Page 123 of In the Light of Sin

Gasps bounced off the walls as he dragged his baseball bat on the ground behind him, scuffing the floor of the silent clubhouse when his crazed eyes sought around the room, landing on Oakley. Her jade eyes were wide with fear of the man who was borderline obsessed with being near her. Once he spotted her, he ran—V never ran—to her.

Tyrant and Knight stood like a wall in front of her, making the crazed man pause. “Move.”

They didn’t relent. “You need to calm down.”

“I said move,” V repeated himself, his tone low. He was about to start swinging, and I knew for a fact that when he blacked out, he could take out Tyrant and Knight. Not that they weren’t skilled fighters.

V was just in a league of his fucking own.

“I-It’s okay.” Oakley’s shy voice was clear, her face still red from the attention. Tyrant and Knight didn’t look too sure but stepped away, making sure they were within arm’s length in case shit went down. I would’ve too, but I didn’t give a fuck.

Still holding her tray, she stepped up to the bloody man. Looking scared as fuck and not doing a good job of hiding it. “V?”

His eyes were emotionless as he stared down at her. He sucked in a shaky breath before dropping to his knees, bat clambering to his side. His face was turned up towards her, a fresh bead of blood that wasn’t his running down his forehead. Her throat bobbed as she watched it, eyes shaking as she tried to stand her ground with her fear of blood.

“They touched what was yours.” Her eyebrows scrunched together as her lips parted, an action he followed closely with his pitch-black eyes. “I made sure they died for it.”

Prez, who was watching the whole scene with a scotch in his hand, rolled his eyes, taking another swig. Tyrant’s and Knight’s faces darkened at his reaction. Looks like Grim, Hex, and I ain’t the only ones who have some shit with Prez. “Gotta problem, Prez?”

“Yeah.” His empty glass smashed against the bartop, and his teeth bared in disgust at the scene in front of him. “I can’t believe my strongest soldier is on his knees for a woman who can’t even stomach some bloody bodies,” He hissed, grabbing shards of his broken scotch glass. The broken glass cut into his skin as droplets slid from his palm and onto the floor. He was acting like a fucking psycho. “This is never gonna work, V. You’re supposed to be our fuckin’ machine, and right now, that’s what the club needs. Pull your head out of her ass and stay focused!”

V’s head slowly twisted to Prez, black eyes unfazed at his lunacy. He stood slowly, towering over Oakley’s small frame as she craned her neck with worry in her jade eyes. V was unpredictable. Prez knew this, and yet he was still antagonizing him.

“I’ll focus.” He turned quickly, front half hunching over as Oakley’s cry bounced off the walls. The fucker threw her over his shoulder like she didn’t weigh a damn thing. One of V’s hands casually slipped into his pocket, and the other wrapped around Oakley’s waist to keep her from falling off his shoulder. “On whatever you’re hiding from us. Whatever it is, I’ll find out.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “And yes. That’s a fucking threat.”

“He’s gonna fuckin’ kill him,” I said, making Joslyn’s breath hitch. V was trying to keep his shit in control. Maybe that’s why he threw Oakley over his shoulder. She hated violence and he wouldn’t do a fucking thing to hurt her.

Tyrant laughed condescendingly. His lips were flat as he glowered at Prez. “There’s no controlling V. And you had the fucking audacity to talk down to him while he’s in front of Oakley? What the fuck are you thinking? He’s hard enough to keep on a leash, and you just ripped it off his neck.”

“If you beat someone long enough, he’s gonna rip your fuckin’ throat out,” Knight added through clenched teeth. Prez was turning his loyal soldiers into his enemies.

My hand tightened on Joslyn’s hip.When he has something of his own to protect.

Prez’s lips turned up at the corner. “Maybe it’s time we think about putting our strongest soldier down.”

“The fuck is your problem, man?” Grim made his stand against his best friend. He was trying to restrain himself for Nyla’s sake.

Prez laughed mockingly, his eyes flicking to where Nyla and Victoria were standing before looking back at his second-in-command. “We used to be unstoppable, but we’re only as strong as our weakest link.”

“Having someone worth protecting makes us stronger.” Irritation laced Grim’s voice. Prez should know. He was always a hard bastard, but after he found Nyla he’s gotten way worse. I thought once he found his daughter he’d lighten the fuck up.

Our club wouldn’t survive the internal war that was brewing.

Prez shook his head at Grim’s refute, refusing to look at anybody. “It makes us careless and do shit in desperation.”

My eyes connected with Grim’s. He was thinking the same thing as me.

Prez fucked up.

Law walked in, his arm over his head as he yawned. He took a nap after Joslyn’s graduation since he was up all night working. He looked disoriented from his sleep as he looked around the room, snapping whatever grogginess consumed him as he saw a frazzled Oakley over V’s shoulder. “Where the fuck are you taking my daughter?”

“My domain.” He lifted his shoulder, Oakley giving out a little squeak as he adjusted her in his grip. Her knuckles turned white as she had a death grip on V’s cut. “Hell.”