Текст книги "Shattered"

Автор книги: Cynthia Eden

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 19 страниц)

Chapter 13

JAX’S PHONE WAS RINGING AGAIN. HE STARED UP AT the old house, and his gaze slid over the windows. The ones on the first floor were boarded up. The windows on the second floor were covered by old, sagging shutters.

A balcony swept around the side of the place, and big, columns—columns that had once been a bright white but were now a faded gray—supported the structure.

He’d been led to this place. If he went inside, the bastard was supposed to be waiting for him. He’d been told to come without cops. Without backup of any kind.

Did the guy think he was a fool?

He looked down at his phone. Saw Brent’s number this time. Frowning, he picked it up.

“Jax!” Brent’s voice seemed strained. “Where are you and what the hell are you doing?”

He tilted his head back. “Five-oh-eight Dubois Street.” A street with overgrown azaleas and twisted oaks. “And I’m waiting for the cops to arrive.”

“What?”

“The man who took Molly Guthrie may be waiting inside or . . .” Jax exhaled slowly. “Maybe he just thinks I’m a dumbass who will walk straight into a building that’s probably wired to explode if I so much as breathe on the door.”

“Jax, stay where you are, do you understand? I’m on my way!”

He could see police cars rushing down the road. Their sirens weren’t blaring—a good thing. He’d warned them to come in silently, just in case. “Better hurry,” Jax told Brent. “Looks like the show is getting started.”

HE HUMMED AS he positioned his prey. Moving him a bit to the left, because he wanted this picture to be absolutely perfect. He’d sliced with his knife, a drive straight to the fool’s heart. In and out.

Easy.

He wondered when the body would be found. Who would find it. Oh, but he could hardly wait to see what would come next.

His knife tapped on his victim’s face. Then cut through the gag. But the guy wasn’t trying to talk anymore. He wasn’t doing anything.

He was stone-cold dead.

THERE WAS A line of police cruisers leading up to 508 Dubois Street. Lots of cop cars, but, thankfully, no terrible blaze rising into the air.

As soon as Brent braked his car, Sarah leapt out. She could see Carlos in the vehicle behind her. A silent guard who was still shadowing her. Sarah didn’t stop to talk with him. She ran toward the cops, calling, “Jax! Jax!”

“I’m here, Sarah.”

She turned.

He was leaning against the front of a patrol car. Looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. His arms were crossed over his powerful chest. He had on a short-sleeved, white T-shirt, and the shirt stretched over his muscles and contrasted with the dark swirl of his tattoos.

She rushed to him and had one of those instances in which she wasn’t sure if she wanted to yell at him for taking such an insane risk or if she just wanted to hug him tight.

But then, she didn’t do either thing. She stumbled to a stop in front of him. Sarah glared up at Jax. “Do you have some kind of death wish?”

One blond brow rose. “Not to my knowledge.”

Not to his . . . Her teeth clenched. “When a psychopath calls you, you don’t run out to confront him yourself!”

He was staring over her shoulder, at the old house. “He wasn’t here.”

Sarah wanted to catch that guy—so badly—but she was glad he hadn’t been there. “Good, that’s why you’re still alive.”

His gaze shifted to focus on her.

“He’s baiting you.”

“He said he would kill you. That he would slice you up, Sarah.” His hands closed around her shoulders. “You think I would let that happen?”

“And do you think I want anything happening to you?” No. “He’s pulling you into this mess because of me. Because he knows that we’re involved and he’s using you in order to get to me—”

“He knows things that he shouldn’t.”

Sarah shook her head.

“About my past.” Jax’s voice lowered. “He knows things that I only told you and your LOST members. The bastard said that if I came here, alone, he’d tell me about my past.”

“He’s lying to you,” she said. Couldn’t Jax see that? “I don’t know how he found out—maybe the jerk put a bug in Gabe’s hotel room—but he wasn’t going to tell you anything.”

“I know that.”

The bomb-sniffing dogs were running around, but they didn’t appear to be catching any scents.

“And he knew,” Jax continued roughly, “that I wasn’t coming over to talk. I was coming over to kill him.”

“Jax . . .”

He smiled at her. “But I changed my mind. I called the cops. I didn’t come armed to send the bastard to hell.”

Her heart was beating too fast.

“And do you know why I did it?”

Sarah shook her head.

“For you. Because I wanted you to think I was more than a fucking killer.” His eyes darkened as he stared at her. “But now I’m wondering, hell, maybe she already thinks that. Everyone else does. What do you see, Sarah, when you look at me?”

She stepped closer to him. “I told you before, I see strength.” Sarah wrapped her arms around him and held tight. “I see the man I want.” A man she was coming to need, more and more, with every moment that passed. “I see you.”

She stayed there with him, her hands linked with his, and she watched as the cops searched the scene. They didn’t turn up any bombs and the man they were looking for wasn’t there.

Maybe he never had been.

Maybe it was all just one of his sick games.

The sun rose, sliding higher and higher into the sky. By the time the cops gave the all-clear, it was close to noon.

And Sarah knew exactly what she had to do. “Will you . . . come with me, Jax?”

“Where?”

“Back to my past. There’s someone there that I have to face.” She didn’t want to see him. Sarah had vowed once that she would never see him again, but, this time, she didn’t have a choice.

It was time for Sarah to visit her dad, Murphy the Monster.

A faint furrow appeared between Jax’s eyes. “But first,” she told him. “We’re going to need to make a little pit stop.”

“ARE YOU SURE about this?” Brent asked Jax as they walked down the hospital corridor. “I mean, yeah, I get that Sarah is keen on you seeing Molly to clear up suspicion, but . . .” He grabbed Jax’s hand. “How do you know that girl won’t start screaming as soon as you walk into the room?”

“I know because I’ve never done anything to hurt her.” And Sarah wanted him to go out of town with her. He couldn’t fly out until the cops cleared him. So . . . time to check in with Molly Guthrie.

“I don’t like this,” Brent said. “I really freaking don’t.”

There were plenty of things that Jax didn’t like right then. The big thing on his list? The crazy SOB who was trying to play games with his life.

Sarah pushed open the door to Molly’s room. Jax squared his shoulders, and then he went inside. Molly was lying down, so still at first that he actually thought she was dead. But then he heard the beep of her machines and she slowly turned her head to look at him.

Her eyes widened. “I . . . remember you.”

“Shit,” Brent muttered. “Here we go . . .”

“You carried . . . me out.” Her lips trembled. “You carried . . . me . . . thank you.”

Jax didn’t know what he was supposed to do. Helpless, he looked Sarah. She mouthed, Go take her hand.

He crossed the room. Touched the slender fingers that had been reaching out to him.

“Th-Thank you . . .” Molly whispered.

He squeezed her hand. “You’re the one who survived that bastard. All I did was run down some stairs.”

Her lips lifted. The smile was weak, but it was there.

When he looked up a few moments later, Sarah had slipped from the room.

“YOU CAN’T BE serious,” Gabe said, glaring at Sarah. “This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. Don’t do it.”

“Damn bad, Sarah,” Wade echoed. “You don’t need to talk with him. We can figure this out on our own. We always do.”

She’d known they wouldn’t exactly be game-on about her plan to travel to her father’s prison. “I think my dad knows him. He knows who this guy is.”

Gabe’s eyes briefly closed. He’d been stitched up, bandaged up, and then—according to Eve—he’d jumped out of the ER while the docs had their backs turned. Eve had told Sarah that was SEAL mentality. If Gabe wasn’t shot in the heart or head, he wasn’t staying down.

“Knows him?” Wade said. “What . . . you think they killed together?”

“No.” She glanced back over her shoulder. Molly’s door was still shut. She couldn’t be in there with Molly without guilt eating her alive. “I think that he wants revenge on my dad. The same way that Eddie did.” That was actually why she thought the perp had used Eddie. “All of my father’s victims weren’t found.” A stark and sad truth. “I have to get him to tell me about the others because one of those victims . . . our perp is tied to one of them.”

“And you think your dad is just going to offer up this information? Sarah, I know how he got arrested,” Gabe said. His expression held sympathy, a sympathy that just made her feel even more uncomfortable right then. “I know what happened between you. I know—”

“I’ve visited him since then.”

Gabe’s lips parted, but he didn’t speak.

“There is more that you don’t know.” She straightened her spine. “Jax is coming with me.”

“Sarah . . .”

“I think the rest of the team should go back to Atlanta. We found Molly. Your job is done here.”

Wade growled, a low sound of frustration. “And will you be coming back to Atlanta?”

“After I find the man who took Molly.” Once he wasn’t a threat to anyone else, then, yes, she’d be heading home, too.

Wade stepped toward her. “Sarah, we’re not leaving you alone!”

“She’s not alone.”

Sarah glanced back. She hadn’t even heard that door open, but Jax was there.

“She’ll be with me,” Jax said.

“That is not the reassurance I wanted,” Wade muttered.

“Too bad,” Jax threw back. “It’s what you’re getting.” His hand curled around Sarah’s hip.

Wade’s stare dropped to that hand. “Like that, huh?” He shook his head. “Sarah, do you know what you’re doing?” Worry was there. Concern.

I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m protecting my team. “Go back to Atlanta,” she told him and Gabe. “Take the rest of the team and just go back.”

Gabe whistled. “You think he’s coming after us.”

He’d always been sharp. That was why she’d agreed to work for LOST.

“I think that he’ll do anything to get to me. I think you’ve been shot and Wade nearly wound up dead.” Her chin lifted. “We don’t need to take any more chances. This guy—he’s got a vendetta against me. I won’t let you be risked.”

“But—what? Jax over there can handle the risk?” Wade’s face tightened. “Better than an ex-SEAL and an ex-cop? Better than men who’ve been trained for this shit?”

“I tend to handle myself pretty well,” Jax murmured with a casual shrug. “In any situation.”

“Sonofabitch,” Wade snapped.

Gabe smiled. “I’m sure Jax is well accustomed to danger.” His head inclined. “But I’m not accustomed to abandoning my team when the shit hits the fan.”

“Gabe—”

“When you get back, I’ll be eager to learn what your father had to say.”

Wade was pacing now. “This is such a bad idea.” He pointed at Gabe. “You thought it was a bad idea five minutes ago, too. Only now you’re changing your mind. What? Is everyone going crazy? Everyone but me?”

“If her father knows who this man is, then she has to see him.” Gabe closed the distance between them. As he gazed down at Sarah, his expression softened. “But be careful, and whatever you do, don’t let that asshole get into your mind again.”

Sarah nodded. She’d try. The goal, this time, was for her to get into the mind of her dear old, twisted dad.

“Be safe,” Gabe told her.

Wade stopped his pacing. “Jax, you guard her with your life, understand?”

“Wade, he doesn’t—” Sarah began.

“No one will hurt her,” Jax promised. “Not without going through me.” His words were flat and cold and scary. Sarah knew that he believed exactly what he’d just said, and, from the grudging nod that Wade gave, she knew that he believed Jax, too.

Jax Fontaine was a powerful, dangerous man.

He was also an enemy that you didn’t want to have.

THE ONLY MOTEL close to Biton Penitentiary was little more than a truck stop. Small and old, the place was not exactly where Jax would have preferred to spend the night with Sarah.

But their plane had landed so late that they couldn’t get in the prison then. It was nearing midnight, and this no-tell motel was their only option.

“Oh, look,” Sarah said. “I think the bed vibrates.”

He heard a squeak and a bounce, and he looked over to see Sarah on the bed. She’d just pushed a button and that bed was seriously moving.

“It does,” Sarah said as she shook.

He dropped their bags and just watched her. Sarah was smiling up at the ceiling and she was . . . humming softly. He frowned because he thought he knew that song.

Jax walked closer to her. “Sarah, what are you humming?”

She immediately stopped. “I don’t hum.”

Uh, yeah. She had been. She’d been humming a tune. And it sounded so familiar to him. Like something he’d heard when he was a kid.

She turned off the bed. Lay still. Her smile was gone. Her whole expression was just . . . empty. Like a light had been switched off inside her.

“Sarah . . .”

She sat up. Stared at him. Only she didn’t look quite like his Sarah. She was different. Cold. And when she looked at him, Jax could have sworn that he saw calculation in her gaze. “I know you want something from me,” she said.

Did he now? “And what’s that?”

“I haven’t figured it out, not exactly. But I mean, why else would you come all this way? Why take these risks? It’s not as if you took one look at me and fell in love.”

He stalked closer. “You seem very sure about that.”

“You’re not the type of man to fall in love. Not at first sight and, well . . . after what happened between you and Emma, maybe not at all.”

He sat on the bed next to her. It immediately sagged beneath his weight. “I care for Emma.”

“Caring and loving aren’t the same.”

He put his hands on either side of Sarah, caging her in place. “And you and Emma aren’t the same, either.”

“Why did you let her go?”

“Because she didn’t really want the man I was. She was looking for a way out.” They’d both been kids on the street, desperate. For a time, they’d clung to each other. “She found her way out.” She’d fought for her freedom from the past. But Jax knew, every time she looked at him, she just saw darkness and pain. She remembered what it was like to have nothing.

To want everything.

“What will you do . . .” Sarah asked and her face was still too emotionless. “When you find your family? Are you going to talk with them? Or are you going—”

“To just keep living my life?” Because that was an option. Doing nothing. “I just want to know who they are.”

Her gaze fell. “Maybe you’re better off not knowing, did you ever think of that?”

Now it was his turn to laugh, and that laughter was bitter. “I grew up with an abuser. He spent his days hitting Charlene, because she’d get between him and me. He took me . . . he was a fucking kidnapper, and in the end, he got exactly what he deserved.”

Death.

“You did it,” Sarah said.

He leaned in closer to her. “You don’t really want me to confess, do you? Because then you might have to tell someone about what I did.”

She didn’t pull away. Her hand lifted and touched his cheek. “No, I won’t tell anyone. Haven’t you realized it yet?” She leaned forward and kissed him. “Your secrets are safe with me.” The kiss was slow, sensual. So soft. Her lips feathered over his and her tongue lightly teased him.

“And you,” he growled back against her delectable mouth, “will always be safe with me.”

Her hand slid up his cheek. Sank into his hair. “I will learn all of your secrets, Jax. And they won’t scare me.”

He kissed her. Harder, deeper than she’d kissed him. “Good.” Because he wanted her to know, even if he was reluctant to say the words himself. Sarah had come into his life and she’d taught him about fear.

He’d been afraid when she’d been in the fire. Terrified that he wouldn’t get to her in time.

And when he thought of her turning away from him . . . because she might come to hate him or be disgusted by him . . .

Fear.

He tumbled her back onto the bed. He’d been slow with her before. He’d savored her. She truly was a woman to be savored.

But something seemed to be happening in that room. To her. To him. To them.

Emotions were tangling out of control. The present—it was a time bomb, and he just needed—

“Fuck me, Jax.”

Her. She was what he needed.

He pulled back, just enough to yank open her jeans and shove them down. She kicked off her shoes. Tossed the jeans and her underwear. Then she was straddling him. Wrapping her legs around him and bringing her sex against his crotch. His dick was long and hard because—this was Sarah. He always got turned on by Sarah.

She jerked open the snap of his jeans. Pulled down the zipper, and then her hot, soft hands were pumping him. Again and again. She swiped her thumb over the tip of his arousal, and then she brought her thumb up to her mouth and sucked it. Her eyes were on his as Sarah tasted him. She was so sexy that he thought he might explode right then.

But Sarah pushed up. Her hands closed around his shoulders as she positioned her body. And her sex brushed against him. Warm silk but . . .

“Condom,” Jax gasped out. He grabbed for his pants, started to put on the condom as fast as he could—

“I’d like to feel you,” Sarah said. “Skin to skin.”

He stilled, his whole body locking down as a surge of primal arousal flooded him. He would like nothing more than to fuck her, skin to skin, nothing between them. Nothing at all.

“I’m clean,” Jax told her, because he was fanatical about protection. He never wanted to risk having a child he didn’t know about. A child out there who was wondering . . .

Where’s my dad?

No, Jax slammed the door on the thought.

“So am I,” Sarah said.

And an image popped into his head. A baby, with Sarah’s smile. The real smile that didn’t come often enough. His heart seemed to hurt.

“But I’m not on the pill,” Sarah said. Her eyes looked so deeply into his.

She’s different. I want to be with Sarah. But . . .

He wanted to protect her, too. Because he had plans for Sarah. Plans that lasted far longer than a few dangerous days in New Orleans. But he wouldn’t be forcing her to stay with him because she was pregnant.

She’d stay because she wanted him. Just as desperately as he wanted her.

He kissed her. Heard that soft, sexy moan that she gave, and it just made him want her all the more. His hand slid between their bodies. When he touched her, Sarah was hot, but not nearly wet enough, not for him. He needed her wild, just the way he liked her.

So he stroked her.

“Jax, now!”

No, not now. Not yet. He was holding tightly to his control, for her.

He slid his index finger into her, then worked another finger into her tight sheath. She closed around him, feeling fucking fantastic, and he knew he’d explode when he drove balls-deep inside her.

His thumb pressed to her clit. He pushed and heard that moan come again. He pushed—

Her nails dug into his shoulders. “I need you.” Sarah kissed a hot path down his neck. Licked. Bit lightly. “Don’t make me wait, Jax. Don’t.”

He couldn’t refuse her. Not his Sarah.

His fingers withdrew. She was nice and wet now. Ready for him to sink inside her hot core.

Jax drove into her. His hands locked around her hips, probably digging in too deeply, but Sarah just arched toward him. Faster and harder they went and he was pretty sure they were breaking that old bed.

He didn’t care.

She was a tight glove around him. Every arch and glide of her body just pushed him ever closer to the edge of his control. He’d never wanted anyone the way he wanted Sarah.

No one would ever be like her.

She stiffened against him, her delicate muscles tensing, and he eased back because he liked to see the pleasure sweep over her face.

Fucking beautiful.

Then he pulled her down against him, holding her even closer, and he plunged into her. The orgasm pumped through his body, hollowing him out, and he shuddered against her. Jax pressed a kiss to her throat, right over her frantically pounding pulse. Kissing her hard there, wanting to mark her. Wanting everyone to know that Sarah was his.

Just as he was hers.

BRENT WEST KNEW that he should go home. There was no reason for him to keep staying at the hospital. Molly Guthrie was recovering. The docs and nurses were watching her, and the captain had given approval for one of the uniformed cops to keep guard that night.

But . . .

He slipped into Molly’s room. She was still hooked to machines. Their steady beeping filled the air. Her head was turned away from him and she seemed to be gazing out of the darkened window. She wasn’t, of course, she was probably asleep and—

“I know it’s you, Detective West.”

A ripple of surprise ran though him.

“I can smell your cologne.” Her head turned and she glanced over at him. He saw that Molly was very much awake.

He blinked at her response. “I . . . ah, my mom gave me that.” Hell, that was a stupid damn thing to say. He knew it was. Especially considering that it just reminded Molly that her own mother—

“Your mom has good taste.”

He found himself taking a step closer to her. She looked better. Not that stark white pallor to match the sheets. She almost seemed to have a touch of color in her cheeks. The shadows were still heavy under her eyes, but . . .

“Were you there, when my brother died?”

He should have never walked into her room that night. “Yes.”

“Will you tell me what happened to him?”

Brent shook his head. “You should rest tonight. You need to get your strength back.”

“Please . . . tell me.”

That one word pierced through him. Please. He knew this girl . . . no, this woman, hadn’t begged her captor. But she was right there, begging him. “Don’t,” he said as he took another step toward her. “Don’t you ever beg anyone for anything.”

She licked her lips. Nodded.

Oh, hell. “He was shot. A guard . . .” A stupid, overzealous guard. “Your brother had been given some bad drugs, Molly. They messed with his mind. We didn’t realize how much, not until it was too late. He grabbed a scalpel. A nurse was there and the guard . . . he . . . fired.” The words seemed so cold.

Molly’s hands had fisted on the covers.

He reached over and his fingers curled around hers. “He said something, there at the end.”

“What?” Her voice was so hoarse.

“He said that he loved you. He knew you’d been found. I told him you were safe, and the last thing he said was that he loved you.”

Her head turned away from him. He could see her shoulders shaking. The machines were starting to get louder. He expected the nurses to rush in at any time and demand that he leave.

But he didn’t want to leave Molly.

His hand curled around her shoulder. She turned back toward him, moving fast, and she reached out to him.

Hugged him.

He didn’t move. The last thing he wanted was to push her away and hurt Molly. She’d been hurt enough. But . . .

“Thank you,” Molly said.

She had nothing to thank him for. If he’d just gotten to the med ward two minutes faster, she wouldn’t be grieving then. Her brother would be alive. Brent had been too slow.

“I loved him, too,” she told him. He could hear the tears in her voice.

His hand brushed over her hair. Molly looked up at him. “Will you stay, just until I sleep?”

He nodded.

“I feel better,” Molly said, “when you’re here.”

He pulled a chair closer to the bed. “Then I’ll stay as long as you need.”

She smiled at him, and Brent knew he wasn’t going anyplace.

SARAH’S EYES OPENED. The room was dark around her. A nightmare hadn’t woken her, not this time. She reached out, but the bed next to her was empty.

That was why she’d woken. Because Jax wasn’t there.

She sat up in bed, pulling the covers to her chest. “Jax?”

“I’m here.”

Her head turned toward his voice. After a moment, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and she saw him standing near the window. He appeared to be staring out at the night.

“Is something wrong?”

“I don’t always sleep so well.” He dropped the curtain and walked toward her. She could hear the sound of the floor squeaking beneath his feet. “I didn’t want to keep you up.”

“You didn’t.” She reached out for his hand. Wound her fingers through his. Then she remembered when she’d been with him before. She’d woken from her nightmare at his house, and he hadn’t been in bed. “Do you want to talk about it?”

He tried to pull away. She just held his hand tighter. “I’m not asking as a shrink,” she told him quickly. “I’m just asking because if you want to talk, I want to listen.” He’d heard all about her darkest moments. She wanted to hear his.

“There are some things you shouldn’t know.”

There were some things that Sarah wished she didn’t know, but those things . . . they weren’t about Jax. When it came to him, she wanted to know everything.

“I’m not going to judge you.” She wished that she could see his face, but it was too dark.

“No, but you just might run hell fast away from me. And that’s not an option for me. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.” She didn’t want to lose him. They had something together. Something between them that she didn’t fully understand, but she wanted nonetheless. She’d never had someone who made her feel so comfortable. Someone who seemed willing to risk so much, for her.

“Don’t be so sure of that, pretty Sarah.”

Pretty Sarah. He’d called her that from the beginning. And she liked the way his voice roughened when he said her name.

“I’ve done things that might scare even you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe that.”

“I’ve lied, stolen . . .”

That was supposed to scare her?

“I learned to use my fists far too early. When someone hurt me, I always struck back.”

“Still not afraid.” She wasn’t.

He sat down on the bed. The mattress dipped beneath his weight. “What do you think happened to the man who took me?”

Her breath froze in her lungs.

“Do you think I just let him walk away? I always knew what he’d done. It was in the back of my head. And all those years . . . he kept hitting Charlene. Kept hurting me. Did you think I was just going to let that all go?”

She could feel her lower lip trembling. To stop that movement, Sarah caught her lower lip between her teeth. And she waited.

“One day, he slammed Charlene’s head into the wall. She didn’t get up, just lay there, hurting . . . hurting so much. He was standing over her, ready to swing again, and I wasn’t going to let it happen.”

Her fingers were still twined with his.

“I ran at him. Hit him as hard as I could and he just . . . fell down the stairs. I heard his neck when it snapped. I knew what had happened. It’s a sound I’ll never forget.”

Jax!

“He didn’t die right away. I walked down to the bottom of the stairs. His eyes were wild, and he was trying to talk. I just stared at him because I knew there wasn’t a damn thing that could be done. A few moments later, his eyes closed. He was gone.”

Sarah was silent, still biting her lip.

“You’re supposed to say something, Sarah.” His voice roughened. “Call me a murderer. Pull away from me. Get the phone and call the cops!”

Did he really think that was what she would do? “Self-defense.” An act that got out of control. “You didn’t mean to push him down the stairs—”

“Didn’t I? I meant to stop him, Sarah, by any means.”

Her left hand came up, and, in that darkness, pressed to his face. She could feel the rough growth of stubble along his hard jawline. “And I meant to stop my father that day.” Her finger had been squeezing the trigger. So ready to take that shot. If he hadn’t stopped . . . “I don’t really see how you and I are so different.”

“We are.” His head turned, and he pressed a hot kiss to her palm. “Because you didn’t ditch the body and lie to the cops. I did. Charlene helped me. And then, a few weeks later, she killed herself because she couldn’t stand to see what I’d become.”

“No.” Her denial was immediate. Absolute. “That’s not what happened.”

“You weren’t there. I was. I saw her, fading away each day. She couldn’t even look me in the eye, and she’d jump every time she so much as heard a creak of sound. She couldn’t handle what I’d done. She couldn’t handle me. I—I loved her, and she killed herself to get away from me.”

“No.” The denial came again, even harder this time. “I don’t believe that, Jax. You saved her life. You protected her.”

“Not soon enough,” he said, and she heard the guilt in his voice. “She was the reason I survived that hell, and I’m the reason she died.”

“Jax, you don’t know what she was thinking. You don’t know—”

He’d lifted her hand up higher and he pressed a kiss to the scar that slid along her inner wrist. “I never want to do anything to hurt you. Sarah, don’t leave me.”

Something seemed to break inside her at his words. “I’m not going anywhere.” She pulled him fully down on the bed with her. And Jax just held her. He cradled her against his chest and his arms curled around her back.

Sarah had never felt more protected.

And she’d never felt as if she belonged with someone else, to someone else, more than she did in that moment.

His words hadn’t scared her, they’d just made her understand him—and the connection they seemed to have—all the more. They’d both been through hell. Both battled their own demons, and they both weren’t ever going to completely shake their pasts.

But the past didn’t have to determine their future.

“Good night, Sarah,” Jax whispered.

Sleep tight. You know you’re safe tonight.

She closed her eyes.