Page 118 of Jax

"Motherfucker!" I roared, unable to hold the surge of anger as Ronnie's voice telling me about the bastard kissing her replayed in my head.

I heard a loud set of footsteps coming from the club room door. I counted the seconds the loud creak marked the door swinging open. "What the fuck is going on out he—”

Silence.

If I was a brewing storm, Wolf became a fucking apocalypse as the hot air in the yard turned to ice as his presence behind me grew. I could feel the painful pressure of his anger weighed down in my back.

"WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TOUCHING?" Wolf's roar shook the earth as he took a step near my side.His rage was white-hot, and I saw the fury in his face as his brown eyes fixed on his prey with the glare of an animal, nothing and no one else breaking his line of sight.

The compound shook loudly to life as I heard footsteps and shouts echoing inside the club room. No one came from the door, but I knew there’d be a barrage of weapons pointing out of every window and exit.

Anatoli moved fast, grabbing Anna by the arm and spinning her back into his chest. The gun pressed against the side of the temple, and the woman provided the most powerful shield.

"You're a dead man!" Wolf hissed.

"I heard you guys like the direct method." Anatoli shrugged.

"You think you’re fucking funny?" I growled. "Let's see how funny you are with a bullet your head!"

"You here for revenge? Is that it?" Wolf snapped. "Because I wiped out your friends?"

"Friends?" Anatoli scoffed. "Fuck, no. We were colleagues. Not friends."

"I don't give a shit about your relationships. I want to know why the fuck you're holding a gun to my woman's head!" Wolf bellowed.

"I'm here on business." Anatoli shrugged. "Plain and simple."

I took a small step into his path, blocking, if only slightly, his path to Anatoli. The gesture was enough as Wolf glanced down at me and I knew he got it.

If he was here for business, then that meant he planned to leave here alive. He had money to collect after all. He didn't walk onto a compound full of armed bikers without a plan.

"Business?" Wolf growled.

"Let's trade. You can have the girl back," Anatoli offered.

"In exchange for who?"

Anatoli's murky grey eyes scanned over Wolf in a quick assessment as if he was contemplating it before it abandoned the huge, deadly man ready to bring the earth down on top of him. I could feel Wolf’s presence behind me and I knew he was ready to jump in Anna’s place in a second.

But Anatoli didn’t want Wolf. He wanted someone else. His gaze turned away from the big man and came to rest on a different brother.

Me.

I didn't even think. I couldn't. The word was out of my mouth before I could even consider it.

"Okay."

"Jax," Wolf growled, but he didn't stop me. His gaze flickered to Anna who was glaring daggers hard at me, as if telling me not to do it.

I released the safety on my weapon and raised my hands, my gun dropping loose around my finger. My palms flattened in surrender, and I let my weapon fall to the concrete.

I kicked the weapon, not toward Anatoli or away from our gathering but back toward the club doors, toward Wolf.

"It was custom-made." I shrugged at Anatoli's casual glare.

He rolled his eyes as I took a slow step forward.

"Sorry, babe." I winked at her. "You'll have to make this up to me later."

---