“You’re right,” I said. “It’s complicated.” She might be able to look past me choking Jax’s uncle in prison, could maybe even forgive that moment in Perrone’s estate when I’d snapped. And Brock…well shit, Perrone’s most brutal thug had tortured her, only she didn’t have an emotional attachment to him like she did Zach and me.

But with Zach…there was only one way to make sure he never came for her again, and I was positive she would hate me for it. Jax sure as fuck didn’t approve. He believed killing Zach would tip me over the edge, that I’d lose the last bit of humanity I still possessed if I killed someone I’d once considered my best friend.

“Complicated doesn’t even touch it,” Jax said as if he’d heard the internal battle firing in my synapses. “You and Zach have history.”

“Zach’s not the one I’m worried about. Something kept her quiet all those years. I’m not convinced she was only thinking of me. She even admitted to getting off on it.”

“He’s her brother, not the love of her life. You know as well as I do that you’ve got her whipped.”

My mouth thinned into a line. “I don’t know, Jax. There’s a fine line between love and hate. She threw me in that place for eight years because he told her to. That’s power.”

“And I thought I carried baggage,” he grumbled. “You’ve spent too much time alone in your fucked up head.”

“Probably,” I said.

“No probably about it. You’ve been a fucking robot these past six months. You need her. She needs you. I get that. But if you need to take care of Zach, then don’t be a dumbass about it. ”

Jax always gave it to me straight. Maybe the real problem was I wanted her to want him dead—it would make this much easier. But my gut told me she’d want to spare his life because she wasn’t a fucked up killer like me.

Doesn’t matter what she wants.

I was in control now, and no one was going to stop me this time, not even Jax. I refused to make the same mistake of leaving Zach alive—it was the only way Alex would be rid of him for good.

8. Tease - Alex

8. TEASE - ALEX