Page 29 of Queen of Vengeance

After the tragic death of his father, he didn’t want anybody taking up that seat, and yet here Diesel was, sitting and staring at his mother with doe eyes.

The anger boiled over in him as he leaned forward, smacking the table with his open hand. “We have to do something. It’s tragic that Lea lost her parents, and she can’t even afford to give them a nice funeral.”

Diesel sat up, clearly upset that he was interrupted by Jax, but he made damn sure to hide it from Omara, who looked at her son in shock.

“I had no idea you felt so strongly about the Nadir family. I wish we could help, but we don’t have the funds to lend. If you think of another way to help, I’d be happy to do that.” Omara reached out, placing her hand on Jax’s.

“It’s just not fair,” Jax mumbled, clearly getting upset.

“I agree, and I hope they bring the people responsible for this to justice,” Omara nodded.

Jax’s eyes flashed to Diesel once more. “Yeah, let’s hope we catch her parents’ murderers.”

“I’m sure the police will do everything possible to exact the necessary justice. In the meantime, I wouldn’t mind paying for the funeral. Lea is a friend of Jax, right? And any friend of Jax is important to me.” Diesel held his hand over his heart as if he swore allegiance to his god.

Jax’s bones felt unsettled… As if Diesel threatened him, but he could not prove it. Besides, even if he did prove it, it would only result in his mother and him losing Diesel’s financial support. He couldn’t do that to his mom. So, he would keep his mouth shut—at least, until he could support his mother.

But that would mean he would have to put a rush on his little pact with Zane and Lea.

He felt a stab of guilt for using Lea to meet his needs, even in her vulnerable state, but Jax didn’t have time for pathetic feelings such as guilt or remorse. He was a survivor above anything else. “I’m going to go see Lea.”

Jax leaned over to his mother, hoping Diesel wouldn’t hear, but he did.

“Why don’t we all go? We can share the good news with Lea.” Diesel looked at Jax’s mother, but he had sought only her good opinion anyway.

Her brows furrowed slightly in confusion.

Jax suspected it was strange how he used the term “good news” when a girl had just lost her parents.

“That might be nice. Jax, please pick some nice flowers and herbs for Lea. I will whip something up for her and her grandmother to eat tonight.” Omara held her chest as if she were holding her bare heart. “I know when we lost my Romero, the hardest thing for me to do was get up and cook something.”

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Omara. I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Diesel heartily agreed. He was also bursting out of his skin.

Jax could see the situation in its entirety.

From beginning to end, he sees Diesel relishing the murder of Lea’s parents, and only then does he get the opportunity to bask in being the hero as well.

It made Jax resent his uncle even more.

Jax wanted to stand against everything his uncle stood for.

Jax did as his mother said, gathering flowers and hard-to-find herbs for Lea. He imagined she would use most of these to invent more potions.

He quickly snuffed out a flicker of jealousy in his heart.

“Am I such a monster that I’m worried about those things right now?” Jax’s mind was all over the place. He didn’t know if he felt more grief or rage.

They made it to Lea’s home, where she sat with Zane.

“Well, aren’t you two a site for sore eyes?” Jax offered a soft smile to the both of them.

Lea couldn’t bring herself to return the smile, but she did nod in his direction.

Zane stood up suddenly as if he was doing something wrong. “Jax! What are you doing here?”

Then Zane’s eyes narrowed at something just past Jax. He glared at Diesel. His face turned red, and he opened his mouth as if he would say something but ultimately decided against it. He shut his mouth tight like a steel trap and turned his back to Jax and his family. “I’m sorry, Lea, I have a very important matter to attend to. I’ll come by later to see if you’re doing alright.”

Zane walked away without another word to anyone.

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