In Peace Lies Havoc (Midnight Mayhem #1)(18)

“Dove!” Kingston barks from the back. I don’t turn. I’m not one of his groupies. I don’t like being treated like shit when he barely knows me.

“What?” I call out, my monotone voice a dead giveaway on how much I care about his annoyance.

“Hoodie!”

I take a long sip of coffee, swallowing past the burn that each gulp ignites.

“Little Bird, don’t provoke the wolf when you’re a sheep,” Justice whispers.

I stand, turning to face King. His legs are spread wide, and his glare is dead set on me. He’s lounging backward, his head tilted slightly. A couple of the other Brothers begin walking down the stairs.

“Oh, did you mean now?” I ask, reaching for the zipper and sliding it down. I’m well aware that I have nothing but my white lace bra and booty shorts beneath it.

Kingston nods his head. “Yeah, Little Bird, now’d be good. You can come shake your ass around me, too, but you ain’t getting paid.” He cocks his head in challenge.

I unzip it all the way down and shuffle it off my shoulders.

“Jesus Christ, girl,” Justice growls beside me.

I fold the hoodie in my arms, and that’s when I see the name printed on the back. AXTON. And then below that is THE BROTHERS OF KIZNITCH. My eyes shoot up to where Killian is standing still, a mug in his hands, but his eyes on my body.

“Asshole,” I murmur, walking forward and shoving the hoodie at Kingston’s chest in passing.

Killian laughs as I stroll past and head straight for my room.



It was Miami Beach, and I was single, so naturally, I found myself sucking face with a random stranger after a night out with Rich and a couple girls from the club.

I pulled the guy in closer as he reached behind him to unlock the door, swinging it open until it was crashing against the wall.

We both laughed, and it was the first time I noticed he didn’t have great teeth. Hell, the tequila must had been wearing off, but fuck it. I was here, drunk. I needed a distraction. Sure, picking up a random dude from the club wasn’t classy, but tonight, I wasn’t looking for class: I needed to be taken away.

We were fumbling to his bed, and I was falling onto the mattress when he started reaching for a condom. I went with it, because that was why I was here. Once he was naked and rolling on the condom, I yanked him down on top of me and lost my way for all of—five minutes. If that. The song “one-minute man” started playing in the back of my brain when random guy fell asleep beside me, but not before muttering that I could stay the night and go home in the morning, which I was more grateful for than the epic failure of whatever it was that he just fucked me with.

I crawled up his bed and yanked the covers up with me, rolling my eyes when his snores gained volume.

I wanted to go to sleep, but I couldn’t. The window in his room was open, allowing the ocean air to drift into the room. After ten minutes, my eyes began to get heavy.

So heavy.

I was chasing the sleep I so desperately wanted, when a rough hand clamped over my mouth, bringing me back to life.

My eyes popped open as fear rippled through me. I could see the outline of his hoodie, but a black rag was wrapped around half of his face, hiding it from his nose down.

He leaned down to the side of my ear, his hand squeezing my mouth. “Let’s play heads or tails, Little Bird…” The Shadow teased. I felt his knee come between my legs. Even though I had a light sheet covering me, I could feel everything. “Heads, I suck your pussy until you scream, to show this fool how a real man fucks. Or tails, I cut off each of your fingers and fuck you with them. Both will have you screamin’, baby. So, what will it be?”

I kicked and turned, but I knew it was no use. The Shadow would come, and he would go. It was what he did.

He shoved me away, and I swiped the saliva away from my mouth, tears pricking my eyes. The day he started was the day my parents died, and I knew that it had something to do with them, but I wasn’t sure how long I could hold on until he finally took the one thing he craved.

Me.

Slowly, he stepped backward, and I watched as he pulled a coin out of his pocket. I turned to check on my random one-night stand, finding that he hadn’t moved. He was still snoring on his back.

“Tick, tock, Little Bird, it’s a race against the clock…”

The Shadow had always tormented me between the cracks, but never had he threatened me sexually.

I chewed on my bottom lip as he flicked the silver coin up into the air. I watched as it curved, flipping around and around, until it landed in the palm of his hand.

He paused for a second, and then his fingers flexed as he checked what it landed on. He grabbed it between his two fingers and flashed it at me. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, but it was obvious that it was—“heads,” I whispered.

He made his way back to me until his body hovered over mine, both fists sinking into either side of me. “A deal is a deal, Little Bird.”

“I—” he pulled the sheet off my leg.

“Spread your legs,” he growled, and a dangerous concoction of fear and heat began to brew in my belly.

Slowly, I inched my leg wider, flinging my arm over my eyes. I am not about to do this. Not here. Not now. Not with the one man who I have feared for years. Truth is, is that as the years have gone on, I had somewhat become accustomed to his presence. Fear made me do reckless things, but this was by far the worst.