Page 34 of In the Midst of Chaos

“Is there a point to this?” I said through gritted teeth.

My little brother smirked. “Nope, just wanted to see you squirm.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I bald-faced lied to protect him from even more lies.

“You fucked, Finley, and in doing so, you fucked over Huxley.”

And there it was. The one thing I shouldn’t have touched. The one thing I shouldn’t have found pleasure in. The one fucking thing that I wanted to do again.

“That’s why she left? Why you were okay with her leaving?” Duncan’s voice was getting angry.

I yanked him by the collar and pushed him against the wall.

“You got what you wanted from her, and as soon as she was of no interest to you, you discarded her.”

“Don’t,” I growled.

“You wanted what you couldn’t have, and as soon as it was yours, you got tired of it.”

I didn’t think I fucking lost it. I pressed my hand against his throat.

“You think I had any control? I’d fucking die for Finley, but I can’t fucking keep her. You think I didn’t try to get her out of that arrangement?”

Duncan grabbed my wrist and pushed me away.

“Explain yourself.”

“He said that she could marry any Crull boy, just not me. He decided that if I married her, his side of the company would dissolve. If she ended up with me, we would no longer be in business together. All of the business.”

Duncan was at a loss for words. Hell, I had been too. It was a lot to take in.

“Why wouldn’t Micah want you with Finley?”

“I don’t know,” I lied. “Are you going to tell him?” I asked about Huxley.

Duncan straightened his jacket, and then we both made our way to the garage.

“No, but he deserves to know.”

I knew that too, but the thought of being the one to crush his soul made me fucking sick. But it had to be me. I knew the moment I kissed Finley that it was something more than just lust, something that would hurt my brother. I just didn’t think it would hurt all of our family.

Before we made it to the garage, I put a hand on Duncan’s shoulder, stopping him from entering.

“I wouldn’t have touched her if she didn’t mean something to me.”

Duncan smiled sadly at me. “Oh, brother, she doesn’t just mean something to you. She is already engraved in you. You just don’t want to admit it.”

He was right, but he was also wrong. Admitting she was something to me would push me a little more on edge, and I needed to be one hundred percent clearheaded the next few days.

When we walked into the garage, the boys were already waiting. Everyone was strapping the cargo onto their bikes. Nate was finishing putting the roll onto mine. We got caught with this, and it would be jail for a long fucking time. I went on runs as collateral, so my father would help the club if something went down. Duncan liked the thrill, and to be fair, so did I.

“You good?” Nate asked.

“Never better.”

He snorted.

“So what will happen on the next vote?” he asked since we still had to see what would happen if they changed shipping companies in the future.

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