Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
ALL HELL brEAKS LOOSE
Twitch
For the remainder of yesterday, I was on autopilot.
I can’t even remember what the conversations at dinner were about.
It’s all a blur. My mind has been consumed with one thing: convincing myself to tell the MC that I’m choosing Mercedez as my ol’ lady.
Last night I forced myself to organize a church meeting for ten this morning.
The looks I got from everyone were odd—hell, I don’t think I’ve ever called a meeting before.
But I knew if I set it, I couldn’t back out.
Even Ava asked if I was okay at dinner. I didn’t miss the sad look Ivy gave me when she overheard.
I’d love to ask her if she’s spoken to Milly, but what those two talk about as friends is none of my business.
Still, I’d give anything to be a fly on the wall during their conversations.
Is Milly as torn up as I am? In a twisted way, I hope she is.
I hope she’s feeling my pain because that would mean she loves me.
I stand up from my computer chair, my heart pounding. I fucking love her. Holy shit. The realization hits me hard. What the hell am I going to do now? I start pacing the room.
“Bro, it’s ten,” Axle says, leaning against the doorframe of the computer room. How has time gone so quickly this morning?
I’m sweating my ass off, trying to calm my frantic breathing. Pulling at my collar, I walk into church. I swear, the shirt feels too tight, like it’s choking me. The other men walk in and take their seats. All eyes are on me. But I can’t sit down—I’m too wired. I start pacing again.
Viper stands and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Man, are you all right?” His voice is full of concern, and I’m sure I look like a crazy person right now.
I pull at the neck of my shirt again, feeling like I can’t breathe.
Axle whistles out loud. “Take it off, take it off!” he cheers in a mock-seductive voice.
Fuck this! I rip the shirt off over my head.
“Yewwww!” Axle cheers, wolf-whistling like an idiot.
There are a few chuckles, but most of the men are watching me with wide eyes.
“You called this meeting,” Reaper points out to me. His tone is calm but firm, his eyes locked on me.
I clear my throat, but it doesn’t help. My voice feels stuck, my chest tight. “I, umm . . .” My head swings back and forth, my thoughts racing between Milly and Mercedez. Death by Reaper or a life with Mercedez. Neither option feels survivable.
“I banged your sister,” I blurt out.
The room goes dead silent. My brain struggles to process the fact that I just said that out loud. Around the table, everyone looks shocked—except for Demon, who’s grinning like a lunatic.
“What did you just say?” Reaper’s voice is low, almost unworldly.
He sounds confused, like he can’t believe he has to ask again.
But beneath the confusion, there’s a clear threat of violence.
His body is rigid, his eyes sharp as blades.
If looks could kill, I’d be bleeding out on the floor right now.
Bomber’s hand clamps down on Reaper’s shoulder, holding him back. Shit, I’m in trouble. My eyes dart to the exit, considering my options.
“No, you didn’t, you liar. Milly wouldn’t sleep with you,” Axle says with a smirk, clearly trying to lighten the mood.
The room is so quiet I can hear my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. It’s deafening.
“That’s why Milly hasn’t wanted to come back to the clubhouse?” Reaper says, his voice low and dangerous, like he’s piecing everything together. He stands, all six foot four of him, towering over the table. Bomber rises with him, his hand still firmly on Reaper’s shoulder.
I gulp, watching the scene unfold in slow motion.
Bomber tries to hold Reaper back, but it’s no use.
Reaper’s arm pulls back, and a skull-shattering burst of pain explodes across my face.
I hit the ground hard, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth.
Stars dance in my vision as shouting erupts around me.
“Are you still alive, you crazy son of a bitch?” Axle asks, crouching down beside me.
I blink a few times and his silhouette comes into focus, but I still can’t see properly. I’m going to die, and I don’t want to die a coward, so I croak out, “Help me up?”
Axle glances over his shoulder. “Nah, man, trust me. You want to stay down.”
“No,” I say, my voice firm despite the pain. “I need to tell Reaper the truth.”
“You got a death wish?” Cash asks, standing beside me.
“I signed my death warrant when I slept with Milly,” I reply, my voice steady.
Cash chuckles and extends a hand, helping me to my feet. My vision clears, but the throbbing in my face is relentless.
There’s banging on the other side of the door at church. “What’s going on in there?” Sophie asks.
“Reaper,” Ava’s voice follows. “Please come out. I’m worried.”
Reaper’s face is bright red. He’s flanked by Bomber on one side and Viper on the other side. He doesn’t answer her, and it’s because he doesn’t want to lie to her and say everything’s alright when he wants to kill me.
“Everything’s okay. It’s club business,” Bomber says sternly, his voice carrying authority.
The banging stops, and the room falls silent again. I take the opportunity to speak. “Look, it’s not what you think. I fucking love Milly.” My voice cracks with emotion. I wish I’d had the chance to tell her that before blurting it out to her brother.
“Don’t you go lying,” Reaper growls. The venom in his tone is expected, but fuck, it still hurts.
I point at him. “It’s that what’s been the problem!”
He cocks his head sideways. “What?”
“That look of betrayal and disappointment on your face, like we’re the worst people on the planet.
You wonder why we can’t be together, why we kept it a secret and lied to everyone.
” I look around the table as I’m saying it.
Then my gaze returns to Reaper. “It’s because of you!
We didn’t want to upset you or betray you because we care, but I fucking love her, man. ”
“She’s my sister!” he roars.
“She’s the love of my life,” I yell back, my voice echoing through the room.
Axle steps forward toward me, trying to defuse the situation. “We want to keep you alive. Don’t poke the bear.”
I’ve had a gutful. I’m always the nice guy. Even though I shouldn’t yell, my president has to hear me. Milly’s the one for me.
Reaper shakes his head furiously. “I want more for her than anyone in the club can provide.”
“What’s so bad about us, Pres?” Viper asks. “You settled down with Ava.”
“Milly got kidnapped because she was hanging around with people at the clubhouse!” Reaper’s voice is tortured and raw, and now I get it. He still harbors guilt about Milly’s kidnapping.
“It wasn’t your fault she got kidnapped. It was Ivy’s ex,” Demon adds. I give him a small chin lift for the contribution, since he rarely talks or gets involved in things like this.
Reaper’s shoulders sag slightly, the tension in his body easing. “It’s not safe for her because of me,” he mutters. “She already has a target on her. Being in a relationship with a club member would make it worse. I’ve always protected her.”
“She’s safer here with us than anywhere else,” I argue. “When we thought she and Ivy were in danger, Demon and I found them and brought them home safely. I’ll always protect Milly—with my life.”
He crosses his arms and looks away.
“Milly told me you always protected her, but she’s not a child anymore. I can make her happy. That should count for something, shouldn’t it?” My voice softens at the end because deep down, he loves his sister, and he cares whether she’s happy or not.
His eyes narrow as he processes my words. “How can you make her happy? If anything, I’ve never seen her so down and distant.”
I run a hand down my face. “That wasn’t my fault.
Mercedez has been blackmailing me. That’s the whole reason I called the meeting this morning.
She threatened that if I didn’t make her my ol’ lady, she was going to tell everyone that she saw me and Milly kissing, so I folded.
I didn’t want to come between you and Milly, because she loves you and I didn’t know how you’d react. ”
Reaper’s face softens slightly, the fury in his eyes dimming as he listens.
“Look, don’t take any of this out on Milly. It’s all my fault. She’s so scared of losing you and that you’ll disown her, so blame me for everything,” I say, my voice urgent. He has to understand that all this mess falls on me, not her.
I watch the anger dissipate from his face and the tension slowly drain from his body. He plonks down in his seat and lets out a deep breath, rubbing his temples. “Everyone leave. Give me and Twitch a moment.”
Everyone hesitates for a beat before the men start filing out. Axle lingers, his eyes darting between me and Reaper. “Will Twitch still be breathing when he gets out?” he asks, half joking.
“Axle!” Reaper barks, and he hightails it out of the room.
“Take a seat,” Reaper says, gesturing to the chair next to him.
I cautiously sit down, my body tense and ready for whatever comes next. Reaper cracks his neck from side to side.
“I love my sister,” he begins, his voice low but steady. “It’s been my job to protect her, and that’s why I didn’t want her involved with anyone in the club.”
“But Milly’s not a kid anymore,” I say, my voice soft but firm.
“I’d never do anything to hurt her. I’ve been trying to manage all this Mercedez drama too.
I didn’t want her to hurt herself, and I felt obligated to help her after everything we’ve been through.
But I never asked Milly to leave the clubhouse.
She did that on her own because she didn’t want to trigger Mercedez.
We’re not horrible people, Reaper. We were just trying to do the right thing.
But we couldn’t help it—we fell for each other. ”
I lay it all out, my heart on the table. He needs to understand that we didn’t lie to hurt him. We lied because we were scared of losing him.
Reaper rubs his chin, his expression thoughtful.
“I get it now. I just wish you two had come to me first instead of letting it get to this point.” He glances at my face and winces.
“Sorry about the punch, but you slept with my sister, so you had it coming. At least you care about her and didn’t just . . . you know.”
The memory of my poor choice of words makes me cringe. “Yeah, saying ‘I banged your sister’ wasn’t my finest moment. I panicked.”
Reaper chuckles, and the tension in the room eases slightly. “I’d be panicked too.”
I shrug, trying to lighten the mood. “What’s one more punch to the face?”
His brows shoot up. “Who else hit you?”
“Mercedez, when she found out about me and Milly.”
His face hardens, his tone turning serious. “You know I don’t tolerate that kind of behavior. Mercedez has to go.”
Relief washes over me, and for the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe. “What should I do? Call an ambulance and have it ready for when I tell her?”
Reaper shakes his head. “You’re not going anywhere near her.
I’ll handle it. As president, I’ll tell her she’s no longer welcome here.
She’s not permitted to speak to anyone in the club or the ol’ ladies.
And yes, I’ll organize for an ambulance to be here in case she tries to hurt herself again.
But you need to cut ties completely. Block her number.
Don’t talk to her again. And Milly is to come back to the clubhouse so we can monitor her.
I don’t want Mercedez taking her revenge on Milly.
I won’t risk another situation like what happened with Sophie. ”
I nod, grateful for his support. “Thanks. Can the club cover her doctor visits, medication, and anything else she needs to heal? I don’t want her to feel abandoned, even after everything she’s put me through.”
Reaper nods. “That’s fair. We’ll make sure she gets the help she needs. But she can’t stay here. Milly likes it here at the clubhouse, doesn’t she?”
“She does love it,” I say, a small smile tugging at my lips. “She says it feels like home.”
Reaper’s smiles. “That’s good to hear. I like having her here.”
“Everyone does,” I add. With Mercedez and Reaper out of the equation, Milly and I can finally have a chance to be together—if she’ll still have me.
My head hangs low as doubt creeps in. “If I could go back, I’d tell Mercedez she couldn’t manipulate me.
And now that I know everything, I wish Milly and I had come to you first. To be honest”—I chuckle nervously—“we had no idea what my fate would be. No one’s ever defied your orders before.
I wasn’t sure if I’d walk out of that conversation alive. ”
Reaper lets out a deep chuckle. “Don’t get me wrong, I wanted to kill you when you said you banged Milly. Seriously, Twitch. You actually said the word banged.”
“I panicked,” I admit, feeling like an idiot.
Reaper shakes his head, a small smile on his lips. “Treat Milly well, Twitch, or I’ll find a nice grave for you yet.”
I swallow hard. “Duly noted.” I stand, my resolve firm. “I’m going to talk to Milly.”
“But she’s at work,” Reaper points out.
I shrug. “This can’t wait. She needs to know everything now. You don’t know what it’s like to want to be with someone but feel like you can’t.”
Reaper’s expression softens. “I know. Ava was married to an abusive husband.”
“I feel such relief knowing we can finally be together,” I say, pausing at the door. “With your blessing, of course.”
Reaper nods. “As long as you protect her and make her happy. And it’s a plus that she’ll be living here, so my family can see her all the time.
I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t come to me.
I was so focused on keeping her safe that I didn’t consider she’d be safest here with us—and with a man I trust.”
A genuine smile spreads across my face. “Thank you, Pres. I understand your reasoning.”
As I walk through the house, I feel the weight of the past few weeks lifting off my shoulders.
I won’t be here for the Mercedez finale.
I have more important things to do. I hop on my bike, rev the throttle, and race toward the hospital, my heart pounding with anticipation. It’s time to finally make Milly mine.