“But,” my voice was pitched higher, “he’s got a lot of money and knows people in high—”

“You think anyone dicks with Chaos?”

I shut up because I had a feeling they didn’t. Or if they were stupid enough to try, they didn’t get very far.

I mean, all the guys were really nice to me because they were just plain really nice.

But still, each one of them was a little scary.

Including Joker.

“I’m Chaos. And, Butterfly, I claimed you, and you might not get this because we haven’t discussed it so I’ll make it clear now. Claimin’ you makes you Chaos too. The fight might get ugly, and you gotta be prepared for that. But the way you got your head sorted and the firepower you got at your back, you will never lose.”

“Ugh,” I muttered before shoving my face in the side of his neck, doing this because I had no reply. I knew he was right about the good but also about the bad.

I was glad I had him and his firepower, but I still wasn’t looking forward to whatever Aaron had up his sleeve.

Joker used his fingers in my hair to massage my scalp soothingly. Strangely, it did the trick. Even with all that we were discussing, just his fingers digging in firm but gentle were comforting.

So I relaxed against him.

“I might want to bronze that tire, but if I keep being a pain in your behind, you may wish it never existed,” I muttered against his skin.

“Look at me.”

My relaxed body instantly stiffened at the severity of his command.

It was not firm. It was beyond that. It was something I not only had never heard from him but I’d never heard at all.

It was meant to be obeyed.

Without question.

And I obeyed it.

Without question.

When he had my gaze through the shadows, his hand slid down, fingertips in my hair, palm to my ear, thumb digging into my cheekbone. It didn’t hurt, but it did convey a message.

The touch was an assertion. Another command. He said he’d claimed me, and that was a physical demonstration I knew in that instant I had to understand, do it completely and also without question.

I suddenly found it hard to breathe.