Jax doesn’t stand, simply raises an eyebrow with a smirk, the ultimate power play. It’s all any of this ever is, and Julian broke first, fueling Jax’s overinflated ego. “Not planning to even cover your half of the bill? Strange, since you’re suddenly so fixated on what’sfair.” The smilefades from his face, showing just how fake his humor is, merely veiling the brutality lurking beneath. Because while Julian may be a bastard that has us do his dirty work for him, Jax has no problem pulling the trigger himself.
With a low growl, Julian tosses one of the hundred dollar bills back on the table, striding from the room, leaving the rest of us behind. A small growl escapes my chest before I can think better of it as I see his marks over Elyse’s body, the low sound cutting off the moment it’s clear both Jax and his guard are watching, that they filed away the information.
Careful not to touch her, I jerk my head in Julian’s direction, hoping they’ll write my slip up off as one of annoyance being saddled with the boss’ current toy. “Unless you want to be left behind, pick up the pace. We’re leaving.”
Nodding quickly, she snatches her jacket from the back of her chair and follows in Julian’s wake. Attention rapt on the two men, I keep them in my line of sight until El rounds the corner, putting a blockade between her and any potential shots before turning my back, my long strides eating up the distance swiftly.
The two of them are waiting just inside of the entryway and I exit the building first, scanning the street to ensure there isn’t a trap waiting before giving them the all clear to climb into the car. I slide into the driver’s seat, Julian beside me and Elyse in the back.
I know better than to ask him what the hell happened back there and he doesn’t offer anything up. The entire drive back to his house I spend lost in thought, and the time passes far too quickly. As I pull to a stop, I finally break.
“Wouldn’t put it past that son of a bitch to try something. Want me to stick around on watch tonight?”
Grabbing the door handle, Julian shoves it open, more agitated than I’m used to ever seeing the man that thrives on his composure. “No.”
Running my tongue over the inside of my teeth, I keep my voice neutral. “Now that the situation with the club is handled, am I taking Elysium back to the house like usual? Get her out of your hair and up to speed for the next job?”
Pursing his lips, he hesitates and I internally scream into the void, pissed off and fucking helpless as I see the refusal before he voices it. “She’s too soft. Your training obviously isn’t enough; I’ll try my hand at it and see if she’s even worth wasting any more time on.” With that, he slams the car door behind him, storming off into the house without waiting for her.
Turning to look at her, she doesn’t have the same look of fear I’ve come to associate with her. No, she lookspissed,and not for the first time, I imagine just flooring it and getting the both of us out of here, trying to outrun the devil.
“El,” I trail off, not really sure what there even is to say. It’s the first time we’ve been alone since that night, and fuck, it feels like so much has already changed that it’s impossible to keep up.
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to give you guys an out,” she declares, determination riding her features hard as she unbuckles. “I pissed away my choices, so I’ll pay the price for that. But you guys deserve another option on the table so we aren’t all stuck.”
Smacking my hand on the center console, I snap. “God damn it, can you forget worrying about us and just think about yourself! It’s like you’retryingto give him a reason to kill you! We deserve whatever the fuck we get, Elyse. We aren’t good people, but you-“ I rake a hand through my hair, huffing out a frustrated breath at the infuriating woman “-you’re better than us. Don’t throw your life away trying to rescue people that can’t be saved.”
Leaning forward, she narrows her bright amber eyes on my face. “You’re a thief, right?” Reaching down her dress, she withdraws a folded piece of paper from between her breasts and slides it across the console until I cover it with my hand. “So you do your job, and I’ll do mine. We each have our roles, remember?” With that, she exits the car, walking straight towards her downfall like she thinks she deserves it.
Turning back around, I slap my hand on the dash. “Fuck!” Watching until the door closes behind her, willingly trapping herself in that prison with a man that sure as shit is going to take out his anger on the only person available, I finally unfold the note she passed me.
Only it’s not a note at all; it’s a map of the house, with two rooms each brandishing a bold ‘X’ on them. A crown marks one that I assume is Julian’s bedroom, and I release a pent up breath when I see a paint brush a short distance away, the artist’s room.
That is, until I see the skull in the attached bathroom labled,Spy #1- Grave’s GF.
“Of course we tell him!” Ev snaps, shattered glass surrounding us in the kitchen from how well he took the news. “He knows that house better than anyone.”
I keep my phone in my hand, praying for it to ring already, that the favor I had to cash in is worth enough for a rush job. “He’s too much of a wild card and you damn well know it. No matter how obsessed he is with Elyse right now, it’ll wear off sooner or later when he gets bored. Julian fucked with his head too much. He isn’t going to turn on him, might even stop us if it comes down to it. This is already a suicide mission; we don’t need to make it worse.”
“You underestimate him,” he scoffs. “Hell, we all do. You haven’t seen the way he looks at her, Mav. Grave would marry that girl in a heartbeat if he thought she’d go for it.”
“There’s a reason we don’t put him as lookout or actually send him inside, Ev. He’s too chaotic.” Tangling my fingers in my hair, I grit out, “And with as pissed off as Julian was, even leaving her alone with him for another day is pushing it. We’ll break in tomorrow night and just tell Grave to be waiting somewhere. We’ll grab him on the way out of town.”
“If it’s that bad, we should go tonight,” he argues. “Before he snaps and decides to kill her.”
I’m already shaking my head, running countless scenarios through my brain damn near constantly, trying to figure out the route that gives all of us our best chance at not being gunned down before we’re off grid. “He’s going to be too keyed up from the meeting with Jax and likely won’t sleep tonight; we either kill him and start running from the cops right then, or we try and give ourselves as much of a head start as possible so we can go somewhere he can’t find us.”
Scrubbing a hand down my face in defeat, I sigh. “One night, that’s all I’m asking so that we can make an actual plan. We might be lucky enough to break into those rooms and find what we’re looking for, destroy it, and kill him then and there. But if not? We need to be able to grab El without waking him up and all just… run. We need to have a fallback plan, and a few hours just isn’t enough time to have a hope of pulling off either plan. Banks are already closed and we can’t get enough out from the ATMs to make a difference. We make a break for it, we need to cover our tracks and haul ass. Every extra minute we can buy ourselves before he puts the call out for our heads could make a difference.”
Uncrossing his arms, he heads for his room so that he can be packing while we continue to waste time arguing about it. He stops with his hand on the doorknob, the metal groaning under his grip as he doesn’t bother to curb his acidic tone. “And what if while we’re busy draining accounts and making plans, he has enough and kills her, huh? You know as well as I do that it won’t be quick. She’ll spend hours being tortured to death, wondering why we never came. Are you willing to risk that? Shit’s never going to be perfect Mav, and we’re never going to be ready. We should just fucking do it.”
“Elyse wants us to trust her to handle herself. She’s not as defenseless as she seems, just plays up that angle to give her the best shot of survival. A strong wind might blow her over, but she’s smart and knows how to play a room to her advantage. She’s endured just as much shit as we have and lived; she’s got this.”
I mentally curse as we finish walking into the room and see Grave lounging on the bed. Everett yanks his go bag from beneath the bed, unzipping the duffle bag and moving to his dresser to add more to it.
Grave’s completely still as he narrows his eyes at me. “Elyse thinks you hate her, you know. If you’re going to go singing her praises, you should do it when she can actually hear them.”
Leaning against the wall, I hold his gaze, waiting for the other shoe to fall. I haven’t spoken to him since the Christmas party, staying the hell out of all of their way, honestly.
