Page 51 of Masked Mayhem

"Whitney, baby!" My name being yelled is what brings me back to the present. I'm panicking, though, sitting on the shower floor shaking badly, the nasty taste of the shampoo in my mouth and on my tongue. I look, noticing the bottle on the shower floor near my feet.

"Whitney, what is it?" Again I hear my name, but I'm too frozen to look up or even move for that matter.

The next thing I know, I'm being lifted out of the shower, a towel wrapping around my wet, naked body as I'm held in a pair of strong arms and carried out of the bathroom.

I don't come to until I'm brought to my bedroom and sat down, Havoc's arms strongly and possessively wrapped around me to try and make me feel safe. But I'm even more confused when I don't see Cade and Carter, just Havoc, whose heartbeat alone is enough to bring me out of my nightmare.

"Baby, what the fuck happened in there?" he asks as I look into his eyes, worry clearly evident.

"I... I had a flashback," I admit, freaked out about the shampoo switch. "Someone put a different bottle of shampoo in there, and I... I just panicked."

"Well, no one's been shopping for you, but it could be Boston's," he suggests, trying to lighten the tense mood.

"No, Havoc. This wasn't a simple mix-up. Someone was in here, and they switched my shampoo out for the one Dustin tried to kill me with. I haven't used that since I left him—I refuse to."

We look into each other's eyes again, trying to think of an explanation that doesn't involve Dustin's definitely being the one stalking me. But too many things have happened for me to ignore it now.

"Whitney, we need to be careful," Havoc says, his voice dropping an octave as he pulls me closer, his protective nature flaring up. "Let’s not jump to conclusions. We’ll figure this out together. Just breathe."

I lean my head against his chest, absorbing his warmth, my heart still racing. The fear from my flashback lingers like a shadow, and I can't help but think of how that shampoo bottle might be a twisted reminder that I’m not as safe as I thought. But the closeness of Havoc’s body calms me, and I focus on his steady heartbeat, allowing it to anchor me in this moment—the present, not the past. Suddenly, Crow bursts through the bedroom door, a worried expression etched on his face.

“What happened? I heard shouting and—” He pauses, taking in the sight of me wrapped in a towel, with Havoc holding me possessively. His eyes go from concern to understanding. “Whitney, are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I lie automatically, not wanting to relive the moment again, even as my heart tells me otherwise.

Havoc shakes his head. “No, she’s not. Someone changed her shampoo. The one that… you know.” He runs a frustrated hand through his hair, his jaw clenched.

Crow’s expression darkens, fury flickering in his blue eyes. “This is not fucking good, Whit. You need to be extra careful. Whoever’s messing with you is getting braver. We can’t let our guard down.”

I felt helpless, like a pawn on a chessboard, caught up in a game I didn’t choose to play. “I thought I was safe here,” I whisper, tears threatening to spill again. "I thought Red and 13 were here all night."

"I don't know, but they're training for a fight tonight. King had us come here to relieve them in the middle of the night."

“You are safe with us,” Havoc insists, pulling my chin up to meet his intense gaze. “But we can’t be complacent. We need to keep an eye on everything. We need to discuss a plan going forward.”

“Cade and Carter should know about this,” Crow says, his tone changing to one of urgency as he glances at the clock. “They’ll want to be in on it, too. The more eyes we have, the better.”

I shiver, feeling overwhelmed but not wanting to seem weak. "What if they think I’m overreacting?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper.

“They won’t,” Havoc assures me. “Carter has dealt with worse—” His voice falters, and I can see he’s fighting a deep-seated anger. “If anyone understands trauma, it's him. Trust me, Whitney. They’ll protect you with everything they have, just like us.”

A rush of warmth spreads through me at his words, but the fear still looms large. I don’t want to seem paranoid or ungrateful, but the reality feels like a bitter pill to swallow, ripping open wounds I’ve been trying to stitch closed for years.

After a long silence punctuated only by the rhythmic thud of my heart, I finally say, “I want to know who it is. I need to face this. I can’t keep living in fear.”

The determination in my voice catches both of them off guard. Havoc looks down at me, a mixture of admiration and trepidation in his gaze.

“I admire your strength, but we have to be smart about this. Just because you want to face it doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

“ I fucking know that, but I can’t go to sleep every night wondering if he’s out there, waiting to attack. I won’t let my past control me anymore.”

Crow steps forward, his features softening for the first time since he walked in. “ We’ll make a plan to protect you and figure out who’s playing games. We'll set up some surveillance, and if we find anything, we’ll go from there.”

Havoc nods, clearly on board. “And if anything feels off, you come straight to us—only us. No second guesses. We do this as a team.”

“Okay.” I take a deep breath, feeling the latent strength in their words, fortifying me against some invisible threat.

Together, we would face whatever danger loomed in the shadows, and I would no longer be a victim of my past.

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