Page 133 of The Vigilante's Lover

He’s relaxed now, thinking he’s won. I run through mental exercises to control my breathing and heart rate. If he keeps talking, I may just pull this off, even with poison coursing through my bloodstream.

“I know Sutherland’s involved,” I say with mock strain.

“Do you now?” Klaus looks bemused. “I bet you have no proof.”

“What I know, others will know soon enough. Especially if I disappear.”

Klaus laughs. “No one is surprised when someone dies on a kill order. How amateur, Jax. You really are hard up these d—”

I don’t let him finish. With as much speed as I can muster, I lash out but deliberately overstep the move. Klaus moves to counter with a lazy, confident block. I twist and hook his leg, throwing him off balance. I catch a look of panic in his eyes as I slip behind him. I grip him in a headlock and my fingers dig into pressure points.

“Now talk, you son of a bitch,” I hiss, “or I’ll paralyze you from the neck down.” My anger is palpable.

Klaus gurgles and struggles. I press harder and he yelps.

“Stop! Okay! Yes, Sutherland is involved!”

“How? What’s his plan?”

“I don’t know! Ow! God damn it, Jax, I’m telling the truth, I don’t know! It’s all Jovana’s game!” He gasps, his breathing ragged. “I’m just the security guy, that’s all! Covering up, cleaning up! Like always! I swear!”

Klaus never was very brave.

“Where is Sutherland now?”

“I don’t know! Again, Jovana. Ask her!” He sucks in a breath. “Seriously, Jax. You don’t have much time.” He pauses. “You need an antidote. And Jovana has already left. We agreed that if we got separated,she would take off and alert Sutherland.”

My anger cools. I can feel the poison working faster as my blood rushes. I have to stay calm, slow it down.

Klaus coughs, a weak and helpless sound. “What’s it going to be, Jax? Go get your antidote or finish me off?”

I answer him with a sharp blow to the back of the head. He slumps in my arms and I dump him on the cold tile floor. Then I stagger out the door.

The antidotes are in my car. Not the one in the parking lot, but the Aston Martin a half mile away.

14: Mia

Jovana stops walking, her back to me, as if she’s waiting for me to arrive.

Just as I reach her, ready to knock her to the ground, she turns.

Her arms are a blur as her fist slams into my belly, then her elbow crashes against my chin. I stumble for a minute, but I’m in a blind rage, so I launch myself at her again.

I remember how Jax brought me down with a blow to the back of the knee. I kick at her leg, miss by a mile, but in the heels she isn’t quite as solid, so she takes an uncertain step to the side.

My adrenaline is surging as I wrap my arms around her waist and bring her down. We both land on the asphalt, but it’s my arm that takes the brunt of the fall.

Pain screams through my body, but I ignore it. I figure if I can’t beat her in a fight, I can at least make her life difficult for a little while. I snatch at the watch and jerk it from her wrist. It flies through the air and lands with a crunch somewhere down the row.

“You little bitch!” Jovana says. She’s trying to get her hands on my neck, and I know what that’s all about. Jax did that pinch thing to me in the car.

Not today.

I grapple with her, keeping her from getting enough control to bring me down with one of those death grips. Her bag falls off her shoulder, and I kick it like a football, scattering the contents. Might be something interesting in there if I can grab it.

She rolls me onto my belly, and I know from watching the fights that this is bad. I don’t let the momentum stop, though, and manage to keep going so I’m on my side. Now her bag and its secrets are under me. I reach behind me with one hand, trying to find something to use against her, while the other fends off her attempts to get me in one of those vise grips.

I’m already wearing out, though, and I know this battle is going to end as fast as it started if I can’t find a way to get the upper hand. All I’ve had working for me so far is the element of surprise and her high heels.