Page 164 of Chaos

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.”

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