Page 47 of Daughters of Chaos

A hint of pink spreads over his smiling cheeks as he moves closer to the ring. "Guess I'll referee, then. Keep my brother honest," he says, landing a half-hearted punch to Stitch's stomach.

Stitch grunts and shoves Tweak away. "Watch it, bro, just because you're injured doesn't mean I won't knock your ass out."

Tweak responds with a toothy grin. "I'd like to see you try."

I chuckle as I readjust my headpiece, getting into my stance. As good as it is seeing him in high spirits, I know there's worry simmering beneath the surface. We all feel it. That's whyI'm here. I can't sit around and do nothing and wait for this inevitable war to begin. I'm getting ready, making sure I'm in fighting shape in case those fuckwads come knocking on our door.

There's no way I'll let them anywhere near Nix if they get past our MC shield. If our first line of defense fails, we'll need another one. I'll fight like hell to keep my sister safe, even against a deranged MC. I only hope it doesn't come to that.

Stitch enters the ring, rolling his shoulders as he approaches me. "You ready?" I ask him.

He nods, putting up his fists. "Let's see what you got."

A feral smile spreads across my face.Oh, hell yeah.This is exactly what I need. I strike first, landing a quick jab to his ribs, making him grunt. He retaliates with a lame hook, which I dodge. Immediately, I respond with a hook of my own, connecting with his spleen.

Stitch curses, throwing a jab that barely grazes my shoulder. I circle him, building up momentum as I bounce on my feet. "Come on, Stitch. Is that the best you've got?"

Tweak laughs on the sideline. "She's got a point, bro. You aren't trying at all."

Stitch sends his brother a scowl before squaring up to me. This time, he swings, aiming for my other arm. I fall into a deep squat, making him miss his target. As I pop back up, I hurl a punch to his stomach, making him double over.

"Gotta do better than that, dude," I taunt.

The scowl on his face deepens, and he faces me again. His jab connects with my arm as I block him, working him up even more. His punches grow harder but sloppier as I bounce around the ring, dodging most of his throws and landing several of my own.

Now, we're talking.

Tweak is enjoying the show, clapping and cheering from outside the ring, mocking his brother every time he misses his target. Now that he knows I'm serious, Stitch is giving more effort. We keep at it for a while, giving our audience one helluva show. When he throws another hook, I duck, sweeping his legs out from under him as I throw myself into a crouch.

His big body lands with a thud as our spectator goes wild. "Holy shit. That was awesome," Tweak cheers as he climbs onto the ring. "She beat you baaad, bro," he says, fist-bumping my glove.

Stitch gruffs as he gets back on his feet, "I was going easy on her."

"Suuure you were," Tweak laughs.

"You wanna keep going?" I ask, giving him a chance to bow out.

He shakes his head. "Nah, I think we should call it for today. Wouldn't want anyone getting hurt."

"Yeah, you," Tweak cackles.

Stitch flips him off before crossing his arms over his chest, giving me an appraising once over. "That was pretty impressive."

I shoot him a cocky grin. "I know."

He shakes his head as he breathes out a chuckle. "You wanna stick around here for a bit more?"

I check the time and shake my head. "No, we should get going. My shift starts in an hour, and I want to grab a quick shower. Let's head back to the house."

Tweak is laughing as he tells the guys how my sparring match went earlier. A handful of Sons are camped out at the bar, listening as their cohort describes how I took down his brother in the ring. I smile proudly as I refill their drinks.

Several of them rib Stitch about losing to a girl as Jesse appears, putting his arm around me. "We've got ourselves a world-class badass right here, boys."

Cheers erupt from the men as they raise their glasses toward me. We all needed a distraction from everything going on with the club. This is the first time in a while that I've seen several of them, let alone with smiles on their faces, laughing and having a good time. It's been long overdue.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. Quickly, I check the text, breathing a sigh of relief as I see that Nix is back home for the night. It's been another day with no incidents.Thank fuck.

I put my phone away and look up at the crowd around the bar, freezing when I meet a pair of narrowed eyes. Fucking Reaper.He's nursing a beer as his gaze bores into me, studying me like a creature under a microscope. He heard Tweak's story. Fucker probably thinks it's bull.

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