm flat against the counter, shoulders set. “Avery told Chase before he saw anything on his phone. That killed the hit she wanted.” A beat. “Just not the explosion.”
“She tried to weaponize it.” Theo’s tone was flat. No question in it. Just a fact laid on the table.
“She’ll keep trying.” I leaned in, pushing the words across the space like a line drawn. “Which is why we get ahead of all of it.”
They both looked at me.
My knuckles whitened against the island. “We handle three things. Chase. Tori. The rumors. In that order.”
Jax’s jaw flexed. Theo nodded once.
“Chase needs time to burn through it,” I went on. Saying it didn’t make it easier. “We don’t hammer at his door. He’ll swing again if we do. Tomorrow morning, I go to him. Alone. Neutral ground.”
Jax lifted his eyes. They were steady, even through the swelling. “I’m not hiding from him.”
“You’re not.” I nodded. “But I’m not throwing gasoline on a live fire either. You talk to him after I break the glass. Not before.”
Silence stretched. Theo watched Jax, waiting.
Jax’s fingers tightened on the edge of the counter. “Fine.” He nudged the ice higher along his ribs. “Tomorrow, after you.”
I let out a breath. One piece set.
“Second.” I angled my gaze at Theo. “Tori.”
Theo’s body went still in that way he had when something mattered. No twitch, no tell. Just a new weight in the room.
“She’s afraid of Elise.” I kept my voice even. “You’ve mentioned it. Avery said it tonight. Tori might help if she doesn’t think things will blow up in her face. Meaning, you and she are more than a passing thing. Is that a problem?”
Theo’s throat worked. “No, it’s a good plan.” He didn’t look away. “Tori’s in deep.”
“How deep?” I asked.