Page 38 of Shadowed Sins: Nitro

Jax:You okay?

Me:No.

Jax:Tomorrow. 8 PM. I'll text you where.

nine

Jax

The Capital Grille's private room feels like a fucking tribunal, and I haven't even been accused of anything yet.

Crystal chandeliers cast tiny rainbows across mahogany and leather while my leg bounces against the floor in a rhythm I can't control. My keys spin around my finger—once, twice, three times—catch and repeat. The metal burns against my palm, slick with sweat.

Five days. Five fucking days since she walked into that bar and rewired my entire nervous system. Six days since I've come.

Cole paces behind his chair instead of sitting—never a good sign. The muscle in his jaw ticks with each pass. Asher's got his tablet out, fingers moving across the screen with precision. Remy leans against the wall near the door like he's blocking my escape route.

"We need to talk." Cole finally stops pacing.

"Is this about the salt in your coffee? Because that was an accident—"

"This is about your complete loss of operational control." Asher doesn't look up from his tablet. "You've been compromised."

My keys spin faster. The weight of them familiar, grounding, not enough.

"My performance—"

"Your performance is suffering." Cole pulls out a chair, the scrape of wood on wood making me flinch. "You disappeared for three hours yesterday."

"I was conducting surveillance—"

"You were sitting outside the CPG office." Asher turns his tablet toward me. Security footage. Me in my car, staring at nothing, lost in thought. "For three hours. Twenty-seven minutes."

Heat crawls up my neck. "I was thinking through the mission—"

"You were touching yourself." Remy's voice is clinical, detached. "The entire time."

Fuck.

"I wasn't—" But I was. My hand had been on my cock for three hours, edging myself while thinking about her. "That's not—"

"Your search history," Asher interrupts, pulling up another screen. "How to survive extended arousal. Can blue balls cause permanent damage? Is it normal to leak precum for days—"

"Jesus, is nothing private?"

"Not when it affects the team." Cole leans forward, elbows on the table. "You groaned during yesterday's briefing."

"I was clearing my throat—"

"You groaned when Kade mentioned surveillance operations." Remy pushes off the wall, starts his own pacing pattern that intersects with Cole's abandoned path. "Because surveillance made you think of her."

My keys slip, clattering against the table. The sound echoes in the private room.

"We need to talk about the woman from the bar," Cole states.

Right. He was there. He saw me lose my mind over her in real time.

"The cemetery incident," Asher continues. "Three bodies. Car chase through half of LA. Property damage."