“So, you went in to save face?” Will states, not accusingly, just seeking to understand.
“I felt like such a coward, but I couldn’t say no, especially when Chole got us all fake IDs to get us in. They were already walking toward the entrance, and I… I panicked. I followed them in, thinking maybe if I stayed close to them, if we just danced for a little bit and left…” She laughs bitterly. “I was so stupid, Will.”
“You’re not stupid, Mills,” Will says firmly, his eyes finding hers in the mirror. “But, Millie—”
“I know,” she cuts him off. “The second we walked through those doors, I felt sick. All those memories came flooding back. The smell, the sounds, even the way the carpet felt under my heels. I told the girls I needed to use the bathroom because I could feel my panic attack coming on, and they were so caught up in the music and the guys buying them drinks that they merely waved me off.”
From the back seat, I watch Will’s hand twitch like he wants to reach for her, but stops himself. The restraint in his movements speaks volumes about how much he cares about her comfort level.
“I hid in that bathroom stall for over an hour just trying to catch my damn breath,” Millie admits. “I kept texting them, telling them I was ready to leave, but they kept saying‘five moreminutes’or‘just one more drink.’Finally, Jessica texted back and said if I was going to be a princess about it, I could find my own way home. They obviously thought I was being dramatic.”
“They left you there?” The disbelief and anger in Will’s voice are unmistakable.
“They have no idea what that place means to me,” Millie says quietly. “To them, it’s just a casino. They don’t know about… about what Lorenzo and his men did, what they threatened to do. All they saw was me being difficult and ruining their fun. To be fair, they had no clue I was fully melting down in that bathroom. I don’t know what they thought, honestly.”
I find myself leaning forward slightly, drawn into their conversation despite myself. There’s something raw and honest about the way they’re talking to each other, like they’re the only two people in the world.
“You should have called me first,” Will says, his voice softer now but still carrying that protective edge. “Before you even went in there. Hell, before you even went out with them.”
“I didn’t want to bother you—”
“Millie.” The way he says her name stops her mid-sentence. “You arenevera bother.Ever!Do you understand me? I don’t care if I’m in a meeting, doing prospect duties, or dead asleep. If you need me, you fucking call.”
The silence that follows is heavy with unspoken emotion. Millie’s reflection in the passenger window tells me everything, the way she’s looking at Will like he just offered her the world.
“I was so scared,” she whispers. “When I saw Lorenzo walk up to Sin, when he called me Amelia… for a second, I thought they were going to take me again. That this time, nobody would come.”
“That’snevergonna happen,” Will says, and there’s something fierce and absolute in his tone that makes my breathcatch. “You hear me? As long as I’m breathing, nobody isevergonna hurt you again.”
From my position in the back seat, I can tell Millie’s entire body relaxes at his words, like she’s finally allowing herself to believe them. The way Will keeps glancing sideways at her, checking to make sure she’s okay, speaks to a tenderness I wasn’t expecting from someone who looks like he could bench press a motorcycle.
“Thank you,” she says simply, but those two words carry the weight of everything she can’t quite say yet.
“Always,” he replies, and the single word is a clear promise.
I settle back into my seat, feeling like an intruder on their intimate moment. There’s something beautiful about watching these two dance around feelings they’re clearly not ready to name yet. The way Will’s entire demeanor shifts when he talks to her—from the anxious, hot-headed prospect to someone gentle and protective. The way Millie looks at him like he’s her anchor in a storm she’s still learning to weather. The way two people can see past each other’s walls and offer comfort without demanding anything in return.
But it also highlights just how much I’m on the outside looking in. These people—Will, Millie, even Sin—they have something I’m here to potentially destroy. They have a family, a sense of belonging, connections that go deeper than I initially understood.
And I’m thethreatthey don’t see coming.
The thought sits heavy in my chest as we drive through the neon-lit streets, Will and Millie’s quiet conversation creating a bubble of intimacy that makes me feel more isolated than ever.
As we drive back to the clubhouse, the adrenaline slowly starts to fade, replaced by exhaustion. I glance out at Sin, his silhouette framed by the neon lights of the Vegas Strip as he sits on top of his Harley, somehow making him look so much sexierat night. A part of me is starting to see beyond the president of the Defiance MC to the man beneath.
And that can only be dangerous.
I’m here to uncover the truth.
Maybe I’m getting too close.
Not to the truth but to Sin.
My heart instantly skips a beat when I think of the words.
Gnawing on my bottom lip, Will pulls the SUV into the clubhouse lot, and I slowly slide out the back once we stop, leaving Will and Millie behind as I head for my car.
I need a moment to process everything that’s just happened.
