Jax (Titan #9)(103)

"Co-sign!" Victoria said from speakerphone, giving her agreement.

"You don't even know what happened. You have no idea what I think or what I'm focused on."

"Wrong," Adelia said. "You're forgetting that Victoria's a private investigator. Whether or not her hands are in casts doesn't matter. The girl's a first-class snoop. We're going to tell you what we know and what we've decided. Then we're going to help you extract that pretty pink head from your derrière."

Seven couldn't handle this conversation. "Or you can leave because I have some banking issues to work through."

Victoria burst out laughing, and Adelia grinned. "We should just hop to it, then. Seems like the crowd's already warmed up."

Curious, she crossed her arms and decided to listen. "Go on."

"Do you know what Sweet Hills does best?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah." Seven laughed as well, noting the irony. "They get in other people's business."

"Victoria talked to Gennita. Glammas don't miss anything, honey. And when Cullen was dropping his loyalty speech, your neighbor picked up every single, arrogant, awful word." Adelia's smile softened. "You can't just dedicate your life to those kids as an excuse to shelter yourself. You can't make everything perfect for them because of what they went through, and even if you could, it won't make up for what you went through."

"Plus," Victoria added, "you'll miss out on the best things."

A knot formed in Seven's throat. "They are the best things."

"No, honey," Adelia said. "Love is. Family is. Stop suffering to make them happy. Otherwise, you've become Taini, and they've become Mayhem. I don't know what your father is in this metaphor other than your internal self-suffering, but you're creating sacrifice to avoid pain."

Seven tried to swallow. She wanted to defend secluding herself away from the world but couldn't.

"Have you talked to Jax lately?" Victoria asked.

Seven shook her head.

"She shook her head," Adelia said for the benefit of Victoria. Then she raised her eyebrows and put her hands on the desk, leaning close to Seven. "We know."

"Of course you do," Seven mumbled.

"Now for the audio presentation." Adelia grabbed her purse. "There's something you need to hear, and you can thank Victoria for harassing her poor husband."

"Eh, he can take it," Victoria said.

"And you can thank Jax," Adelia continued, "for having an attitude bad enough that Titan tapped his phone lines." She pressed the play icon on her cell phone, and Jax's voice flooded the room. Seven wanted to cry simply from hearing the sound of his voice, but the three of them listened as he put Ingrid in place for suggesting Seven didn't want to come to the nursing home, and then paid Sydney to close down the bakery. Jax took care of the costs so the coffee shop wouldn't suffer and made sure her mom would have a trusted face, and he did it all with a few phone calls never meant for her to hear.

"Now that's a Titan man," Victoria whispered.

Seven sat back in her chair, and it wasn't until Adelia handed her a tissue that she realized the tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh God, I've made a terrible mistake."





CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR


The scent of gun oil permeated the air as Jax finished cleaning his .38 caliber revolver and reassembled it. He checked the grip and appreciated how the solid weight had remained dependable throughout his life. It would fire in anything. Sand. Dirt. He trusted that gun and could recall the first time he picked it up. That cold metal still felt the same some twenty years later.

As Jax was sighting the gun, Winters walked into the storage locker, and Jax dropped it down. "Hey, man. Wanna go over to the range?"

There had been a subtle change in the last few weeks since the Vegas conversation with Jared, and Jax didn't think Jared had said anything to the team or that his own attitude had changed. Still, there had been a shift in perspective after news had quietly gotten out about his background and how he'd almost lost those he most cared for.

Or did lose. But Seven was still breathing, and they were still married so he didn't know what to think.

"I was on my way up to ask you the same thing, but Brock caught me. He wants to talk to you and said to head over his way."

Jax nodded, unsure what that was about, but he stored his weapon in a locker and washed his hands then made his way to where he knew Brock was working.

After a quick knock, Jax walked into a smaller conference room and saw the pile of papers surrounded by multiple cups of coffee that kept his boss going.

"Winters said you were looking for me."

"Actually, we're playing a game of messenger. Head on down to the war room."

Jax pursed his lips together and thought better of asking Brock why when there were four empty cups of caffeine and two weeks' worth of paperwork in front of him. "Will do."

After a few twists and turns through Titan security, including a retina scan, a thumbprint, then a swipe of his ID badge, Jax reached the other side of headquarters and walked into the war room.

Or rather, walked into an empty room.

No signs of life. No cups of coffee. No sign of Boss Man's bulldog. Jax decided to take a seat and give Jared or Parker a minute to show up before texting Brock and—