Page 62 of Daughters of Chaos

A news headline flashes across the screen:

Warehouse Explosion Still Uncontained

The scene unfolding before me is nothing like I’d imagined. The huge warehouse that spans several blocks is blazing. What sounds like gunfire blasts in the background as police and emergency personnel try to keep people back. Live ammunition is going off inside because of the blaze.

As I watch the fire grow, the guys are celebrating. They all look smug as they fist-bump and clap each other on the shoulder. The crew Dad took out earlier, that’s what they were doing. Setting things in motion forthis.

Everything is setting in: the realization that I know people who are capable of such violence and that I love one of them. I'm in the middle of a very dangerous gang war. Me and Raven.

Less than a year ago, our lives were so different. I never would have imaginedthiswas where we’d be right now.

I wait. Wait for the heavy weight of doom to settle in my stomach. For the reality of what my life has become to start sending dread through my bones.

It never comes. It should scare the hell out of me that this is where I ended up. I should be terrified that I know so many dangerous people. Have seen what they're capable of.

Death. Danger. Violence.

Those things aren’t foreign to these men. It's a normal part of their existence, an everyday occurrence even. I wait for the panic to set in, for fear to overtake me, but it doesn’t. It never comes.

I'm completely fine, and that scares me more than anything.

36

Raven

The guys have been elated since the warehouse blast, especially since the Bastards haven't retaliated. It seems they're licking their wounds after losing their largest drug and weapons hub. Reports say investigators found evidence of arson. They also found large amounts of illegal drugs, weapons, and tools to print counterfeit money.

The investigators seem to think the owners of the illegal goods are the ones who set the blaze, trying to hide their shady operation. They're more interested in finding those individuals than searching for other arson suspects for the time being. That means the Sons are in the clear so far.

I know even if they weren’t, though, they’d have no ties to the crime. They're pros at this kind of thing. Most of them have been doing it their whole lives. There isn’t a shred of evidence left behind that can link any of them to the arson. The only ones who know the truth are us and the Bastards, and they can’t talk without damning themselves in the process.

So, days have passed with no whisper of Dom or his guys making any moves. Eventually, other stories made headlines, and the warehouse explosion faded into the background. Viper started to loosen his chokehold on me and Nix, barely.

We're still heavily guarded by the club and can’t go anywhere without an escort, but the energy around the clubhouse seems to have shifted. It's too soon to think the war with the Bastards is over, but this win is huge. With one blaze, the guys have knocked them down several pegs. They’ve taken out the bulk of their operation, leaving them to scramble and regroup elsewhere while the Sons plan their next move.

Viper wants to destroy them, not just incapacitate them. So, he plans, and the MC awaits their marching orders while Nix and I try to adapt to our new normal.

I take another sip of my beer, listening to the music thumping through the living room. Some of the guys wanted to throw a party to unwind after the long days following the move on the warehouse. Viper gave the go-ahead before disappearing with Bear, Hammer, and Miguel. He still isn’t telling Nix and me shit about his plans, which pisses me off, but at least he loosened his leash.

Jesse and Reaper took me to the gym for the first time in ages today. I let loose some of my stress inside the ring but still felt restless even after two hours of working my muscles raw. I canstill feel it now. Sitting here, watching as everyone else lets loose. I still feel edgy.

My eyes flit over to where Jesse and one of the sweetbutts are grinding on each other in a corner. I half expect my anxiety to spike at the sight, but nothing happens. It doesn’t affect me at all. If anything, I’m glad to see he’s moving on. Our friendship can stay intact, and I don’t have to feel bad about ending things before he got too deep in his feelings.

I take another long pull of my drink, draining the bottle. As I do, I feel eyes on me. When I turn, I see Reaper’s dark gaze directed at me. He has some brunette vying for his attention, but he’s giving her squat, keeping those dark orbs fixed on me even as he brings his bottle to his lips.

I don’t look away even when something in his gaze shifts, becoming more intense. We’ve always had this dynamic, a push and pull against one another, always fighting to be the one in charge. Neither of us is willing to give in. We both value winning too much, but what the hell is the prize anyway?

I have no idea.

The brunette slides her hand down his chest, begging for his attention, and something inside me cringes. He stops her with a grip on the wrist as she moves lower, edging toward his abdomen. The whole time, his eyes stay on me, daring me to react, but I won’t.

Ican’t.

I’m not ready to face what it means if I did. Would it mean I lose the game we’re playing? I have no fucking clue. I don’t even know how this dance between us all started anyway.

Reaper hasn’t moved his hand or the girl’s any further. It’s still frozen in place on his chest as he stares me down, waiting for me to make my next move. My chest starts to tighten, and a foreign feeling invades my senses. Before I let it take hold, I look away, standing from my seat across the room.

I march toward the kitchen, needing another beer and an easy way to shut down whatever the fuck that was back there. Something in his gaze and the way he ignored the sweetbutt has me reeling. It’s almost like he—

---