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I want to shake him, but a realization comes over me. “He might have left me a message.” I dart around Jax and run to the kitchen, grabbing my phone from the island.
Footsteps sound behind me, and I turn to find Jax and Savage standing there, even as I tab through the messages. “There’s a message,” I say as I put the voicemail on speaker. “Last chance, Sugar. You have an hour to call me back or else. And we both know you both love and hate it when I say ‘or else.’”
I breathe out a shaky breath, my hand trembling with a memory I don’t want to live with Savage standing here. Iwon’tlive it with Savage standing here, so I forcefully shove it aside. My eyes meet Jax’s, and I say the only thing that matters. “He never makes idle threats, and the hour has passed.”
Chapter sixty-nine
Emma
Jax and Savage stare at me, waiting for me to say more, but I block them out.
The words “or else” consume me. I know what that means. I know what that means all too well. Punishment. Pain. More pain.
Needing support, needing to think, I give them my back and grab the counter, my mind creating the many ways “or else” could take shape. In all of them, I’m destroyed, but I’m not concerned about me. I’m concerned about the Knight brand. I’m concerned about Jax.
I glance down at my phone, and I know I have to stop this now before it can’t be stopped. I start to dial York’s number. Jax is with me in an instant, turning me to face him, and taking my phone. “What are you doing?”
“I need to call him. I need to stop him.”
“Stop him from doing what?” Jax asks. “What does ‘or else’ mean?”
“I need to call him now, Jax,” I say, my voice remarkably calm, considering the panic inside me.
“What does ‘or else’ mean to you, Emma?” Jax presses, and when his hand comes down on my waist, I’m right in a way no other human could make me right, not now or ever. But that’s exactly why I can’t be here right now. No. Ever. I can’t be here ever again.
“I need to call York,” I repeat. “I need to call him now.” I try to step around Jax, but he catches my arm.
“Without me, Emma?”
I can feel myself trembling, a mix of anger and panic, along with fear. I’m terrified about what comes next. I’m terrified for him and my brother. “Yes. Alone. I need to handle this alone.”
“You need to talk to me.”
“I need you to let go of me, Jax,” I say, and I’m not talking about in this moment. I’m talking about forever. I now see my mistake in coming here. I see what I’ve allowed to happen.
His eyes narrow, understanding in his face. “Just that easily?”
“There is nothing easy about any of this. I need my phone.”
He pulls me closer. “No. No to the phone until you tell me what’s going on. And no to letting you go.”
“Let go, Jax,” I snap, feverish in my desperation now. “Don’t make me feel trapped right now. Not now. Not now. I need to stop this from happening.”
“We can solve this together.”
“I have resources,” Savage says. “If this is what I think it is, I can handle it.”
If this is what he thinks this is. Lord help me, Savage knows what this is about. Or he thinks he does. Of course, he thinks he does, because he’s investigating York, but he’s wrong. “You can’t begin to know anything, Savage,” I hiss at him, my emotions starting to get the best out of me. “Whatever you think you know, you don’t.” I shove on Jax. “Let go. Let go now. I can’t feel trapped like this right now.”
“Damn it,” he murmurs, and his hands fall away.
Relief and regret fill me. I’m confused and emotional in a way that I’m never confused and emotional. I needed to be free, but I want him to touch me again, and I know I can’t ever let that happen. “I need my phone,” I say, motioning for it.
“Not until—”
I don’t have time to fight with him. I step around him, but then Savage is in my path, and he has a phone. “Get me out of here. Get me away from Jax now. If you’re supposed to protect him, this is what you need to do. Get me out of here and quickly.”
“I need you to tell me what’s happening, Emma,” he replies.
