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Running his hand through his perpetually shaggy blond hair, he pierced Rafe with an expression that said they’d talk later.

After thelittle womenwere out of earshot, of course.

Rafe settled a hand at the small of my back, fingers pointing toward the cleft in my ass. “Babe, give us a minute.”

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. After disobeying him in the tub earlier, I didn’t want to push it. “Follow me,” I told Angel, biting back a growl that would tell the testosterone in the room exactly what I thought of their tactics.

She followed me down the short hallway, and I paused in front of Jax’s bedroom, hesitant to enter that untouched domain. I’d never been inside his room. Shaking off the uneasy feeling, I shoved the door open and crossed the threshold into a room that smelled musty from disuse. The space appeared innocuous enough, left tidy from the last time he’d been here, bed made and all. Suddenly, I wondered if Jax had visited the cabin since the morning he and Rafe blew up the Perrone estate.

My heartbeat thrashed in my chest as something else occurred to me, squeezing the breath from my lungs.

Had Rafe been back? Had he waited until I left this place, tears of grief saturating my face as I followed Jax out of the cabin for what I believed to be the last time? While I’d suffered his death on my own in Portland, had he hidden out here before moving on to Shelton’s fight ring off the coast?

The idea sent a ripple of rage through me. I wanted to scream and pound my fists on the walls. I wanted him to grovel for what he’d done.

I wanted him to realize how much he’d hurt me, because I wasn’t convinced he understood the extent of it.

“I can sleep on the couch.” Angel’s delicate voice broke through the chaos of my runaway thoughts.

“Take the room,” I said, turning to face her. “If Jax wants you in here, you should be in here.”

Especially since I didn’t know the dynamic of their relationship. If they even had one. For all I knew, Jax was in charge, like Rafe was with me, and he’d punish her disobedience.

“Okay.” Without another word, she let the small duffle on her shoulder slide to the bed. I stood back, curiosity getting the best of me while she filled a drawer in the dresser with her meager belongings.

Undergarments on the left side, tees in the middle, followed by shorts and skirts on the right. She set each folded article inside, one at a time.

Everything in threes.

The whole time, she didn’t speak, and I was stunned into utter silence when she gripped the hem of her tank top and dragged it up her protruding ribcage. She removed her clothing with reverence, folding each garment into a perfect square before placing it on top of the dresser in a neat pile.

Maybe to be washed?

Next, the duffle found a spot in the top of the closet.

Then she kneeled at the end of the bed with her hands clasped at her back, eyes downcast.

Totally fucking naked.

11. Man Talk - Rafe

“Who’s the girl?”

Instead of answering, Jax headed toward the kitchen. “I’m so hungry I could chew off my arm. Whatcha fixing?”

My stomach rumbled, reminding me that the bathtub session with Alex had interrupted breakfast. It was now past lunchtime. “Omelets. Finish chopping the veggies while you tell me what the fuck is going on.”

He took over Alex’s post while I added additional eggs for Jax and his mystery woman. “It’s been a while since we talked,” he said, expertly handling the knife.

“Sorry. We didn’t have cell service at camp.”

“I know.”

Chop.

Chop.

Chop.