Her lower lip trembles, but she nods. “Don’t get shot.”
“I’ll try not to.” I brush her hair off her face, taking in her stormy eyes one last time. “We’re finishing this conversation.”
15
Chaos
“Why are you alwaysrunning toward chaos?”I swear I hear my mother’s voice in my head as I stand with my back pressed to a wall, waiting for a break in the gunfire.“Guess that’s why you’re always chasing after that girl. She’s gonna light your life on fire, Dean Graham.”
I suppose Mom was right about that. Although Mom thought my pining after Willa was a good thing. She liked how Willa kept me on my toes.
Sometimes I’m thankful Mom wasn’t around to see it all fall apart. That she doesn’t know what I’ve become.
Shots ring out as I weave through the room, somehow managing to get to the other side without taking a bullet. Thankfully, Willa stays put, crouched low where a beam is blocking her from the line of fire. She hasn’t taken her eyes off me. People don’t find me comforting, but she locks her eyes on me like I’m the center of the spinning room. Like she trusts me to keep her safe.
I press against the wall near the bar, joining Venom.
“What the fuck is going on?” Havoc slides around the corner, shirtless, not even wearing his cut. His jeans are zipped but not buttoned.
“Did we interrupt something?” His gaze is lethal at my comment, so I shrug. “Just saying.”
We all duck lower when a new wave of bullets hits the back of the clubhouse. Whoever they are, they came prepared. We can barely defend ourselves.
“What do we know?” Havoc asks, slipping into his role as sergeant at arms. Unlike most people, he thrives in situations like this. Something he honed in his years in the military.
“There are at least four guys, from what I can tell with the breaks between rounds. They’re rotating.” I update Havoc just as we get another break, so I empty my chamber into the desert. “Fuck, I’m out.”
“Same,” Venom seethes beside me.
The clubhouse is a mess of glass, bullets, and blood.
“There are at least two people down outside. Maybe more. I saw Patch slip into the kitchen, so I think he’s circling out the side door to check on whoever is hit, but we can’t do anything until they stop firing.”
“Do we know who’s shooting?” Havoc asks, his gaze darting to Willa in a silent question.
Is this our enemies or my brother?
“Don’t know for sure, but I doubt these are the same guys Kincaid sent to bring Willa back to Texas. They weren’t that brave, and even the ranch doesn’t have this kind of ammo.”
“Well, Zane isn’t this stupid.”
“Maybe a new crew?” Venom guesses. “Another club moving in since the Iron Sinners are out of the picture.”
“Just what we fucking need,” Havoc grumbles, and the gunfire stops.
The conversation stops.
We all move forward at once, crossing as much distance as possible before they start unloading again. When I step outside, I finally spot the intruders. They’re farther back than I expected, using the outbuilding where we house our gym to provide cover. Ghost is going to be pissed at how far into the property they got without us noticing.
How did they do that?
The only entrance back here is through a highly armed gate that should have triggered alarms when it was breached. Whoever these guys are, they have the skills or money to get past our system.
At a distance, the shooters scramble. I doubt they’re out of bullets, but they’re clearly done with whatever statement they were making since they’re running back toward their truck. My brothers shoot into the darkness, aiming for them—the tires on the truck—anything to stop them.
It’s too dark, and they’re scrambling all over the place. Most of us are out of ammo or can’t make the shot. Until a single bullet snags one of them in the leg, and he stumbles to the ground.
His buddies don’t bother trying to help him. They drive off, leaving him in a cloud of dust.
