“No.” Tace cocked his head to the side to memorize the layout. “You?”
“Well, I’m fuckin’ tired of my closest lieutenants lying to me,” Jax snapped.
Raze shifted in his chair. “I said I was sorry, and then we punched each other. Now we move forward.” He looked at Tace. “You and Sami gonna break up?”
“I thought I’d send her a note ending it in gym class,” Tace returned, keeping his focus on the board and his temper in check.
Jax snorted.
“Don’t be a dick,” Raze said agreeably. “So she lied while trying to survive in a world that has gone dead. It isn’t impossible to understand.”
Yeah, but she’d continued lying even after they’d become close and trusted each other. After they’d had sex. “You don’t know what you’re saying,” Tace muttered.
“Sure, I do. Vinnie forgave me even though I’d planned to turn her over to the enemy. If she can do that, why can’t you? I mean, the world has changed for the worse after Scorpius, and we’re all doing our best,” Raze said.
“Fuck, that’s the longest sentence you’ve ever said,” Jax muttered.
“Vinnie forgave you because she’s much nicer than I am,” Tace said.
Raze nodded. “Well, that’s true.”
Jax reached over his shoulder for the bottle and poured himself another glass, waiting until the other two held theirs out for refills. He set it back with a thump. “While your delicate feelings are of great concern to me, Tace, I’m more worried that we still don’t know the full truth.”
Tace paused. His nape tickled, and irritation swelled. “What do you mean?”
“What if this is the plan? What if Sami has been working for the Bunker the entire time, checking us out, and is now sending us right into an ambush? What if the science part is true, and those assholes need new test subjects?” Jax scowled and took a healthy drink of his Scotch.
“She wouldn’t do that,” Tace shot back, straightening in his chair. His chest filled with air, and his testosterone surged.
“How the hell do you know?” Jax returned. “We’ve been looking for the Bunker for months. Hell, you and Lynne have been poring over data every day trying to find a lead on the damn place, and Sami has known its location the entire time. To think of the time we wasted.”
“She wouldn’t set us up to be harmed,” Tace said. Why the hell was he defending her against reasonable questions? “She lied because she was scared. I don’t think she’s devious enough to send us to our deaths.”
“You’re thinking with your dick,” Jax said.
Tace clenched his free hand into a fist.
“An hour ago you were on your back having convulsions,” Jax said easily. “You might want to think twice about hitting me.”
“Then keep your mind off my dick,” Tace snapped.
Raze chortled and drank down his entire glass of Scotch. “While I hate to be the voice of reason, we need to get the personal shit ironed out before the next mission. I’m talking to both of you.”
“Sami’s off mission,” Jax said.
“She gets to stay in Vanguard?” Tace asked, his jaw tightening so much his neck hurt.
“For the time being but she’s confined to base,” Jax said.
“That’s fair,” Tace said, his shoulders loosening. Truth be told, he liked her confined somewhere safe at the moment.
Jax cleared his throat. “So are you.”
“No.” Tace rubbed a bruise beneath his jaw. “My weird attacks have been going on for a while, and I’ve been fine on mission. I can tell when they’re coming.” Not exactly the truth.
Raze nodded. “Jax, you’re needed here to deal with the Pure church—they’re about to make a move, and we have to protect any kids involved. Tace and I can go scouting for explosives inner city like we’d planned. He’ll be fine.”
Tace’s chest warmed at the support.
