Page 144 of Undisputed Chaos
"Isla, don't!" Crew shouted back, struggling against the man's grip. "It's a trap! Get out of here!"
His words didn't register properly—all I could see was my little brother being held by strangers, and I needed to reachhim.
I pushed harder, my cardigan slipping off one shoulder as I crunched over roots and rocks in my desperation.
"Isla, stop," Noah called, moving to intercept me, his longer legs eating up the distance between us.
I tried to dodge around him, single-minded in my determination to get to Crew.
"Let him go!" I shouted at the men holding my brother. "What do you want? I can pay you?—"
“RUN!” Crew yelled, struggling against his captors with renewed fury. "Isla, just fuckingrun! Call Adrian!”
I was almost to him when stronger arms suddenly wrapped around my waist from behind, yanking me backward with enough force to knock the breath from my lungs.
I screamed, more from shock than pain, as I was pulled back on my feet, body slammed flush against a chest that felt wrong.
"Let me go!" I gasped, twisting in the iron grip. "Noah, what are you doing?"
"What I should have done a year ago," his voice hissed in my ear, and the venom in it turned my blood to ice.
This wasn't the Noah I knew—the sometimes annoying but ultimately harmless ex-boyfriend.
This was someone else wearing his face, someone whose grip felt like shackles.
"You think you can humiliate me?" he continued, his arms tightening like steel bands around my ribcage.
"Post pictures with that tattooed freak for the whole world to see? When you didn’t even do that with me?”
The photo. He'd seen the photo from Adrian's fight, the one where Adrian's hand wrapped around my throat in the ring.
The possessive claim that had made my followers swoon had triggeredthis?
"Noah, please," I gasped, still fighting to break free. "You're acting insane.”
"Good," he snarled, beginning to drag me toward his car. "Do youhave any idea what it felt like? Seeing you with him? Knowing everyone was laughing at me?"
This wasn't about Crew. This wasn't about helping anyone. This was about Noah's wounded pride.
The realization hit me—I’d walked straight into a trap, and now we were both in danger.
"Your brother was just bait," Noah said, his voice eerily calm now, almost conversational as he manhandled me away from the scene.
"Amazing how easy it was. One fake text pretending to be your new freaky boyfriend, and he came running."
The casual admission made my stomach lurch.
"You bastard," I spat, redoubling my efforts to escape. But Noah was stronger than I knew, more determined, driven by a year's worth of festering resentment.
"Let Isla go!" Crew roared, his voice breaking as he watched Noah force me toward the car.
The raw terror in my brother's eyes cut deeper than any physical pain as he fought and fought, but couldn’t beat two larger men.
Noah ignored him completely, focused entirely on getting me into his car.
His hands were gripping my arms, covering my mouth when I tried to scream, holding me against his chest as he dragged me backwards.
This wasn't the careful, considerate man I'd dated. This was someone who'd snapped completely.
