24. Havoc
Havoc
“Are you going to be able to survive this meeting without getting a felony?” Steel asks me as we walk through the casino.
Neutral ground.
We refused to meet the Iron Sinners at a casino Zane owns, and they refused to meet us without an audience. So we met in the middle.
It’s one of the few smart moves on their part, given we’d shower them in bullets if there was nothing to hold us accountable.
“I’m good,” I lie.
My shoulders are pulled back so tight my neck aches. A knot of tension balls where my spine meets my skull.
Steel glances over at me, unconvinced, and I don’t blame him when I barely believe it myself.
Meeting with the Iron Sinners to try and negotiate the release of Aimee’s father is one thing. But knowing Titan will be in attendance has irritation butting up against my self-control. As the sergeant at arms, it’s my job to protect the club. Tonight, I’m a liability, and I know it.
Steel looks to my other side, where Chaos meets his gaze. A silent question passes between them.
“I’m fine,” I say again.
Chaos chuckles, shaking his head. “Even if you’re not, I’m sure Monroe could make a good case for our ex-military golden boy.”
My eyes narrow as I pin Chaos with a hard glare. At least if he sees straight through me, he already has plans to call the club’s attorney if this goes to shit.
“Monroe can’t do anything if there are witnesses.” Steel slaps me on the shoulder. “Remember that. It’s the only way you get back to Aimee tonight.”
“I know.”
“She needs you.”
Steel rakes his dark hair off his forehead, and I realize his words are no longer a warning from my president.
They’re a reminder from one friend to another that, as much as I want to use tonight as an opportunity to take Titan off the playing field, he’s orchestrated it this way on purpose.
He knows my hands are tied unless I’m prepared to deal with the legal fallout.
For Aimee, I need to bury my rage and tread carefully.
She needs me.
Not that she’ll admit it.
That girl is almost as stubborn as I am.
She barely gives me an inch, no matter how hard I work for it.
Progress is being made in slow steps—like her no longer needing a barricade in front of the door to sleep, and her slowly opening up to me with stories about what happened these past fourteen years. But I have to claw for every bit.
“If it comes down to it, I’ll walk away like I promised.” It’s hard to get those words out, but I know it’s the right thing to do.
It’s also what I promised Steel, and the only reason he let me join them tonight.
Steel nods, but Chaos smirks, knowing I’ll say anything to be at this meeting.
I pull out my phone and shoot off a text to Ghost, who responds quickly that everyone is in position. Steel, Chaos, and I will meet with Titan directly, while the rest of the ranked members and a few others are fanned out around the room.
We might be on neutral territory, but this is the enemy. Everyone has their positions and orders. They’re armed with a plan and multiple contingencies.
Scanning the room, I note the placement of the cameras. We need to get in and get out because the second the casino catches us walking through, cops will inevitably be called to check on things .
They see the cut and assume trouble. Usually, they’re not wrong. Tonight, we’ll be lucky if this doesn’t end in a bloodbath.
At the four corners of the room are Soul, Ghost, Legacy, and Venom. A quick skim of the remaining crowd tells me our members aren’t the only ones on alert. Iron Sinners patches are scattered throughout.
“You see what I’m seeing? ”
Steel nods. “It’s only a matter of time before the cops roll up. We need to make this quick.”
Turning the corner into a poker alcove, Titan is already sitting at a table with two ranked members at his sides.
The room has been cleared, apart from the woman setting a drink in front of Titan.
He takes a sip without a care in the world.
I’m tempted to open one of his arteries and fill his glass with his own blood.
Somehow, I manage to keep my hands at my sides. To maintain a neutral expression when he glances my way, and his eyes gleam with amusement.
We stop at the table, but no one sits. We need to be ready to move at any second, and it’s too risky to drop low and not be in the line of sight of our men watching.
Titan, cocky as ever, leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he locks gazes with Steel.
“Long time, Steel.” His lips quirk.
A tick of his eyebrow makes the tattoos on Titan’s shaved head shift. Almost every inch of him is covered now, apart from his face.
Steel doesn’t respond. Doesn’t so much as flinch. One of the things that makes him a good president is his patience. He simply stands with his arms at his sides, waiting for Titan to continue.
Which he does, given he loves hearing himself talk.
“Where’s my nephew?”
“Indisposed.”
Steel smirks, and Titan’s expression turns grim. His eyes narrow, looking from Steel to me to Chaos.
“And here I thought we were trading in good faith. ”
“You lost your right to a trade when you fucked with Tempe.” Steel leans forward, planting his hands on the table. “Then Luna. Then Reagan…”
“Hmm,” Titan hums, amusement sparking in his eyes. “Seems I do have a habit of collecting your women. How is Aimee, by the way? My bed’s been a little cold lately.”
I’m about to move for my gun when Chaos steps forward, knocking me in the shoulder as he does. A quick, silent reminder of where we are and what’s at stake.
Titan is trying to get me to snap. He’ll say anything. Truths laced with lies.
“She’s not your concern,” Steel grits out, tension rippling off him.
Chaos isn’t any more relaxed. Aimee isn’t his woman, but they’ve grown close. Close enough that I’m certain I’m not the only one in this casino who would go to prison for her in a second.
“Isn’t she?” Titan stands now, his men beside him. “It’s her father you’re requesting. And now that you’ve taken my nephew out of the picture, we have to trade something.”
His face remains passive, but his voice has an edge.
“I’ll tell you what.” Titan’s expression lightens. “You give me back what’s mine, and I’ll consider letting Anderson go.”
“That’s not how this is going to work.” Steel’s tone is ice-cold. “You give us Anderson, and when we come for you, we’ll consider making it quick.”
Titan’s teeth grit as Steel leans closer .
“Unless you’d like the same experience as your nephew. Would that make you feel closer to him?”
“You bring back Aimee, and I won’t kill her father.” Titan breezes past Steel’s taunt entirely, circling the table to meet us face-to-face.
“That’s not happening.”
“Then you can be the one to tell her that if she isn’t back by New Year’s Eve, her father will be dead.
” Titan shrugs, glancing at me. “It’s more than fair.
You get a few more weeks fucking my girl, and then we call it good?
You’ll be tired of her by then anyway. If anything, I’m doing you a favor. ”
I reach for my gun, but Steel grabs my wrist, stopping me. His gaze bores into the side of my head with a silent order, but I don’t take my eyes off Titan. He’s saying all the right things to get under my skin, and I’m letting him.
“She’s not your girl,” is all I manage to say.
“Is that how she made it sound?” Titan continues to taunt. “Maybe at first she wasn’t, but she came around. All you have to do is know how to properly break them, and they’ll do anything.”
Nothing stops me as I shove forward and grab Titan by the front of his shirt, pulling him close. His men make a move, but Titan holds his arms out, stopping them. The grin doesn’t leave his face as he stares at me.
“Aimee and I have an understanding,” Titan says, eyes gleaming. “She behaves, and her father doesn’t suffer. Seeing as she slipped my grasp over the past decade, she has some things to make up for. We had an agreement.”
“Fuck your agreement. ”
“I’ve never seen you this angry, Havoc. She told you, didn’t she?
” Titan’s mouth twitches. “Did she also tell you why I did it? How I found the letters from you that she was hiding? It’s so sweet that you wrote to your girl from another country, planning that beautiful future together.
A wife. Kids. A family. Aimee held onto that for a while. I made sure to cure her of that.”
I grab for my gun just as Chaos and Steel pull me back. The sudden movement is enough to have Titan almost falling onto the poker table behind him, and he laughs.
“You should have seen how quickly the fire died in her eyes when I took the hope of a future with you away from her.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m still here.” I wrestle against Chaos’s hold.
Legacy and Ghost have slipped out of the shadows as the room closes in. War is a heartbeat away from starting. I can taste it.
“That’s true, unfortunately.” Titan glares. “You are still here, even knowing she can’t give you the family you wanted. Speaking of families…” He glances at Steel. “I hear congratulations are in order. Babies aren’t my thing. But Tempe is pretty enough to fuck a baby into, I suppose.”
All hell breaks loose at that comment.
Steel—the picture of composure—loses his shit.
He lunges for Titan, and every member of both clubs spills into the poker room. Some are fighting, and others are holding back just enough to prevent war in the middle of this casino .
And even after everything Titan said, I’m the one grabbing Steel’s arm to get us out of here because when I do finally get my hands on Titan, I’m going to take my time with him.
Not here.
Not yet.
Titan struggles against his own men trying to hold him back, yelling through the room. “New Year’s is your deadline. You give me Aimee, and I’ll let Anderson live. If you know her at all, you know what she’ll choose, Havoc.”
I do, which means I’m not letting that happen.
She might want to save her father, but I refuse to let her be the sacrificial lamb.
“We’ll find another way.” Soul slaps me on my shoulder as the club piles out of the casino.
In the distance, sirens are already getting louder, so we hurry to our bikes.
I manage to nod but find myself swallowing at a knot in my throat. I’m tempted to keep Titan’s ultimatum a secret from Aimee. But if I do, she’ll never forgive me. There’s no getting around this—I need to tell her about Titan’s offer.
Then I need to convince her to trust me to take care of it because I’m not giving her up again.
Titan is wrong. I love her exactly as she is.
End of story.