Page 127 of Chaos

“I felt them.” Pretty sure I’ll have a permanent imprint of them.

It isn’t long before we make it back to Nikolai’s house.

Lara is waiting inside as Nikolai and Alexei carry me from the car. Like a damn invalid.

“Oh my god, Jax!” She gently touches my temple on the swollen side of my face. “Alexei! Nikolai! Why did you let this happen?” She scowls at both of them with her hands on her hips.

Alexei throws up his hands after he deposits me roughly on the couch. “You can’t stop a donkey once it decides to run.” He flops down in one of the recliners.

“Alexei, what does that mean?” I cough out. My ribs are killing me, and my lip is so puffy it’s harder to talk.

He leans back and props his feet up on the hearth by the fireplace. “You. You are the donkey.”

SIXTY-ONE

SOFIA

Song- When The Party’s Over- from the room below, Sleep Token.

Alexei is late.

He and Nikolai have been taking turns bringing me back and forth to work since Jax left. They said it’s safer for me than going alone.

It’s like they aren’t telling me something, but I haven’t figured it out yet.

When he does knock on the door, it’s nearly ten minutes later than normal.

“Alexei! Oh my god! What happened?” He has a bruise on his cheek that’s slowly giving him a black eye.

He waves his hand nonchalantly. “It is nothing. Kids these days like to play rough.” He scoops up Maeve’s car seat and heads towards the back of his car.

“Were you in a fight?” I ask as I follow him out with Maeve in my arms.

He stops and stands, his hair flopping over his eyes as he scratches the tattoos behind his ear. “No, no. It was a donkey.” He grins wide enough to showcase his silver tooth, then lifts Maeve out of my grasp to settle her in her seat.

Alexei’s Russian to English isn’t always very solid, so I let it go.

He pulls up in front of the clinic and lets me out.

“Bye, baby girl. Remember, when Mommy gets home, you get to see Daddy, too.” I give Maeve a kiss on the top of her head before I leave.

She’s been staying with Lara during the days. It’s sure nice to have someone I can trust watching her.

I haven’t heard from Anna for a while. She made it clear last time I talked to her that we aren’t on the best of terms though.

As the day progresses, I can’t tell if it’s nerves or dread making my stomach turn.

The girls I work with seem to notice, and make me promise that I’ll take a night out with them later this week.

“Hello, lady.” Alexei’s eye looks slightly better than it did this morning with tinges of yellow around the edges of the purple.

My stomach flip flops knowing Jax will be at the house. But, as we pull in the driveway, disappointment tinges the nerves when I don’t see his bike or Lambo parked in front.

“Where is he?” I almost half say to myself.

Alexei squints. “Niki will bring him soon. Jax is too wobbly.”

I swear I only understand half of what he says sometimes. “Okay. Thank you for picking me up. Please let Lara know I appreciate her watching Maeve.”

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