Page 29 of How Much For a Life of Lies?

“Team,” I managed to force out.

“There’s no one right now,” he said. “I’ve got this.”

I wanted to insist that he take me with him, but my worries smoothed out as exhaustion and pain overwhelmed me, dragging me down like an anchor. My last conscious thoughts were about Charlie. I knew I’d been right to leave him with Jax because look at me now, fucked up and in agony. I could have died today, and he would never know how much I loved him, but he wouldn’t miss me.

He would never know me.

“Tell… tell… Charlie…”

The argument in the car had started with an exchange of fierce, heated words as emotions ran high. But then I’d rolled over, knew I was a liability. He was going to go it alone, risking everything for the sake of his mission, stubborn, determined to see things through to the end, no matter the cost.

“Fuck you, Zach!” Kai yelled at me, which just seemed wrong. “Tell him yourself!”

The journey was rough, the pain levels increasing, and Kai made me take more meds. I was certain he spent most of the journey to wherever the hell he was taking me to hide out shouting down the phone at various people. I slept, and I didn’t feel the pain when I was asleep.

But then the car stopped, and he shouted at someone, “We need a bed for him!”

“Kai, stop shouting,” I tried to stop him.

“Bed?” he snapped, and I stumbled after him as he half-lifted me up some stairs. “Stay the fuck here!” he ordered me. “Do not fucking leave this fucking house!” he added.

My eye hurt when I bounced on the bed; I recall the bad guys beating me with something after the bullet took me down. A bat? The gun? I couldn’t remember. My arm throbbed, the crude sling too much for me to move, but loose enough that I knocked my injury as my world spun.

Where was I?

I couldn’t breathe.

“Zach?” Someone called my name. Who was that? I attempted to open my eyes, and after the biggest struggle as pain gripped me, I managed to see the man staring down at me.

My mirror image.

My twin.

Jax.

Fuck.

Why would Kai bring me here? What happened to plausible deniability? What if someone had followed us? I tried to move, but I had lead in my veins, and I was stuck. Was I here because there was trouble? Was Charlie okay?

“Charlie? Do you have him?” I managed, my throat raw.

Jax nodded, swallowing hard. “He’s here; he’s safe.”

I relaxed and let the bed take me. Charlie was okay, and as soon as I was able, I would leave. No one would connect us, and he’d stay safe.

“Thank you.”

“What happened?” Jax asked in a quiet voice. Was he reaching for me? I couldn’t bear for him to touch me. I didn’t want this to be real. I’d stayed away for so damn long.

“I… I don’t…” I closed my eyes and tried to focus. “It’s all a blur. But I knew Kai would…”

“Kai? Is that the man who was with you?”

“Kai,” I repeated and coughed because my throat was so dry, the meds giving me cottonmouth, a metallic taste in my mouth where my lip was split.

Jax vanished but was back again just as fast with a bottle of water, unscrewing the lid and holding it out. I couldn’t even move to get to it. He seemed to realize as he helped me sit, and for once, I allowed myself to lean on him. He was solid and strong, and he held me with care.

“What happened, Zach?”

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