Page 4 of Chaos Claimed

The gorgeous jerk had done that on purpose, as if he was keeping Percy inside to protect him. He didn’t need to be protected… as long as Santiago was there.

Percy shoved the door open and stepped onto the porch, glaring at his father who’d parked his good for nothing ass on the swing. “Strange.” Percy tapped his chin. “I could’ve sworn I took the trash out already. I must’ve missed the big pile of crap on the swing.”

Slowly, Jacob stood, his booted feet scraping across the porch floor. The chains on the swing rattled, the seat jerking. “Strange, but I could’ve sworn I taught you better than to mouth off.” He sneered at Percy. “Got a pair of smaller shorts you wanna put on?”

Percy shouted as Santiago hauled off and punched Jacob in the face. One quick jab, so fast Percy almost hadn’t seen it. But he’d heard something crunch. Jacob howled, holding his nose as blood spurted between his fingers.

“Nothing personal. I just really, really don’t like you,” Santiago’s voice dropped, low and dangerous.

Something wasn’t right. Percy gripped Santiago’s—Oh, wow. His biceps were rock hard—arms and pushed to the balls of his feet to try and stare him in his pretty hazel eyes. “You need to calm down.”

Santiago didn’t pull away, but he didn’t calm down either. “You seriously thought you could stand there and insult Percy?”

“This is none of your goddamn business!” Jacob shouted, snatching a dirty-looking red bandana from his back pocket to press against his nose. “What happens to my family doesn’t concern you! Get the fuck off of my porch!”

The way Santiago grew still worried Percy. His gaze narrowed, voice low and venomous. “Keep talking. I want to remember the sound of your voice before I rip it from you.”

Oh shit. He had to stop Santiago. Jacob had made this way too easy.

Like… a setup.

The noise of a roaring engine could be heard over Jacob’s shouting. Turning his head, Percy watched as Matias rode toward them on his motorcycle, Elijah on the back clinging to him. It ticked Percy off that Elijah looked so chill on the back, dark sunglasses covering his eyes.

His pipsqueak bestie should not look that cool while on a monstrous motorcycle. Honestly, Matias’s bike was a work of art. A deep crimson color, always shining like he’d just polished it. Which he probably had. It had metalwork on it that looked like tendrils flowing from a wolf’s head on each side of the gas tank. Even the chrome pipes were fancy, curling like snakes down the side of the bike.

And the damn thing had a throaty growl.

But Santiago’s was better.

Crap! Coming down the street in the opposite direction were the cops, lightbar flashing. Even if a neighbor had called in the disturbance, the police wouldn’t have made it to Percy’s house in five seconds flat.

Matias pulled into Santiago’s driveway, then helped Elijah off the back of his motorcycle. The deep growl of his bike still echoed in Percy’s ears, low and dangerous—like it had teeth. Matias moved with slow confidence, sunglasses sliding up into silky black hair as he crossed the lawn, walking slowly toward them.

Elijah rushed to Percy’s side, his eyes wide when he saw the blood on Jacob’s face. “Santiago did that?”

“Are you for reals?” Percy furrowed his brows. “Honey, the sun is baking your brain if you think I can slug anyone that hard.”

The deputy’s siren blared twice before he stopped at the curb. Shit. Percy wanted to push Santiago’s big ass into the house and take the blame for punching Jacob. As crazy as it was, family members seemed to face fewer consequences for assaulting each other than if a stranger was involved.

Percy should know. He’d spent his childhood watching Jacob fight his own brother and exchange blows with complete strangers. It was a damn miracle he hadn’t turned into a cruel asshole like his father.

But was inheriting his mom’s passive-aggressive nature any better?

The driver’s door swung open, and out stepped Deputy Gilmore.

Of course it was him, because Percy’s luck was just that fabulous. He was the very same cop who’d tried to pin a disturbance call on Percy when Jacob had been showing his ass one night.

He had an urge to extend his hands so Gilmore could slap on the cuffs. Percy was probably going to take some heat for this, even though this was entirely Jacob’s doing.

“Details, now,” Matias demanded, stepping onto the porch as Gilmore made his way toward them.

“He mouthed off to Percy and insulted him, so I punched the little bitch,” Santiago replied, jaw tight. Percy’s breath caught. Santiago didn’t flinch as he said it. Even though Percy had been standing there and knew what happened, hearing Santiago admit he’d assaulted Jacob to defend his honor left him at a loss for words.

“Play it cool,” Matias warned as Gilmore approached them. His overconfident stride had a cockiness that made Percy want to gag.

The man had the swagger of someone who thought a badge made him untouchable.

“Got a report of a disturbance.” He placed one booted foot on the lowest step like he was dropping by to see friends. Percy wanted to go down there and kick his foot right off. One hand rested casually on the butt of his gun, the other on the wood railing.

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