The man runs a hand through his dark blond hair instead of shaking Jax's hand. So he's not a friend. Fantastic. The last thing I need is a fight on my property. I look up and down the street, hoping my neighbors are already out for the day. It's a working class neighborhood, nothing fancy, but now that I'm seeing things through Jax's eyes, I realize the people here are a little on the exclusive side. Snobby, wary of "outsiders." Even the ones on my street, the ones at the bottom of the economic scale.
For all my tough talk inside the house, I know I don't need a scandal.
They're arguing quietly. I strain to hear. Jax is keeping his voice low, tight. He holds up a hand now and then to remind the other man to keep his voice down. Every once in a while, his head turns so he can get a look at me. The other man's eyes shift toward me, too.
"So this is your new girl, huh? Cute. You always had good taste." The way his watery eyes run up and down my body makes me feel extremely uncomfortable. I pull my coat tighter around myself, making him laugh.
"Man, seriously. Listen. This isn't the time or place. If you wanna talk, meet me out at the house. I'll be happy to talk about anything you want. We can go right now."
He stares hard at Jax. "You act like you don't know what I want to talk to you about. That's hilarious."
Jax sighs deeply. "Fine. We'll talk about her. Just not here."
"No, I think here is the perfect place, and this is the perfect time." He turns back toward me. "I want her to hear this."
"This is my property," I point out, trying to sound stronger than I feel. "I think it might be best for you to leave." In my head, all I see is visions of a brawl on my front lawn.
"Fair enough. But don't you wanna know about your boy here? Don't you wanna know what he's really capable of doing?"
"Adam, stop." Jax's voice is so low, I can hardly hear him. I barely make out the other man's name.
"Don't tell me to stop. Don't you ever tell me what to do."
"I don't mean any disrespect."
"Bullshit! Since when do you care about respect or disrespect?" Adam laughs bitterly, a little too loudly. "If you gave a shit about respect you wouldn't show your face in this town ever again. You made a deal, which you're breaking right now."
"I know how you feel, man. But she needed me." Jax motions toward me. I'm stunned. Has he been banished or something? Is that why people are so nasty toward him? How much did he risk by coming to me last night?
Another bitter laugh. "I'm sure she did, buddy. Lots of women have needed you, haven't they? Especially since Marissa."
"Don't talk that way in front of her." Jax nods his head in my direction.
"Don't tell me how to talk! You wanna settle this right now?" Adam's aching for a fight.
I grip the porch railing so hard in my hands that I can feel the splinters in the wood.
"Please, don't. Stop this!" I might as well be shouting into the wind, they're paying so little attention to me.
Adam tries to work his hooded sweatshirt over his head, but he's off-balance, staggering. His shirt, and the tee beneath it, ride up on his abdomen. I can see ink on his torso … then I realize he has the same angel in flames I've seen on Jax's torso.
He's one of them! I watch even more closely. There's so much animosity here. What happened between Jax and the club to cause this?
A glimmer of hope flickers in my brain. If Jax is on the outs with the club, that would mean he'd have nothing to do with them. Maybe he's not involved with them anymore. Maybe he did something to alienate himself. Better yet, maybe he left the club of his own accord. Oh, I can hope, can't I?
"Adam, stop this. I don't want to fight you." Jax is relaxed, hands at his sides. I know he could easily tear this stumbling, flabby man apart. He probably knows it, too.
Adam finally gives up trying to remove the sweatshirt. He's out of breath. "Why do you keep showing your face around here? Why do you keep starting shit?"
"I told you before. I wasn't trying to start anything."
"Oh, right, right. This girl needed you. Does she know who she slept with last night?"
I pull my coat around me again. I don't like his intimate tone, the way he talks like he knows me. I especially don't like the implication that Jax is a monster. I've already done enough second-guessing.
"I'm begging you, man. I don't beg anybody, but I'm begging you. Don't do this."
Adam stares daggers at Jax. "You're begging? Did she beg at the last minute, too? Did she ask you not to do it?"
"You don't know what you're talking about. You've never known."
Adam scoffs, then turns his head to me. I feel sick. "You're pretty good friends with this guy, huh?"
I shrug. "I guess so. We're friends, yes." I glance desperately at Jax.
"So you know everything about him, huh?"
I can tell from his tone of voice this isn't going anywhere nice. "I know who he is. I know where he's from. If that's what you mean." I'm becoming distinctly uncomfortable now.
"Did he tell you how he killed my sister?" My eyes widen, making him smirk. "Yeah. My sister. His wife."
Chapter 24
"Adam, I've told you." Jax's voice cuts through the silence like a knife. But Adam's not paying attention to Jax. He's staring at me.
"Right, right. You didn't kill her. Okay."
"Your sister?" I look at Jax, desperate to make sense of this. Wishing he'd step in somehow and make it all go away.
Adam laughs. "Yeah. I'm the prodigal brother-in-law. Or, seeing as how he's the guy who killed her, maybe he's the prodigal one. Not sure. It's been a long time since I read the story." He's swaying on his feet, I notice. Already a little tipsy and it's not even noon.
"I'm sorry for your loss." I feel like a jackass for saying it, but it's the only thing I can come up with. This situation isn't exactly indicative of my everyday life.
He seems to appreciate the thought, though. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you." He turns his head toward Jax. "A nice girl like this, a sweet girl. What the hell are you doing with her? Trying to ruin her life, too?"
"Adam." Jax's hands are in fists, hanging down by his sides. He's beyond furious. I get the impression he's only holding back for my sake. Or maybe he feels bad for this poor, drunk man.
"It's true, though, isn't it?" Adam turns back to me. "Isn't it?"
"Isn't what? He's not ruining my life."
"Oh, really? Do you know how long it took for word to get around that Jax Fairbanks's bike was sitting out in front of your house? How do you think I found him here in the first place?"
I'm not sure what to say now. My eyes find Jax's. He looks like a man who's being proven right, but isn't happy about it. Hadn't he predicted this just minutes ago?
"People are talking?"
"You're damn right they are. The Angels aren't exactly loved around here. And they're the only people in the area who ride motorcycles. A few people saw him riding through town last night. One of them saw him pull in here and run up the steps. Come on, guys." He looks from me to Jax, then back to me again.
I square my shoulders. "I don't give a shit what people say."
Adam nods his head. "Very noble. Very brave."
"I don't appreciate the sarcasm. If that's all you've come to say, you can leave now."
"So you don't care about your reputation. Fine." He's completely ignored me, continuing with his diatribe. "What about your life? What's that mean to you?"
"Adam, stop this." Jax moves a step closer to him.
"Do you know how she died? You never did answer me."
"Yes. I know how your sister died. I read all about it. It was very sad."
"Mmmhmm. A gunshot wound, right to the chest. Point-blank range. Cold. Deliberate. Whoever killed her had to be looking her right in the eye. And then they left her there in the woods. Eyes open, looking up at the sky. I wonder how long she lived, if she had a moment or two when she knew she was dying. But at least she got a chance to look at the clouds one more time. We used to spread picnic blankets on the ground and spend hours on our backs, looking at the clouds. You know, when we were kids."
I nod my head, struggling not to cry for this broken man. He's so tormented.
"Either way, she died. And her body was left right there on the ground, for anything to get at her. At least they found her before the animals started eating her." His voice breaks a little. "She might as well have been a piece of garbage, or a toy a kid got tired of and threw away. My sister. My fucking sister." His voice breaks.
"I'm so sorry."
"You're not the one who has to be sorry. He is." Adam jerks a thumb in Jax's direction.
"Adam, come on. Let's at least go inside. We can talk about this."