Page 70 of Havoc

Levi guides my arm down, flipping the knife closed as he does, and tucking it into my pocket. The second the knife is no longer at the man’s throat, Ghost and Chaos close in. They must have been standing right there, too, but I didn’t see them.

I couldn’t see anything through my memories.

Ghost and Chaos drag the man down the hall, and I don’t want to think about where they’re taking him. It could be that I misinterpreted the entire situation, and he was reaching for a beer, not Luna. I don’t want him to pay for my mistakes.

My trauma.

Luna and Soul are standing near the bar, watching me, but there isn’t judgment in their eyes. There’s concern, which isn’t any better.

My temples throb as I blink myself back into my body. Levi’s touch is barely a whisper as he circles until he’s facing me. He tilts my chin up, keeping the other on my hip in a way that is gentle but grounding.

His touch keeps me here when the universe won’t stop reaching its arm out. So many days—so many nights—I wished it would just take me away.

“He tried to touch her.” At least, I think. “He was reaching—”

I shake my head, and nothing makes sense anymore.

Levi doesn’t respond. He looks into my eyes, and I let his dark gaze become my focal point. His eyes never change into someone else like the stranger’s eyes did. Levi isn’t my nightmare. He’s my safety.

“I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes,” I admit.

People might be watching us, but they can’t hear me whisper. And even if I just held a knife to someone’s throat in the middle of the club, Levi doesn’t seem to care. All he sees is me in this room full of people.

“I forgot where I was. Who he was—” My voice cracks.

“You’re here,” Levi reminds me, brushing his thumb over my hip. “With me.”

I nod, blinking back the tears in my eyes. I refuse to cry in the middle of a strip club. I refuse to lose my mind.

“You’re here,” he says again, cupping my jaw with his hand.

But he doesn’t step any closer. Like he’s letting me figure out what’s real and what’s not. What’s safe, and what isn’t.

After a long minute, I nod. “Please take me home.”

Levi wraps his arm around my shoulders to guide me out of the club. It isn’t until we’re outside that I realize he didn’t correct me when I called the clubhouse my home. And I don’t let myself linger on why I said it.

23

Havoc

“What is all this?”Aimee’s eyes widen as she peels off her helmet and takes in the picnic I had set up at the far edge of the Twisted Kings compound.

The clubhouse is barely a pinprick at this distance.

Climbing off my bike, I set both our helmets aside and grab her hand. With a swift tug, I pull her body to mine. My hand rests on the curve of her lower back, and she fits against me like she’s meant to be there.

“I told you that when I got out of the Marines, I’d ask you on that date you always refused me. Here I am, asking.”

Aimee’s brow furrows as she takes in the scene again. The blanket stretched on the ground. The picnic basket. The sun low in the sky, a breath away from sunset.

“I planned on taking you to some expensive, fancy-ass restaurant, but with everything else going on, I felt like you might prefer something quieter.”

Plus, it’s a way to have her all to myself, which is always my preference.

She lifts her face to look at me. “We’ve already had sex. We’ve been sharing a bed… Aren’t we a little past a first date at this point?”

“When have we ever done things in order?” I grip her chin and angle her face higher. “I told you I want to do right by you, Aimee. And even if I fucked that up for a little while, I still plan on keeping that promise. Will you give me a chance?”