Page 38

“You let this happen,” Rafe said, jabbing a finger at Jax’s defeated form. “You could have stopped it, but you didn’t. You let them fucking beat the shit out of her.”

“She lied to you,” Jax said, wheezing air between his lips. “She made you go crazy in that prison. I was there, and that’s all I knew. That’s all I had to go on. I had to do it.”

“You didn’t have to do anything.”

“This isn’t the place to talk about this, man. We need to get the fuck outta here.”

“I’m not leaving until Perrone comes back.” Rafe jammed the gun into his waistband.

“You’re not the only one who wants payback. Get into the damn van. We’ll figure something out.”

“And go where?

“We have a safe house, you and I. Money. No one else knows about it.”

Rafe frowned. “You could’ve gone off on your own and no one would be the wiser. Why’d you get us out of there?”

“Because you’re under my fucking skin the way she’s under yours.” Jax stomped past us and headed toward the van.

The sun kissed the horizon in fiery red-orange by the time Jax pulled into the place he called a “safe house.” I wanted to scoff at the term. I’d yet to find a place that inspired a sense of safety. Even my own fucking island hadn’t been safe. The engine fell silent, and I glanced over my shoulder at Alex’s dozing form. She’d curled on the bench seat, one hand pillowing her cheek, yet her muscles hadn’t given in to sleep yet. She was too rigid, too unrelaxed, and probably headed for another nightmare.

I sent a sideways glance at Jax. Dried blood lingered around his nose, and his right cheek was red from my fist. He had both hands locked on the steering wheel, eyes focused straight ahead. We hadn’t said two words since we’d left Perrone’s estate.

He claimed we were like brothers, and hehadgotten us out, even if it was several days too late. Fuck, he shouldn’t have let them take us in the first place. I studied the profile of his face.

“You still don’t trust me,” he said.

“Kinda hard to.”

“Cleft was my cousin, my fucking blood, and I shot him.”

If he hadn’t done what he’d done, Alex and I wouldn’t be in this van with him. “Why’d you shoot him? I mean fuck. You didn’t even hesitate.”

He glanced at Alex in the rearview. “Let’s go inside. Take care of her first and get some rest. We’ve got time to deal with shit.”

“You’re stalling.”

“Maybe.” He let out a breath, and it drifted through his hair. “But I think we could all use some rest. We won’t have room for error when we go after my old man.”

“You got a plan?”

“Possibly. Actually,” he said, opening the driver’s side door, “you gave me an idea back there, when you wanted to go allCarrieon the old man’s estate.”

He never referred to him as his father or dad. Always old man. Considering what Perrone was capable of, I guess I didn’t blame him. I shoved my door open before sliding the back door to the side so I could reach Alex. She stirred but didn’t wake.

Wedging my arms underneath her body, I lifted and cradled her against my chest. She wound her arms around my neck, mumbling something incoherent in her sleep. The fact that she felt safe enough to let her guard down blew my mind.

She trusted me with her life. But was she wise in trusting me with her heart?

Fuck, I hoped so.

Jax climbed the steps to the front porch of the small house nestled deep in the woods. The nearest highway was at least twenty miles away. We’d come in on a county road, then a long dirt driveway that seemed to go on forever. I wasn’t sure I could find my way out of here, if I needed to, and that made me nervous. But at least it wouldn’t be easy for others to find us…unless this was a trap.

Knock it off.

They’d had us right where they wanted us. If not for Jax busting us out, we’d still be locked in that dark underground hole, practically buried alive. Fuck, it sure had felt like it. I shivered at the thought, my pulse racing upon remembering the blackness, the dripping faucet…wait. There hadn’t been a dripping faucet in that room. The pipes in the tunnel, yes, but not in that cell.

I hated this—the absence of memory. A piece of my identity was missing, hiding underneath the layers of my fucked up mind. Every now and again, a small nugget escaped and confused the heck out of me.