“You let this happen,” Rafe said, jabbing a finger at Jax’s defeated form. “You could have stopped it, but you didn’t. You let them fucking beat the shit out of her.”

“She lied to you,” Jax said, wheezing air between his lips. “She made you go crazy in that prison. I was there, and that’s all I knew. That’s all I had to go on. I had to do it.”

“You didn’t have to do anything.”

“This isn’t the place to talk about this, man. We need to get the fuck outta here.”

“I’m not leaving until Perrone comes back.” Rafe jammed the gun into his waistband.

“You’re not the only one who wants payback. Get into the damn van. We’ll figure something out.”

“And go where?

“We have a safe house, you and I. Money. No one else knows about it.”

Rafe frowned. “You could’ve gone off on your own and no one would be the wiser. Why’d you get us out of there?”

“Because you’re under my fucking skin the way she’s under yours.” Jax stomped past us and headed toward the van.

17. Safe - Rafe

17. SAFE - RAFE

The sun kissed the horizon in fiery red-orange by the time Jax pulled into the place he called a “safe house.” I wanted to scoff at the term. I’d yet to find a place that inspired a sense of safety. Even my own fucking island hadn’t been safe. The engine fell silent, and I glanced over my shoulder at Alex’s dozing form. She’d curled on the bench seat, one hand pillowing her cheek, yet her muscles hadn’t given in to sleep yet. She was too rigid, too unrelaxed, and probably headed for another nightmare.

I sent a sideways glance at Jax. Dried blood lingered around his nose, and his right cheek was red from my fist. He had both hands locked on the steering wheel, eyes focused straight ahead. We hadn’t said two words since we’d left Perrone’s estate.

He claimed we were like brothers, and he had gotten us out, even if it was several days too late. Fuck, he shouldn’t have let them take us in the first place. I studied the profile of his face.

“You still don’t trust me,” he said.

“Kinda hard to.”

“Cleft was my cousin, my fucking blood, and I shot him.”

If he hadn’t done what he’d done, Alex and I wouldn’t be in this van with him. “Why’d you shoot him? I mean fuck. You didn’t even hesitate.”

He glanced at Alex in the rearview. “Let’s go inside. Take care of her first and get some rest. We’ve got time to deal with shit.”

“You’re stalling.”