Goddamn it. I’m so fucking gone for her.
***
The calm doesn’t last.
Leilani barely has time to catch her breath before the growl of a big engine cuts through the quiet. The effect it has on her is immediate. She stiffens in Broadway’s grip, fire, claws, and teeth vanishing.
I’m on my feet before the others even register Jax’s black Escalade speeding up the driveway. I pull Leilani out of Broadway’s arms and push her behind me, my body blocking hers from view.
She freezes. Not in that cute, startled way people do when someone surprises them, but in a way that screamsdanger. Her fingers claw at my pullover, gripping the fabric so tight I feel it strain against my throat.
“Oh God,” she whispers, fear coating every word. “Please, don’t let him take me. Please. Please.”
My heart lurches. What the hell is happening? From throwing her fists at me to holding on as if I’m her lifeline.
From hellcat to doe.
From clawing to quivering.
From raging to pleading.
The switch is so violent, it makes my head spin.
“He’s not taking you,” I say, watching the car halt less than ten feet away. My voice comes out harder than I intended but fuck it. She should hear my certainty. “You’re not going anywhere unless you want to.”
Jax jumps out, slams the driver’s door, and stalks toward us. His anger doesn’t last long, twisting into a smug, knowing smirk as he takes me in.
“That didn’t take long. I see she let her true colors shine. Ready to give her back?”
“In your fucking dreams,” I snap, barely holding back from breaking his jaw in three places.
I glance over my shoulder, finding Leilani worried, the girl who beat me up moments ago long gone. She’s pale, her wide brown eyes on Jax, lips parted like she’s mid-silent plea.
God, I want to grip the fucker’s throat again, tear out his trachea this time. All it’d take is three steps forward, one good tug, and blood would spill.
Jax snorts, shifting his attention to Carter. “Before we tackle the problem that keeping Leilani away from me poses...” He fishes his phone from his pocket, handing it over, “...I believe you’ve got a decision to relay. You’ve stalled long enough.”
Carter frowns but takes the cell, glancing at the screen before putting it to his ear. “Noretto,” he denotes, then pauses to listen. “That depends. How lenientcan you be while we work out the details?” A long pause ensues, the atmosphere growing thicker. “I’ll send the date, time, and place with Jax.” He ends the call, tossing the phone back without looking.
“Glad you’re finally seeing sense,” Jax says, glancing at Leilani. “Come on. Time to go.”
“Not so fast.” Carter steps in front of him. “First, you’ll explain what the fuck is going on.” He juts his chin at the house in a silent command, and marches toward the building, urging everyone to follow.
Moments later, the six of us sink into the plush furniture around his living room. The other girls are gone, back upstairs under Apollo and Arthur’s watchful eyes.
The less they know the better.
I don’t bother hiding my satisfaction when Leilani holds on to my arm all the way to the love seat and doesn’t even let go once we’re settled. I angle myself toward her just enough so she knows I’m not going anywhere.
“You want a drink,Fury?” Broadway asks her with a grin, as if he can’t feel the atmosphere thickening. “I bet you’re thirsty.”
“Yes, please. Wine.”
He cocks a brow, smiling smug.
It’s barely noon, so I get it, but Leilani doesn’t care, draining half the glass as soon as Broadway hands it over. Her shoulders keep hitching like she can’t breathe right.
Meanwhile, Jax kicks back in the armchair. “Whatever you think you know, you don’t. Trust me, I’d fucking pay you to keep her, but I can’t, so she’s coming with me.”
