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“It’s Tomas.”
The worry I'd been suppressing now bubbled to the surface like a volcano about to erupt.
"Put it on speaker," Evan said, and Sebastian answered the call. My heart raced in anticipation as I tried to steady my uneven breathing.
"Sebastian," Tomas said. His snake-like tone made my skin crawl. I fought the urge to gag and clung tighter to Evan. “I hope I’m not interrupting your evening.”
"Cut the bullshit, Tomas. What do you want?" Sebastian said, growling.
“So, you want to get right to the point this time?” Tomas chuckled. “If only you were the one calling the shots here. Fortunately for me, that’s not the case. I’ve discovered something interesting, you see—something that gives me the upper hand.”
He paused dramatically, evidently enjoying dragging this out.
“What do you want, Tomas?” Evan barked.
He clicked his tongue, and I could practically picture the sick satisfaction on his face when he said, “I’ve discovered someone from my own team has been conspiring against me."
Evan tensed up, and my stomach dropped, nausea roiling in my gut. There was only one person he could be talking about: Jax.
“It seems my bastard son still hasn’t learned his lesson. He's been helping you all along, hasn't he?” His tone turned lethal. “Make no mistake, he'll pay the price for his betrayal. And as for our deal… consider it off."
This couldn't be happening, not now, not when we were so close to getting what we wanted—to putting an end to Tomas’s reign and finally starting to build a life together. Then there was Jax. He’d done nothing but help us from the very beginning. What would Tomas do to him? What price would he exact from his own son?
"Listen closely, Sebastian," Tomas said, the threat clear in his voice. "I'm coming for what's mine, and I will stop at nothing to get it."
The line went dead, leaving us all staring at each other in shock. Anger mingled with utter fear at this new development, and my knees felt like jelly.
“Fuck,” Evan said, snarling, slamming his fist into the wall as his own rage got the best of him. I winced at the sound but held onto him, needing his strength to keep me from sinking to the floor.
"Sebastian, we have to do something," I pleaded as panic set in. "We can't let Tomas hurt Jax. Who knows what he’ll do to him?”
“I know, Mariah," he said, his face a dark mask of determination. "We’re going to figure this out. He won’t get away with this.”
Anger rolled off Evan in waves, like heat from the flames, his eyes burning gold. “Sebastian, we need to move quickly. We have to find out where Tomas has taken Porter and get to Jax before it's too late."
Sebastian clenched his jaw, his gaze locked on the phone. "Let’s start with my security team. They’ve been watching the Hawthornes, so they can give us the best lead. At the very least, we’ll have a jumping off point.”
Evan nodded tersely and turned to me. The fierceness in his eyes softened ever so slightly. "Mariah, it’s going to be okay. We’ll find Jax and make sure Tomas doesn’t get to him.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. Jax had done nothing but help us from the beginning. If not for him helping me escape, who knew what Tomas might have done to me? He’d helped us figure out what we needed to do to win the custody case, and risked his own safety to do so. Now he was paying for that kindness.
I swallowed hard, not wanting to think about what Tomas might do.
Evan reached out to gently cup my cheek, his thumb brushing away the tears spilling over. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, determination in his eyes. “We’ll make this right. I swear it.”
I nodded, clinging to the hope he offered, but I couldn’t keep the thought from slipping in.
What if we were already too late?
Chapter 15
Evan
Things were going so smoothly for us. Too smoothly, in fact. Damn it. I should have been more prepared for this. I should have questioned it when Tomas agreed to our terms, but I’d been so damn sure we had this in the bag. I’d wanted to believe it could be that simple. Now we were paying the price.
I pulled Mariah into my arms as her eyes flooded with tears. What if I’d trusted Jax sooner? What if I’d done more to ensure his safety?
“Mariah, I'm so sorry,” I whispered. “If I’d listened to my instincts and trusted Jax from the start, I could've protected him better.”
