“Enzo, tell me who the fuck is at my house!” I put him on speaker as I slide on my helmet and get on my bike.
Sofia called and it got cut, now I can’t get through and my fucking security system isn’t working on my phone.
I look behind and motion for Nikolai and Alexei to follow, leaving the others to clean up the four dead Reaper’s we’ve left bleeding out on the rubble.
I accelerate onto the main road,
“Hold on, Jax. It looks like a blonde woman, small build.”
“Anna?” I ask through gritted teeth weaving through the traffic. I’m only a few minutes from home.
“Yes. It looks like it. The guards got back to me, Sofia is fine. But, be warned, you may need to do a clean up.”
Oh fuck.
“That’s fine, I’ve got Alexei and Nikolai with me. I’ll sort it. Thank you.”
He cuts the call and I pull into the drive just as Lara pulls up. I pull off my helmet and hold my hand up to her.
“Stay in the car,” I order, rushing into the house.
The first thing I see is blood, all over my floor and a shaking Sofia standing over the body.
I carefully approach her.
“Sofia, baby. Are you hurt?”
I softly cup her cheek and scan her body for marks, feeling less murderous when I fail to find anything.
“I-I think I killed her,” Sofia whispers, her trembling hands now covering her eyes. I pull her against me and hold her tight.
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart. Let’s go sit down.”
I guide us towards the couch and help her sit.
“Dadada,” Maeve claps from her playpen, completely oblivious to anything. I pick her up and turn my back to the body on the floor just as a wide eyed Alexei walks through the door.
“Oh shit,” he turns back to look at a stern Nikolai.
“Is she okay?” Nikolai asks me and I nod.
I take a seat next to Sofia with Maeve cuddled against me and wrap an arm around her shoulders.
“I need you to tell me what happened, baby. It’s important.”
“S-she’s with Brody, he told her to take Maeve. She came at me, I pushed her and she hit her head. Really hard, Jax. I swear I heard something crack,”
Good I think to myself.
Wait. What did she just say?
I hold Maeve tighter as she snuggles into me.
“Brody tried to steal our daughter, is that what you just said, sweetheart?” I try my hardest to keep the rage from my tone.
She lets out a sob and nods.
“The bitch isn’t dead!” Alexei calls out and I look up and he’s prodding her arm.
“Nik, get some water, ice cold,” he orders.
Sofia’s head comes up as she watches Nikolai pour water over Anna. I press a kiss to Sofia’s cheek.
If she’s alive, she can fucking answer us.
“Can you take Maeve upstairs while we deal with this,”
“Y-yes, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get some answers,” I place Maeve in her arms.
“I’ll send Elena up with you.”
Anna groans as I stand.
“Get a chair and tie her to it, she’s not going anywhere,” I say, cracking my knuckles as Sofia takes Maeve.
“Alexei, you tie the whore.”
“Normally that sentence has a much sexier meaning,” he grins at me.
The front door flies open just as Alexei gets the last knot tied.
Lara puffs through with a guard trailing helplessly behind. “It looks like a parking lot outside. I thought you men were supposed to be out chasing bad guys.” She stops when she steps past Nikolai. “Who is she?”
“This—” I grab Anna’s blonde hair and tilt her semi-conscious head back. “—is Sophia’s bitch of an ex-friend, Anna.” I let go, and her chin falls back against her chest.
“Why is she tied, Alexei?” She turns to him.
He backs away, holding up his hands. “Just doing what Jax asked.”
Anna groans, her swelling eyes blink rapidly as she looks up at us. “Shit.”
Fury swells in me and I grab her shoulders, shaking her violently. “Tell me everything before I beat it out of you!” I yell into her face.
A small hand taps on my shoulder hard enough I glance back.
Lara has her arms crossed over her chest and she shakes her head slowly. “Jax, that is not how you torture a woman.”
“What? Yea, pain makes even the biggest men talk.” Looking back at Anna, she’s not very big. It wouldn’t take much to break her.
And, as angry as I feel, I could tear her in half.
“Women are made to endure agony. What hurts the most, is to damage our hearts.” She flits her hands, shooing me away. “Let me show you.”
Stepping past Anna, she picks up the oversized bag on the counter and begins to rifle through it. “Hmm, what is this?” She tosses out a plastic baggie filled with a pale yellow powder.
Alexei picks it up and opens it. Sticking his finger in, he puts a tiny bit on his tongue.
Nikolai slaps him in the back of the head. “Fool. What if that was poison?”
Alexei shows off his silver tooth as he grins. “Not deadly, but I might sleep well tonight.”
Lara pulls Anna’s cell from the depths of her purse. “Here we go. Look, even opens with a thumb.” She glances at me. “A little help?”
Prying Anna’s hand open takes more effort than I thought it would before Lara presses the phone to her pad.
“Let’s see what we can find.” The tip of her tongue sticks out as she scrolls through the unlocked device. “Oh. Here we go, messaging your boss that you want to fuck him. And, here, is this your new bff?” Lara flips the screen so Anna can see it.
Anna doesn’t answer.
Lara types furiously. “Well. Guess what, you just fucked her husband. Naughty girl.”
Anna’s eyes open wide. “No! You didn’t!”
There’s a thump as Alexei slumps onto the floor against the cabinet.
“Don’t worry.” Nikolai lays him flat. “He’s still breathing.”
“Oh, girl. Your friend is so mad at you!” Lara giggles as Anna squirms, making her chair shift. “I will make it better.” Her thumbs fly in a heated response. “Oops. Sounds like she’s calling Brody to tell him about some guy named Mike?”
“Stop! I’ll talk!” Anna whines through her split lips. “Brody is the one who drugged you. He wanted to get back at you by faking a paternity test and taking Maeve. He promised me diamonds and a free ride if I just got her.”
My vision starts to cloud red. Knotting my fingers in her tangled blonde hair, I jerk her to face me. “He did what?”
“Brody set you up to make it look like you slept with Stacy.” Tears stream down her cheeks as she looks up at me. “He wanted to get back at you.” Her eyes flick to the stairs where Sofia went. “He’s still mad you got her. Which, honestly, pisses me off. Please, just let me go, you’ll never see me again.”
My arm raises. I want to drive my fist through her snotting nose so badly, I—
Nikolai’s giant hand grabs my elbow, holding me back. “She might be more useful alive. I want to hear more about these diamonds.”
“Fuck them. Where’s Brody?” Grabbing her jaw, I make her see the anger seething in my eyes.
“I, I don’t know. He said he would meet me back at their club in an hour when I had Maeve.”
Alexei snores loudly with a ribbon of drool running down the corner of his face.
Nikolai pulls me away. “Go. We will follow.”
“Tell Sof where I went.” Digging out my own phone, I pull up Enzo’s number.
“Yes, Jax?” His gravelly voice sounds like I interrupted him.
“Enzo, I need a favor. It’s an emergency. I gotta track someone down.”
