Page 40 of Peaceful Chaos

"This is where I leave you, little bird."

"Yeah, yeah. Go away." I playfully shove him and enter the room.

Sin is sitting at one of the tables in the back. I start to make my way toward him. A girl walks past me and sets her bag down on the table he's sitting at. Someone is always trying to come in between us, even if they don't have some nefarious plot.

I get it. My husband is sexy as hell. The kind of dark, mysterious, and brooding that makes some women lose their minds with lust. But, come the fuck on. This is the second day of class, seats and partners were chosen yesterday. I continue toward them and lean against the table.

"Can I help you?" I ask, letting her know she’s out of place.

She’s either the only person on campus who is unaware who we are, or she chooses to believe the lie that Sin and I really aren’t together. Either way, she turns to Sin to bat her eyelashes."No, I'm quite good right here." She backs her statement up by pulling out the stool from under the table.

"But you're not though." I flash my ring at her. "This seat is taken."

She looks at Sin then at me. Her brow scrunches together. "You're married?" she asks him.

He mimics me by showing off his ring.Sin looks at me and shrugs. I guess somehow she’s one of the small handful on campus who doesn’t seem to be aware of us.

She quickly grabs her bag. "I didn't know," she mumbles and scurries away.

I look at my ring, moving my hand around so it catches the light. "You know, I loved this when you found it, but I love it even more now."

He takes my hand and kisses it under the ring. "It certainly does have its uses."

Women will likely always be drawn to him. I can’t fault them for it. She’s forgotten the moment she hurries away.

The rest of class is uneventful. Boring even. Sin is more than likely a genius, and I had no life at boarding school so I filled my time taking honors classes. Basic biology would be easy for either of us on our own, but together we don't have enough to do.

Our next class is pretty much the same, minus having a woman throw herself at Sin. When it’s over we all pile into another one of the armored vehicles and head back to the apartment complex.

"How did your meeting go with your uncle?" Lucien asks once we're all inside the car.

Sin exhales and leans his head back against the headrest. "Marks called last night. The DA still hasn't brought charges, and Holbrook hasn't come back from Illinois."

"What does that mean? Spell it out for the rest of us, because unlike the three of you," Shane gestures between Sin, Lucien, and Teddy, "we don't speak underworld."

Lucien turns in his seat to face Shane. "I can't say for certain, but my guess is Damien already paid the DA and managed to kill the indictment before it was filed."

Shane's attention bounces between Sin and Lucien. "We knew that was likely to happen though. I don't understand why the three of you seem so disturbed."

Sin tips his head back down. "We figured Damien would try and go after one of us. That's why we've agreed to stay together this entire time, and why none of us are ever alone. What we didn't plan for was for Damien to take one of the FBI agents. How were we supposed to protect the protectors?"

"I have a suggestion," the Chaos soldier speaks up. He glances in the rearview mirror to see if we're listening. "Get better protectors," he suggests once he's sure we're listening.

"I thought we already had." It's the only thing I have to say during the drive back to the complex.

Javier is waiting for us in front of our building when we return, and he isn't alone. Brett leans against our door. He radiates tension, at odds with the casual pose he's trying to project. As soon as we step out of the vehicle he straightens up and moves toward us.

Sin cocks his head to the side in the way he does when he is evaluating a situation."You've made a decision," he observes.

Brett nods. "You were right. Is that what you want to hear? I listened to Grant when he insisted we go after Damien by the book. No one has spoken to him in almost two days."

"Not to be a dick," Lucien begins, "but are you sure he's still alive? With my father nothing is certain, and it sounds like he probably knows by now that Holbrook is working against him. Damien doesn't fear law enforcement, and police are not immune from his wrath. He'll take out anyone he deems a threat."

Brett pulls his phone out of his pocket. "You know what they say about Boy Scouts?" He turns the phone around and shows us a message from my uncle. "They're always prepared."

Sin takes the phone from Brett, reads the message, and hands it back. "We already knew he was probably being held at the manor. This tells us nothing. Anyone could have sent a text message. Hell, it could be Damien trying to lure us back."

"I know it’s him, and it tells us that he's still alive," Brett insists.

---