Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
JAX
I tip back my beer and watch out the window as the rain falls. Thunderclaps boom every few minutes. I enjoy the chaos of storms. The violence. Mother Nature’s anger at the world being unleashed, raw and primitive. Man has come to master almost everything in his domain. But not nature.
A bolt of lightning strikes a tree nearby, causing a narrow plume of smoke to rise from the singed bark. It quickly dissipates under the heavy downpour. The pit should be filling up with water by now as hard as it’s been coming down. I’m half expecting Andie to just float up to the top and hop out.
The edge of my knife digs into my side, and I take it out to run the blade under my nose, smelling Andie’s blood. The scent is sweet and addictive.
“If you lick that thing, I’m going to throw up.”
I stab the floor and the tip of the knife embeds into the wood. Rafe sits down next to me, his gaze transfixed out the window and on the opening of the pit.
We sit in blessed silence until he casually grabs my knife and balances it on his fingertip. After this morning, it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to stab me with it, his warning about staying away from Andie still fresh in my mind. I wouldn’t stop him if he did. I deserve it. I shouldn’t have hurt her like that. I shouldn’t have cut her either, but I was given an order. Mr. Rossi said no holding back. And one thing I do well is follow orders. There’s a reason why I’m one of Max’s top enforcers. The man he calls when he needs someone tortured. I’m fucked up and not right in the head most days. My lack of conscience also helps. I’m like the bullet from a gun. Point me in the right direction and then pull the trigger. I’ll destroy my target every fucking time. Slicing off pieces of a man with my knife doesn’t bother me. Murdering someone without thought or remorse is like breathing. But for some reason, knowing Andie is down in that hole bothers me a lot. That’s why I’m sitting here staring out the goddamn window.
Rafe puts the blade down and takes the bottle from my hand. He swallows what’s left of the beer in three gulps. Luckily, I have four more right next to me. I twist the top off one and hand it to him, then take another for myself.
He meticulously peels the label off, shredding it to pieces. “You think she’s okay?”
I don’t say a word as I drink my beer, the aftertaste of hops bitter on my tongue. I’d already be smoking the joint in my pocket now if he wasn’t here sitting next to me. Rafe has a thing about drugs of any kind. Doesn’t matter which drug unless it’s alcohol. As a joke, I tried to tell him once that alcohol was also a drug, legal like pot was now in a lot of states. He found no humor in it, and I got punched in the face.
I know his aversion has to do with his dad and how his mom died. So, Keane and I never smoke around him. Hopefully, Rafe will get bored and leave soon. I need something more than alcohol to help take the edge off.
“If you’re so concerned about her, maybe you shouldn’t have thrown her in there,” I inform him.
“Fuck you.”
Shifting slightly, I wince when my balls twinge. Still can’t believe she almost castrated me. Andie is not the same girl we once knew. And that’s the problem. There’s a darkness in her that calls to my own. And that makes me curious. It also makes her dangerous. Which compounds the problem because she is lying through her gorgeous teeth and hiding something. I just need to figure out what.
“Think we should go check on her?”
Rafe couldn’t be more transparent if he tried. The guy is still in love with her. He tried keeping his relationship with Andie a secret, but we all knew what was going on. Kellan hated it, but he never interfered. And Keane… I’m not the only one obsessed with her.
“She wanted this,” I remind him. “If she wants to play with the big boys, she has to earn her place.”
“This entire situation is one big fucking mess. If Kellan were here, he’d kick our asses.”
That he would. But he’s not here.
“Is she going to be a problem for you?”
Keane asked Rafe the same thing and never got a straight answer.
“No,” he says too quickly and gets up. “But you hurt her again, and you and I are going to have a big fucking problem. I don’t give a shit what Mr. Rossi says.”
As soon as he leaves, I light my joint and take a big inhale. Rafe is wrong. Andie is going to be a big problem for all of us.
Things haven’t been the same since Kellan died. He was the glue that held our group together, and without him, we’ve been coming apart at the seams. I knew what I signed up for when I accepted Mr. Rossi’s offer. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. He’s been more of a father to me than my own pop ever was. The bastard. Good thing my dad is dead.
Dangling the joint between my lips, I pick my knife back up and turn it over. I remember the first time I used it. How it slid through my father’s flesh like butter. It’s also the same knife Keane, Rafe, Kellan, and I used to become blood brothers. The scar across my palm is faint now, but I can still see it. These guys are the only family I know. And I would sacrifice anything for them and Mr. Rossi. Even my soul.
Another rumble of thunder passes over, and my eyes again are drawn to the hole in the ground. Yeah, we’re all fucked.