by C. M. Marin
JAYCE
The Chaos Chasers Series
By
C.M Marin
Text copyright © 2018 C.M. Marin
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, places and events in this book are fictitious and derived from the author’s imagination. Any similarity to persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Table of contents
Chapter 1 Alexia
Chapter 2 Jayce
Chapter 3 Alexia
Chapter 4 Jayce
Chapter 5 Alexia
Chapter 6 Jayce
Chapter 7 Alexia
Chapter 8 Jayce
Chapter 9 Alexia
Chapter 10 Jayce
Chapter 11 Alexia
Chapter 12 Jayce
Chapter 13 Alexia
Chapter 14 Jayce
Chapter 15 Alexia
Chapter 16 Jayce
Chapter 17 Alexia
Chapter 18 Jayce
Chapter 19 Alexia
Chapter 20 Jayce
Chapter 21 Alexia
Chapter 22 Jayce
Chapter 23 Alexia
Chapter 24 Jayce
Chapter 25 Alexia
Chapter 26 Jayce
Chapter 27 Alexia
Chapter 28 Jayce
Chapter 29 Alexia
Chapter 30 Jayce
EPILOGUE Alexia
Author’s note
Chapter 1
Alexia
Thanksgiving. This year, I don’t even have the heart to try to think of what I’m thankful for. As far as I’m concerned, I’m only thankful for the end of this day to be right around the corner. An hour tops, and it’ll be a reasonable time for me to go hide under my covers. Well, to go hide under my brother’s covers, more precisely. Liam has been lending me his bed since last night, while he moved himself to the very uncomfortable couch that’s probably been in the room since before he was even born. Anyway, the only reason I’m still sitting down here pretending like everything is okay―like I’m okay―downstairs at almost midnight is because I promised Liam I’d do my best to enjoy the party. But he’s lucky that Camryn and Fiona are here. If not, I would have been long gone by now, cloistered in Liam’s room while chasing a sleep that probably wouldn’t come easily―if at all. He’s also lucky that the few swallows of liquor I’ve had help quiet my blood every time some skank’s hand―or any other part of them―brushes against Jayce’s body in some ridiculously obvious gesture. Liquor is undoubtedly the only reason I’ve gotten through the night unscathed. Surely not in the greatest mood, but unscathed.
The silver lining in all of this is that it’s nice seeing them all again. It’s been months since I was last home, and I’ve missed being here. These guys are loud and raw, and sometimes whiny, but they’ve been my family for a long time now, and I missed them all. I missed being home.
Home. I’m back home. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve been away from Twican. This place is still home to me. Maybe it still feels like home because my brother is here, or maybe because until fifteen months ago, there was never any question about me coming back once I was done with nursing school. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. I feel like I’m home, and that’s what matters. That’s why, five months after graduating, I’ve decided to move back. I spent those five months working a temporary job and debating whether to settle in Dallas or come back home. And now, here I am. A new job waiting for me, and a new apartment I’ll be moving into tomorrow. I broke the news to Liam earlier, and his smile warmed my heart. It really did, but I just wish the only man I’ve ever loved still wanted me here, too.
But there’s no need to have even a glimmer of hope about that considering Jayce hasn’t even glanced my way in the whole twenty-four hours I’ve been back. Not yesterday; not today during the day that we spent at Cam and Nate’s place; and not tonight. To be fair, I haven’t seen him sparing a glance to any of the previously mentioned whores either, but that doesn’t mean a thing. I can’t start trying to read into things. If I tried to analyze everything Jayce does or says, I’ll end up in the hospital where I got my job, but as a patient in the psychiatric ward instead of as a nurse in the gastroenterology department. There’s only one thing to remember, and it’s that Jayce is done with me. Period.
Beside me on the couch, Fiona and Lilly are engaged in a conversation about organic fruits. But, even though healthy food is something I could talk about for hours, I’m strangely more engrossed in the people walking around.
They look happy. Not the blissful-euphoric-face kind of happy, but happy anyway. I feel a stupid pang of jealousy squeeze my heart because I don’t even remember what it feels like to be happy.
No, that’s not exactly the truth. I do remember the feeling. Maybe it’s just harder to remember what it feels like to live with it daily. One thing is for sure, being happy is something I should have been more thankful for back then. Instead, I acted more like it was normal. I wasn’t even acknowledging it, really. Not until I lost my boyfriend along with my best friend. Because Jayce was both to me. He was everything to me.
“You good, baby sis?”
The couch bounces harshly when Liam lets himself drop on it.
“I see you still haven’t learned how to sit properly,” I say.
His eyes assess me when I force a smile to brighten my face. I’ve become talented at this. Smiling to keep up appearances. But the deep sigh coming from Liam’s mouth informs me that the fake smile hasn’t worked on him, and he’s still clearly waiting for an answer. He’s always been good at seeing through my bullshit.
Good isn’t the word I’d use to describe my current inner state, but it’s certainly easier to reply positively to his question than to tell him that lost, confused, sad and angry―among other things―are how I’m feeling.
“I’m good, Liam.”
But again, the lie is easily detected.
“I know it’s not easy for you to be here, but I’m glad to have you back. I’m happy you’ve decided to come back home.”
“And I’m happy I’ll see you more than a handful of times a year again.”
That much is true. I’ve missed him very much. We had always been close growing up, and even more so after our father died. Liam became even more protective of me, and his protectiveness only increased once the club patched him in. It was roughly a year after our dad passed away and he had started working at the repair shop with Cody and Connor. He was barely eighteen at the time but still old enough to get custody of his thirteen-year-old sister. It helped that our dad left us the house and enough money for Liam to prove that he could take care of me. And he did. He had just graduated from high school, and despite the fact that he was still grieving, he found the job at the shop, and the rest is history.
“You still want to move in that new apartment?” he asks me again, even though he’s asked me more than a few times since yesterday.
He’s been trying to convince me to move into our childhood home with him, at least for a while.
Things have been a little chaotic around here since the summer because of the Spiders, a rival club in the area. After Rod, their club president, threatened Camryn’s life―our own president’s old lady and Jayce’s sister―the guys killed him and his inner circle, including Camryn’s ex-fiancé. Since then, everything has gone back to the quiet we’re surrounded with most of the time, but some of the guys think that it’s not necessarily a good thing.
“I’m not eighteen anymore, Lia
m. It’s important I have my own place, just like you have yours. Besides, you crash here more than you sleep at home anyway, so what would it change? Now, go have fun. I’ll go get some more cookies and call it a night. I’m planning to go to my place in the morning and work there all day. There’s some cleaning up to do, unpacking, some painting as well… I want everything to be ready as soon as possible.”
He nods. “I’ll come with you.”
“I’m leaving around seven, Liam,” I smile.
He groans at the prospect of waking up so early. “I’ll meet you there at ten.”
“Thanks.” I drop a kiss to his cheek and push up from the couch before walking away and toward the kitchen.
I’ll just grab a couple of cookies and then hop in the shower before snuggling under my covers to enjoy the silence until tomorrow morning.
A dozen people are scattered in the kitchen. Some gazes dart to me but go back to focus on the person they’re talking to or making out with. Ben winks at me and I smile at him, but as if my eyes were magnets and Jayce was the iron, they quickly find him in some sort of out-of-control magnetism that I instantly regret.
Sure, I hated being away from home for more than an entire year, but I can’t help but thank God that I wasn’t around to witness what I’m witnessing now. Because if seeing Jayce so close to a girl after all this time hurts so much, I don’t even want to begin to imagine what that sight would have done to me when he first broke up with me. It would have crushed me. Killed me, maybe. Even though no parts of their bodies are actually touching, except for the girl’s finger raking over Jayce’s pectoral in a suggestive gesture, their nearness alone has my heart twisting in my chest with painful squeezing motions. I’ve never seen him that close to any girl. Even back when I was younger and neither of us knew we’d end up dating. I was aware that he was taking care of his male urges with girls, but since he’s always steered clear of club whores, I never witnessed him with anyone. Looks like that has changed, too. At least he still has his shirt on. Thinking about any girl’s hand on his skin, the same skin I’ve touched so many times, makes me want to vomit the cookies I’m after before I even eat them. Same for imagining their hands in his short brown hair and their eyes looking into his beautiful green ones as they give him what I should be giving him.
Oddly, it’s hard for me to decide whether I want to cry or laugh as I look at them. Everything in that skank is so fake it’s not only laughable. It also borders on disgusting to see that Jayce has stooped so low. Her breasts can’t possibly be natural, and I’m pretty sure no one in here would recognize her should they run into her on a makeup-free day. And don’t even get me started on her fingernails. They are so long and bright orange that I can see them from across the room. In short, the typical platinum blonde whore at her finest.
Ugh.
Jayce must sense my gaze on him, because his eyes land on mine quickly. Even though it seems like an eternity passes before he looks away, I gather all the strength in me to hold his brief stare. I refuse to let him know how he keeps shattering my heart, no matter how long it’s been since he’s stopped even talking to me.
When he finally breaks eye contact, my feet bring me to the counter even though my gaze doesn’t stray from him as I see him bending over to speak in the girl’s ear. I don’t hear anything over the blaring music, and since Jayce’s face hides the girl’s, I don’t get to see her most likely aroused reaction either. Thank God for that, though.
The disgust churning in my stomach equals the anger flaring in it, but there’s no way I’ll let him push me to run away. I made the decision to come back home for good, and however hard it will be, I already knew I would have to deal with this. Still, I have to draw in a discreet intake of air to help me rein in the tears that gather in my eyes despite myself. Then I grab a soda from the fridge and choose a couple of cookies that I wrap up in a napkin as though the man I love isn’t about to bring a girl back to his room. I’m just grateful Liam’s room is at the opposite of the hallway from Jayce’s. At least I won’t have to endure the sounds going with the image of him and that whore that are already stuck in my brain. My heart bleeds enough from only picturing them together, and my head fills with the same words repeating themselves in a loop.
You’re so stupid, Alex.
I am. Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to cling to a relationship that’s been dead for more than a year? Jayce may have left me when his world turned into one of loss, grief and suffering, but he must have healed since―at least as much as he’ll ever heal. So, there’s only one explanation as to why he didn’t come back to me. The love he once had for me is gone. The time that has passed since he broke up with me has put a final end to our story, and it’s time I accept that.
Chapter 2
Jayce
“Let’s get right to the point.”
Even though the Spiders are the ones who got in touch to set up this meeting, it’s Nate who opens it when everyone has found a chair to sit on or a spot to stand in.
We’re meeting in a bar two towns away in neutral territory and paid the owner to close the place for an hour. There’s no way we would have agreed to get through this meeting with civilians walking around. Let’s face it, we don’t know shit about the Royal Spiders MC anymore. What we do know is that they ran with Rod’s crew―their former president―for years even though they weren’t part of his inner circle. That alone doesn’t bode well. For all we know, these men right here could be just as unpredictable as Rod was. And most importantly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they hold a little grudge toward us for killing two handfuls of their brothers a few months ago. And, the fact that they waited more than three months to reach out to us doesn’t sit well with me either.
Nate, Liam, Ben, Blane and I are sitting on one side of the long table where the new president of the Spiders is sitting with four of his men. Cody and Melvin are standing a few feet away from us, keeping a wary eye on everything and everyone. Each man in the room has made sure to have their eyes on every man belonging to the other club.
“We know Rod was mixed up in the human trafficking business. You said you wanted to meet to talk about a possible truce between our clubs, but that’s not the only reason we agreed to come here. We’re here to make sure that taking over that business isn’t what you have in mind.”
We know that this brand-new crew might very well already be involved in this shit, but Nate doesn’t say it. His eyes don’t leave the guy that claims to have taken over Rod’s duty and is now wearing the president cut. He goes by the name of Bison, but that’s about all we know about him. Well, I also just learned that he should think about working on his poker face, because he does a shitty job of concealing his surprise to discover we knew about Rod’s disgusting business.
At least he doesn’t let the news deter him. “I appreciate you agreeing to meet with me today, but I don’t have to answer to you about what kind of business my club is running.”
“You do when that business is run on the doorstep of my territory. Not only is your business going to bring the feds around to stick their noses in my own shit, but do you really think I’ll be okay with you snatching women right where our own are? Not to mention what anyone smart enough would have already figured out. Neither you nor I is strong enough to face a Cartel. There’s only one way for us to get on good terms, and it’s if you decide to forget about that business.”
“What if I decide not to?”
Damn. What a fucking dumbass. It seems like this useless club can either be run by psychotic murderers or retarded morons. I lost my patience for this kind of douchebag a long time ago. I’ll congratulate Nate later for succeeding in keeping his cool and answering his stupid question without knocking his head on the table once or twice. My hands are sure as hell itching to punch some sense into him. It’s times like these that I’m glad Nate slid into Isaac’s cut when my family died. Even more than a year later, my head is still not straight enough to deal with that kind of bullshit.
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“No truce. I won’t let you put my business, my club, my family, in the line of sight of the feds or a Cartel.”
Even if he didn’t express his intentions explicitly, his threat is clear enough for Bison to understand considering his angry features. The man probably came here expecting to lead the meeting since he requested it. But fuck that. What this fucker needs, is to be reminded that he’s nothing. Just because he slid his arms into his shiny new cut that reads President doesn’t mean that he can come to us and puff his chest like he owns everything he touches. He’s nothing. No more than what Rod was. A piece of dirt. And if he keeps playing in the fucking human trafficking business, we’ll take him out, along with everyone in his crew.
“This shit isn’t happening near my territory, simple as that,” Nate goes on. “You know as well as I do that you’re no match for us right now. And after the shit Rod pulled with my girl, no other club will have your back during a war. They’ll have mine.”
Rage swells by the second on the moron’s face, and I fight a smile. Makes me fucking happy to see his jaw tensing and his body bristling on his chair. Right, fucker. That’s what happens when you think your balls are bigger than they are. Should have thought twice before wanting to play with the big boys. He thought that we came here like puppets simply because he asked. Now he knows that we came here to make sure he knows where we stand and where his own place is. Which is in their own town and not doing anything that’d risk hurting our business.
I’m still internally smirking at the moron’s face, from which anger and a trace of bemusement pours out when the guy on his left speaks words that will have him begging me to let him live.
“Fortunately for us and unlike you, we don’t need bodyguards to help us solve our shit. Remember when Rod took out your former president and his sons all by himself?”
The arrogant smirk the piece of shit kid purposefully shoots my way―blatantly proving he’s both stupid and suicidal―doesn’t falter when the barrel of my gun ends up aimed straight at his face two seconds later.