Evan probably should’ve let it go, but he wanted to clear the air. “I heard Slade and Atticus had an altercation at Moonshiners. I think Brantley’s merely trying to make them work through their differences.”
“That makes sense. I guess.”
Evan decidednotto mention that Brantley had partnered him with Becs for somewhat the same reason. It hadn’t helped them resolve anything, though. In fact, Evan had successfully fucked it up even more.
At the moment, he wasn’t sure where he stood with her, and as long as he wasn’t talking about her, he wasn’t thinking about that damn kiss. Or the fact that he was more than ready for another.
***
“How long’ve you known Sonny?” JJ askedMolly when she was once again tied to the chair, and Sonny had gone back to brooding across the room.
It had taken all of five minutes for a bathroom break, which had been necessary but not exactly what JJ had hoped for. Yeah, she’d used the bathroom and washed her hands, but not much beyond that. The bathroom consisted of a toilet and a sink and not a single other thing. Not even toilet paper, much to JJ’s chagrin. It did have running water, so that was a plus. But no paper towel holder mounted on the wall that JJ could break off and beat Sonny over the head with. No trash can that she could use as a weapon. And no windows that she could find a way to crawl out of.
And since Sonny had stood outside the unlocked door wielding the syringe full of horse tranquilizer, JJ hadn’t intended to do anything to provoke him. However, she had hoped for something that she could use in the future. If and when the crazy nut jobs decided they were going to cut her baby from her belly. At that point, she was going to do anything and everything to save herself and her baby. Fuck them.
But she prayed it didn’t come to that.
God, she hoped Baz and Brantley were figuring this out. She wasn’t sure how much longer she would last before she lost her cool. It was already becoming difficult to ask questions, but she knew the only way to keep Molly together was to keep her preoccupied.
“About a year,” Molly answered.
“He seems quite fond of you.”
Molly glanced over her shoulder at the creepy redhead pacing the floor on the other side of the room.
When she turned back, that darkness was back. “Sebastian is quite fond of me. Sonny’s just a friend.”
Right.
“We need to talk about how this will work.”
JJ was surprised by her take-charge tone. “Whatwill work?”
“Once I marry Sebastian, we won’t want you anywhere near us.”
She figured she should feel lucky that Molly expected her to be alive after all was said and done. But what was she supposed to do? Agree that she would move to North Dakota, which she’d heard had the harshest winters, and promise never to come back? Would it make Molly feel better? Because if so, JJ would agree to move to China.
“Sonny says the only way to make sure you leave us alone is to kill you.”
Jesus.
“I wouldn’t,” JJ said, suddenly defensive. “When y’all … do … uh …that, I promise, I won’t bother either of you.”
“You did it once before. Why wouldn’t you do it again?”
“I didn’t,” JJ said. “I promise. Baz—Sebastian and I just worked together. That’s all. But if you and him get back together, I’ll move out of state.”
“You’ll have to quit your job, too,” Molly said as though it was a foregone conclusion.
Considering the alternative was this crazy bitch cutting her baby out of her stomach, JJ had no problem going along with it.
“Okay,” she said, ensuring she sounded meek. “I’ll quit if you want me to.”
“I do. It’s the best thing, you know?”
“Yeah. I get it.”
Truth was, JJdidn’tget it. And she never would. But by God, she would do whatever it took to get the peanut through this safely.
