Page 82 of Traitorous Lies
“Your family deserves to finally be able to move on, Jax. To be able to look forward instead of back.”
“They do. Cooper and Willow, Cole and Susanna, Connor and Becca, Cade, Gabriella, Essie, and their unborn baby, Jake and Alannah, Cassandra, they all deserve to have the futures they deserve. A future I hope I might be able to have with you if I haven’t already completely ruined my chances.”
As he held her in his arms, her body still wrapped around his, their faces so close he could feel the warm puffs of air with each breath she took, he could see the internal battle she was having between her heart and her head. He believed he still held her heart, it was her head that he needed to win over.
“One step at a time, Jax. First, let’s take down my dad, then we can worry about us,” she finally said.
It wasn't the answer he’d hoped for, but it also wasn't an outright no.
For now, that was going to have to be enough.
November 14th
6:18 A.M
Never in her life had Monique been this scared.
Of course, she’d been scared in France, when she realized they were going to be run off the road, and when they were kidnapped, when they were walking through the forest not knowing if they’d find their way out, and when they saw thefootprints.
But all of those things had just happened.
There had been no choice on her part. She was just thrust into the situation and left to deal with it.
Unlike this.
This was something she had chosen. Something she knew she had to do, not just for Jax, Cassandra, and the rest of their family, but for herself as well. For her mom.
No matter how terrified she was, this had to be done.
It was the only way to have a future without remaining in hiding and constantly looking over her shoulder, wondering when the next team of assassins was going to come after her.
Jax said he wanted a future with her, and she wanted that, too, only she was still scared of getting hurt.
First things first, though, because if they didn't take her dad down, then none of them were going to get a future, and that was something she wouldn't allow to happen.
“We got this,” Cassandra murmured softly from beside her as they waited for the heavy iron gates to open so they could drive their rental car down the driveway to the house where her father had told them to meet him.
At least something had gone their way. The property belonged to her family, it was their summer estate, and while she hadn't visited since she was ten, she’d remembered enough of the layout of the building and grounds to give detailed notes to Jax and his brothers.
If her father thought he was giving himself a home ground advantage, he was going to be sorely mistaken.
“Yeah, we do,” she agreed. While she hated the idea of her little sister coming with her right into the lion’s den, she was also so proud of Cassandra. The woman was so strong, so determined, and it seemed like she was feeling empowered by finally having something she could contribute to the mess she believed her conception had set into motion.
“He’s not going to know what hit him,” Cassandra said, pure confidence ringing from her tone.
“Nope, he’s not,” she agreed as the gates finally opened and she drove down the driveway.
The two of them were wearing comms, including cameras. Soeverything they said and saw would be transmitted back to the guys. They’d opted to make it one way because if her father even caught a whiff of the fact that they were about to double-cross him, she had the feeling he wouldn't hesitate to kill them both.
Not something she would have even considered two days ago.
Now she believed it to be the truth, terrifying though that was.
Pulling to a stop outside the house, both she and Cassandra dragged in long breaths before they climbed out of the car. Then side by side they climbed the dozen steps that led to the porch and the eight-foot-tall front door. This property had always been one of her favorites, and she’d loved that the front door was rounded rather than rectangular like almost all other doors. She’d had a cute little room up in the attic as her own, and she’d loved everything about it, from the dormer window to the secret door that led to a hidden room.
Now, though, she had no warm and fuzzy feelings as she knocked on the front door.
Expecting it to be opened by staff, she was surprised when it was her father himself standing on the other side. It had been almost three years since she’d last seen him in person. He’d stopped coming to Christmas dinner, and that was the only time she ever went back home. She talked to him on the phone on her birthday and his.
