Scandal:The Complete Series(89)

Jax nods. “So what’s this leverage you’re talking about?”

Wolf barely listens, lost in his own thoughts. “When they killed Madison, that was it. Either they go or I go. She was a good kid and she was mine. They won’t get away with this evil.” He finally turns to Jax. “Carter’s security team has been compromised. I’ve killed one already,” he says with a toothy grin.

“Tanner?” I say, getting a chilly feeling in my bones.

“Not sure about him. My people have him for now. I can’t be sure who he’s working for. He might be a free shooter, a man with no country and whatnot.”

“He works for my father,” I say, stupidly.

“Your old man’s not the man he once was,” Wolf says, shrugging. “He’s erratic. Loyalty don’t come easy and mistakes lead to disloyalty.”

“Tanner was shot,” Jax says. “He was still on the job. You said he was set up. Bronson has not got to him.”

“Carter’s men set him up today and I think he knew it. That’s why he went after them. He was pissed and lost focus. And blood.” He chuckles as he says this. “We tracked him easy.”

“So why bring us in?” Jax says.

“I like working alone but it might be more fun to kill two birds with one stone. We’ll kidnap Bronson’s son tomorrow night. That will be the leverage. I’ll take you straight to him and you can do the rest.”

I turn to Jax to see his reaction. I completely depend on him to make this judgment call. “Tell me more,” Jax says, furrowing his brow.

Wolf rubs his hands together. “Kid’s a little weasel. He likes to get stoned and torture strippers in a private room downstairs at the club. No one knows of that room except his lackeys. And me. He thinks money has earned him the right to do whatever he wants. We’ll show him otherwise.”

Jax thinks for all of a second before he shakes Wolf’s hand.





—thirteen—


Ella


I don’t dare ask Jax if he trusts what Wolf has said—if he trusts Wolf himself. I want the plan to work and I want the nightmare to be over, but I also realize that at least a dozen things could go wrong.

Jax closes the door after Wolf leaves. I move quickly to get to him and wrap my arms around him from behind, face against his back. His body immediately tenses at my touch, his back muscles twitching. He spins around to take me in his arms, forcing a smile.

“Is everything okay?”

“God, I missed you,” he says, kissing my lips softly.

“I need to sit down,” I say as all the stress and shock make me lightheaded.

Jax walks me to bed, his strong arms supporting me the whole way. I lie back on the pillows, making room for him next to me. He sits on the edge of the bed without lying down.

“I guess the meeting with Bronson didn’t go all that well,” I say. “I’m obviously still on his kill list.”

He gives me a sad puppy face. “You must think I’m an asshole for abandoning you.”

“Jax, no, I know you did what you thought was best. You always do. You were tricked, we all were.”

He looks away and that worries me more than anything. Something’s off with Jax, eating him away, and I don’t know if it’s concern or guilt or something more.

I reach out to take his hand, gently pulling him closer. He turns to his side, giving me a labored smile. I’m suddenly overtaken by a desire to be naked with him, skin on skin, warmth on warmth, until I can convince myself he’s really here with me.

We kiss briefly and then I reach for the buttons on his dress shirt. He grabs both my hands, stopping me from going any further.

“Jax, you’re scaring me,” I say. “You’re so distant.” My breath catches in my throat. “I need you.”

My words are a little cliché but they’re also my absolute truth.

“I need a drink before I explain,” he says. “I’ll be right back.”

He starts getting up which makes me panic a little. I get a hand on the hem of his shirt, uncovering his lower back. I only get a momentary glimpse before he pulls away from me but it’s enough to put me in full panic mode.

“What happened to you?” I say, springing off the bed, palms firmly planted against the fabric on his back.

“It will heal,” he says, avoiding my eyes.

I start unbuttoning the front of his shirt and this time he stays put, letting me do as I please. I go slowly, afraid of what I will discover—first one button, then the next and the next. I open the shirt on the front, resting my hands on his naked chest. Then I pull the shirt down his shoulders a little to trace the tattoo of my name before I place two kisses on his pecs.