Chapter 43

I leaned against my bike with a blank face. The moon shone brightly above us, giving the field some light in the dark night. The grass was still high enough to tickle my ankles through the exposed skin of my fitted jeans. I had my hair up in a messy bun, and a leather jacket hugging the skin of my arms.

Chase was standing beside me, trying his best to cover up the anxiousness he felt. Lindsey and Wesley were standing at either side of us, and about eight of Wesley's men were leaning against their cars some feet behind. I glanced at my watch and noticed there were still two minutes for the watch to mark eleven o'clock.

Once the sound of revving engines was heard from a distance, I slowly interlaced my fingers with Chase's. He squeezed my hand slightly, probably to calm down the slight tremble threatening to take over his entire body.

Sleek black cars finally made an appearance and I tensed alongside Chase. They parked their cars in a semicircle, as if to cage us inside. I kept my face expressionless--mind the hard glare I had prepared for my so-called father. They kept the headlights on to give the dark field some more light, and they slowly pooled out of their cars one by one.

I slowly peeled my hand away from Chase's and balled it in a fist inside the pockets of my jacket. Steven and Bryce strode side by side until they were three feet away from us. Chase and I stood up straight and squared our shoulders defensively.

Steven offered us a sickening smirk, his pose careless and shoulders relaxed. He had both his hands tucked loosely inside his trousers' pockets as he stood in front of us with a smug-looking Bryce standing next to him. "I hope you trained this pup right, it would be better if Bryce had actual competition. It would be far more entertaining to watch," Steven spoke up, breaking the deafening silence that stretched over us like a mountain.

"As far as I remember, he was able to hold down Bryce for quite some time back when you abducted him." I shrugged and felt Bryce's glare on me.

"Yeah, if you hadn't played dirty and shot my leg, he would've been dead meat by now," he snarled, and I smirked at him.

"You seem to be doing fine after all. You shouldn't try to hide your limp, by the way, we can all see the agony in your eyes when you walk. Might as well drop the act," I suggested.

He took a threatening step forward, but Steven held an arm out to steady him. "Save your energy, boy. Remember she's not the one you're fighting against," Steven ordered, flashing his green eyes at me. I held his gaze, not letting my smirk falter, and then he looked at Chase.

"You seem to be in pretty good shape. Let's see how much that will last." He motioned for Chase and Bryce to step forward to the middle of the circle we created. Bryce shot me one last look and walked off, leaving me and Chase behind.

Chase let out a long breath and stood up straighter, determination lingering in his brown orbs. He went to step forward, but I held him back by the elbow. He turned to look at me with questioning eyes and I held both of his hands firmly in my own.

"Remember what I taught you. Try to aim for the leg, but don't make it obvious. Whatever he says to you, don't—"

"Go blind with rage, and never let my guard down. We've covered this up three times in the past hour, Amelia. I will be alright," he reassured me with a gentle smile. He decided to use his contact lenses for the fight, so I kind of missed the thick-framed glasses on his face.

"Do you have the small towel I gave you?" I asked quietly, and he gave me a small nod. "Good, make sure it doesn't fall. We both know that Bryce likes to play dirty and might whip out a dagger in the middle of the fight."

"I know," he whispered and placed a lingering kiss on my forehead. "Let's just get this over with. I will give you that position as the gang's leader."

"Move on, pup. Stop wasting my time! Leave the romance for when you have to say your last words," Steven yelled, making me roll my eyes.

I gave Chase's hands one last squeeze before he started backing away and turned to face Bryce. Lindsey and Wesley appeared by my side with some beach chairs and offered me one. We opened them up and sat down by the sidelines, watching how Chase and Bryce exchanged some words.

Steven stood between them both and rambled on about the rules, making me scoff at his hypocrisy. We both knew that he wasn't even able to follow his own rules, much less when it came to fighting. That was how much I've learned from him by the short encounters we have had. I sat by the edge of my seat impatiently, seeing how they both got into position.

With a final shout, the two of them started brawling against each other.

Punches and kicks flew between them, and I cringed each time Bryce landed a punch on Chase. It was a good thing he wore the contact lenses, otherwise, he might have glass shards sticking out of his eyeballs. I focused on their movements, intently watching the fight while holding down the urge to sprint there and finish Bryce off myself.

Chase managed to land a sharp kick to Bryce's abdomen, making him double over and wheeze. Chase took this opportunity to punch the bridge of the nose and watched how his face contorted in pain. Sadly, the punch wasn't hard enough to break it, judging by the fact that blood wasn't oozing out from his nose.

Bryce recovered in an instant and tackled Chase to the ground. They landed quite harshly, and I winced by the way Chase's head bounced off the ground slightly.

Bryce sat on Chase's abdomen and locked him down, sending a string of punches down his face. Chase managed to dodge some of them but received quite a few jabs on the cheek and jawline.

I bit my lip nervously as Chase managed to turn them over and land some punches before Bryce pushed him off. I felt the familiar bounce of my leg as I watched how Chase kicked Bryce's, making the latter yelp in pain. By the look on his face, it was possible that his stitches had finally ripped open.

He held his leg in pain, and sure enough, the spot on his stonewashed jeans started darkening with blood. All of a sudden, Bryce pulled a shiny object out of his combat boots, and I clenched my jaw. It seemed like my suspicions had been proved correct as Bryce slashed his dagger at Chase.

Chase jumped back, but the weapon managed to pierce the skin of his right arm, leaving a deep cut. He yelped in pain, and Lindsey wrapped her arm around my wrist to prevent me from storming over there. After taking out the small towel he had hidden safely in his sweatpants' pocket, Chase blocked each jab sent his way. Bryce's limp was much more obvious now that the stitches were open, and blood was running down his leg.

Chase could barely hold his right arm up as his face contorted in pain due to the deep cut. Steven was leaning against the hood of his car, his arms crossed. A sly smirk also decorated his face. I sent him a hard, deadly glare, and he only shrugged his shoulders in response.

Chase managed to throw a perfectly delivered throat punch, making me spring up from my seat in anticipation. The thing about this punch was that it wasn't the one I taught him--the self-defense one. No, this one was the larynx-crushing one... the one that might kill someone slowly and where any help was not possible.

I stared with wide eyes as Bryce lost hold of his dagger and fell to the ground. He started thrashing on the ground while holding his throat, causing Chase's jaw to slacken with disbelief.

He took a few steps backward while Steven stood in shock, but he was quick to sprint over to the scene and kneel beside his second-in-command. Lindsey, Wesley, and I did the same and rushed over to Chase, who dropped the towel by his side. I swore I could see Bryce's face turn slightly purple. Life slowly drifted away from his pale green eyes as he desperately clawed at his throat, gasping for air.

Steven shook him by the shoulders and mumbled profanities under his breath. Chase's knees gave way under him, and he fell limp in Wesley's arms. If it weren't for the fact that his eyes were wide open in disbelief, I would've assumed he fainted. Once the final breath had finally left Bryce, he slumped lifelessly within Steven's arm.

Steven stilled on the ground, his shoulders growing tense by the minute. Suddenly, he whipped around and snatched a gun he had safely tucked in his waistband.

My eyes widened at the velocity of his movements, but I was quick to smack his wrist and snatch the gun from his hand before he could pull the trigger. I kicked his chest, sending him tumbling to the ground and landed on his back.

"Hand over the title." I sneered and pointed the gun to the space in between his eyes. He glared at me and made an attempt to stand up, but I brought my foot down on his chest and kept him rooted in place. I took the safety off and placed my finger on the trigger, more than prepared to shoot.

"A deal is a deal." He chuckled bitterly. "Alright, Amelia. You have won my respective place at the top of the gang. You have become the full leader this time."

"That wasn't so hard now, was it?" I asked smugly. I took my foot off his chest and nodded at Wesley to do his job. He hoisted Steven off the ground and pulled his hands painfully behind his back, before handcuffing him. I put the safety back on and tucked the gun in my own waistband, giving him a pointed look. "Now it's time to let your sex slaves know about the change in title."

Steven's men were standing by the sidelines, wearing shocked expressions. Wesley shoved him forward when he made no move to do as told. Steven muttered incoherent things under his breath before he motioned his men forward. When they hesitated, he barked out an order, and they immediately sprung forward. "As promised, Amelia Clark will be your new leader from now on. You are to follow her orders," he grumbled, and all their eyes snapped to me.

I gave them a hard glare and they lowered their gazes, showing me their respect. I shoved Steven toward the men and they caught him before he could fall to the ground. "Knock him out and throw him inside a car. You'll take us to your hiding place," I ordered, and they nodded.

The shortest one of them seemed eager to comply with my order since he was the first to whip out his gun and knock Steven out cold. Apparently, not all of them were happy with him.

A pained groan from my back grabbed my attention, and I turned around to see Lindsey treating Chase's deep gash. He was sitting on the hood of one of the cars with a belt in between his teeth. I winced when I saw the needle and string in Lindsey's gloved hands as she stitched him up. He was panting, and every time she inserted the needle, he let out a pained groan.

When Lindsey was finished, she patched him up and wrapped some bandages around the wound. He took the belt out of his mouth and gave me a lazy grin. Sweat trickled down his forehead and neck, making his hair stick to his skin. "I did it," he whispered, his eyes tearing up with joy.

My lips tugged upwards in a small smile as his eyes shone with disbelief and proudness. I placed my hands on each side of his face and pressed my lips against his in a lingering kiss. "You did it..."

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[Edited: September 20th, 2020 by michh_44]

What a good fight, yikes! Yet another enemy is down...awesome. We're almost at the end of the story, you guys! Only a few more chapters to go. Click on that star and comment your thoughts on this chapter if you'd like ♥ Lots of love!