Page 2 of In the Midst of Chaos

“Miss Primrose,” Anya, one of the maids, greeted me. “They’re waiting for you in Mr. Crull’s office.”

“Thanks,” I said without looking at her. It seemed fitting that the last place I’d been before I left was the office, and it was the first place I would go to. Full fucking circle.

Holding onto the rail, I descended the stairs, my heart starting to pound with every step. Shades of grays and browns followed me around, reminding me why I had left. Betrayal lingered in the walls, and we all pretended not to see it.

I grew up in this place a princess amongst thieves, purity beside sins, my future laid out before me.

When I made it to the office door, I took a deep breath, inhaling it, letting it give me strength to face the people who, although weren’t my blood, were some of the only family I had.

The smell of nicotine, tobacco, and THC hit my nostrils, and strangely it smelled warm; it smelled of home. I didn’t dare look around the room as I made my way in. Now that I was here and felt eyes on me, I was rethinking my outfit, a black leather miniskirt that barely covered my ass and a long-sleeve crop top. Nothing said, “look at me, I’ve grown up,” like walking into a will reading dressed like a whore.

Sitting behind his large oak desk was my guardian.

I walked up to the side of the desk, then kneeled at his side and grabbed his hand. “Uncle,” I whispered before I kissed the top of his hand. A sign of respect. I stood still as he put his hand behind my neck and kissed the top of my head.

When my father passed away, Axton took me in. Through the years, he disagreed with my father on the way he raised me, except my father didn’t treat me any different than Axton did his oldest. My father didn’t see me as something that needed to be protected because I was a girl. My father taught me that fear was just a matter of perception. That emotions ran high, and to just feel them before we ever acted on them, because acting on feelings often led to mistakes, and damn if I didn’t learn that lesson the hard way.

“Welcome home, Finley.” The hoarse way he said my name made me feel guilty for the first time since leaving. It wasn’t Axton’s fault. If I blamed someone, anyone, it would be his son. In all my years, I’ve never seen Axton Crull broken. He and my father had created an empire, and we were their legacy. It was surprising, too, because of what they taught us, but it made him human and a little more admirable.

Too bad that legacy came at a price.

Bad news always happened in the middle of the night, and it was no different than when I got a text from an unknown number letting me know Eleanor Crull had died. I didn’t think I still had it in me, but I broke—part regret, but most of it anger. I should have been home. I should have told Eleanor how much she meant to me face-to-face other than by video call and text.

When I got up and turned around, my eyes met with the youngest Crull brother, who was smirking at me. Duncan was the palest of the boys and the one with the blackest hair. He wasn’t short and chubby-cheeked anymore. He looked taller, with razor-sharp features that gave him a sadistic look. From the side of his neck, I could make out tattooed wings. He licked his red lips and winked at me.

I had to stop myself from smiling at him because he had to have known why I left. Instead, I just glared at him as I took a seat.

“Great, Finley is back. We can fucking start now.” The hoarse voice startled me. It was deep but smooth, and when angry, it got hoarse. My gaze slowly lifted, expecting to find mismatched eyes. Instead, I was met with dark shades covering the most amazing eyes I had ever seen. He was leaning on the couch, a blunt between his fingers, as he stared back at me. Nashton was the oldest of the Crull brothers. He was still tall but was now more muscular. Tattoos covered every inch of his body except his face.

I averted my eyes and sat in the chair next to Duncan, leaving one between Nash and myself. My skin shivered because I knew he was staring, and the pathetic part of me wondered if he liked what he saw.

“You look good, Finnegan.”

I didn’t turn around as I slapped Dun’s face. He always thought Finley was a boy’s name, so he fixed it to annoy me.

“Can we go on with this? Some of us have work to do and don’t get a fucking check each month just for existing.” Nash’s words were directed at me.

My mother passed away in a terrible freak accident—wrong time, wrong place kind of thing. As for my father, he was shot the summer after he took me to the clearing. A part of me wondered if it had been karma for showing me what he did. Not that I blamed him. My father just wanted me to take off my rose-colored glasses. We had been on the verge of war back then, and his death had us all on edge, except we never found evidence on who carried out the hit.

I was one messed-up preteen when I came to live at Crull Manor. Add in being raised alongside three rowdy boys—we drove Mrs. Crull crazy.

I bit my lip, stopping any remark that would show my hand. My weakness. They were mourning…I was grieving. So I gave a dismissive look to Nash and held my tongue. I knew firsthand that words cut deeper than any knife and wedged themselves deeper than any bullet.

The last ones I heard before I’d left this house still haunted the shit out of me.

No matter how ruthless we were all taught to be, we still respected our parents. We showed respect to those who earned it, and those who didn’t, well, they deserved what came their way. Which reminded me, my twentieth birthday was coming up.

Before Axton could speak, the door opened again. I stopped breathing, knowing who it was. One of the reasons I agreed to leave this place in the first place.

“Well, well, well…. if it isn’t my fucking fiancée.”

I felt eyes boring into me from all directions.

At the door was the middle brother, tall with a square jaw, chocolate eyes, and black hair. Huxley Crull stood before me looking like an all-American douche bag. He had no tattoos—that I could see anyway—and he looked like a male model for Tommy Hilfiger when the rest of us were all Harley Davidson.

He came to where I was sitting. He put his hands on either side of my head, leaning close so I could smell the tangy smell from his Trident gum. “Did you fuck other men while you were away, Fin?”

Before I could say more, Axton slammed his hand on the desk. “That’s enough. Have some respect, for fuck’s sake.”

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