Page 74 of Beautiful Chaos

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Max warned as he walked from behind me pointing his gun at Malice’s head. With one swift movement, he pulled another and pointed it at Havoc’s groin.

“He’s been itching to castrate someone,” I smirked, “Tonight could be his lucky night if you aren’t really careful.” I taunted, tilting my head to the side as I sized up the two of them. Malice dropped his gun in surrender

The clatter of metal echoed in the confined space, Havoc’s hands raised in surrender to match Malice’s. Malice attempted to maintain a composed exterior, yet I could easily see past his facade. The panic was written on his face. Given their high profile, I anticipated a larger entourage, yet it appeared there were only the two of them.

I glanced past the brothers to find Harper’s gaze piercing through me. I was expecting to see hope and relief in her face, but instead, I saw something that made me feel like I was missing a crucial part of the puzzle.

“How do you wanna handle this brother?” Max waited for directions.

My eyes were still fixed on Harper’s.

“Did they hurt you?” I whispered just loud enough for her to hear me.

She didn’t have a response in her, leaving me to decipher her gaze.

“Take them down,” I answered with a satisfied grin in Malice’s direction.

Just as Max raised his gun from Havoc’s groin and aimed it at his face, the sound of heavy rushed footsteps came from above us. I looked over to Max and back to Malice who was grinning through his teeth.

“You didn’t think I would come here unprepared, did you?”

Seconds later several armed men rushed through the door, guns raised.

Max and I hurried down the remaining stairs and turned to aim our firearms toward the newcomers. I noticed Hector getting ready to reveal his hiding spot from the corner of my eye. When he made eye contact, I shook my head, advising him to stay hidden.

Malice used the momentary distraction to pull his gun as he positioned himself behind Harper and placed the barrel against her temple.

“Put your guns down, you wouldn’t want someone to accidentally put a bullet in this pretty little bitches head would you?” He pressed his lips to her ear and whispered something. Her eyes widened in panic, but only long enough for me to catch it, and then she quickly slid her brave face back on, as she bit her bottom lip forcing her emotions to stay hidden. All I wanted to do was to get her out of here, and home where she belonged, where she would be safe.

Malice started counting from Five, with his finger on the trigger of the gun that was still pressed against Harper’s head. Harper held her head high and her tears at bay.

She is so fucking strong.

I looked her in the eyes and gave her a slight nod towards the corner of the room, hoping she would see Hector hiding. I wanted her to know we had the upper hand.

Four. Three…

I threw one hand in the air in surrender, as I dropped my aim, then slowly lowered my gun to the ground. Max mimicked my movements.

“Good choice gentlemen, I didn’t wanna have to ruin my boots. Blood is always so hard to get out of alligator skin.”

Chapter 51

HARPER

Jasper’s eyes stayed on me as if he was waiting for something. Nothing made sense anymore, confusion consumed my thoughts as I watched on. I felt dizzy trying to understand what was happening.

Malice grabbed me and shoved his gun into the side of my head making me wince at the sudden movement of my dead weight, strained from hanging. My arms had gone numb, but my muscles and nerves ached. I raised my chin at his attempt to intimidate Jasper with his threats.

He told Jasper and Max to put their guns down when they didn’t, he started to count. Terrified, I looked up at Jasper, feeling defeated, but something in his eyes spoke to me. Then, with a slight nod toward the dark corner of the room, my gaze was drawn to a figure crouched in the shadows.

He had a plan.

A part of me wanted to feel relieved, but through the fog of confusion, I wasn’t certain if that was a good thing for me, or if it would simply save me from one monster and push me into the arms of another.

As Jasper lowered his gun, and Max did the same, Malice relaxed his grip on me and let his gun fall to his side. I let out a deep sigh of relief and then took a breath that barely filled my lungs.

My head started to spin, and my vision blurred. I felt like the walls were closing in on me. I couldn’t move because of the chains that bound me, and I couldn’t breathe enough air from the small space, that was now filled with too many large man-made men with firearms, and rage.