Jax by E. M. Moore
28
“You know I can just kill him, right?” Cole offers again. I’m not sure what in the hell happened to him that he wants to take on his own form of vigilante justice but Jacob is not having any of it.
“I’m out of all of that shit. You and the Dragons are for backup only,” he reminds his cousin again.
Jacob has two faces. The one he shows his family when it’s family time and the one he allows everyone else to see. Complete professional, uptight badass. Jax must trust him because he was the only one allowed in the interrogation room when the FBI brought me in. Cole and his gang were obviously nowhere near that scenario. However, they did bring in some medical people to look me over. I ended up with a few stitches and some good meds.
I spilled my guts. I told the FBI everything, just like Jacob advised me. I keep running through the conversation in my head when they told me their idea of the sting operation we’re driving to right now.
Jax and Psycho will fight. It’s a way to make sure all of Psycho’s people will be in the same room. None of them will miss it because Psycho will have them all armed and ready to take on whatever necessary, especially if he loses the fight.
I nearly laugh. If. He probably thinks he’s going to win but Jax will kick his ass. There was never any contest in my mind, and I’ve only seen him fight once in years.
Somehow, Jacob got the FBI to agree that they’ll wait until the end of the fight to move in. When we walked out, Jacob nodded at Jax so I can only imagine that was a scheme they’d planned.
The interrogation went well into the night so I haven’t gotten much sleep, but I still feel better than I did yesterday. I applied makeup to try and hide the bruising, and I’m wearing the clothes I got at the secondhand store. Couple that with a bunch of pain reliever, and I’m practically feeling myself. It helps that Jax is by my side again.
Jacob and Cole are going to let us out at the Ring then park and come back. These two are flying under Psycho’s radar, and we want to keep it that way. The more he doesn’t know, the better. I’m sure the FBI busting into the Ring will be one hell of a surprise, and I can’t wait to see his reaction.
Plus, I can’t wait until the moment he realizes it was me who aired all his dirty shit. He never thought I would so this makes it so much better. This is my retaliation. Jax wanted him to see me as someone strong, and this is how I’m going to do it.
The warning the FBI agent gave me sits heavy in my stomach though. He couldn’t tell me the punishment I’d receive, only that it looks good that I’m the one coming forward with the information.
Jacob spears me with a look through the rearview mirror. “Be careful.” He’s been acting protective ever since he sat in the room where I bared all. He heard every single sexual act I was forced to do and the physical consequences afterward.
“I’ll be right there with her.”
“You be careful too,” Jacob says, turning his attention to Jax. “We got you the fight you wanted, but we need something to arrest at the end of it.”
“Right. So keep his arms intact?”
Jacob smirks, and they share a knowing look like he’d be saying the same thing if it was his girl who was in this shit. I don’t know all of Kyla’s story but it sounded like she was in shit like this. Finn talks about her like she’s a goddess, and Jax only grunts but that’s his thing, so I’m guessing she’s amazing.
“Remember. After the fight, I’ll signal the agents to enter the building. Get to the floor so they don’t have to worry about you being in the way if Loomis’ guys react.”
It’s crazy to hear Psycho’s actual name being used. Daryl Loomis. While they were interrogating me, every time they used his real name, it threw me off. Psycho would straight up stab anyone who used Daryl or Loomis. In fact, all these years together, and I never knew his real name.
Jacob slows the car a block away. Jax reaches over to grab the car handle. Behind us, Leenie is driving her own car with Finn, and judging by how they were acting this morning, their anxiety has probably only ratcheted up a few hundred notches since then.
Cole peeks through the back window with a hard glance. Jax sighs. “He’ll keep her safe. You know he will.”
“He better or it’s his balls.”
“You’d have to talk to your sister about that first. I’m pretty sure she likes his balls.”
Cole gives Jax a scathing look that makes me smirk. You can tell they have a grudging respect for one another but that’s about as far as it goes. They won’t ever be BFFs even though Jax is thankful for his help with this. If we didn’t have an in with the FBI, I don’t know what would’ve happened.
Then again, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself because we’re not at the end yet.
“Hurry up and take this fucker out so you guys can get the hell out of there,” Cole barks.
I reach down, threading my fingers with Jax’s. “That shouldn’t be a problem, huh, babe?”
“I’m only going to drag it out to make him suffer.”
With that, Jax opens the door, and we step out. As soon as I’m standing on the road and the door is closed behind me, Jacob pulls away and disappears around the next turn to stay out of sight. For all anyone knows, we used a car share to get here or some shit.
A shiver of dreaded excitement runs up my spine as Leenie and Finn approach us. It’s quiet. Because the FBI is going to be dropping in today, we didn’t announce the fight at all like we promised Psycho. Instead, the FBI came in here last night and bugged the whole damn thing, including cameras. We’re telling Psycho that we’re filming it and that he can have the tapes whether he wins or loses, giving him full control over them. Hopefully, that will settle him down over the initial anger he’s likely to get about not doing this in front of a crowd.
Finn opens a big, metal door in the alley, and we walk in. Jax flips on lights as we go. Our footsteps echo, and the place screams empty, abandoned warehouse with no one else in here but us. When we get to the main area, though, the vibe changes. Leenie and I sit back and watch as the brothers take off the ring cover. As they do, I immediately realize why Psycho didn’t put up too much of a fight about postponing the fight until today. One, I’m sure he wanted a breather to strategize and figure out what his Plan B was. But two, he couldn’t resist the temptation to fight in an octagon. It’s all he’s ever bitched about. How poor kids don’t get the same treatment. How he’ll never know what it would be like to fight in a ring because he wasn’t afforded the same opportunities.
As for me, I believe you make your own opportunities.
Look at Jax and Finn. By all accounts, they had the same upbringing as Psycho, and yet, instead of bitching about their situation, they fixed it. Proving that Psycho is just a whiny bitch.
It’s not long before they start showing up. The four of us are talking in a corner in low voices when we hear the echo of their footsteps coming down the corridor. When Psycho enters, he looks around, thrusting his hands out to his sides. He can’t be all that surprised with how quiet it is in here but he likes making a show of things. “What’s this? No people?”
Jax steps up. “I was worried that when I beat your ass you might do something stupid, so I felt it best to keep other people away.”
Psycho—or should I start calling him Daryl Loomis—laughs. “You just didn’t want all your admirers to see you get taken out.”
“You keep thinking that,” Jax says darkly. He starts pointing out the cameras around the room. “We thought of a compromise. These cameras are running, and you can have the footage whether you win or lose. That way, if you want to destroy it once I beat you into a bloody pulp, you can.”
Psycho’s slow walk up the aisle ends in front of us. He’s always been taller than me, but I feel less intimidated with Jax and Finn nearby who are the same height but much bulkier. “I think I’ll be using that footage for something far better.” The evil smirk Psycho lets loose sends a shiver down me. No doubt he thinks he’ll be able to smear their name. “So, since we have the cameras recording, let’s put the terms of the fight on record, shall we?” Jax nods for Psycho to continue. “If I win, I get this business and Elite Boxing. Did you bring the titles?” Finn pulls the titles from a folder he’s carrying and hands it over to Psycho. They’re fakes. We won’t be losing anything here today.
“If I win,” Jax starts. “You leave Sadie the fuck alone for the rest of her life. She’s free. From everyone. No retaliation. No checking up. You become a distant memory.”
Psycho gives me a hasty inspection with an upturned nose. No doubt he sees the clear evidence of what his girl did to me yesterday but also the medical attention I received, too. He never so much as afforded me the opportunity to get professional help after he hurt me. I’m sure there was a whole slew of reasons but one was because he just didn’t care.
I scan the people he brought with him and am surprised to see Tiron in a sling. Not that I should be. It’s such a Psycho thing to do. I’m sure he thinks Tiron should’ve let Finn break his arm with that armbar, but since he tapped out, Psycho delivered his own punishment.
Jax holds out his hand, and Psycho places his hand in his and they shake on it.
A feral smile pulls Jax’s lips taut. With Psycho still in his grip, he yanks him forward and headbutts Psycho square in the forehead. Psycho immediately grunts, reaching up to touch his head. Jax shoves him back into his gaggle of followers. “That’s for the cheap shot Leenie took yesterday.”
Leenie chuckles, and even though she’s in a different line of work than her brother, it’s evident they’re related. Girl’s got an evil streak.
And I love it.
Psycho runs a hand over his forehead as Jax stalks toward the octagon. Psycho’s chest heaves in huge breaths as he attempts to regain control. He’s not used to looking like a fool in front of his people.
Finn takes a low-key defensive stance in front of Leenie and me while he shouts words of encouragement to his brother who’s peeling his shirt off. He tosses it to the side as he climbs the few steps into the ring.
Damn if the boy didn’t just get ten times sexier. He bounces from foot to foot, his pectorals shifting and moving. If the headbutt hurt him as much as it did Psycho, he’s not showing it. As Psycho traipses toward the entrance, Jax gives me a quick wink.
Smiling, I follow Finn as we move toward the opposite end of the ring while Psycho’s people huddle around the cage where we were. Everyone is here, like we thought. The new girl is front and center, Tiron is sulking off to the side, and my new friend I promised we’d get out is standing at the very edge of the group, eyeing me. I give her a slight nod to let her know I have it handled, and I sure as fuck hope I do. A lot is riding on this moment, and Psycho is still the one who’s up in the air. Who knows what he has up his sleeve for his Plan B, but if he wants to get through the FBI, it better be a damned good one.
The smile Psycho wears as he enters the cage can’t be hidden. It makes me sick to think he’s taking any pleasure from this but it fades away quickly when the bell rings.
I’ve been waiting for a long time for Psycho to get his but it’s that much better to know that Jax is doing it. For me. In my name.
