Page 3 of In the Midst of Chaos

I glared at the boy I was promised to since my tenth birthday. Crossing my arms, I looked at Ax to continue, so I could hear what Eleanor wanted from me, and I could leave this fucking manor. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have stepped a foot back in this place. They wanted me gone? Then I would be fucking gone.

We sat in silence as Axton read his late wife’s will. She left each of her boys some of the properties. The island Ax had bought her, she wanted to sell it and donate the money to charity. I chuckled because that was like El. She didn’t want Ax to fuck anyone else in their “special” spot.

“As for Finley,” Axton continued, and I sat up a little straighter. “I leave her my baby. Well, she already gets to marry one of my babies, but I leave her my convertible.”

My jaw dropped.

“Bullshit,” Duncan uttered. He loved that car as much as I did.

It was a 1965 Ford Mustang cherry-red convertible. It was a freaking classic in mint condition. The car wastheAmerican dream.

“Now that I’m gone, it’s your turn to keep my boys in check.”

I heard a snicker from beside me. My head turned to meet Nash’s gaze. Now that the glasses were off, I felt my stomach dip. Nashton had the most beautiful eyes. His right eye was a light blue, while his left eye was dark brown. Boy, could I get lost in his empty abyss, but I steeled myself to look away.

Once Axton was done reading, I stood up, fixing my skirt. “Since that’s all, I guess I better go now.”

“You just got here.” Huxley’s voice went up an octave.

Then I felt his presence next to me. His proximity should feel warm, but instead, I felt cold, making me shiver.

“You. Are. Staying.” Nash’s authoritative voice made my knees buckle, and if I was still a stupid seventeen-year-old, I might have dropped at his feet.

I turned around to glare at him. My mouth parted when I realized just how close he was. He was close enough that I could see the vein in his neck thrumming. Close enough that if I were to tilt my head, our mouths would touch.

Damn, he was a handsome son of a bitch, wasn’t he? Then I shook my head because his mother had just died, and I shouldn’t be thinking that way. I shouldn’t be thinking that anyway because he wanted me gone in the first place.

“I’m leaving, and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it.”

Nashton smirked at me, his mouth parting a little, and the pink of his tongue peeked through, licking his lower lip.

“Your accounts were frozen the moment you stepped foot inside the house,” Nash mocked next to me. His breath fanned the shell of my ear, causing me to break out in goose bumps, and I hated that.

I hated that the same weakness I had felt for him when I was young was still there. Time didn’t break the attraction I felt for him. Time didn’t make me crave his brother instead of him. Time didn’t want me to marry Huxley any more than it had three years ago. Time didn’t heal the wound I carried with me since the night I left. Time had stopped for me, and it was about to catch up.

“How. Dare. You!”

Nash took a drag of his blunt, then covered me in a cloud of smoke.

“How dare I? Bitch, how dare you!” he growled. He looked down at me with so much hate in his gaze, and I wondered why he was mad at me when the one who should be mad was me.

“Shut the fuck up, Nash,” Huxley said, jumping up to come to my defense. He stood behind me, holding my waist with one hand. The moment he did that, I felt Nash’s glare zero in where Hux had his fingers gripping into my hip bone.

I prided myself in being honest and keeping it straight, and the truth was I loved these boys but not in the same way.

“We all got to pull our weight around here, and Finley hasn’t done shit,” Nash spat before he walked out of the room.

My blood boiled.

Hasn’t done shit? How the hell was I supposed to do anything when I was kicked out? He knew damn well but wanted to act like he was a victim.

“Everyone clear out,” Axton shouted at us.

Duncan got up, and it made me realize just how much time had passed. He was no longer lanky, but looked taller than his brothers, but that was because he was thinner. Huxley started to pull me out of the room, and I was grateful when Axton spoke.

“Except for Finley.”

Waving Huxley goodbye, I took a seat across from Axton and hoped he would let me leave. It’d worked once before; I hoped it worked again.

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