Attest (Centrifuge Duet Book 2)(21)

It’s unlocked.

Of course, it bloody is. These people are too arrogant, buoyed by their ability to make the world dance to their tune, to take precautions against the people they seek to destroy for their own profit, and I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t bring me pleasure to be the one knocking their pretty little life off its axis.

Unheard and unseen, I cross the threshold with my heart in my throat. Thirty steps separate me from Jax and Amber. They are in the dining room—Jax at the head of the table, Amber to his right with her back to me, pouring over some documents that are spread across the pristine surface. The atmosphere is tense, more so on Jax’s behalf than Amber’s.

He jabs at one of the pages in front of them, then glares at Amber. “I’m telling you. It’s not Belinda. She’s dead. I watched her die in front of me because your ex-fiancé shot her.”

Amber points at the same piece of paper as Jax and attempts to reason with him, “But, see the—”

She’s cut off by a swift backhand across the face. It knocks her into the back of the chair beside her and she falls to the floor. Jax stands over her, hands on his hips, and snarls. “Stop with your whining. Get off the floor and, at least, attempt to act like you have a shred of dignity left.”

I see red. My plan flies out of my head and I charge toward him.

“Get the fuck away from her.” My handgun is levelled at his chest and I plant my feet wide when I’m within range. Jax freezes in place for a moment, before he grins and reaches for Amber. He manages to get half a handful of her hair in his grip before she shuffles out of his reach. When he realises she’s gotten away, he stands there with a smirk in his face and tendrils of her hair clenched in his fist.

I aim the end of the barrel straight for his heart and wait to see what Amber’s going to do. She doesn’t leave me hanging for long. I smile when first the top of her head appears, and then she pokes her face around the corner of the table.

She runs a disbelieving gaze over my face. “Xander?”

I nod, acknowledging her as much as I dare for the moment. It takes every inch of resolve I have not to drop my knees in front of her and gather her in my arms, but I know it’s not the right move. I have more pressing matters to attend to—like getting us out of here in one piece before her husband does something to gain the upper hand.

Jax takes that moment to drive home just how precarious the situation is, he lunges at Amber, but misses when she skids across the floor to me. When he moves to follow her, I jerk the gun and warn, “I wouldn’t do that if I was you.”

“Amber!” Jax ignores me and tries to intimidate his wife into going back to him.

I don’t give her the chance to decide. Pulling the handcuffs from my pocket, I lob them hard at his face. They hit him square in the nose and I thank my parents for making practice my baseball pitching when I would have gone surfing instead.

“Handcuff yourself.”

“Motherfu—” Jax grabs his bleeding nose and almost lets a curse ruin his perfectly cultured fa?ade. A tiny speck of respect for his fight sparks within me, but it splutters to a humiliating death when he swipes the handcuffs from where they landed on the dining table and locks them around his wrists without further protest.

“Come here.” I hold a hand out to Amber, beckoning her forward with a wave when she hesitates. Her big brown eyes shine with fear and she glances between me and Jax with growing uncertainty.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I vow with absolute steadfastness. Our gazes lock, and I try my hardest to make her believe me. “I’m here to take you and your children to a safe place.”

Apparently, that was all she needed to hear. Amber pushes to her feet and walks to my side. The red mark on her cheek makes me want to skin Jax alive, but I know that I need to get my plan back on track. Hurting Jax, or worse, killing him, is going to deprive me of the leverage I need over B when she finds out that I’ve gone off the reservation.

“Should I get my children now?” Amber dips her head and stares at the floor. “I have a few things I need to bring with me. My sons are only young.”

“Take your time,” I reply. Eyeballing Jax with a glimmer of vengeance in my gaze, I gently grasp the top of Amber’s arm and pull her closer to me. In a voice loud enough for her husband to hear, I try to assuage her worry. “Make sure you bring everything that you need. You won’t be able to return for anything you forget.”

“Okay,” Amber agrees easily. She pats my arm and practically skips off up the stairs.

“I have a few things organise down here,” I yell after her. “I’ll let you know when the coast is clear.”

A faint murmur of agreement floats down the stairs.

“You won’t get away with this.” Jax snarls at me. “I don’t think you realise who you’re messing with. If you kill me, you’ll have the best army my father can afford on your ass until the end of time. There won’t be a stone left unturned until he tracks you both down and kills you. If you kill me, you’re signing Amber’s death warrant, I—”

“Would you shut up!” Waving the gun at Jax so he doesn’t get any clever ideas, I slip my phone from my pocket. I press the number one on the screen to access the number I saved on speed dial when I decided on this course of action and jam it against my ear.