Jax is bound to leave her alone at some point.
***
The morning sunshine pouring into my car through every window has been pissing me off for hours. To be perfectly honest, everything’s been pissing me off all night long.
The music playing on the radio, the street sounds, the fact I’m being smart, patient, and mature instead of barging into room 514 to fling Leilani over my shoulder like a caveman.
It’s almost half past ten already. So far, Jax hasn’t left her alone for one goddamn minute. They emerged half an hour ago, presumably heading for breakfast, and my knee’s been bouncing ever since.
Which, I guess, is an improvement from almost tearing my hair out at two o’clock in the morning, imagining what they were doing behind closed doors.
Another fifteen minutes pass before they return. The fucker has his fingers wrapped around Leilani’s upper arm as if he’s afraid she’ll bolt if he doesn’t hold on.
The camera feed flickers but I see enough.
He drags her forward, and she stumbles, catching herself quickly, free hand clenched into a small fist at her side like she’s holding back the urge to swing.
My eyes zero in and—fuck.
A dark bracelet-like shadow coils around her wrist.
I hold the phone closer, squinting and adjusting the brightness as if it might sharpen the image. The feed glitches. The shadow pixelates, fades, then returns.
My chest caves inward.
It’s a bruise.
Fucking move!detonates in my skull and I’m out of the car so fast I damn near trip over my feet.
To hell with waiting. I can take him.
He’s almost a head shorter than me, half as broad. Months spent recovering from his near-death experience will have stripped his muscles and possibly strength. The adrenaline, therageboiling inside means I could break him in half without breaking a sweat.
I promised myself I’d wait until he left, but that ship sailed, got torpedoed, exploded, and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
Jax isn’t getting another second with Leilani. Not one more chance to hurt her.
My chest heaves, vision tunnels, and everything inside me winds itself up tight, bracing for impact.
I enter the hotel lobby, heading straight for the elevator and ignoring the staff side-eyeing me as I wait for theding. It would be wise to slow down, think,planat least a little instead of jumping into action guided only by my questionable instincts.
“Fuck!” I spit once the elevator doors seal shut.
Classical music drifts from a speaker overhead, the glowing numbers creeping higher one by one.
I should’ve taken the stairs. At least then I’d be moving. Instead, I’m boxed in, my reflection staring back from thepolished steel doors. I barely recognize myself. Jaw tight, breath pushing fast through flared nostrils. If you look closely, you’ll see my plans for Jax’s torture session playing behind my eyes.
My hands flex at my sides, aching for violence, so I inhale deeply, switching off my imagination.
Ican’tkill him. Carter would killme. While he hasn’t agreed to work with Blaze against Octavius just yet, as soon as we heard the offer, I knew it was only a matter of time.
Carter only needs this one stone to kill two prime birds: Octavius Grey and Noretto’s business.
There are too many threats out there for us not to take this chance.
And we’ve only got one connection.
So no, Jax can’t die today. He’s untouchable.
