Page 22

CHAPTER 21

JAXSON

“Are we going to talk about tonight, or are we going to pretend that none of that just fucking happened?” Thomas asks.

After we cleaned up the mess, Thomas and Bennett took care of discarding Senator Briggs’ corpse while Hudson and Carver took the girl who was drugged to the hospital. Fortunately, they were able to avoid the cameras and left her outside. Hudson made an anonymous call, and they didn’t leave until hospital staff found her.

While they did that, I drove Aurora and Lykos to my place in her car, and I’m glad because she passed out pretty quickly. I knew the adrenaline crash was coming and didn’t want to risk her driving herself.

When we got home, I carried Aurora to my bed. I wanted nothing more than to crawl in beside her and cradle her in my arms, but she was passed out cold. I would never get into bed with her without her permission, not when she already had so many choices taken from her. Instead, I wrote her a note and told her I would be down at Carver’s place if she needed me.

“I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it all,” I say.

Carver passes out coffee. “Man, I knew it was bad… but hearing her say it out loud? It gutted me.”

“Yet, she survived,” Hudson mumbles.

“Fucking barely,” Thomas sneers. “She was so fucking scared of getting dragged back to Krukov that she tried to fucking kill herself because of a threat from a senator.”

“In her defense, who would’ve believed her? An elected government official who, by the way, is an advocate for anti-human trafficking, or the general’s daughter that no one knows was a victim?” Carver points out.

“ We would have believed her,” I snap.

“We weren’t here, Jaxson,” Hudson says.

“Don’t you think I fucking know that?” I slam my fist on the table. “We should’ve never left. I promised her she’d be safe. I fucking lied to her. I failed her.”

Thomas’ eyes blaze with fury. “No, you didn’t. You went after the one person who put her in that situation to begin with, the cause of her pain, the devil in her nightmares, Dmitri Krukov.” He pauses. “We didn’t know about the senator. How could we? Sure, we knew there were other men based on how we found her, but not who they actually were. Obviously, she never told anyone because I, for one, know that fucker wouldn’t have been able to get close to her if the general knew. Briggs would’ve been dead and buried.”

“You’re right,” I concede. “I know promising Aurora that I’d help her puts you all in a tough spot because now you have knowledge of my off the book activities , and I don’t expect any of you to keep it to yourself if pressed. This can bring a shit ton of heat down on all of us if I’m ever caught, but she needs this, and I’m going to help her get closure. Whether or not you wanna take the risk to your career is up to each of you.”

“You’re not cutting me out, fucker. Screw keeping secrets… I’m in all the way.” Carver narrows his eyes. “That’s my little sister and my future wife’s BFF. If anything happens to her, and Willow finds out that I knew, I’ll never be able to put a ring on it.”

Bennett smirks. “Did you just quote Beyoncé?”

“Yeah, so?” he challenges. “The song has a good beat.”

We all laugh, easing some of the tension.

Hating to dampen the lightened mood, I put the question to a vote. “All those in favor of helping Aurora get her revenge?”

“Oorah,” the four shout unanimously.

Carver winks. “You didn’t think you’d get to have all the fun, did you?”

I flip him off. “I was hoping I could leave you home.”

He grabs his heart, frowning. “That hurts, man.”

“What’s the plan?” Hudson asks.

“Aurora has a kill list,” I answer. “I’ll get a copy of it, and we’ll start helping her do recon.”

“Seems like she already has that down,” Bennett says proudly. “I mean, she did bag two guys on it tonight by herself.”

I take a sip of my coffee. “She did good.”

“Good?” Thomas raises his eyebrows in disbelief. “Did you see Brigg’s cock? It was barely dangling by a thin layer of skin. It was almost completely ripped from his body.”

“That was Lykos,” Hudson explains.

“What?” I ask, shocked. “How do you know that?”

He shrugs. “I asked her after you kissed her and ran off.”

Son of a bitch!

“Whoa… Whoa… Wait. Time out,” Carver stands up. “You kissed my sister?”

“She’s not your sister,” I mumble, glaring at Hudson.

“Aurora’s adopted,” Carver says. “Don’t tell her though. She’ll be devastated.”

“She’s not just your sister, asshole,” Bennett argues.

“Yeah,” Thomas agrees. “She belongs to all of us.”

Carver places his hands on the table and leans toward me. “So, what are your intentions with our little sister?”

I mimic his stance. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

He narrows his eyes. “No, answer the question.”

“Jesus!” I throw my hands up. “I wouldn’t fucking hurt her. I think I’ve been in love with her since I first saw her. When General Parks asked me how her training was going, and I had to admit there wasn’t anything else we could possibly show her, it almost killed me. I knew it was risky to tell him the truth. I could’ve lost her forever, but I also knew it meant going back to the task at hand, finding that son of a bitch, Krukov, and ending her nightmare, once and for all. That kiss was the first time I ever made a move.”

“Good enough for me.” Carver sits back down and plops his feet on the table. “You guys good with that?”

“Yep,” they answer.

“Took you long enough,” Thomas mumbles. “Never thought you’d grow a pair and finally claim her.”

“Fuck you, guys,” I say without any heat. “Can we get back to my question?”

I was worried about how they’d feel once they found out I’d fallen for Aurora. The look of shock on her face when I kissed her tonight told me everything I needed to know. She’s just as affected by me as I am by her. I need to show her we can have a future together.

Hudson taps his chin. “What question?”

“Asshole,” I mutter. “What did Aurora tell you about Lykos?”

He laughs. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“After what I saw tonight, I think you’d be surprised.”

“She called Yazzie and asked him how to train Lykos to attack certain body parts, specifically the crotch.” I grab my dick at that revelation and groan. “He gave her the German word for it, which, by the way, is Zwickel. Then she bought a grappling dummy online and trained him herself.”

“That’s one brilliant woman you have there, Captain,” Bennett compliments.

“I know,” I confirm.

If I can convince Aurora to be mine, I don’t think there will ever be a dull moment in our lives.