Page 324 of Conquered

“It better be a good fucking explanation, Baby Girl,” he grumbles. “My soul was broken when I saw that picture,” he confesses, and I realise then just how much she’s changed us all. Before she came into our lives, we could barely get Jax to talk to us, let alone tell us his darkest feelings.

“It is, I swear,” she answers, looking up into his eyes. As if her lips are a magnet and he can’t resist, he lowers his own and kisses her roughly, all of the worry and anger for what we have just been through spilling out into her mouth.

As the Queen that she is, she takes it, every last drop. Her kiss is an apology, an assurance that she’s still here, and I can see it calm the beast within him until he almost slumps in her arms, his muscles relaxing as their kiss comes to a close.

“Come,” she says, taking his hand as she steps out of his arms and looks at each of us, settling on me last. “Ryan is here and can explain everything.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

LILLY

Icast my eyes around the guys that surround me, my own Knights, all within touching distance. We’re in Enzo’s office, and I’m seated on the worn, leather sofa, sandwiched between Jax, who refuses to let go of my hand, and Ash, who has a possessive grip clamped tightly on my thigh. Loki and Kai are on the floor, refusing the chairs offered in order to sit at my feet, both with warm palms wrapped around my ankles, Loki’s massaging and rubbing them, making it very hard to concentrate on what is being said.

“Julian put a hit out on Lilly,” Ryan starts, no fucking build-up whatsoever, and I feel each of my guys stiffen.

“How did you find that out?” Ash asks, his voice laced with suspicion, and I cast him an annoyed look.Surely he doesn’t think that Ryan can’t be trusted?Although, I was wondering the same thing myself, and Ryan wanted everyone here before he explained. The man in question gives me what can only be a sheepish look, a blush staining his rugged cheeks.

“Being the bouncer at Grey’s isn’t my only occupation, just the one I have on paper,” he tells me, and it takes a moment, but when it clicks, my eyes go wide and I sit forward suddenly.

“You’re a fucking mercenary?!” I all but screech, and he winces but nods. “Jesus. Since when?” He rubs the back of his neck and dips his head, looking away.

“Always, Little One,” he says. “It’s one of the reasons why your mother and I never got married.”

“Well, shit,” I huff out, feeling a twinge of guilt for always blaming Mum for not taking that step with him.

“How did you find out about the hit on Lilly?” Kai interjects, and all of their grips tighten on me. My heart thuds, a surge of pain in my chest flaring at the thought of receiving a picture of them lying broken and bleeding, and I grip Jax’s hand back tightly.

“I’m one of the best at what I do, so I get the pick of jobs,” Ryan tells Kai unabashedly. “As soon as I saw who the mark was I took the job, anonymously of course, and came straight here. The payout was high enough that I knew it would attract attention, so I needed to fulfil the terms as soon as possible.”

We all sit in silence for a moment, processing what he’s just told us. Julian wanted me dead, offered up a huge amount for someone to come and take my life. And the life of my unborn child, his grandchild for all that he knows. My hand comes up to caress my stomach, feeling my baby move inside me, and my breath hitches at the thought of how close he or she came to never having been born at all. Water fills my eyes, and a huge palm comes to cover my own. I look to the side to see Jax staring at me, his blue eyes full of a fierce fire.

“I will never let anything happen to you or our child,” he vows in his gruff voice, and a tear escapes at the way he’s claimed my baby as his own. I sniffle, clearing my throat and removingmy hand from underneath Jax’s to wipe the moisture off my cheek.

“What happens now?” I ask, turning to look at Ryan, then Enzo, and finally Tom. Enzo assured us that Tom will not breathe a word to Julian or any of the others on the board. Tom is loyal to his family, to Enzo, first, and the guys seemed happy with that.

“You stay dead,” Ryan tells me, an apology in his eyes but his lips set in a grim line.

“I have a new identity for you, cara mia,” Enzo states, stepping forward with a large, manilla envelope that he holds out to me. “Lilly Vanderbilt will be buried and no longer lives.”

I take the package, opening it to find all the documents that I will need; passport, birth certificate, driver’s licence, medical documents, all in the name of Lilith Taylor.

“But you have to remain hidden for now, Little One,” Ryan states, and I look up from the papers into his pleading eyes. “No one can know that you’re alive. Not until Julian and the others have been dealt with. I assume you have a plan?” He turns to Ash as he says the last part.

Ash stiffens for a moment, then heaves a sigh.

“Yes.”

“Care to share with the room?” Ryan asks, one brow raised and the corner of his lips tilted upwards, as though he finds Ash’s distrust amusing. Ash waits for a beat more, eyes narrowed at the three men before us.

“Kai,” he says, clearly giving Kai permission to divulge their plan. Kai sits up straighter, though doesn’t remove his hand from my ankle.

“Every year we have to go on a late summer hunting trip with the rest of the board,” Kai starts, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a cute as fuck gesture. “Well, with their fathers and my uncle,” he clarifies. “It’s in a cabin in themountains, on private land, no neighbours.” I lean forward, eager to hear the full plan. “We will drug their drinks on the first evening there, kill my uncle then frame the others, leaving prints on the weapon, shoe marks in the blood, and other forensic evidence that will point to them as murderers.”

I sit there, and I’m stunned by my lack of horror at the casual way that Kai talked about murdering his uncle and setting up their fathers to take the fall. A grim sense of satisfaction fills me, and I think that my reaction should worry me, but it doesn’t.

“Regardless of the forensic evidence, why would anyone believe that they wanted him dead?” Ryan asks, and my forehead crinkles when I consider his question.

“Kai is due to take over from his uncle, who only held his position until Kai came of age and graduated,” Ash states and all eyes turn to him. “We’ve been laying a trail to show that his uncle is unhappy relinquishing his power and has been syphoning off more than his fair share from company profits.”