I watched from the corner of my eye and recognized the puny kid I’d taken down during our first escape attempt.

“Nope. I think she has a private date with the boss and his spanking horse.”

“Lucky for him, huh?”

“Yep. Mason’s out cold. He won’t be a problem.” Jax turned to me. “Ain’t that right, Cleft?”

“Uh-huh.”

The kid laughed. “Boss is making the two of you work together? Man, he must really be punishing you.” He slapped Jax on the back before ambling down the hall.

Jax let out a breath. So did I.

“Fuck, that was close,” he muttered.

We made frustratingly slow progress down the hall, as Alex could only move so fast on her hands and knees without drawing attention to ourselves. We passed by two more men, though they didn’t stop to talk. Keeping my head low, I hoped it was enough to hide my face in shadow. Once we reached the door to the office, Jax glanced down the hall. A door opened and shut somewhere.

“If we don’t make it out of here—”

“We will,” I interrupted his quiet words.

“But if we don’t, I just wanna say I’m sorry, man.”

I peered over my shoulder. “Just open the damn door. You can kiss my ass all you want later.”

He let out a shaky breath and rapped on the door.

Was someone else in on this? Was this a fucking trap? But I didn’t have time to process shit. Jax pulled the gun out and raised it. The damn thing shook in his hands, but the firm set of his mouth said he meant business.

“What are you—”

The door opened, Cleft’s eyes widened, and Jax pulled the trigger.

No warning.

No hesitation.

The blast ricocheted down the tunnel, through my ears. Voices echoed, but Jax was already yanking Alex to her feet. I shoved him out of the way and tossed her over my shoulder, and we stepped over Cleft’s body and into the office.

16. Brawl - Alex

16. BRAWL - ALEX

“Why the fuck did you do that?” Rafe shouted at Jax. He nudged Cleft’s body out of the way and slammed the door before turning the lock. He set me on my feet then grabbed a chair and wedged it underneath the knob.

I stood frozen in place, arms wrapped around myself. I couldn’t rip my gaze from Cleft. He stared at me with unseeing eyes, his head at an odd angle, as if he’d fallen and broken his neck. Blood pooled from underneath his brown hair, and the edges of my vision started to go red again. The gunshot rang in my ears, a continuous bang that muffled all sound, even the thump of my heartbeat. I felt it at my throat, my temples, pounding through my chest.