Page 49 of Chaos

The seats are crowded with a bunch of men wearing the leather vests that Brody’s buddies were wearing at Sofia’s house.

Wait.

I recognize the dark mop of curly hair, so similar to my own.

He’s here.

They all groan in unison as the team they’re watching scores a goal. A bald, bearded asshole stands up next to Brody and yells at the television as he throws a beer bottle at it, shattering the glass in a spark of colors.

“Dad! What the fuck? That was the best one.” Brody throws up his hands as he yells at the towering figure.

I know that bald fucker. He’s the head of the Reapers. We’ve had a few heated exchanges with him and his crew, but he’s fallen off the radar for a while.

He’s Brody’s father?

I sneak a picture so I’ll be able to show Mikhail later. He’ll want proof.

Drifting back over to the owner, I try to keep the wall between me and the group. There’s too many to risk an exchange.

“Are they the ones hitting you up?” I ask quietly.

He nods, his bald head gleaming under the fluorescent lights.

Shit.

“Keep this month’s payment. We’ll get these bastards cleaned out of here. Keep your head.” He needs to play it cool or they’ll ruin him. Or kill him.

The Reapers aren’t exactly known for their gentle ways.

If Brody is affiliated with them, that means Sofia might not be safe, either.

Pushing my way back into the sweltering Vegas afternoon, I call Nikolai as fast as I can bring his name up.

“Come on, answer,” I mumble into the phone.

“Jax? Problems at Vox’s?” Nikolai’s thick accent comes through the tinny speaker.

“Yeah, but not what you’d think. Where are you?” I need to get out of here before a lingering Reaper sees me.

“I’m on the south end. I’ll be there in five.” The line goes dead.

I can hear the growl of his Hellcat three stop lights away as he gets closer. When he stops at the corner, I jump in.

The cold air conditioning feels good.

“What is the problem? I find it hard to believe you need help breaking an old fat bartender’s legs.” Nikolai doesn’t look at me as he accelerates through the next intersection.

“Brody was there.”

When he takes a hard turn, it pulls me to the left before he stops in a shadowed parking lot.

“Why does that matter?” He turns and faces me with a frown. “Sibling spats should not come before business. Miki and I just fight and move on.”

“Thanks, oh wise one.” I pull out my cell and bring up the photo of Knox and Brody before handing it to Nikolai. “See? That’s the problem.”

Nikolai takes my phone in a large hand and swipes the image larger. He moves his finger across the screen, but it disappears, revealing the blurry picture of Sofia I snuck at the restaurant.

“Jax.” He rubs his temples and tosses my iPhone back to me. “Why is that girl your background? What kind of tacos is she feeding you?”