In The Midst Of Chaos: An MC Romance

by C. Lymari

  One day, she would marry Huxley, and I would deal with that when the time came. She was his girl, not mine.

  The club members came in and sat around the old wooden table with Gunner, their president, in the center, and Nate to his right.

  On the other end, there was only one chair, and usually I took it since I spoke for the family when Axton wasn’t present, which was almost never nowadays, but before I could grab the chair, Finley came and gave me a petty smile.

  “What a gentleman,” she said. “Thank you.”

  I bit my lip so I could stop smiling. There was something different about this version of Finley. She’d always been a bit wild, but now there was something a bit more dangerous.

  Instead of moving, I stayed behind her, resting my arms on the back of her chair, on either side of her neck. When she stiffened, it gave me a sick satisfaction to know that I still affected her.

  “Looking good, Gunner.” Finley smiled at the MC President as she crossed her legs.

  I could feel the rage coming from my brother. As for me, I found it sexy as hell, and I knew being attracted to Finley was trouble. Liking Finley meant betraying my brother, and I couldn’t do it. At least not anymore.

  “Finney.” Gunner nodded. “I’d hoped you’d stay away longer.”

  Nate snorted, and Finley chuckled.

  “Me too, Gun-Gun, me too.”

  “So, what’s the plan?” I asked. “The shipment from Ireland gets here tomorrow. From the airport, we have to transport it here, and then we can distribute the arms to the buyers.”

  Before Gunner could reply, Finley spoke again.

  “Where’s Crow?” Her head moved around the table and then stopped on Venom, the club brother’s father.

  “He’s locked up,” he told her.

  “Ever since it happened, the feds have been on our asses,” Gunner said.

  “Do you think he turned rat?” Finley asked.

  Venom’s hand came down hard on the table. “My boy would never betray the club.”

  Finley didn’t flinch; she just shrugged and relaxed back against the chair, her neck pressing against my thumb.

  Before I could think things through, I started to caress her nape.

  “How many crates are there?” The tilt of her head was the only indication I got that her question was directed at me.

  “Twenty.” It was a lot of firepower, and if caught, we would get in some serious shit.

  “Gunner,” Finley said in a sweet voice.

  “Here we fucking go,” the president muttered.

  “Can I have my welcome-back party at the bar? And maybe leave a few brothers behind to, I don’t know—riot or something?”

  “You’re paying for the damage.” Gunner pointed a finger at me.

  “You are already making more than enough with the guns.” Finley crossed her arms, and I was so damn proud of her for standing her ground and for the family.

  “My bar tends to get destroyed whenever you waltz in.”

  “I’ll stay behind and party,” Nate added right away to cut off Gunner’s comment.

  I cut Nate with a look.

  “You’re coming with me,” I told him. One, because I trusted him to have my back, and two, because I didn’t want him with Finley. It’s not that I didn’t trust him; it was that I was—fuck—I was jealous of the friendship they had. He got to touch her and hug her all while I could look but not touch.

  Nate took a drag from his cigarette, then ashed it. “Become VP—it will be fun, they said. This is bull. I never get to have fun anymore.”

  “Brother, you got a fucking STD from fucking so much at the last lock-in.” Andre laughed.

  Gunner, annoyed with all of us, told us to shut the fuck up. Then we started to strategize the pickup and the drop, all while Finley’s welcome-back party would serve as a distraction to get the cops who weren’t on our payroll off our back.

  “Nathaniel,” Finley called as we walked back toward the common room.

  Nate glared at her since he hated his given name. That’s why his road name was just his name. There wasn’t anything more embarrassing than a biker named Nathaniel.

  Nate looked at me like it was my fault.

  “It turns you on; that’s why you let her get away with so much shit,” Nate said low enough so I could hear.

  “Nate,” I warned.

  “We love Finnie, so we put up with her bratty ways, but others won’t. What are you going to do when she disrespects someone else?”

  I didn’t even hesitate to answer.

  “I’ll kill them.”

  “But she’s not your woman. She’s your brother’s.” Nate patted my back.

  Meaning that if someone ever disrespected Finley, it wouldn’t be my right for retribution but Huxley’s. That thought alone made my stomach churn.

  Huxley left right away, trying not to associate himself with the club. I rolled my eyes but then smiled to myself. Finley knew about the women he fucked, and she didn’t care.

  Duncan was following a club whore back to a room, and that left Finley alone. My eyes quickly searched for her. She shouldn’t be in danger here, but she had been gone for a while, and I didn’t want anyone confusing her with a club groupie; that wouldn’t go over well.

  I found her making her way toward the garage. I knew she was in search of her bike. I think that’s why my mom left her the car. She was always scared when Finley rode. She had a matte Ninja with gold accents. The bike was perfect for her. The club teased her and called her a traitor for not getting a Harley, but she just shrugged it off and said she’d get on the back of a Harley but not ride it.

  By that point, I already had my ride, but soon after, instead of getting a sports bike, Huxley got an American classic as well.

  No one was around, and it was dangerous whenever Finley was left alone in my care. I gently closed the door behind me, then pulled out a cigarette. Finley and I had some unfinished business. At least that was the lie I told myself so I wouldn’t feel guilty for seeking her out.

  “She looks gorgeous,” Finley said as she circled her Ninja.

  It was funny to think that for a second, I could sneak up on her. There always seemed to be an invisible force field that made us aware of the other. She was in my head; she was a current flowing in my veins—she was poison to my heart. Something to want but would kill me if I had it.

  “Duncan kept it in shape for you.”

  A soft smile spread across her face at the mention of my brother. Since she wasn’t looking at me, I let myself really look at her.

  Her hair was a purple color, no longer brown except for the roots and her eyebrows. Her face was still small and shaped like a heart, but it was sharper, and with the wrong look, she would cut you. The clothes were fucking hot, but they also weren’t who she was. The only thing that fit was the leather.

  She ignored me and walked to the wall and grabbed the key to her ride. I bit my lip when she got on the bike, and her skirt rode up. When she leaned to turn the bike on, I could taste my blood. I could barely make out what was under the skirt, but it was enough to get my blood boiling.

  I walked around just as she sat down, and I saw the way her eyes rolled back.

  Fuck me.

  The engine on her bike was powerful, and I bet with her flimsy underwear, she could feel just how powerful it was.

  Finley moved her body by a fraction.

  “Go home, Finnie,” I said, knowing damn well she hated when I called her that. She once said it made her feel like a child. Or rather the fact that she didn’t want me to see her that way.

  Her eyes flared.

  “Why?” she asked as she leaned her body forward. “Is the prince tired of showing me how I make my money?”

  I needed to move, better yet leave, but instead, I took a step forward and held on to the handlebars. My hands gripped them. It was the only thing still tethering me to the room and stopping me from losing control.

  “Finley,” I warned.
/>   “Nashton,” she said as she moved forward, her mouth parting with the movement.

  My chest was rising and falling.

  I cranked the gas, and the engine roared to life just as Finley shifted. Our eyes locked, and I could tell exactly what she was thinking and the exact moment she decided she wasn’t going to back down.

  She didn’t ask me what I was doing, and I didn’t tell her to stop.

  Finley started to rock back and forth, and I bit my lip as I cranked the gas once more, and she fucking came.

  She threw her head back as her body kept rocking softly, and whimpers left her mouth. My dick was tenting my pants, begging me to let him be the one to bring Finley to an orgasm.

  When she finished, she brought her head back down, and there was a fraction of a second where her eyes still held a softness while she looked at me. At that moment, I didn’t realize how much I missed that look. I was her hero until I turned into her villain. She was my princess until I realized she was my brother’s and not mine. But the thing about Finley—she didn’t need anyone to slay her dragons.

  “Thanks for your—help,” she said sarcastically as she pulled the lever out of the bike. “I got things to do…so move.”

  I removed my hands from the handlebar. As soon as I did, she put hers on them. I brought my hands on top of hers and squeezed her much more fragile hands between mine and the handlebars.

  “Go straight home,” I warned.

  Finley didn’t back down. She squared her shoulders.

  “Are you that pissed off that I’m back?” she asked as she looked me over. “I do what I want when I want and how I want it.”

  Fuck, she was still pissed, and I knew she wouldn’t let it go. I didn’t know why I thought she would.

  “Don’t test me, Finley.”

  “Watch me,” she mocked.

  I smirked at her, my hold on her loosening.

  “I did, and it wasn’t much to watch,” I grinned at her, knowing damn well it was a lie.

  “Get the fuck out of my way.”

  “I mean it, Finley,” I growled.

  “You’re not the boss of me.”

  “If I have to tie you to your fucking bed so you don’t end up with a bullet to your head, I’ll do it, Finnie. Don’t fucking test me.”

  And because she was Finley, she had to have the last word.

  “Move,” she said between gritted teeth and then gave me a mocking look as she looked below my belt. “You probably have other business to attend to.”

  Chapter Four

  Being back in Crull Manor was like I had never left. The staff waited on me. They remembered what I liked and what I didn’t. The boys, however, weren’t around as much. They all had different responsibilities, which reminded me I needed to go to my father’s office. According to his journal, the paperwork I would need was hidden in his office.

  I was just finishing doing my makeup when there was a knock on my door. I felt butterflies for a second, then remembered he wouldn’t knock, and after what happened the other day, Nashton had been giving me a wide berth. I didn’t think he’d even come home, which made my stomach churn because if he wasn’t coming home, he stayed at the club, and being at the club meant access to pussy twenty-four seven.

  “Come in,” I yelled.

  When Huxley walked through the door, my body automatically went on alert. It wasn’t that I was afraid of him per se because I knew deep down that neither of the boys would ever physically hurt me. I was more scared of what I would be forced to do when push came to shove, and Huxley had to realize that even though on paper we were meant to be, in real life it was never going to happen.

  “How are you holding up?” he said as he took a seat on the edge of my bed. His brown hair was messy from when he was probably running his fingers through it. He wore a button-up black T-shirt, fitted jeans, and white sneakers.

  “Like what you see?” he asked with a cocky grin.

  There was a time where I used to feel bad and stroked his ego, but while I was away, I realized that I didn’t have to put on a mask or pretend to have feelings for any man just because I was afraid to hurt him.

  “Is there a reason you’re up here?” I continued to apply my lipstick.

  “You’ve been back a week, and you haven’t made any arrangements for a school transfer. I was wondering if you wanted to come down with me. I’ll show you around campus.”

  Before I could reply, Duncan walked in. He was wearing a pair of ripped black jeans and no shirt.

  “Nice tats,” I said, referring to the roses and skulls on his chest. In the middle of the design, the insignia for the Death Disciples was inked.

  “Awww, so adorable, you two are going to college together. How cute,” Duncan said with disgust in his voice.

  I felt him before he even spoke.

  “You’re going to college with Huxley?” Nash asked in a low growl.

  I sighed and put my stuff away and then turned around in my vanity seat.

  “No, I’m not going back to college.”

  All three of them looked confused, and it was quite adorable to watch.

  “You were adamant that you had to stay away because of college,” Nash bit out.

  I raised my eyebrow at him. If this was how he wanted to play the game, that was fine by me.

  “I had things to take care of, and I took care of them.”

  “You have one more year left,” Huxley stated. “You’re just going to throw that away?”

  “Throw what away?” I looked at Huxley, unflinching. “What exactly am I throwing away? Whether I finish college or not, I still have a seat on the board of DD Enterprises, and I’ll still earn with the Disciples. A piece of paper won’t change my fate.” I took a breath. “And it won’t change yours either. You can run as fast and far as you want, but by doing so, when that invisible band that tethers us to this place snaps, it’s going to fucking hurt.”

  Huxley’s jaw was stiff, and his eyes blazed with anger. He knew what I said was right. We’d had our futures laid out before us since birth, and no running away would change the outcome. Believe me, I had tried, but I was meant to be here, and if I couldn’t be in the arms of the Crull boy I wanted, then I wanted to be my own king.

  When I looked up, something looking a lot like pride shone from Nash’s eyes.

  “So why did you go to college?” Duncan asked.

  I smirked at them.

  “I went to make friends.”

  When I got up and walked out of my room, all three of them followed me.

  Axton was waiting for us when we got to the dining room. We might be a lot of things, but family had always been big for us. We might betray and lie to the world but never to each other. My eyes went to Nash, who sat to Ax’s right. Well, almost never to each other.

  “There’s going to be a board meeting on Friday, and I want you all there.”

  “Who’s coming?” Huxley asked since he was the one that always showed more of an interest in our legitimate earnings.

  “Everyone.”

  All of our heads snapped to Axton.

  “Define everyone,” I asked hesitantly.

  “Your aunt, Riley is coming,” he grumbled.

  I groaned, and Duncan rubbed his hands together with a smirk. My aunt, Riley, well, she was a handful who always managed to rub Axton the wrong way. She was my mom’s younger sister and a little too irresponsible. That’s why staying with her was not an option, and she wasn’t much older than I was. Part of my mom’s shares went to her, and the other half to me, as well as my father’s shares.

  When I left Crull Manor, I kind of avoided her calls because if anyone could get the truth out of me, it was Riley.

  “What are you so happy about?” I raised a brow while I stared down at Duncan.

  He smirked. “Come on, Finnegan, your aunt is a smokeshow, and I’m a big boy now.”

  I gagged.

  “Riley is off-limits.” Axton pointed at his youngest and gave him a death
glare.

  When our eyes met, I mouthed, “Thank you.”

  It’s not that I didn’t trust my aunt. I mean, Duncan was right. She was a smokeshow, and these bastards had a way to get you to drop your panties and your self-respect, and jump in their beds.

  “Why do you want us all at the meeting?” Nash asked the question before I could.

  “The other board members want to change the shipping company. Since they found another one in Malaysia, it would be a bit more profitable in the long run.”

  We all looked at each other once more. This was not good because, unbeknownst to the other board members, we used our current shipping company to not only get the material to the factories we had, but also as a front to ship the firearms on the same boat.

  “Well, that is a problem,” I said lamely. “You need all of us there to vote and to lobby, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said. “The contract is set to expire in two months. If we don’t get everyone to agree to extend it, then our next shipment is not happening. If we get behind one shipment, that brings consequences to everyone.”

  It would cause problems all around because people liked getting paid and receiving their ammunition.

  Huxley perked up, and for a second, I thought he might have a solution to our problem. While Nash was the most cunning and Duncan the most charming, Huxley was the smartest of us.

  “Maybe this is a sign that it’s time to start pulling back.”

  Duncan put his head down and scratched his head, Nash sighed, and Axton looked at his son with pity because the life he craved, he would never be able to give him.

  When he saw none of us agreed with him, his jaw tensed, and his warm eyes burned bright.

  “Are we going to pretend like this life isn’t what’s taking our family from us? We can’t go anywhere without looking over our fucking shoulders. You know what I think every time I step a foot outside the door?” He took a deep breath and looked each one of us in the eye, unflinching.

  Huxley could be cruel if he really wanted to, but he’d rather bring down an opponent by maneuvering them to their own demise than by force.

  “Every time I step a foot outside, I know it could be my last.”