Jax (Titan #9)(17)

"How am I missing this? And I'm not saying that Tex shouldn't be the one to go. I'm just saying maybe I have blinders on when it comes to him." Not that it would surprise her. "I don't even know if he wants me to babysit Johnny. Hawke hasn't said a word other than 'get on the plane' and 'we have your hotel room booked.'"

Victoria tapped her teeth in thought. "Maybe it's Jax that Hawke wants the ability to tap into."

Adelia giggled. "We should clarify that. Did you mean tap Jax or something more innocent, like converse with Jax?"

Seven groaned. "Could we not talk about tapping Jax?"

"God, what is he? One hundred percent full-blooded hot Italian male?" Adelia fanned herself. "I think it's the hair. Real dark and just long enough to hold on to."

"Oh my God." Seven pulled a pillow over her face. "How about we avoid discussing everything like that? Please?"

"I'd tap Jax. Over and over and over—"

"Adelia!"

She erupted into a fit of laughter. "And over."

"Would you shut up?" Seven ripped the pillow off her face and sat up. "I do not want to hear that."

"You can't lie and say he's not smoking hot."

Even Seven's best snake eyes were no match for Adelia laughing, and she turned to Victoria, who had rolled her lips together and was trying not to laugh also.

"Come on. You're married. Jax can't be hot. Nobody can be hot but the Australian downstairs."

"Actually, I'm upstairs and searching for something." Ryder walked by with a shit-eating grin on his face. "But yeah, if you were to ask me, I'd say the guy's not bad looking. If you could duct tape his mouth shut. The jackass."

Victoria and Adelia burst out laughing, and Seven groaned for what felt like the thousandth time, dropped back on the bed, and grabbed the pillow to cover her face again. "Can we not talk about Jax? This is supposed to be about Colombia." Carefully, she peeled the pillow from her face and peeked out to see the three of them watching her. "What?"

Ryder shook his head. "Oh, Seven."

Seven's eyes bugged. "What?"

"You have it bad, don't you?"

"Oh, for the love of—" Seven chucked the pillow at Ryder. "I'm here for a very serious conversation."

Ryder caught the pillow and stopped joking. "Okay, very serious conversation. Hawke wants Titan down there. He has hired us for a very pretty penny to stay neutral. It's obvious to the entire world that you and Jax have a"—he tilted his head—"connection. Your first loyalty is assumed to be Mayhem. Hawke would never question that. If Titan Group was to ever say or do anything that would endanger the club, you would know first."

Seven's lips parted, but her thoughts hadn't come up with the rebuttal that she was automatically prepared to give. "You think Hawke wants me to screw Jax for information?"

Ryder shrugged. "I don't know the guy."

Seven's eyes dropped to Adelia.

Adelia shook her head. "No way. If he wanted that, he would just say it. And then expect you to slap him."

Seven's gaze went to Victoria then Ryder and back to Victoria. "So then what? I'm not there to keep an eye on Johnny but rather Jax? I don't like the idea of spying on him."

"Then don't," Victoria said.

"But listen to what you just said," Adelia pointed out. "You just chose somebody you don't know above the MC."

"No, I didn't," Seven shot back defensively. "That's a strong accusation." Though all Adelia had done was repeat back what Seven had implied. She rubbed her temples. "Look, Jax is a friend. I've always been loyal to my friends."

A few awkward seconds sifted by before Ryder waved goodbye and left with a couple of cookies.

Seven took her own cookie out of the bag. "What's the final decision on Hawke's motives?"

"Who knows?" Victoria volunteered first. "If Hawke asks you any questions that you don't feel comfortable answering, you don't. Nothing that's any different than normal."

"Why does this feel different than normal?"

Adelia's face softened. "Because, sweetie, you two are…" Her voice trailed off as Victoria sat on the edge of the bed. "Opposites. But you have a vibe."

"A vibe?" Seven shook her head. "Nope. That's what Victoria has. The little sex toy fiend."

Victoria laughed. "A connection. Chemistry. The more you deny it to us, the more we're confident you two have that thing. Oh, hey." She reached for her phone on the nearby dresser. "I need Colby Winters's phone number. Do you have it?"

Surprised at the change of topic, Seven shook her head. "No."

"Do you have Javier's?" Adelia asked about her brother.

Seven's forehead pinched. "What? No, why would I have his phone number?"

Victoria scrolled on her cell. "How about Roman Hart's number or Brock Gamble? Luke Brenner?"

"No, why would I—Oh, because I have Jax's number."

Neither of them said a word, but both let their wide eyes do the talking.

Victoria scooted next to Seven on the bed. "I think we can drop the Jax part of this conversation, but I wanna say one more thing, and whether it entails him or not, that's your call."