Page 68 of In the Midst of Chaos

The same college I had picked.

The only reason why I had gone there.

I, like my father, didn’t believe in destiny. I believed in a calculated risk. That you had to see the outcomes and take the best one. I took the information I’d learned about Humberto and played it to my advantage.

I smiled at him. I didn’t have enough energy, but somehow I managed.

“You’re not surprised to see me here,” Leon said.

“You know what your problem is, Leon?” I spat.

He raised a brow, and I could tell he was angry by the way his hands fisted and his jaw went hard all by my act of defiance.

“You underestimated me because I had a pussy, you fucking traitor.”

“Yeah? I told you, you weren’t wanted, and like a pathetic little bitch, you stayed away.”

I nodded and gave him that one. He seemed eager to have me far away. Guess it made sense. Without me here, it was easier to break us.

United, we stood strong; apart, we were vulnerable.

“What’s your plan, Leon? What do you want that you couldn’t have achieved with the club?”

“You don’t understand a thing.”

“And what is that?” I asked. “Are you bitter because you didn’t have enough to buy in as a founding member, and therefore you make slightly fewer millions than Gunner and Axton?”

I took a deep breath, and it felt like my lungs were on fire. If I was going to die, then this was going to be my damn swan song.

His lips curled in disgust. The man next to him laughed.

“She has spunk. Doesn’t know her place, but it’s admirable.”

I spat at their feet, trying not to flinch when I saw the blood.

I was sure that my ribs were bruised.

The way my lungs burned every time I took a breath, and it felt like I was being stabbed a thousand times over. My father said we would practice survival wounds when I got older. Sadly, we never made it that far.

I just hoped I was making him proud.

“Are you going to kill her?” Humberto asked. “I don’t understand why you let the other one go?”

“Because the other one will die with the rest of them. And then, the only beneficiary for DD Enterprises will be Finley Primrose. After she gives me what I want, then we can kill her.”

Shock must’ve been all over my face. Leon leered triumphantly at me.

“Did I forget to mention that I sent the clubhouse to get bombed?”

“No,” I breathed.

Nash.

“Oh, look, she cares,” Humberto laughed.

Leon’s plan made sense now that I saw the whole picture. He was too bitter and angry to be let in. He wanted it all, but killing Axton or Gunner would accomplish nothing because Nash, Nate, Huxley, Duncan, and I were their fail-safe. Everything would transfer to our names, and that would leave Leon below a bunch of spoiled brats.

“Did you kill Eleanor?” I managed to ask.

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