Page 88 of Chaos

Brody and two of his buddies appear out of the shadows.

“You fucked up, Jax.” Brody’s voice cracks. “First my girl, then you shot my dad, then you kill my best friend. We could have been family, man. You took so much from me.” Tears well and spill over his cheeks.

Grabbing Sofia, I pull her behind me. He’s broken. I know what men like that can do.

I am one.

Now he knows how I feel.

Losing a best friend is an agony I’ll never get over.

Kai should be here.

Maybe there’s a fucked-up piece of me that thinks he deserves to feel that pain, too.

Brother.

A fate worse than death. For the pain he’s inflicting on people. He broke Sofia’s heart. And the dead man in the ring threatened her.

To my face.

“You’re a piece of shit, Brody. I don’t treat people the way you do. Using them. Betraying them. Your buddy threatened my girl. If you think I’m not gonna bash his head in for that, you can be next.” My body quivers with adrenaline as I watch the two guys next to him.

“She’s a whore.” His sadness shifts to anger. “I’m glad she’s not my wife. It would have been the biggest mistake of my life.”

Her hand tightens on my arm.

“I’m going to reunite you with your dead fucking friend if you don’t shut the hell up,” I growl. Every nerve ending in my body feels like it’s on fire.

Brody pats his companions with the back of each hand to their chests. “Not now, boys. I have other ways.” His brown eyes narrow as he focuses on me. “You’re going to wish you stayed on my good side, brother.”

FORTY-THREE

SOFIA

Song- Give, Sleep Token

"Jax," I hiss, yanking his arm and notice the tension in his muscles.

Brody's smirk sends a warning signal, and I can practically hear Jax's boiling rage about to explode. I know Brody well enough to see he’s doing this on purpose. He wants me to think Jax is a monster. I need to get Jax away from this.

With a firm grip on his forearm, I use all my strength to pull him back towards me.

“Look at me, Jax. He isn’t worth it. Take me home.”

His nostrils flare as the gym door crashes open behind us. Out barre the Russians, Lara sandwiched between the two men. Alexei's hair is a wild mess as he stalks over to Brody, his eyes filled with a manic intensity.

And, of course, Brody and his friends run toward their bikes.

“Fucking pussies!” Alexei shouts after them, wrapping an arm over Lara.

“Get in the car, Jax. Now.” I keep my tone firm, and point to his Lamborghini behind us. I don’t want to sound like a mom, but he needs a kick in the ass.

Ignoring the anger clouding in his eyes, I go up on my tiptoes and press my lips against his, disregarding the blood and whatever else stains him.

It’s enough for him to relax against me.

"I'm going, I'm going." He smirks. His voice is filled with playfulness as he opens up the driver’s side door for me and then smoothly settles into the passenger seat.

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