“Get your fucking hands off of me,” I said through clenched teeth. I pushed against his stocky frame, but he wouldn’t budge. Fucking drugs. It was the only way they’d keep me down, and they knew it.

Jax had known it. The fucker had shared a cell with me for…I didn’t know how long, but he’d been there, and he’d been in my damn house, living under the same roof.

He’d helped me take Alex.

He’d gotten me a fucking gun to protect her.

Why?

“None of this makes any sense.”

“Remember when we talked in your cellar?” He lowered his voice, as if he didn’t want to be overheard. “I said I’d always have your back.”

“Like you have my back now? Don’t do me any fucking favors.”

He retreated with a sigh, and I went after him, my rage propelling me across the slick floor too fast. Slamming into him, we plummeted to the ground, and his skull hit the tile with a jolting thud. Veins pulsed at his temples as he fought me. He gained more ground each second, his muscles bulging under the exertion. With a roar, he shoved me off and rolled on top of me, straddling my thighs.

“Calm the fuck down before they come back in here,” he said, face inches from mine. “You need to trust me.”

“You’re crazy. You’re behind this whole thing. They fucking hurt Alex. They destroyed the island. You think I’m gonna trust you now?”

Jax closed his eyes, and his shoulders slumped. “I loved that land almost as much as you did.”

“Why are you doing this? Fucking tell me that much, at least.”

Voices filtered in from the hall. Jax rose to his knees and allowed me to push to my elbows. With a frown, he glanced toward the door, and we listened to the scuffle of movement on the other side. “You won’t get out of here alive without me. I’m the only one on your side.”

“If you’re on our side, then get us the fuck out of here.”

“Can’t do that.”

I studied him—the furrow of his brow, the defeat in his expression, and replayed the words he’d exchanged with Cleft. He’d referred to his old man…who apparently was the guy in charge around here. “You’ve got no real power, do you?”

“I haven’t had any fucking power since the day I was born.” He stood and pulled me to my feet.

The room spun, causing bile to rise in my throat. I swayed for several moments, sure I was going to spew what was left in my stomach onto the ground. Jax propped me up, one arm winding under my armpit, and we shuffled toward the spray of the shower.