Chapter 10 NO TIME FOR WEAKNESS
“Your discharge papers have been signed. We need to leave, asap.” Jax said as he moved through the hospital room like a whirlwind. He was tossing Sienna’s… no, my few belongings into a duffel bag.
God, I need to get used to this being me very fast.
After the broken door, the unconscious attacker, and the quiet men Jax had called to “handle it,” the hospital administrator made it clear they were no longer welcome. Other patients were frightened, and the staff was nervous.
Apparently, stab wounds and splintered doors were bad for business.
For four months, I had lain in that hospital bed untouched. But within a few hours of waking up, someone had found me.
“How?” I muttered under my breath as we got into the car.
Jax glanced at me. “What?”
“How did he know I was there? I’ve been in that room for months with no attack, right?”
Jax’s jaw tightened, his hand gripping the strap of the bag. "I don't know. Maybe someone talked. Maybe someone saw me coming and going. It doesn't matter right now. We need to leave here first.”
"What about the man on the floor?" I asked. "Did you call the police? Are they coming to take him?"
Jax stopped, giving me a look. It was the kind of look you give someone who just asked if the sun was purple. "The police, Si?" He said, chuckling as I had just said the funniest thing. "Of course, I didn't call the cops. We don't involve the law in our business. Ever. He’s been... handled. One of my guys is taking him to a secondary location to find out who sent him."
I felt a chill go down my spine. "Handled." In our world, that usually meant a shallow grave. But I didn't ask any more questions.
Jax drove fast, weaving through the city traffic until the grey and brown buildings of the industrial district took the place of the glittering skyscrapers of the city.
The entire district looked shady. It was the type of place I had stayed in the car when my father had to stop by to conduct “business”.
"We’re here," Jax said as we pulled into a large garage.
I looked at the metal shutters, oil-stained concrete, and the faded sign hanging crooked above the entrance. If someone had told me this was where a crew of underground fixers operated from, I would have laughed.
“That’s why it works,” Jax said when he caught me staring, as if he could read my mind.
"Siren!" A petite girl with dyed red hair… Mina… rushed forward. She looked like she wanted to hug me, but she stopped herself when she saw the awkward smile on my face.
"She doesn't remember, Mi," Jax whispered, stepping out of the van. "Remember the amnesia thing? Just give her space."
The two other people that I recognized as Leo and Kael stayed where they were, looking at me with a mix of pity and awe.
I followed Jax up a flight of metal stairs at the far end of the garage. He pushed open a heavy wooden door.
"Welcome back home," he said. "This is your private loft."
I stepped inside and froze. My privileged upbringing hit me like a physical punch. The place was tiny.
"It’s... cozy," I whispered.
Jax frowned at my tone. "It’s been your home for the past five years, Si. You loved it so much that you refused to move out when you could afford better."
“Yeah,” I replied, nodding. “Sorry, Jax, I’m kinda beat, that’s why. I didn’t mean anything by it.”
He patted my back, then left me alone to settle in.
I stood in the center of the room, turning slowly as I looked around my new home. The bed pushed against the far wall, the single wardrobe, and the tiny kitchenette in the. One narrow window overlooking the alley behind the garage.
The entire apartment was barely larger than my walk-in closet in my father’s house.
For a second, I couldn’t breathe as my mind took me back to my old life.
The marble floors flashed behind my eyes, the courtyard fountain… then my father lying face down in blood, my mother’s dress soaked red.
The screams… the bodies.
I had never really loved my family. They had used me as a pawn…. had treated me like an outsider my whole life…. But they were my blood.
No one deserved to die like that.
I placed my hand on my stomach. I could almost feel the phantom weight of the child I had lost.
"Over thirty people lived at our compound," I whispered to the empty room. "And he’d slaughtered them all just for a few blocks of territory."
Kanan Maddox was a monster. He hadn't even hesitated when I told him I was pregnant and had murdered his own unborn child without a second thought.
Tears burned my eyes as my emotions surged: rage, grief… hate.
"Si? You okay?" Jax’s worried voice came from the doorway.
I quickly wiped my eyes and pretended to be inspecting the kitchenette.
He looked like he wanted to ask more, but he didn't. "The others are waiting downstairs," he said. "We need to talk about what happened at the hospital."
I followed him back. The crew was gathered around a metal table in a room off the main one that seemed to act as the kitchen and lounge.
"So, it seems like the Cobras found her," Leo muttered, his eyes on the laptop he was typing. "That means they know Siren is awake. Word is probably out on the street."
Kael looked up at me, his eyes curious. "I have to ask, Si. Why did you do it?”