Page 16 of Traitorous Lies
“You're alive?” Blinking open her eyes, she saw him crouched beside her, a tight smile on his handsome face.
“Course I am.”
“Your ribs … were you lying? Or are you hurt?” She wasn't sure why it mattered, given there were still five armed men out there somewhere, assuming the sixth was now dead in here with them. But it did matter. The thought of him hurting made her feel sick.
“Lying. I'm sore and banged up, but nothing broken,” he assured her, and she sensed he was telling her the truth. “Now I need you to do something else for me, okay?”
When she gave a small nod, he palmed her cheek, his fingers stroking along her cheekbone in a gentle caress that helped slow both her breathing and her racing heart.
“I want you to stay in here. You're going to go into the back corner and stay there no matter what. I’m going to take the gun and kill the rest of them. There are only five, and I like those odds. But if the worst happens and I don’t survive, I need you to make sure you tell those men over and over again who your father is and how he wouldn't want you harmed. That he’ll pay anything to get you back alive and in one piece. Can you do that for me?”
Reaching out blindly, Monique grabbed Jax’s hands and clutched them to her chest. “I don’t want you to die.”
“Don’t want to die either, princess, but you're my priority.”
She’d never been anyone’s priority. Not ever. So why now? And why with him?
“Why?” she whispered the plea, knowing they didn't really have time for him to answer.
“I don’t know … I just … you're special,” he explained, for a second sounding flustered before he pulled his armor back on. “Now, stay here. Don’t move. Don’t make a sound.”
Tugging his hands free from her grip, he went to move away but then paused. Turning back to look at her, he had an expression on his face she couldn’t read, but when he leaned in and brushed his lips across hers in the quickest yet most emotionally satisfying kiss of her life, she could absolutely read his desire, his attraction to her, and his regret that they both might die out there.
Then he was moving to the edge of the van, and she was shuffling backward into the corner like he’d told her.
“Need some help, girl’s unconscious and guy just passed out,” he called out in a voice she would have sworn belonged to the man lying dead beside her if she couldn’t see Jax’s lips moving.
A moment later, she saw two figures moving outside.
Before they could see it was Jax and not their friend talking, he’d fired two shots, dropping both men.
Then he was gone.
Disappeared from view.
The world was suddenly filled with nothing but the sounds of bullets firing.
There were still three other men out there, and they were all united against Jax. Part of her wanted to disobey his orders, climb out of the van, grab one of the weapons from the dead men, and help somehow. But what help would she actually be? She’d never even touched a gun before, let alone used one to kill a person.
When the van suddenly shuddered, and a bullet whizzed through the metal sides, she whimpered and pressed a hand to her mouth to hold in the scream that so desperately wanted to escape.
They were both going to die.
Her and Jax.
And she still couldn’t help but believe that this was her fault even with all the doubts swirling inside her mind.
Suddenly, everything went quiet.
Deadly quiet.
Another whimper tumbled from her lips, and Monique scrunched up her eyes, not wanting to see who was going to come for her.
Would it be Jax or the men who had kidnapped them?
The slight rock of the van told her someone was climbing into it, then she could feel them approaching.
“Open your eyes, princess.”
