Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
ANDIE
“Angel, we’re home.”
Angel .
My consciousness becomes aware and wakens at his voice, and I’m confused at first. When did Max build an underground garage? But I’m not at my childhood home. And Max is dead. Because I killed him. I killed those people tonight, too. But it was different. Jax made it different. He made me different. He made me like it. I’m still coming to terms regarding how I feel about that.
The passenger door opens, and the acrid fumes of car exhaust fill my nose. Jax reaches over me and unbuckles my seat belt.
“I think you have it wrong,” I say.
Jax told me that he called me Angel because I saved him. There are many types of angels. Nine, in fact. Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.
I disagree on the number. I think they’re eleven. The last two being avenging angels and the Angel of Death. Jax has always been the latter one. I wonder which one I am. Maybe Powers. Those angels are warrior angels. Their job is to fight the demons and ensure the natural order. Or perhaps I’m a mix. Part Powers, avenging, and death. There’s also Seraphim, which literally translates into “the burning ones.” Pearson calls me little flame .
Jax lifts and lowers me from the seat of the SUV. I can smell the metallic notes of the sticky blood that clings to our skin and clothes.
“What do I have wrong?” he asks.
“The type of angel I am.”
“The only type of angel you are, is mine.”
I look into his gorgeous green eyes. The Reaper has retreated inside its cage, leaving only my sweet, vulnerable Jax staring down at me.
Another Range Rover pulls in and parks beside us. Pearson gets out. “Declan arrived safely in Boston.”
The tight coil of worry I’d been carrying the last few hours unravels.
“Anything I should know?”
“He’s in good hands.”
Pearson of little words. He knows I’ll be personally calling and checking in on Declan later.
I slip my hand into Jax’s. “Let’s go find the guys.”
During the ride here, I thought about my next move. Alejandro will continue to strike out, putting the people I care about in his crosshairs in order to get me back. His ego is bruised. I was promised to him in the deal Max made with Julio. I was to be Alejandro’s pliant, obedient wife. The vessel to bear his heir. The key to solidifying an alliance between the Rossis and the Ortizes in order to gain more power, more money, and more territory to run drugs through. Rafe and Declan thwarted those plans, which is why Alejandro went after them.
When I was brought to Alejandro after my unconscious body was taken from the car wreck, I could see the hubris of victory in his demented stare. He thought I was weak, but I defied him every step of the way. I didn’t cower or grovel when he locked me in the cage. I fought him when he broke my finger and stole Keane’s rings. I escaped. And for those things, he won’t stop until he punishes me for my defiance. Until he shows he can break me. His sexist narcissism will be his ultimate downfall. Alejandro is like Max. And like Max, the oldest son of Julio Ortiz will also die by my hand. And I know just the thing to flush him out.
I tell Pearson to meet us in the conference room and send a text to Tessa informing her the same thing. She’s probably asleep and will bitch at me for waking her up.
Greeting the men and the guards we pass, a few of them do double takes when they see the drying blood covering my arms and clothes. I think there may be a smear or two on my face and neck, but that’s more Jax’s fault because he couldn’t keep his hands off me.
Apparently, watching me cut people is a huge turn-on for him. After it was over and Pearson started cleaning up the mess and disposing of the bodies, Jax was barely able to control himself by the time we made it back to the car. And once we did, he slammed me against it and fucked me.
Jax and I get on the elevator, and I press the button for my floor. I lean into his body and rest my head on his upper arm. He angles his phone so I can see the video on the screen.
“Is that live?” I ask as I watch Keane and Liam go at each other.
“Yep.”
I press the button on the panel for the elevator to stop on the floor for the gym.
“Do you think they’re just blowing off steam or maybe sparring?”
Jax kisses the top of my head. “What do you think?”
That’s what I was afraid of.
I’m off the elevator in a flash as soon as the doors open.
“Can we have some privacy?” I call over to Mickey when I see him in front of the door that leads to the stairwell. There should have been another guard at the elevator. Whoever left their post early better pray they have a good excuse.
When I was first introduced to Mickey, I was instantly intrigued by his curly red hair, golden-brown eyes, and quick laugh. Come to find out, Mickey and Seamus are my Levin cousins. Another man, Lochlan, is my fifth cousin on the McCarthy side. I went from learning the family I grew up knowing was all one big fucking lie, to finding my real father I knew nothing about, to discovering several newfound Irish cousins.
“Uh, yes, ma’am.” Mickey slips through the door and closes it behind him.
I face my three men, and two of them are not happy.
“Is that blood?” Liam bellows, his gaze landing on Jax. “What the fuck did you do?”
I counter with, “Why are you and Keane fighting?”
Liam isn’t amused with my turnaround. Neither is Keane. His entire demeanor hardens into a stony mask that could give Jax a run for his money.
“You going to explain where you went and why you look like that?” Keane asks. Like Liam, he aims his anger at Jax.
They should know by now that challenging Jax in any way only amuses him and brings out his crazy. As if he heard me, Jax tips my head to the side and swipes his tongue up my neck, licking the dried blood off.
Liam makes a face. “That’s fucked up.” He looks at Keane. “And you said I was worse than him. I call total bullshit. I don’t do that .” He points at a grinning Jax, who smacks his lips together like he just sampled the creamiest, most decadent chocolate mousse.
“Andie.” This from Rafe.
Glancing over at him, I get a little lost in all his tanned, sweaty, gorgeously inked skin on display. He’d been on the treadmill when Jax pulled up the security feed. My sight follows a slow path down his body and back up again, briefly stopping on his bandage. He looks so much better. Vibrant, like the color of his blue eyes. Rafe has always been gorgeous as sin. The adrenaline from tonight hasn’t fully abated, and it quickly changes to lust the longer I’m standing here. If there was no urgency for us to talk, and I wasn’t also in desperate need of a shower, I’d be all over them.
Liam walks over to the corner of the mat and picks up a bottle of water, draining it empty. Funny how they haven’t rushed me like they normally would have by now, wanting to check me over and make sure that I’m uninjured. I appreciate they’re not treating me like I’m weak or fragile. They’re treating me like an equal. I’m not Tinker Bell, or princess, or a sweet rose. I’m one of them. Capable and strong. Someone who can handle their own shit. A woman currently in control of an empire, who needs no man standing behind her because she’s strong enough on her own.
“Declan’s conference room in ten. I need a shower.”
“I’m coming with you,” Liam says.
“The last time she went anywhere with you, you were run off the road and she was kidnapped.”
“Fuck you, Agosti!” Liam shouts and throws his water bottle at Keane’s head, which Keane catches one-handed.
“Have they been like this all night?”
Rafe purses his lips. “Pretty much.”
“Jax, handle that, please,” I tell him and press a kiss to his cheek.
I take the exit for the stairs, my quota for being stuck in an elevator done for the day. As much as I want to, I don’t know if I’ll be able to call Falcon Tower my home, or let it be the place I want to set down roots in. I want to be surrounded by land and nature, not concrete, elevators, and millions of people.
I tell Lochlan and Mickey good night when I push through the door to the landing, then head up the six flights of stairs to my floor.
My phone vibrates against my outer thigh from inside the zippered pocket of my pants.
“You rang?” Tessa asks. “Well, you actually texted, but potatoes, po-tah-toes.”
“You don’t sound like you just woke up.”
She fake yawns for my benefit. “That better?”
“Immensely.” I smile.
“What’s up?”
“Meeting in Declan’s conference room in ten minutes. I have a plan.”
“It scares me when you say that,” she deadpans.
Without him even saying anything, I sense Rafe coming up behind me.
“Make that thirty,” I amend.
She whines out a long groan. “Your vajayjay is going to fall off with all the dick it’s getting.”
“Vagina envy is not a good color on you.” I bite the inside of my cheek when I spot Mattieu and Z, the two men guarding the stair access point to my floor. Z is dark and brooding, and exactly Tessa’s type with his mocha skin, athletic physique, and light brown eyes. Not to mention the guy is a treat to look at with all his defined muscles and broad chest.
“Hey, Z, you know Tessa?” I ask him.
His hand hangs loosely on his sidearm. “The cute blonde? Yeah, I’ve seen her around,” Z replies.
I size him up and immediately like the mischievous twinkle in his eye. “You good at giving oral?”
Matthieu starts choking, and Rafe’s jaw drops at my forwardness.
Tessa hisses on the other end of the line. “You did not just order a man to come and service me!”
Z, however, takes it in stride and plays along, scratching his chin as if in deep thought. “I’ve had no complaints.”
Tessa screeches over the phone. “Alex!”
“You just earned yourself a half-hour break.”
“ I’m going to kill you! ”
I burst out laughing at my best friend’s outburst. “You’ll be too blissed out to even consider it.”
She hums, and I can tell she’s imagining the possibility. “Z is pretty hot,” she whispers. “And my rabbit is out of commission because it needs new batteries.”
“You’re welcome.” I hang up on her.
“Holy shit, I cannot believe you just did that,” Rafe says as we enter my suite.
Once my feet hit the tile floor of the kitchen, I kick off my shoes and strip my shirt over my head, then shuffle out of my pants. I’ll burn them later and have the clean-up crew come bleach the kitchen.
When I turn around, Rafe’s scorching stare combusts me where I stand.
I look down at the soiled clothes at my feet. “I know you and the guys have questions, and I promise to answer all of them. But right now, I want a shower. Preferably one with you in it.”
His dimples pop with his grin. “I’m down with that.”