Page 31 of Storm and Tempest (Brand of Justice #13)

Chapter Twenty-Two

J ax opened the kitchen cupboard and found the spray can marked Dermoplast. Maizie had set up her workstation at the breakfast bar, using the stool Kenna tended to occupy. He didn’t want it to be bittersweet that she sat in the same spot but couldn’t help how he felt.

Maizie had Jolene the cat on her lap and absently petted her with one hand while she clicked the mouse with her other.

Jax glanced at the screen as he passed her. She navigated to another window via the desktop, which had an image of Cabot, Kenna’s dog, on the screen. He didn’t react, even though she’d covered what she was really doing and didn’t want him to see.

“Jax?”

He stopped by the end of the breakfast bar. “Yeah, honey.”

She glanced at him, surprise on her face.

“Sorry.” He didn’t know what her abuser had called her, and he didn’t want to know. But he also didn’t want to bring up old wounds by using a name attached to her trauma.

Maizie shook her head. “I actually…liked it. It sounds nice.”

“All right, honey .”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t make it weird.”

Jax chuckled, surprising himself. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to pass some of this to that financial analyst you sent me to a few months ago.”

“Who did I send you to?” It had been so long he couldn’t remember what name he’d given her.

“Samantha Littleton.”

“Right.” He nodded. “She did a good job?”

“She gave me a full report and got on a video call with me to explain it all,” Maizie said. “She’s great. She showed me her house, too. She lives on a ranch in Wyoming and has chickens, goats, and a cow.”

It probably sounded more enjoyable than nearly getting shot in a bank. “I need to give this to Ramon. I’ll be back.” Jax got up.

“I’m good, honey .”

He walked away with the spray antiseptic. “Don’t make it weird.” He smiled as her laughter chased him down the hall, then knocked on the bathroom door.

He heard, “Come in” and eased the door open.

“I brought the stuff.” He waved the spray can.

Zeyla sat backward on one of his dining chairs, holding one of Kenna’s T-shirts over her chest while Ramon wiped her back.

Jax was interested to see how bad it was.

But in these close quarters, he didn’t want to overwhelm Zeyla with two big guys crowding her in the bathroom.

He could see lines from old scars on her back.

Ramon took the numbing spray. “Thanks. That’ll help on the edges.”

Zeyla didn’t look at him. She stared straight ahead, tears edging her eyes.

Jax slid the shower curtain open and sat on the edge of the bathtub. He kept as much distance as he could. “You okay?”

Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Fine.”

“Need something for the pain? I don’t keep narcotics in the house, but I have something strong you can drink that will take the edge off.”

She shook her head. “I’m good.”

“Almost done.” Ramon caught Jax’s gaze, tension in the lines around his eyes.

Jax sighed. “Reminds me of the time I went to the San Diego County Fair. I think I was twelve.”

Ramon frowned. “Did you get shot?”

A fraction of the tension in Zeyla’s gaze eased, and Jax knew he was on the right track. He shook his head. “The Ferris Wheel broke down, and they were repairing it. But it was taking forever, so this kid decides to climb down from the top.”

Ramon said, “Uh-oh,” his attention on the bandage he was putting on Zeyla’s back.

“I’ve never been on a Ferris Wheel.” Zeyla held her breath.

“We can rectify that, if you want,” Ramon told her. Had Jax interrupted a moment that could be the beginning of something between them?

“What happened to the kid?” she asked.

“Everyone was screaming at him to quit climbing down. Mom is on the ground going ballistic like he’s gonna fall and die.

The kid swings like its monkey bars, then jumps to the next rung, catches it, and keeps going.

By the time he was down, everyone was clapping and cheering for him.

She put him in gymnastics. He was in the last Olympics, won a silver medal. ”

The corner of Zeyla’s mouth curled up.

Ramon eyed Jax. “What does that have to do with a gunshot graze?”

“Uh…something, I’m sure. Maybe there’s a metaphor in there about giving it everything you’ve got.”

“Like a motivational poster?” Ramon asked.

Zeyla said, “I don’t think I want to try any rides at the fair. Sounds terrifying.”

Jax smiled. “I thought you were some kind of trained operative.”

Ramon straightened. “I’m done.”

“Thanks.” She backed up from the chair and stood, her head bowed, not looking at either of them. The shirt clutched to her front as she hurried out.

Ramon watched her go.

Jax didn’t glance at her back, deciding to give her privacy instead. “You good?”

The other man’s jaw flexed. “Trying to resist the urge to kill them all for doing that to her. And she didn’t even let me see the aftermath of them removing half her liver, one of her kidneys, and taking eggs from her ovaries so they can freeze them.”

“I don’t know if it’s better or worse that Kenna is already pregnant.” Jax wanted to kill them all as well.

“Zeyla thinks I should be more scared of them than I am. She won’t even say the name Dominatus most of the time, because she’s been trained to fear hearing it aloud.”

“She’s been through a lot,” Jax said. “Maybe enough that we should give her some trust.”

Right now, he was thinking he trusted her more than he trusted Bruce, though maybe that wasn’t fair. Still, when the bullets started flying, Zeyla had jumped on Maizie and taken the hit. That counted in his estimation.

Ramon nodded. “She saved Maizie. She didn’t even think about it, she just dove. I saw her do it.”

“If Maizie is good, I’m good.”

“Agreed.” Ramon shoved all the medical packages in the trash, and Jax left him washing his hands.

Zeyla stood in the hall, her shirt back in place. “I’m not strong like her.”

At first, he thought she might be talking about Maizie, but he said, “Kenna?”

Zeyla nodded. “I’m not a survivor.”

How could that possibly be true? “You’ve been through more than most people, and you’re still here.

” He shifted to let Ramon exit the bathroom, then leaned against the wall.

“No one else can judge what we’ve been through unless they lived it with us.

” He motioned to Ramon, then himself. “We have our own vices, our own nightmares, and things we’d love to forget, but we never will. ”

She stared at him as if she didn’t know whether to scream or burst into tears.

“I’m an addict,” Jax admitted. “Maybe I’ve been trying to forget that for so long that I’d forgotten there might be something else out there for me than the FBI.

Being a fed was a safety net, a way to make sure I was the man I needed to be.

Walking away might not be my choice necessarily, but I should be able to be the best version of myself no matter the circumstances.

That’s how I’ll know I’ve really beaten the addiction. ”

“I wanted a sister.”

Jax said, “So did she.”

“I found one. She’s in the kitchen.” Ramon cleared his throat. “And I have Kenna, too. Because I need the safety net still. I’m not ready to be out there on my own.”

Zeyla sniffed.

“You had your mother,” Jax pointed out.

“My mother isn’t someone you have . Bruce needs to realize that.” Zeyla slid her hands in her pockets, her arms tight to her sides. Nervous, and unsure of herself. “But she wants to destroy Dominatus as much as I do. We just don’t know how.”

“We’re gonna figure that out,” he told her. “As a family. Together.”

Zeyla stared at him, something like wonder on her face. “Together.”

Ramon nodded. “We get Kenna back, and we take them down.”

Jax pushed off the wall, but before he could say something, the house alarm chimed. “Someone is here.” He went to the front door while the others gathered with Maizie in the kitchen, moving out of sight.

Jolene wandered across the hall behind him, unbothered by what was happening.

He checked the peep hole. “Someone order a pizza?”

But he knew the answer.

Jax slid open the entry table drawer and grabbed the revolver Kenna kept there. He checked it was loaded, then cracked the door an inch. “Can I help you?”

“They’re watching.” It was his father. “Let me in.”

Jax swung the door wide. “Come in. I’ll grab some cash.”

As if he would ever do that with a pizza guy, but if someone was listening or watching them, it made more sense. Until the pizza guy didn’t leave and they’d know something was going on.

His dad stepped in, and Jax shut the door behind him.

Edward Jaxton slid the branded pizza ballcap off his head, sending his gray hair all over.

It curled around his ears on the sides, and down on his forehead in an odd way.

But the old man didn’t fix it, which told Jax a whole lot about how he was doing right now.

His dad followed him to the kitchen, putting the pizza on the counter. “It’s hot, and I paid them a whole lot for it. We probably don’t have much time.”

“Edward Jaxton, my father.” Jax motioned. “This is Maizie, Ramon, and Zeyla.” His daughter, his friend, and his wife’s closest relative.

They all shook hands, except Maizie. She slid her laptop across the breakfast bar and turned it toward herself so she could work without anyone checking on her.

“What’s going on, Dad? An operative from Dominatus talked to us,” Jax began. Then something held his tongue, and he stopped short of explaining what Four had said about his father having made a bad deal. They were going to send someone to kill him, unless Jax found him first.

None of it sounded right.

“I didn’t know where else to go.” He slumped onto a stool, looking exhausted but also ridiculous in a pizza delivery outfit. The man lived his life in tailored suits and silk ties.

Ramon grabbed a few bottled waters out of the fridge and handed them out.

Jax’s dad probably wanted something stronger, but Jax wanted to hear what he had to say first. “Did you make a bad deal with them?”