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“I can tell them and see if they want to get involved. My guess is they will. And they may want you involved. The game will change. It won’t be just him looking for us. We’ll be looking for him.”
“And if we help them find him?” She looked at me, still holding her voice level and steady.
“I think you know they’re not going to sit down and play Monopoly.” They’d kill Griller, make him disappear the way he would Sky if he found her first.
“Tell them,” she answered, straightaway. “Tell them and see what they want to do. This needs to end.”
“You sure?” It was a big decision. I happened to agree with it. It was the only way to make Griller go away for good. Otherwise she’d have to live on the run, change her identity, always keeping one eye looking over her shoulder. She’d never have a moment of peace, and someday it still might all end the way Griller wanted.
She ran her fingers lightly along her neck, feeling the tender spots where Griller had closed his hand around her throat, strangling her. Looking me straight in the eye, she gave me her answer, “I’m sure.”
I stood up, knowing what I had to do next.
13
Sky
It was only four p.m. and already I was pacing around Zeke’s house like I’d been caged there for weeks. It hadn’t even been 24 hours yet, and I’d slept a good eight of them. But Zeke and Jax were out talking to some of Zeke’s Reaper brothers, and I wanted to know what was going on.
I wasn’t alone. Before they’d left, Jax explained to me that a couple guys were out front. They’d stay parked in the car, leaving me be, unless they saw anything suspicious. Then they’d be all over it.
I poured myself a glass of water, then let it sit untouched on the counter top. I checked the clock over the stove, frustrated at the lack of change in the time. With a glance of disbelief, I realized I was still wearing my wedding ring. Why the hell hadn’t I taken that off yet? I tore it off my finger and threw it into my backpack. Satisfying as it would be to throw it out, even better would be some extra cash in my pocket when I got a chance to hock it.
Glancing at the TV, I knew I could flick it on. But there was no way I could focus on it when I had so much on my mind. I’d already known, before Jax had laid it out for me, there were only two ways this could end. Either Jax and I would die, or Mike would. He wouldn’t quit for anything less.
I knew him too well. I knew what he was capable of, and how he thought. He’d see this situation as black and white, I’d done him wrong and deserved to die. And he’d present it like that to his brothers. I’d cheated on him with Jax, that he was clearly convinced about, and there was some truth to it. Not nearly as much truth as I’d wanted. But Jax and I had crossed the line. Mike would never forgive and forget. He’d get revenge in the most satisfying way he knew how.
I didn’t feel good about going to the Reapers, but I’d seen the Skulls in action for years now. They had a whole bunch of dirty cops on their payroll. It seemed to me like no one in the club ever ended up on the wrong side of the law unless the president wanted it that way. If they got on the big guy’s bad side, then they’d be grateful if all they got was some prison time. At least that way they’d still be alive.
I didn’t know what the Reapers would want me to do, what role they’d ask me to play in going after my husband. But I knew even before I heard what it was, I’d do it. It was Old Testament of me, an eye for an eye, and if it were just me involved I might be more reluctant. I might choose a life of hiding and fear if it were just me suffering.
But Jax was involved, too, whether he wanted to be or not. It wasn’t like he could open up some bar in Mexico and live his life out in the open for the rest of his life. I didn’t know if it would take a month, a year, or more for Mike to get wind of his whereabouts, but he’d do it. The thought of that evil, vile man getting the better of a man like Jax? I couldn’t stand it. This needed to end.
Finally, around five o’clock, Zeke and Jax came back. Zeke put some beers into the fridge and Jax set down two large pizza boxes on the counter.
“Hey.” Jax smiled when he saw me, moving like he was about to give me a hug. I wanted that so bad my body ached. But he held himself back, merely placing a hand on my shoulder. “How you doing?”
“Fine,” I lied, not telling him I felt like jumping out of my own skin. He could probably tell just by looking at me anyway. “How’d it go?”
“Good. It went good.” He turned and started getting out paper plates. He seemed tight-lipped and tense, but that seemed reasonable even if the meeting had gone well.
“He’s going straight to the top tonight.” Zeke clapped Jax on the back, the slap resounding on Jax’s leather jacket. “The big man.”
Jax looked at me and explained, “I’m meeting with the club president tonight. He wants to hear more about it.” In response to my worried look, he added, “It’s a good thing.”
“He’s got to get involved with something like this.” Zeke held up a beer, looking over at me and giving it a tap to ask if I wanted one. This time, I said yes.
“But don’t worry, Sky. You’re in good hands.” He elbowed Jax and Jax elbowed him back. I got a glimpse at their teenage selves and it made me smile.
“Hey, look. There it is.” Jax beamed at me, taking a step closer when, again, he halted.
“What?”
“You’re smiling. I haven’t seen that in months.”
I kept smiling, but down at the floor, shy. Jax always noticed little things like that about me. I couldn’t deny how special he made me feel, like there was something rare and wonderful about me that he could see. I didn’t even feel that way about myself, so it humbled me, the way he observed and praised.
Zeke flicked on a big flat screen TV and the three of us got comfortable on his leather sectional sofa. Some stupid prank reality show was on. I barely paid attention, sitting so close to Jax. I felt aware of his every move, the heat radiating off of his body, the way he stretched his arm along the back of the sofa behind me.
Last night when I’d shown up at his house, I’d been so distraught his presence had barely registered. That was the first time I could say that. I guessed it took multiple physical injuries, nearly killing someone, plus fearing retaliation at any moment to overpower my attraction to Jax. But there I was, the following night, with the old familiar feelings surging through me.
No one had ever affected me like Jax. I’d liked boys since the sixth grade, had plenty of crushes and then a couple of boyfriends before I met Mike. They all paled in comparison, like ripples in a pond instead of a tidal wave. He made me shake, the taut outline of his bicep, the corded strength in his forearm. Even the width of his thighs, so powerful, next to me on the couch. As frightened and unsure about everything as I felt, arousal coursed through me.
I’d almost gone ahead and kissed him when we were in bed together. Waking up with his giant cock pressing against my inner thigh, I’d come so close to leaning in and bringing my lips to his throat. He smelled so good and felt so hot and hard and it had been so long since I’d been near him.
But then I’d remembered the last time I’d seen him. He’d been walking along the street downtown, looking like he didn’t have a care in the world with a leggy blond. She’d tossed her hair back and laughed like Barbie at a pool party. They’d looked good together. He’d looked relaxed, content. I hadn’t really ever seen that in him. Around me, he always seemed wound up and intense. But I’d seen a whole other side to him in that moment downtown. And it had made me pull away from him in bed.
We sat together on the couch, one show bleeding into the next, until Zeke said they should probably get a move on. Jax rose to head to the bathroom. Zeke picked up our used paper plates and brought them to the kitchen. Which meant I was the one who saw Jax’s phone when it buzzed with a call.
I didn’t mean to snoop, but his phone lit up and it was right next to me. I didn’t touch it, try to swipe and answer it. But I did look down into exact
ly the same blond, smiling face that moments ago I’d remembered seeing. There she was, next to me on the couch, buzzing away on his phone. Apparently her name was Nikki. Supes fun!
My stomach twisted up, and I stood just to get away from her image. He probably hated being away from his girlfriend. Cheeks burning with embarrassment, I wondered what she must think of all this mess. How had he described it to her? A friendship with some woman who looked after his grandfather that got a little out of hand. Nothing much had even ever happened between us, but her husband had flipped the fuck out anyway. Jax was probably dying to get back to her, counting the hours until he wrapped this up for good.
“OK, you sit tight. A couple of guys are outside keeping an eye on you.” Jax and Zeke pulled on their jackets, looking like two badasses going to meet with an MC prez. I guessed that was what they were. “You going to be all right?” Jax gave me a lingering look as I stood in the kitchen.
