Chapter Five #2
Millie bursts into tears, only leaving me with even more questions.
I follow them out, my heart still racing.
As we move in a mad rush, Sin’s hand rests on my lower back, guiding me toward the exit.
The touch is brief, but it sends a shiver down my spine.
I know he’s doing it to keep me close, to make sure I don’t wander, but it feels oddly protective.
Once outside, Millie clings to Will, her face buried in his shoulder.
Sin turns to me, his eyes narrowing. “Get in the SUV. Now!” His tone demanding and firm.
I open my mouth to argue, but the desperate look in his eyes stops me.
He’s clearly on edge, and after witnessing all that, I don’t want to push him.
So, I nod, sliding into the vehicle without another word.
Swallowing a nervous lump down my throat, I watch as Sin talks to his men, his expression serious.
There’s something about the way he carries himself, the way the others look to him for guidance, that strikes me.
He’s not just their leader, he’s their protector, the one they all trust to get them out alive.
I came to this club to get information. To build a story on how the club is reckless. How they don’t care about their members. How they left their prospects to fend for themselves.
But that’s not what I’m seeing.
In fact, it is the exact opposite, and it throws everything I thought I was searching for out the window. The respect between the members is more than I could have ever experienced. The way they protect each other astounds me.
I honestly don’t know what to think.
Maybe the media does portray them all wrong?
Or maybe Sin is only showing me what he wants me to see.
Either way, I need to dig deeper because there is so much left to uncover, and if watching all this unfold with Millie is anything to go by, there are so many more stories to discover about Las Vegas Defiance. And I haven’t even started digging into what happened to my brother, Marcus, yet.
Will and Millie slide into the front seats, and Will starts the car. I settle back silently in the rear, my body still humming with leftover adrenaline as Millie’s voice breaks the tense silence.
“I’m so sorry, Will,” she whispers, her voice shaky and small. “I know I shouldn’t have gone in there. I know that. But when the girls said they wanted to go dancing on The Strip, I thought… I thought it would be fine. They’re my friends from school, and I haven’t hung out with them in forever.”
Will’s knuckles are still white on the steering wheel, but his voice is gentle when he responds, “What the fuck happened, Millie? How the hell did you end up at that casino? How the fuck did you even get in?”
She sniffles, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.
“We were having such a good time at first. Just walking around, looking at all the lights, taking pictures. But then Chloe and Jessica started talking about how boring it was, how they wanted to go somewhere fun. When they said the Casino, I… I tried to tell them no. I really did. But they kept pushing, saying I was killing the vibes, that I never wanted to do anything exciting.”
My chest tightens as I watch Will’s jaw clench in the rearview mirror.
“They don’t know,” Millie continues, her voice breaking slightly.
“They have no idea what happened to me there. How could I explain without sounding completely insane? ‘Oh, by the way, I was kidnapped and held prisoner by the casino owners who threatened to rape me and sell me off into slavery?’ They’d think I was striving for attention. ”
“So, you went in to save face?” Will states, not accusingly, just seeking to understand.
“I felt like such a coward, but I couldn’t say no, especially when Chole got us all fake IDs to get us in.
They were already walking toward the entrance, and I…
I panicked. I followed them in, thinking maybe if I stayed close to them, if we just danced for a little bit and left…
” She laughs bitterly. “I was so stupid, Will.”
“You’re not stupid, Mills,” Will says firmly, his eyes finding hers in the mirror. “But, Millie—”
“I know,” she cuts him off. “The second we walked through those doors, I felt sick. All those memories came flooding back. The smell, the sounds, even the way the carpet felt under my heels. I told the girls I needed to use the bathroom because I could feel my panic attack coming on, and they were so caught up in the music and the guys buying them drinks that they merely waved me off.”
From the back seat, I watch Will’s hand twitch like he wants to reach for her, but stops himself. The restraint in his movements speaks volumes about how much he cares about her comfort level.
“I hid in that bathroom stall for over an hour just trying to catch my damn breath,” Millie admits.
“I kept texting them, telling them I was ready to leave, but they kept saying ‘five more minutes’ or ‘just one more drink.’ Finally, Jessica texted back and said if I was going to be a princess about it, I could find my own way home. They obviously thought I was being dramatic.”
“They left you there?” The disbelief and anger in Will’s voice are unmistakable.
“They have no idea what that place means to me,” Millie says quietly.
“To them, it’s just a casino. They don’t know about…
about what Lorenzo and his men did, what they threatened to do.
All they saw was me being difficult and ruining their fun.
To be fair, they had no clue I was fully melting down in that bathroom.
I don’t know what they thought, honestly. ”
I find myself leaning forward slightly, drawn into their conversation despite myself. There’s something raw and honest about the way they’re talking to each other, like they’re the only two people in the world.
“You should have called me first,” Will says, his voice softer now but still carrying that protective edge. “Before you even went in there. Hell, before you even went out with them.”
“I didn’t want to bother you—”
“Millie.” The way he says her name stops her mid-sentence. “You are never a bother. Ever! Do you understand me? I don’t care if I’m in a meeting, doing prospect duties, or dead asleep. If you need me, you fucking call.”
The silence that follows is heavy with unspoken emotion. Millie’s reflection in the passenger window tells me everything, the way she’s looking at Will like he just offered her the world.
“I was so scared,” she whispers. “When I saw Lorenzo walk up to Sin, when he called me Amelia… for a second, I thought they were going to take me again. That this time, nobody would come.”
“That’s never gonna happen,” Will says, and there’s something fierce and absolute in his tone that makes my breath catch. “You hear me? As long as I’m breathing, nobody is ever gonna hurt you again.”
From my position in the back seat, I can tell Millie’s entire body relaxes at his words, like she’s finally allowing herself to believe them.
The way Will keeps glancing sideways at her, checking to make sure she’s okay, speaks to a tenderness I wasn’t expecting from someone who looks like he could bench press a motorcycle.
“Thank you,” she says simply, but those two words carry the weight of everything she can’t quite say yet.
“Always,” he replies, and the single word is a clear promise.
I settle back into my seat, feeling like an intruder on their intimate moment.
There’s something beautiful about watching these two dance around feelings they’re clearly not ready to name yet.
The way Will’s entire demeanor shifts when he talks to her—from the anxious, hot-headed prospect to someone gentle and protective.
The way Millie looks at him like he’s her anchor in a storm she’s still learning to weather.
The way two people can see past each other’s walls and offer comfort without demanding anything in return.
But it also highlights just how much I’m on the outside looking in. These people—Will, Millie, even Sin—they have something I’m here to potentially destroy. They have a family, a sense of belonging, connections that go deeper than I initially understood.
And I’m the threat they don’t see coming.
The thought sits heavy in my chest as we drive through the neon-lit streets, Will and Millie’s quiet conversation creating a bubble of intimacy that makes me feel more isolated than ever.
As we drive back to the clubhouse, the adrenaline slowly starts to fade, replaced by exhaustion.
I glance out at Sin, his silhouette framed by the neon lights of the Vegas Strip as he sits on top of his Harley, somehow making him look so much sexier at night.
A part of me is starting to see beyond the president of the Defiance MC to the man beneath.
And that can only be dangerous.
I’m here to uncover the truth.
Maybe I’m getting too close.
Not to the truth but to Sin.
My heart instantly skips a beat when I think of the words.
Gnawing on my bottom lip, Will pulls the SUV into the clubhouse lot, and I slowly slide out the back once we stop, leaving Will and Millie behind as I head for my car.
I need a moment to process everything that’s just happened.
But before I reach the car door, Sin pulls me aside. “You wanted to see how we handle things. Now you’ve seen it,” he offers, his voice low. “This is the life we live, Elizabeth. It’s not some game.”
I meet his gaze, my heart pounding, my brows furrowed at the seriousness of his tone. “I know it’s not a game,” I reply, my voice softer than intended. “But I also see the loyalty, the way you protect each other. That’s what people don’t understand,” I tell him honestly.
Sin studies me for a long moment, then nods.
“You’re not as na?ve as I thought,” he states, a hint of respect in his tone.
“But be careful. You keep pushing, and you might find yourself in a situation you can’t come back from.
I can only protect you if you let me, Elizabeth.
” He takes a step back, running his fingers through his hair like he’s frustrated with me, then he turns and stomps away.
My stomach churns in the uncertainty of his words.
Does he know?