Page 89 of Now or Never

“But I’ll feel better being able to see it coming.”

She nodded. “I know exactly how you feel.”

“That’s why we have a team, right? So they can help us?”

“And carry the whole load?” Kenna paused. “I know they’d jump at being in danger so we’re safe. Asking them to do it, that’s another story.”

“The plan to take down Schnell isn’t going to involve you going into that military facility, so we don’t have to worry about asking if one of them can take your place. It won’t even occur to them.”

Kenna shook her head. “Who’d have thought it would come to this? That my life would be at a place where the biggest baddest threat of my life is one I don’t fight alone, but the people I care about put their lives on the line for me.”

Jax kissed her forehead. “That’s what family does.”

“Let’s go home and then unhook our home and drive ithome.” She’d had a taste of being alone, even though it was barely a few minutes, and she didn’t like it. She wanted her husband by her side. It wasn’t something she would demand, but as long as Jax felt the same, this is where they would be.

Together.

The entrance doors slid open, and they went outside.

Jax shook his head. “It’s freezing here.”

“Too much time in Phoenix?”

“And an entire childhood in California.”

Kenna shuddered. “Utah weather is my speed. Florida is a nightmare.”

He chuckled. “I’ll keep my thoughts about Florida to myself, but even in Salt Lake City I tried to escape somewhere warmer in the winter.”

“You’re destined to turn us into snow bunnies. Summers up north, winter in the mild south.”

“I can handle that if you can.”

Kenna glanced at him, content to lean on him for their protection. Just in case. “I think you’re giving up a whole lot more than me in this equation.”

“You’ve given up plenty in your life. Just like with the team, it’s time someone makes the sacrifice for you so you don’t have to.”

She thought it was sweet he viewed it like that but had no intention of just taking forever. Theirs was a give-and-take family. There would be times where she repaid the favor and stepped up to the plate. Not because anyone owed anyone else in their marriage, or with their family. It wasn’t about proving they were good enough or being worthy of love and belonging. It was just about the loyalty and affection they all had for each other.

He beeped the locks on the car.

Kenna flinched, but the engine turned over and it sat there idling. “I really thought it was going to explode for a second.”

“We have a bigger problem,” Jax whispered, slowing their pace. He drew his weapon and moved Kenna behind him. “What do you want, Simon?”

Kenna should just hunker down behind her husband, but she had to see. She slid her hand into her pocket with the gun. No, she should call 911. No, the gun was a better idea. She looked around Jax’s shoulder and saw him.

Simon stood about fifteen feet away. “You interrupted my work.”

Unlike on the platform out at sea, where they had met, he didn’t wear white scrubs. He wore dark clothing, pants not jeans, and had a heavy overcoat on. Leather gloves. No eyebrows. Likely no hair on his arms.

But she hadn’t noticed him being bald when he stabbed Langley in the street. So did he wear a head covering to ensure he left no evidence behind?

She didn’t see a gun in his hand, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have one.Two against one, buddy.

Jax said, “Put your hands on your head and get on your knees.”

Simon cracked a smile. “A citizen’s arrest?” He laughed. “I have more authority here than you.”