I fiddle with the ring on my finger; my heart is about to combust with happiness.
“Now it
’
s official.” He murmurs into my ear.
I grin at him and throw my arms around his neck.
“Thank you, when did you get the time?”
“I made a lot of calls.” He says.
“Wow, you must have been up late.”
“I was, remember you busted me?”
“This is what you were doing?”
“I had to do it sometime, I found the house the other day and brought it, before I knew we were getting back together. It was a risk but a good one. I did the last of it this morning while you were ignoring me. Seems funny doesn’t it?”
He cocks his eyebrow at me, and I shove him.
“I said sorry!”
His phone rings in his pocket, he pulls it out and answers it. He puts it onto loud speaker.
“Yeah?”
“Jax honey, it
’
s mamma. I need you to come home, now.”
I thought of Lilly and my face paled.
“Is it Lilly?” He asks quickly, his voice panicked.
“No love, it’s Sammy.”
“What?”
“She…oh honey, she’s in a bad way. She showed up; she’s been bashed.”
“I am on my way.”
He leaps up from the couch; I get up quickly and follow him out the front door. Sammy bashed? By who? Jax doesn’t speak much on the drive home; he is…well beside himself. I want to push the jealousy down, it
’
s petty, especially now but it
’
s gnawing at me, slowly eating me up. When we arrive at Amber and Rusty’s place, Jax leaps out and doesn’t even turn the car off. I reach over, flick the key and slide out, walking hesitantly inside.
When I get in, he has Sammy in his arms and my stomach turns. Jack and pirate Rusty are in the room; Jack doesn’t look at me. Which hurts. I continue to
chastise
myself, not now Jade, she could have been killed. Of course he cares. I watch Jax pull Sammy from his chest, she is bleeding quite heavily. Her body racking and convulsing. Her lip is split, her eyes black, her nose broken.
“Sammy, we need to take you to the hospital.”
“NO!” She shrieks.
“You will die kitten.” Jax says gently.
“I can’t, I won’t.”
I know what I have to do; she’s terrified and she doesn’t want to go to the hospital because she has been threatened within an inch of her life. I walk over and kneel in front of her, taking her face in my hands. Closing my eyes, I picture her pain, her agony and slowly I feel it seep into myself. I scream as my nose breaks, and my lip splits apart. Jax is yelling incoherently, but it doesn’t matter, Sammy is scared, and I will heal quickly.
“Jade, what the hell? You stupid idiot, what is wrong with you?” Jax is yelling.
“She just saved Sammy’s life you insensitive prick. She was helping her, so she didn’t have to face going to the hospital, god; you are a selfish
bastard.” Rusty
snaps at him, horrified.
I whimper as the pain invades my body even further. Rusty lay’s me down on a nearby couch and Amber rushes over, her face ashen.
“What in the name of god did she just do…”
“She is gifted
mamma
. It’s a long story.” Jax snaps, dropping to his knee’s by my side.
“You will be ok with some rest, I have to go to Sammy.”
I am absolutely devastated; you will be ok? I have to help Sammy? It hits me then; my gift makes people worry less about me. My lip aches. Poor Sammy, she was beaten badly. I feel it in my ribs, my
stomach. She has been kicked, hard. Not enough to kill but hard enough to give a clear warning. I close my eyes, feeling my body fixing at a
rapid rate.
When I open my them, Jack is chatting to Sammy. Gently. Jax is holding her still and my heart clenches. He sees me and lets her go gently and comes over.
“You ok?”
“Yeah.”
He helps me sit up and Sammy stares at me, shocked.
“Jade…thank you.”
“Anytime.” I croak.
She looks back to Jack. “It was the drug lords. They saw me and…well it’s obvious what happened next.” Her voice chokes off, and she stares at Jax. He gets up and goes to her, wrapping her in a hug. So now I am better; he is back comforting her? God stop it Jade!
“Was is Jemerson?” He asks.
Drug lords? Jemersons? What the hell is going on. I thought Ben did this.
“No. It wasn’t, but I recognized their faces. They were with him. Said they were going to hit you where it hurt next if you didn’t give them what they wanted.”
“Fuck this, I gotta find them.”
“Jax, it
’
s risky.” Rusty speaks up.
“It is, but my family is copping the blow here.”
Family? Sammy is family?
“Listen, we will discuss a plan later. Right now, everyone needs to rest.”
“I am going to stay with Sammy tonight.” Jax says; then his eyes meet mine. I feel my lip quiver, but I hold my poker face.
“I should go.”
I get up and grasp my bag, hurrying to the door. Jax gets up and follows me, taking my arm gently.
“Jade, she needs me.”
I spin around, glaring at him. “Yeah, and so do I!”
He clenches his eyes shut and then opens them; he is now calm.
“I need details, she is scared and has nobody else.”
“Good, you enjoy snuggling her all night.” I spit, turning on my heel.
“Jade, enough!”
“No, not enough. I feel for her, truly I do but instead of bringing her back to my house where we can BOTH help her, you offer to stay alone with her here. You wonder why the hell I freak out. Goodnight Jax.”
I rush to the car and slide in before speeding off. Prick can stay here alone. When I get home, the house is silent.
Where’s
Layla? I pull out my phone and ring her.
“Layla, where are you?”
“I took Lilly to
McDonald’s
. I didn’t want her to…witness what was going on with Sammy. Are you home?”
“Yeah, thanks Layla.”
“We won’t be long.”
“Look after her Layla, things are messy.”
“Always.”
Relieved my best friend has my daughter, I slip inside the house. It’s dark, empty. I flick on the lights and sigh; it looks nothing compared to the house Jax brought. I turn the kettle on and am about to slip upstairs for a shower when my doorbell sounds out. Who is ringing my door bell? I walk over and open the door, in front of me stand three men. Holding guns.
I know instantly they aren’t with Ben, pirates wouldn’t waltz up to my front door and ring the door bell, not with Jax around. These were the drug lords they had been talking about. Was Jax doing drugs? Sammy? I didn’t understand. I open my mouth to speak, but the man shoves his gun at my face.
“Didn’t expect us, did you? We will get what we want, even if we have to kill what matters most.” A man with a bald head, scary grey eyes and a beard says.
I know I have to think quick. I move like lightening, slamming the door quickly and locking it. I have only minutes. I need to think, fast. I grasp my phone and run up the stairs; locking my door. I pull out my phone and dial Jax’s number. I hear shots; they are shooting my door down. God Dammit Jax, please answer.
“Jade, baby I am so…”
“Jax, I am in trouble.”
“What?”
“Drug lords. At my door. I am in my room hiding. I have seconds.”
“Shit, fuck. Jade, hide, anywhere. Stay there, don’t leave the house.”
“They will kill me!” I cry as a kick to my door sounds out. I slam the phone shut.
I glance around the room. I need something, anything to help me out. I have nothing, a bunch of clothes and teddy bears would do sweet nothing. The door swings open and I back up as the three men close in on me.
“He will find you! He is coming!” I yell.
“Wonderful, we were hoping he would. You are making this terribly easy for us. Buck.”
The bald man nods to the man on his left. He is a fat, orange haired beast. He aims a gun at me, god no, please.
“I have a child, please.”
“Won’t kill you, yet. Just a bed time bullet.”
What? The gun goes off, and a dart flings into my chest. They were…oh….everything goes black.
CHAPTER 11
I flutter my eyes open, once, then twice. It’s dark, other than a small shining light; it's so horribly dark. I try to move, but I have been kicked and my ribs scream at me. Where am I? Where is Jax? Oh god, did they kill him? I sit up groaning and peer around the room; it is a small, dark concrete room with no windows. Over in the corner I spot Jax. He is here! They got him too? I crawl over; my mouth is dry and feels like sand paper.
“Jax, wake up. Please wake up.” I whisper, shoving his still form. God, he is dead. No; please no.
I press my head to his chest, a heart beat. He is alive. I call out to him, over and over until finally his eyes flutter open.
“Whaaaa?” He mumbles.
“I don’t know where we are. They have us both Jax.”
He sits up, looking around. “Fuck.”
“Are we in trouble?”
He shifts and rubs his eyes. “Yeah, we are.”
“How much?”
“A bit.”
“Jax…what is going on? Why are drug lords after you.”
He looks at me for a long moment then sighs.
“I met Sammy a few years back, she was being chased by drug lords. She had gotten drugs and didn’t pay them back. To cover her debt, I started selling a drug from the island. The tribe had been using it for centuries, and taught us how to make it. They liked it, so much they wanted me to continue supplying them. I couldn’t. I didn’t want that life. They started tracking us down a few days ago, I thought I could get on top of it before…”
“You are selling drugs?” I whisper.
“Was.”
“Jax Watts I swear to god…you better be telling me the truth.”
“Jade, this isn’t the time. I am telling you everything.”
Before I can answer the door swings open, the three men step in. One holds a chain; the other holds a hot iron rod and the other a gun. I gasp, and Jax takes hold of my hand. Our eyes meet, and I can see he is bracing himself. He knows what’s coming?
“Good to see you again Pirate, I told you if you didn’t play then we would find you.”
“I got nothing for you.” Jax hisses.
“But you do, the plant you made those drugs from.”
“It only grows on my island, and you won’t get to that. Over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged.”
Suddenly, one of the men grab me and yank me from Jax’s grips. The first man rips the chain over Jax
’
s head. Blood spurts from his temple; I scream. The second drives the hot iron through his leg; Jax’s pained roar
echo’s
in the small cell. The third man holds a gun to my head.
“What’s it going to be, pirate?”
The man with the chain, drives it across Jax’s chest with a huge loud whip. I hear his bones crack, his strangled scream tears through my soul. God, they would kill him.
“Stop, god dammit, stop!” I scream. Jax is yelling in pain; blood pours from his body as they drive kick after kick to his face. “I will tell you anything, just stop, PLEASE.”
“Jade no.” Jax croaks, growling in pain.
“I know where the island is, I will tell you, just stop hurting him.” I plead.
“Smart girl, we will be back to collect you in an hour. If you change your mind, he pays for it.”
They leave, slamming the door. I drop to my knee’s beside Jax, taking his face in my hands.
“Oh god Jax.”
“Don’t tell them.” He gurgles. Blood begins to pour from his mouth.
“Jax, they will kill you.”
“I can kill them, I know…where we are and how to get out.”
“They will kill you, you have nothing when you’re like this.”
“I didn’t want you to know.” He croaks. Then he closes his eyes and opens them again; they are red.
“Oh…God.” I stammer. He is cursed again. All this time.
“Jax…you’re still cursed?”
“I took it back,” He splutters. “I didn’t want you to know, to hate me.”
“Then why did you let them beat you!” I scream. He doesn’t answer.
I stare at him, his head lolls to the side. I have to help him. He can get us out. Bracing myself, I put my hands on his chest, and he weakly shoves them away. Knowing what I am about to do. He has no strength left, and he can’t change, I am his only hope.
“NO, stop.”
“I can’t do it Jax, even with my power one bullet, and I am dead. You need the strength; I will use what I have left when they come back, you take their guns and do your thing. I will be ok.”