Page 96 of In Chaos We Reign (Midnight Mayhem 4)

Istand at the edge of the cliff, watching the waves crash against the pale stone. It reminds me of the anger I felt the day I was told what I needed to do. What I must do. The first task of me taking seat as CEO was to protect Midnight Mayhem and Kiznitch. At all costs. Even at my own.

“You made it?” Her voice is the whisper of a memory that I haven’t seen in a long time but have known was always there. It was perfectly planned, it always would be. Trick the trickster, beat The Brothers, be who I needed to be. Even if it meant removing my memories to do it.

I turn slowly, tucking my stray hair behind my ear. “Delila,” I say, squinting against the sunlight. “So strange to see you out in the outside world like this finally.”

Dove steps out from behind her, with Kohen on the other side. I swallow past the betrayal from the two of them. The betrayal I’ve had to hold on to for years upon years without realizing.

Dove has blue and pink paint smudged over the sides of her face, and Kohen has dark to match hers. For years, I’ve known she’s watched Midnight Mayhem from the crowd. I’ve never understood why, and she’s never told me either.

“Yes, well, I guess it is.” She clamps the metal handcuffs around my wrists, jerking me forward. “Come on, our Little Bee. It’s time.” She yanks me forward and I follow behind her like a lost lamb to be slaughtered. Delila hid her death from everyone, and she doesn’t know that I know why. She and Kaius had been working together from the second she ‘died’, maybe even before. I know King and The Brothers will be angry at me right now because they won’t understand.

There was no me being kidnapped by them. Me being raised with Dominic. The memories Delila created with Dominic weren’t true. Part of me is angry that it worked, that I agreed to give her the opportunity to do this to me. I gave her my sanity on a silver platter and she took it like a hungry wolf. The other part of me is angry that they truly believed they hadn’t known me all of their life. Like I wasn’t embedded into each of their souls as deep as they were in mine, but then I remember why. Why I had agreed to do it.

The sun ducks behind a fat dark cloud and a chill spreads over my spine. Delila directs us toward a waiting white SUV, and Dove and Kohen take the one behind her. A man opens the back seat and I slide in without arguing, keeping my head resting on the window. Doors close and we’re driving away from the cliff top.

“Do they know where you are?” Delila asks, and I just shake my head. “Very good. They’ll keep chasing Dominic’s tail so we won’t have any hiccups.”

“Why do you want Midnight Mayhem so bad?” I turn toward her. She’s aged a lot since I last saw her, and her hair is much longer too. Delila was always so prim and put together. In opulent suits and Jimmy Choos, she walked the line of boss lady with grace, yet somewhere down that path, she lost her way. “You had Midnight Mayhem, Delila. Why?”

“Oh, Cartier. You still have so much to learn when it comes to The Fathers. We’re going to take over. Get rid of all the acts and rebuild new ones.” The road is bumpy beneath my butt. “We got what we wanted.” The smile on her face is far from anything happy. “Got rid of Patience so we can take their pipeline.”

“Money? Sex trafficking? Slavery? That’s the kind of shit you want to turn Midnight Mayhem into?”

Her shoulder lifts slightly in a shrug. “Not for money more than power, but the money is a bonus. This is what we needed to take us to the next level. We want to be where notorious cliques like The Elite Kings are.”

“They don’t dabble in sex trafficking…” I sneer, but I try not to make it obvious.

“Well no, but this is what is going to take us there. I just have to meet Kaius before we all fly to the US.” I have no doubt in my mind that she has every intention of killing everyone in Mayhem. Everyone but Maya, because as much of a monster as Delila is, she loved Maya’s father. She loves Maya. I’ll believe that forever.

They continue to drive us through the busy city and around people crossing the road. We pass small shops and kids playing on the street until we reach the end of a back road. There’s a set of doors that open out onto concrete steps and a bin right beside it. It looks like the back of a club.

“Kaius should be here any minute.”

“So, just to clarify…” My eyes move to the rearview mirror, where a set of headlights beam onto my face from behind. Kohen and Dove wait in their vehicle. “It’s been you and Kaius working behind Midnight Mayhem all along. You worked with Patience until we killed them. You did all of this for the chance to rewrite Midnight Mayhem and make it—Patience two-point-oh?” I shuffle around to face her. “Why, Delila? And what about Dominic and Bam Bam?”

“Ahh…” She reaches forward and her long, pointed nail grazes over my arm. I yank away from her. “Sweet Bam Bam. He always did have such a soft spot for you, didn’t he?”

Past

The door swung open, and a man stood on the other side. He wore an immaculate suit, had perfectly styled hair, and had the most perfect features. He was beautiful.

Kenny stopped, his head jerking up to see who had entered. “What are you doing here, Bam Bam?”

Bam Bam?I thought to myself. What an interesting name.

Bam Bam slowly made his way into the room, his eyes shifting from me to Kenny and Kaius. “I’ve come to let you know that I will be doing her training for this during year two.” Kenny slowly shuffled off my body, and as soon as his weight was off me, I could breathe a little more. “And I’m sure I do not have to tell you what that means, Kaius?” Both men stared at each other in silent conversation.

Bam Bam pointed to both of them. “Let this be a warning. I do not like my toys played with. If you ever touch her again, I’ll cut both of your eyeballs out and stitch them back in after I’ve swapped them.” His mouth was wide when he smiled. “Do you understand the words I’ve just said?” His demeanor was cool and calm. He could have been talking about the weather and not about mutating two men.

“Understood, Bam Bam.” Kaius was the first to agree, tossing a sheet onto my body. “I have to ask, though. How did you get this gig? This is for Kiznitch only. I can’t imagine Delila allowing you in?”

Bam Bam’s grin widened farther as he reached the end of the bed and took my hand with his. “Don’t you worry about that, Kaius.”

Present

I swallow the memories of Bam Bam saving me from Kaius, but welcome what year two brought me with him. I spent the entire year living under his roof with the false pretense of learning sexual manipulation of the mind, body, and soul, but instead, Bam Bam saved me. He allowed me to be a teenager. Live my life while providing me with core fundamental values that I would need when I got out. I owe Bam Bam my life.

“Yes, and I him,” I say, straightening my shoulders. “You know he’s a King, don’t you? And that he posed as Kiznitch after seeing Kaius and Kenny hurt me. He was there for a job that night. Do you know what that job was, Delila?” I hold her stare, but she doesn’t back down. She continues her same smug smile. “It was to assassinate Kaius. He wanted to, but he wanted to save me more.” I shifted in my chair, watching the rearview mirror. “Do you know why Eli was with Dominic, Delila?” I keep my words slow and shallow so she can keep up. “Because after Bam Bam failed his mission, I was supposed to be the cost of that. To live with Dominic and dance for him. Dominic came to collect me, but Eli stood in for me instead, until he figured out why Dominic wanted me so bad. I mean, sure, annoying that Bam Bam hadn’t killed Kaius, but why would he want me?” I click my fingers together. “Then it hit me. You had Dominic under your thumb all along, like you did me. Like you did The Brothers. Like you did Kissime.” Her face finally falls and I see the exact moment she knows I’ve worked her out…

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