Page 33 of All's Fair in Love & Chaos
I flip through my memories and come up short. I’m positive I’ve never heard those names before. I may not remember the names of all the men I’ve killed, but I can say with everything in me that I’ve never murdered a woman. Ever.
“Wow. You really have no idea who they are. Figures.”
“Back the fuck up, Saige. Why do you think I killed them?”
“Look around,Chaos!” She says my name laced with the venom I’ve come to expect from her, and my heart fractures further.
“You mean at my family? You came in here and had already cast judgment; you had already formed an opinion without knowing us, without knowing anything about us. Open your eyes, vixen, ’cause you don’t know shit.” My feet are moving before I realize, the heavy footfalls of my boots stomping on the hardwood floors. Saige’s eyes suddenly get wide, and for the first time since I’ve known her, fear flashes behind her pretty browns. I’d never hurt her. I’d never lay a hand on a woman. It goes against everything I stand for.
I lean into her space, my hands caging in around her hips, resting my fists on the bed on either side of her. We’re face-to-face, and the emotion I see swirling behind her eyes breaks me.Idid this?Ihurt her?
“Tell me what happened. I’m begging you.” Saige’s eyes flutter closed, and for a moment, I think I’m going to have to beg again, plead. I need to understand what she’s talking about, need to understand the magnitude of what she just accused me of, need to understand the gravity of contempt for me. But then she starts speaking.
“I was home alone, my family was going out, and I stayed behind, sitting on my couch stuffing my face and binging TV like a loser. It was the weekend I was supposed to leave for college, and we had all these plans together,” Saige huffs, and then continues, “I fell asleep on the couch and woke up to two police officers at my door. They were there to notify me that there was a car accident and there were no survivors. I found out later, the accident was caused by two rival MC clubs, Hell’s Heathens and the Iron Wolves.”
Her words hit my heart like a thousand knives, and I’m immediately taken right back to that day.
I walkinto church knowing I’m about to send my men into battle. Every last member of the Iron Wolves’ lives will end. I won’t sleep until no one is left breathing. Flames lick at my feet, consuming me like a fire lit too fast. With no warning, my chest tightens, like something inside me is trying to punch its way out. My jaw clenches, my heartbeat thrumming between my ears, anger a live, consuming virus thick against my veins.
“The Iron Wolves took Ace and Lena. They tortured, raped, and murdered them in cold blood. My brother. Your brother. His woman. Rogue’s sister.” The faces blur in front of me, Lucas’ limp, destroyed body hanging in front of my eyes the only image I can see clearly.
“We will not let this stand. We do not let them live. We stay together. We stay strong. We show them the meaning of Chaos, we show them what it means to take from a Heathen.”
All hell breaks loose after that. There’s a part of me that knows I’m losing my grip, losing control, that I could lose myself completely if I don’t pull back, but it’s so far away that I barely recognize it. Camden died right along with Lucas, and right now, all I want is to make them suffer, make them regret ever crossing me.
We’re on our bikes, fully loaded and riding through town, dozens of black leather cuts surround me, the roaring thunder of our bikes shaking the very ground beneath us. We’re riding faster than we should, weaving in and out of traffic as we cross the Amberwood town line and cross into Spruce Harbor. Rage burns wild through my veins, my head focused on destroying every single person who took them from us. The corners of my eyes start to darken, consumed with hate, with vengeance, with something I don’t recognize, a hate so fierce and strong that nothing else matters.
Did he scream? Did he beg? Did he cry? I grip the handlebars of my bike harder, my gloves stretching around my hands, itching to get to these evil fucks and destroy everything they hold dear.
My men make it through a traffic light, and not wanting to separate, I blow through it just as an all-black compact car pulls out in front of me. I swerve my bike to the side to barely miss the hit, the driver of the car jerking the wheel too hard and too fast, to overcorrect. He’s going way too fast to have been stopped at the light, and his speed doesn’t help the near-miss.
The car flips three times into the embankment, the sound of crunching metal echoing through the air even over the loud rumble of the bikes. I drop my speed quickly, pulling over and darting to the crushed vehicle. My heart seizes in my chest as I look in at the three mangled bodies. With no other option, I yank at the passenger side door, bracing my boot on the frame and pulling to break it free. I scream into the night, an animalistic cry as I use all my strength to break it open.
A woman with short hair the color of night falls limp toward the open door as I yank her seatbelt off, pulling her body into the grass. I check for her pulse, starting chest compressions as my brothers run down the small hill to join me.
“Get them!” I scream as Stitch takes over life-saving measures. Noose and I work at the door of the backseat with no luck, so I squeeze into the passenger seat, reaching into the back and finding a small girl, not much older than I was when Lucas and I set out to survive on the streets. Her body is badly hurt, both legs at wrong angles, the bones protruding from the skin, and a deep gash across her forehead. I know she’s gone as I look her over, but that doesn’t stop me from pulling her free from the wreckage.
“They’re gone, Chaos, we need to go. I’ve already called the police; they’re on their way. There’s nothing we can do,” a voice calls out as I lay her body down next to the woman’s.
I look around at the disaster, my head warring with shock.
“Find out who that family was, pay for their funeral expenses.” And then I’m back on my bike, leaving them behind, my rage boiling even stronger, my resolve to rid the world of evil at an all-time high.
I stare at Saige,my eyes blinking back tears.Ikilled her family.
“You remember.”
“I’m the one who pulled them from the car. I tried to save them, but it was too late.”
“I don’t believe you. I hate you, Camden. You took everything from me. I was eighteen! I lost it all!” she says as she slaps me across the face. My flesh stings from the impact, but it’s nothing compared to the depth of agony I feel on the inside, like an old wound cracking open and festering. Nausea rolls through me.
“Take it out on me, then, baby. ’Cause knowing I’ve caused you pain is hurting more than your fists can.”
“I don’t believe anything you say! Do you know what it’s been like for me? Were they that meaningless? You killed them! You’re responsible! All of you! What was so important, Camden? What would that red light have kept you from that couldn’t wait three more minutes? Those three minutes would have kept them alive, you selfish bastard! FUCK!” She screams like a wild animal, her head shaking back and forth. Then the punch comes, landing hard against the same cheek she slapped moments ago.
If she only knew. If she only knew where my head was at, where I was heading. The pain I was feeling from having my brother brutally taken from my life, when we were all each other had. And in turn, I took from her. Left her family lying dead on the side of the road, and left her to figure out the world on her own. While I had the brotherhood of the club, what did Saige have? She was still a fucking child, and I ruined her life.The woman I know I’ve fallen in love with. Who I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on her.
She really meant it. She was going to kill me to punish me for their deaths. And I deserve it.
