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CHAPTER ONE
KAOS
PRESENT DAY
Her dark hair is fanned out across the back seat, and her head is lolled to the side, but she’s quiet. Too fucking quiet.
All those days I spent resenting her from the corner, I learned more about Camilla De Marco than most would think. Including that she makes the most adorable fucking sounds when she sleeps.
But then, she’s not sleeping, is she? I drugged her. I drugged her, and I’m about to hand her over to a man who means her harm to get my cousin back.
The thought leaves a heavy weight in my chest, but what choice do I have? I can’t let Bishop die because we were too stubborn to hand her over. I can’t lose another member of our family. Even if that means handing over the person who brought life back to our home.
I don’t allow myself to fall down that train of thought and instead pull the car off the side of the road where I’ve been parked for the last twenty minutes, trying desperately to think of another way.
They’ll never forgive me for this. I know that.
But I’d rather they hate me for saving them than die because I was too weak to do what I needed to do.
The city passes in the rearview mirror, and every mile closer I get to Davenport territory, an unease settles in my stomach.
I have no idea what life I’m handing her over for, but I know enough about Charles Davenport to know it won’t be good. She’ll be forced to marry him, forced to produce him an heir, and forced to hand over her family’s legacy, even if it’s against the rules of the Syndicate to possess more than one territory.
Maybe we can stop that part from coming to pass, but the rest…the rest is a stain that will remain on what’s left of my soul for the remainder of my life.
I pull up behind the warehouse they’re keeping Bishop in, killing the engine and taking a few more moments to watch Camilla in the back seat. This might very well be the last time I see her. If Davenport’s smart, he’ll keep her locked away, because while I may be the one handing her over, I have a feeling my brothers will stop at nothing to get her back, even if that means starting a war.
When Bishop and I were grabbed, they had no choice but to keep me conscious. The assholes wouldn’t have been able to carry my heavy ass out of there, but they did so with a gun against Bishop’s temple, keeping me compliant while we all climbed into the van and took off out the back way.
“You’re going to bring me Camilla, or I’m going to kill your cousin. Those are your options, Kaos. I suggest you think carefully about which one you choose.” Charles’s words still hang heavy in my mind. I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t bear the idea of losing another member of our family, and he knew that.
Maybe we really haven’t been giving this asshole enough credit.
His attempts to overthrow us have been average at best so far, but I’m beginning to think all the lackluster moves he’s made are part of a bigger plan, one that we have no idea about.
The back door swings open, and Knox Davenport saunters out, his cold, calculating eyes meeting mine before flicking to Camilla in the back seat. Drugging her was the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever had to do, but she wouldn’t have come with me willingly. She doesn’t trust me like she does the others, and for good reason.
Fuck, I’m about to hand her over to the man her father promised her to before she drew her first breath. She was right to be wary of me.
I shove the door of the SUV open and drop to the damp concrete beneath my feet. It’s apt that it started raining the second I stepped out of this building and went to the compound with the sole intention of handing Camilla over to them, like even Mother Nature is pissed at me for making this decision.
Droplets of water land on my cheeks, but I don’t bother wiping them away as I open the back door and gather Camilla against my chest.
She feels so tiny in my arms, but I knew that already. The day I kissed her, that I almost fucked her and stole her virginity for myself, I couldn’t get over just how small she was compared to my overwhelming seven foot seven and built frame.
“This way,” Knox grunts, and I follow him silently.
We walk through the warehouse, down a flight of stairs, and into what I can only assume is some kind of basement. We pass cells, the only peek into them is a small, barred window at the top, and each one is stained with dried blood, and God knows what else. Is this where Davenport is going to keep Camilla? I assumed he would take her to his penthouse, but maybe I was wrong. Or maybe they’ll move her as soon as we drive away.
Every step we take makes it harder to breathe, until the thought of leaving her here with them is excruciating. What the fuck am I doing? How could I do this to her? How could I do this to my brothers?
Camilla is nothing like Bianca. It took me so long to realize that, but now that I have, it’s so fucking obvious. She’s kind and gentle, with a streak of feistiness that has pulled her through as the future leader of the De Marco family. She’s everything Bianca wasn’t, and I can’t believe I didn’t realize that at the same time the others did.
I was so blinded by my anger that I wasted the time we had together, and now she’s gone. Or at least she will be in a few minutes.
Knox guides me into a cell with a bed set up in the corner and chains hanging from each corner. The sight makes my stomach churn, but I don’t stop. If I stop now, I won’t go through with this, and I’ll lose Bishop. I’ll lose one of the only people I have left.
I swallow heavily as I place her down on the clean sheets, quickly looking around the space. At least it’s not soiled the way the other rooms were.
