‘She’s mine,’he said almost instinctively, and Jax’s eyes snapped to his, the mental connection as easy as breathing.
‘Yours?’A glint in the blue depths.
‘Until I get what I need, yes.’Titus clenched his jaw, grinding his teeth.
Jax’s eyes narrowed.‘And what exactly do you need?’
‘Right now, I need her.’
Jax paused, looking like he wanted to say more. “I’ll set up on the table,” he said aloud, attention settling back on Rae. “This shouldn’t take long.” He didn’t wait for an answer, pushing past them both to place a heavy bag onto the pristine oak.
“That’s your brother?” Rae whispered against his back. “Different fathers?”
“And mothers.”
Rae frowned, but she remained plastered to his side as he guided them to the table. He was surprised considering her earlier bravado, but then again she’d survived long enough in her industry to know when to shut up, and not poke someone bigger. Unless that someone was him, apparently.
Jax stood an inch or so taller than Ti, the tallest of the Guardians along with Lucifer. He was intimidating with his large frame, permanent scowl and scar.
“You sure you don’t want to keep it?” Jax said in his low baritone, his humour subtle.
“Get this shit off me.” Titus placed his wrist on the table, watching his brother brush his fingers across the metal before his fingers glowed, arcane licking at his skin.
“Stay still,” he said, brow furrowing with concentration. Pulling a weird, pointed tool from his bag he pressed it against the cuff, gently scraping against the cold surface.‘They’re part of a set of three made for a certain high spending client. Was my biggest customer until I found out he was trafficking women for the Vipers.’Jax’s movements were rigid.‘Tried tracking him down a while back, but he went missing not long after Kace destroyed their den.’
‘I think your client’s dead.’
A raised eyebrow. ‘How would you know that?’Jax’s beast rumbled through his chest. At Titus’s silence, he continued.‘That information got anything to do with your little redhead?’
‘Maybe.’
Jax paused what he was doing, looking like he wanted to push further.‘What did you find out?’
Titus risked a glance at Rae, her gaze flickering between them both.‘She’s connecting me to the person who hired the guild.’Not technically a lie, but he couldn’t risk him knowing who Rae was exactly. Jax would have killed her without hesitation, as would any of his brothers.
‘Guild?’Jax pressed his lips into a thin line, his tools working quickly across the cuff.‘Cloaks and fucking daggers, then. At least with an independent you could torture them directly. You really think she knows anything worth keeping her around?’
‘Better to keep your enemies close and all that shit.’
‘So she’s an enemy?’Jax looked up for the barest second before returning to his work.‘Lucy said you missed training with him and Kyra.’
Titus narrowed his eyes.‘You keeping tabs on me, J?’
‘Someone has to.’Even mentally Ti could hear the acerbic edge.‘You know why you shouldn’t miss training.’
Titus pushed Jax from his mind, closing the connection down tight.
“It’s important,” Jax continued aloud. “It’s a…” He caught himself, flicking his gaze to Rae with a frown. “You need to speak to Lucy. Stop making excuses.”
“I think I have a decent fucking excuse, don’t you think?” he said between gritted teeth. “Besides, it’s my shit to deal with. Not yours.”
The cuff opened gently on Titus’s wrist. “You’ve been helping all of us for so long, you’re neglecting yourself.”
“What exactly are you trying to say, J? Spit it the fuck out.”
Jax’s irises swirled, the edges teasing silver. “I’m just saying be careful.” He blinked, pushing his beast back. “Because right now, you’re lying to yourself if you think you’re okay.”
Titus paused, an argument at the end of his tongue. “Fucking hell.”
