“I don’t want to be a message,” I said, my voice small. “I really don’t want to be the kind of message he was talking about.”

He stared at me a moment and then understanding flickered across his face, and the whole atmosphere of the room changed. Tension poured like the rain had earlier. “I’m going to find that son of a bitch and fucking kill him.”

Whoa.

I stood, raising my hands. “Okay. I don’t think that would be the appropriate response.”

“He threatened you?” he shot back.

“Well, yeah, but . . .”

“He threatened with what I fucking think he did?” Although I didn’t confirm that, and it was a good thing I didn’t share that Mack thought it would also be a perfect message to send Jax, he still got it. “And he threatened you on my fucking ground?”

I wasn’t sure how this was his ground, but whatever. “Jax . . .”

“Did he touch you?” he asked, and I sucked in a breath.

I shook my head. “No. Not really.”

“Not really?” His voice was low, hitting a pitch that was beyond calm.

Nick was suddenly in the doorway. “Is everything okay?”

“Not now,” Jax spit those two words out in a way that would’ve sent me running in the opposite direction, but Nick stayed, his gaze bouncing between us, obviously reading that something was going down. “Calla.”

Maybe telling Jax wasn’t a good idea. I probably should’ve just gone straight to the police, because he was looking like he wanted to give some good old-fashioned redneck justice. I swallowed hard. “Mack had a knife.”

“Shit,” muttered Nick.

Jax stiffened, like his back went ramrod straight. “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I whispered. “All he did was threaten me. He said he was . . .” I glanced at Nick, but he was like Jax, alert and ready. I lowered my voice. “He said he would even out my face if I screamed.”

There was a moment of silence and then Jax absolutely exploded. Like a bottle rocket. “Son of a bitch!” he shouted, and I jumped a good couple of inches off the floor. “I am gonna kill that motherfucker.”

“Jax, jail time really isn’t what you have in your four-year plan,” Nick said, and dumbly I wondered if Jax really had a four-year plan, and I’d also stupidly realized this was the most I’d ever heard Nick speak at one time. “You knew this was bound to happen.”

My gaze swung sharply to Nick, and they did know. Clyde had warned me. Jax had warned me. They’d said that Mom had been messed up in some bad shit, and they had said that shit would spread to me. They hadn’t been kidding around, but I hadn’t really thought it was this bad; even with the heroin, I hadn’t realized it was like this. I’d been more concerned with getting my own money back and being pissed off at Mom and feeling bad for myself.