Page 73

“So do you.” One lifted his chin. “Are you going to kill him and sign your own death warrant?”
“I want those two kids from the medical center safe, and I want Nicola free to live her life.”
“Not good enough. The first chance you get, you’ll kill Buzard.”
Jax said, “There has to be someone else in the world who can help all of you. Otherwise, you’re living your life under the thumb of that madman.”
One shrugged. “Hasn’t been all that bad so far.”
“Because you’ve been trapped so long you learned how to accept it.” Jax let go of her hand and crossed to the reception desk. “You want change, but you also don’t.”
Kenna squeezed his hand because he’d realized the same thing she had. It was a blessing that they were on the same page a whole lot.
Four and Five closed in a little, but she didn’t see any weapons. Jax had taken another day off to help her, but he should probably be at work. Instead, his life was likely in danger, and he was opting to spend the day with her. At the potential cost of his career.
He was fine with that trade-off. Or, at least, he said he was.
Kenna wasn’t sure she felt the same.
He had chosen to become an FBI agent, put the work in, and passed all their qualifying tests. Now she was going to let himthrow it all away? Sure, it would be great to work together. But this wasn’t the kind of relationship where one of them had to change everything about themselves just to make it work.
She couldn’t completely hear what Jax and One were saying, and that was fine. Kenna moved next to Three, who looked almost…sad. She kept her voice low. “Are you okay?”
Four glanced over at them, but she ignored it.
“Three?” She wanted to nudge him but kept her hands to herself.
He worked his jaw around and swallowed. “It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does. If it’s worrying you, maybe I can help.”
Four glanced over at them again. “He said it doesn’t matter.”
Jax stopped talking to One and looked back at her. Not because she’d interrupted his conversation, but because he wanted to know if she needed help.
She wasn’t the one with the problem. At least, not right now. And not this particular conversation. Fine, she had a ton of problems.
Kenna looked at Three. “I’d like to help.”
“Yesterday, you were half dead.”
“And today, I feel much better.” She tried to be reassuring with a smile, but it probably didn’t work.
“I’d be careful if I were you.”
She eased closer to him, wondering at his tone when he said that. She’d only been trying to help. “I should be careful? Is that a threat?”
Three smirked. “I am a threat to you. But I’m not threatening you.”
Even if he was an older man, he was certainly not harmless. She wasn’t going to take the risk of going toe to toe with him, so long as she could use that to prove a point. He was probablyright about her being less than a hundred percent, even if she disagreed with his “half dead” comment.
Jax stepped to the side, so she could see One was still in his seat. “You guys need to start talking. You know more than anyone about this guy. Maybe you don’t want him out of the picture, but we do. Buzard isn’t our target. At least, not today. This is about protecting innocent people who are caught up in what he’s doing.”
Of course, he was referring to the kids and the doctor, but he might also be talking about her in a way. No one else would be able to see the little bit of tension that bled through his features, but she knew him well enough now to spot it.
One said, “No one protected us.”
“Me either,” Kenna pointed out. “But that doesn’t mean we have to let it happen to anyone else. These people are dangerous, and now we let them have two little kids? No. Not if I can do anything about it.”