Page 132 of Jax

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The stench of urine dripping from his trousers into a puddle on the floor, mixed with the burning smell of gunpowder as Jacob’s body lowered slowly onto the ground, shaking, shivering, sobbing. His figure crumpled into a pile, as his hand clutched his chest, his breathing erratic in relief and fear as I stared at the hole buried into the wall.

I didn’t even bother to look down at the worthless wreck withering in his own piss.

“Consider this a warning, cousin,” I growled, my own heart heaving with punishing pulses of pain through my body, scolding me for having moved my gun. “Letting you live is my punishment for leaving Ronnie to your hands. Not blowing your head off right now, right this second, is the most painful thing for me.”

I felt the heavy, sinking weight of the gun anchored to my arm as it brushed against my thigh, my muscles shaking with the need to raise it just those few inches to his temple, and this time…not miss.

“But,” I added, the words grinding through my clenched teeth. “If you even whisper anything other than thanks to her, for being the only reason you’re alive right now, I will come back for you. And I won’t miss.”

With that, I moved my feet, my limbs as heavy as lead as I headed toward the door, every cell in my body begging to turn back and to destroy him. But it was my pride, and my guilt that held steady. I would not kill him for what he did to me and Ronnie. All I had to do was wait. Wait for him to slip up and—

Just like a saving grace, a gift from the gods, I heard the faintest, tiniest little whisper that broke my shackles.

“That stupid little bit—”

BANG!

I didn’t miss.

Epilogue

Ronnie

“So, Mr. Jenkins just handed this place over to you?” Mallory asked as she handed me the small little girl.

“Yeah, it belonged to his brother and his wife, not him. They died over a decade ago,” I answered, reaching out my arms. I took her heavy weight, head resting in the crook of my elbow, butt cupped by my hand. “He couldn’t bear to abandon it, but because it burnt down, he said he has no hold to it anymore. He’s free to flirt with all the women in the retirement park he’s been staying at during his rehabilitation.”

Baby Freya was warm and soft and smelled of baby shampoo. I couldn’t help but stare at the little green eyes staring up at me. Unlike her mother and brother, she was a quiet baby, happy to just stare and watch the world go by. “Hello, baby,” I murmured, bouncing her with a light rhythm. “Aren’t you cute?”

“Who knew Mr. Jenkins was such a dog?” Mallory gasped, her lips twisted in a mused smile at her child, hands reaching to grab a handful of my hair. It was too short for her to get a good hold on the bottom of it, but its teasing wave in the breeze only spurred her on more. This one was determined.

“God, it’s cold,” Anna grumbled, passing over her small baby into the arms of the unexpected Bell. She panicked, dropping her phone to the floor as the huge thing was tossed into her hold.

Anna jumped from the couch, not letting Bell argue as she juggled the big baby and headed over to the window.

“Don’t close it!” I whined. “I’m too hot.”

“Yeah, well, not all of us are on baby-making medicine.” Anna stuck out her tongue, proceeding to close the window despite my protests.

“How’s that going for you, by the way?” Mallory rolled her eyes at Anna, reaching over the side of the floral couch to plug one of the many fans I had stowed around the house. Jax had been nagging me about the electric bill, but as winter was almost over, and an early and warm spring was beginning to leak through the door, I couldn’t fight the hot flashes.

“Being sub-fertile sure has its perks,” I grumbled, sending her a grateful nod as she pointed it my way. I tugged Freya’s little blanket up and under her chin, not wanting her to get cold.

“Sub-fertile?” Bell raised a brow. It wasn’t a surprise that she didn’t know. When she wasn’t absent, she was glued to her phone or her computer, and we hadn’t gotten as much time to hang out. It was a shame; I liked the girl. It looked like she was going through some things and I, as well as the women, knew that early twenties were hard. Even Kay, who I had been in the care of since our abode had burnt to the ground and we’d been spending our days at the club, said she’d have to figure her own way through it. Kay just wished she wasn’t pissing off as many brothers as she was on her way to enlightenment.

“My womb is a hostile environment for children,” I explained, feeling the bitter memories coming back. Jax had made one too many jokes about my hostility being on the inside and out when we’d visited the doctor. I, on the other hand, had sobbed my heart out and made the nurse kick him out. His attempts to cheer me up weren’t appreciated to say the least. “Hopefully this medication will help with that, and then it might be possible for me to have children.”

“There’s always adoption if that’s not the case.” Anna shrugged, taking her baby out of Bell’s arms. The girl had sunk so far into the couch under Dimitri’s heavy weight that I wasn’t sure she was going to be able to climb back out.

Anna picked him up with ease, tucking the huge boy under one arm. “You can always have mine.”

“Dimitri or the one in the oven?” I crooked an eyebrow her way.

Anna shot it right back. “Ha.” She barked. “My oven is empty, thank you very much.”

“It was a false alarm?” Mallory sat up in her seat. “I’m sor—”

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