Colton quickly locks the window, making my stomach knot up with anxiety. “Stop screaming. Shit, woman.”

“Jax!” I take my free hand and slap at the window. “Jax!” I turn back toward Colton when I realize I’m getting nowhere with my pointless screaming and that the man on the motorcycle isn’t even him. “Pull the fuck over and let me out. Now!”

My head slams into the side window as Colton quickly makes a right turn when the car in front of him suddenly slows down. He knows damn well that if I get the chance I will jump the fuck out of this moving car. He’s smarter than to slow down.

Cussing, I push and punch at his side as he continues to speed up and ignore me.

“Sit the fuck still. What is your problem? You’re scared of me now? Huh?” He grabs my arm and pushes me away. “You’re not afraid of a fucking murderer, but you’re afraid of me. How the fuck does that makes any sense to you? It doesn’t! Open your pretty little eyes.”

“Fuck you!” In a panic, I grab at the steering wheel. “Don’t you fucking talk about him like that. I love him, asshole. Not you. Fucking him! Now stop the car!”

“Let go!” He reaches his hand out and slaps me hard across the face, sending me flying back into my seat. “Oh shit. Fuck! Look what you made me do,” he yells as I cover my face and back away from him as far as I can.

“Asshole!”

Colton reaches out and grabs at my face once he realizes that my lip is bleeding, but I push his hand away, not wanting him anywhere near me. “Stop the car,” I demand. “I don’t want to be with you. I love your brother and I don’t care what you say or think. I’m in love with him. Hit me all you want, but that won’t change. I promise you that.”

Colton grips the steering wheel and slams his head into the back of his seat. “Shit! What the fuck am I doing?”

He turns to me, and attempts to grab my face again. “I didn’t mean to hit you. Avalon, I’m sorry.”

“Just watch the road,” I yell. “Get me back to my work. Now. I’ll get Jax on the phone so fucking fast–”

Colton suddenly slams on the brakes, sending me flying forward, hitting my head so hard on the window that tears instantly sting my eyes as I reach out and cradle my head in my shaking hands.

I lean back and look out the window to see a silver truck blocking us.

Before I know it, my door is ripped open and Jax is reaching inside to pull me out to my feet. “Shit! Are you okay?” He quickly looks me over, before running his thumb over the bump on my forehead. “Get in my truck and lock the door. I’ll be right there.”

Holding my head, I walk around Jax and hurriedly jump into his truck, locking the door as I watch to see what Jax is going to do.

All I can make out is Jax leaning halfway inside of Colton’s car and grabbing at Colton.

I jerk back in shock when I hear the car horn sound, scaring the shit out of me. Colton’s face must be making a new friend. It goes off three more times, before Jax makes his way over to his truck, mumbling and gripping at his hair. He looks completely heated and ready to kill someone.

Happy to see him returning so quickly, I unlock the door and watch as he jumps inside. “Damn, Avalon. I was scared as shit when I showed up at your work to find you gone.” He grips the steering wheel and takes a deep breath, before leaning over and checking on my head again. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that, but I needed to stop Colton. I need you with me. Let me look at it.” He leans in closer and examines it. “I should’ve told you to look out for my truck.”

“I’m fine,” I whisper, while covering my head in my hands and closing my eyes. “I just need to rest. You drive and I’ll rest my eyes.”

“Nah, fuck that. I’m not risking anything. That bump looks pretty bad. It’s bleeding too. Royal won’t hesitate to kill my ass if something happens to you. Trust me.” He quickly pulls off, being careful to avoid oncoming traffic. “I’m taking you to the hospital. I’ll let Royal know where we’re at.”

“I guess I have no choice,” I mumble.

We drive for about thirty minutes before we pull up at a hospital one town over. I have no idea what is going on right now, but this is really making me nervous. I need to know what is going down tonight.

“Jax.” I lean up and grab his arm. “Tell me what the fuck is going on. Please.”

Jax parks his truck and shakes his head. “I can’t. Don’t ask me again because you will get the same response. All I can tell you is that Royal has everything handled.”

“Jax–”

“Don’t worry about Royal. Got it,” he snaps. He grips the steering wheel and I can tell that he’s just about as worried as I am. “I’ll text him once I get you inside and taken care of. Now let’s go.”

I wait inside the truck as Jax jumps out and walks over to help me out. The thought of anything happening to Royal has me fighting for air. “You better not fucking lie to me, Jax.” I try to fight back my tears, as I look him in the eyes. “I can’t lose him.”

Jax closes the door behind me and rubs his thumb over my chin. “You won’t,” he says with more confidence this time. “Everything will be fine. He can’t lose you. So let’s get you the fuck inside.”

When my head begins to spin, I grip onto Jax’s arm to keep my balance, as he walks me through the parking lot and toward the building.

As soon as I get checked in, you better believe that I’ll be calling to check on Royal. I don’t care if Jax tells me otherwise.

Nothing can happen to him. I don’t know what I would do . . .

WE’VE BEEN WAITING IN BLAINE’S truck for an hour now and my patience is really fucking starting to run thin. Any second now I’m going to lose my shit and drag him out of the bar my damn self.

“Any word from Cole yet?” I ask stiffly, while staring at the rain through the window.

Blaine shakes his head. “Nah, not yet.” He looks up from twirling his phone. “You still want to do this, man? His death is going be another weight on your shoulders that will never fucking go away. I’m not sure if you can come back from this.” He pauses for a second and reaches for a cigarette. “I can do it and you can go about living your life and move on with Avalon. You two could have a life together. She’s good for you.”

“It’s not that fucking simple,” I grind out. “He took my family from me. There’s already no way to move on from that. Having that fucker pay is just a small step closer to the relief that I will never fully get. I’m fucked up, Blaine. You know that shit. Too fucked up already to care.”

“He took my family from me too, brother,” he points out. “I know how much that shit hurts. I know how it fucking eats at you, making you feel empty inside and full of rage. I’ve been here through it all, and it kills me every fucking day.”

I swallow hard and look over at him. I can see the pain swallowing him whole, just as much as it is me. It only gives me more reason to kill that fucking cunt: for all of us. “I know, man. I’m sorry.” I grip his shoulder and squeeze it. “You’re my brother, Blaine. You don’t need this shit on your hands. Got it? This is on me to do. It always has been.”

He shakes his head and grips the steering wheel. “Fuck! This shit . . . It’s so fucked up.” His eyes widen as his phone goes off in his lap. He reads the message and then turns to me, his amber eyes dark with rage. “This couldn’t be anymore fucking perfect.” He throws his phone down and starts his truck. “Cole overheard dumb-fuck say that he’s headed to that old warehouse off Twentieth and Teasdale to pick up a drop. No one in their right mind goes over that way after dark. Looks like the devil is on our side tonight.”