𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒 | SPINOFF

Bonus Chapter | Daisy Kaiden

KAIDEN
CAPOLLA

I was raised to be a gentleman—a polished, careful reflection of everything my father wasn't. My mother, with her soft-spoken strength and steely resolve, had carved me into the man she wished she had beside her. But hell, being Daisy's "best friend" was the cruelest role the universe could have cast me in.

Daisy. She wasn't the kind of girl who bent herself to the world's expectations. No, she stayed herself, unapologetically herself, untamed and unforgettable. She didn't just catch my eye; she ensnared my soul.

"You can stop staring, you know. Maybe grow a spine and make a move," Grayson drawled, his grin wicked as he elbowed Damon. "Oh, wait. He won't. Poor shy-boy Kaid, still hopelessly drooling over Daisy. She's seventeen now, man, practically a woman, and you're still—"

"Grayson," Damon cut him off with an icy glare that could peel paint. The room went silent, save for the faint hum of night beyond the balcony doors. Damon shifted his gaze to me, slow and deliberate. "Listen, Kaid. I don't give a fuck about who my sister loves, as long as the guy treats her right. We're both twenty-one, grown men. We've known each other forever, and I've got no issue with you..." He leaned forward, his voice dropping an octave, venom threaded in his words. "But if you hurt her, shy-boy? I'll put you six feet under."

Shy-boy. The label grated against my skin like broken glass. It was a mask they forced on me, a neat box they shoved me into. If only they knew the truth—the darkness that simmered just beneath the surface.

"I'd never hurt her," I said, my voice steady, though my blood burned. "She's my friend. That's all."

Avery snorted as she drifted into the conversation, a beer balanced in her fingers. "Friend, huh? Save the act, Kaid. We all see it. You want her, bad." Her voice was a blade, sharp and cutting, as she leaned against Grayson. He smirked, sliding a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it. Funny. The golden boy had started smoking, while the devils in our group—Damon, Alessio, Jaxon—had all quit. The roles were flipping, lines blurring in a way that felt like foreshadowing.

Damon's scowl deepened as he yanked the beer from Avery's hand. "You're not even eighteen yet. Stop acting like you've got the world figured out."

"Grayson, tell this demon to give me my beer back!" Avery whined, her pout as calculated as a chess move.

Grayson chuckled, but Damon didn't budge. "You're ruining her," he muttered before taking a swig of her beer and tossing the rest over the balcony.

Avery rolled her eyes and sauntered over to Alessio, draping herself over him like a cat. Grayson and Damon broke into a scuffle, while Avery watched, perched on Alessio's lap, a smug queen holding court.

And me? I stood on the fringes, their "shy" observer. The one they thought was soft, harmless. But they were wrong. So wrong. They mistook restraint for weakness, courtesy for innocence.

What a twisted, chaotic group of people.

"I know," Daisy's voice cut through the still air, soft and lilting, yet tinged with something that pulled my attention like a hook in my chest. She stood with a book cradled in her hand, her delicate fingers brushing the worn spine as she looked up at me with those wide, curious eyes. A small sigh escaped her lips. "They're so interesting. Sometimes I love them... other times, they creep me out."

"Daisy..." Her name tasted heavy on my tongue. I forced the word out, my pulse thrumming against my ribs. "Can we talk?"

She tilted her head, her expression a mix of curiosity and caution. "We are talking," she said, her brow arching.