Should I be okay with that? I take a deep breath in, trying to convince myself that my father would not put me in Tanner’s care if he didn’t trust him.
He drives down a gravel road and pulls over in front of a lonely, older ranch-style home with a dead lawn in front. He walks around the car to open my door, smile on his face.
He takes my hand as I step out. Then his smile is gone, replaced by a pale face as the windshield explodes with a thundering noise that pierces my ears.
Tanner pushes me to the ground and covers me with his body as another bullet whizzes above us.
My chest gets crushed under his weight. I open my mouth to gasp. He senses my struggle and arches his back to give me room to breathe.
“You okay?” he whispers to my ear.
“I think so.” The words come out all muffled like my tongue has swollen or something.
“There’s only one shooter,” Tanner says. “And he just ran off to the hill.” How does he know all that? “I’m going to go after him now, okay? Just to see where he’s heading. You get in the house.”
He reaches in a pocket to take some keys and a second gun out.
“No,” I try to protest, using all the air left in my lungs. I don’t want him to leave me. I’m terrified.
I grab his hand to keep him from taking off. My palm becomes warm and sticky. I look down at my hand. It’s red. “Oh my God, Tanner, you’re hit. You’re bleeding.”
“I know. That’s why they don’t pay me minimum wage. Get in the house. I will only be a minute.”
“Please, Tanner,” I say, grabbing onto his blood-stained pants.
He removes my hand with a firm grip and sprints down the gravel road, leaving me all alone with a gun I don’t know how to use.
I try to get onto my feet but find it impossible to move. It takes me ages to reach the front door. I scout the area for signs of Tanner. What if he was captured or, worse, what if he’s dead? I’ll be next if that’s the case.
And then I see the man running at me. He’s huge and built like a fucking armored vehicle. I’ve only seen one man that size before—Wolf. The crazy ass killer that pulled a gun on Jaxson and Brad at the club.
I try to run but I am stuck on the spot with a heart that threatens to explode. I see the knife in Wolf’s hand as he raises it to throw it at me. I want to duck but I’m paralyzed with fear. The knife whizzes by my ear making my heart stop.
I hear a growl behind me. I quickly turn my head, guided by sheer instinct. A man is standing a few feet away, looking at me with stunned eyes, a knife stuck in the middle of his chest. He falls to his knees slowly, his eyes going glassy now.
And then I run. Finally, my feet begin to work and I run faster than I ever have in my life. I run toward the hill yelling out Tanner’s name.
Wolf is faster than me, I know that with every fiber of my being. If Tanner Hayes doesn’t come back to help me, I’m breathing my last breaths.
My pursuer hisses a curse out behind me as he tackles me. I go down hard, hearing my bones hit the gravel road.
I’m helpless. I’m at his mercy.
Wolf’s hand is at my hair, fisting it. He pulls me up and I fight his hand, afraid he’ll tear the hair off my head. I flail my legs and arms as he drags me to a car. I manage to land an insignificant kick or two on his massive body.
“Help,” I scream as loud as I can. “Tanner, help!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Wolf says, his hard fist crashing against my skull.
Everything spins, my body goes limp under me. I can feel how he swings me over his shoulder and then tosses me into the back seat of his car.
Then everything goes black.
—twelve—
Ella
He’s taking me back to my apartment. As impossible as that seems, we’re in Studio City, driving down Cahuenga Blvd. Wolf’s phone rings and then stops right away. He must have sent it to voicemail.
I bring both hands to my head, wishing I could stop the incessant ringing in my ears. I have so many questions but no intention of putting any of them to the monster in the driver’s seat. If he punches me a second time, he might kill me. Of course, that could have been his plan all along—take me back to my place and murder me the way he did Madison. But no, my mind is playing tricks on me. It was the Bronsons that murdered Madison because of my father, right? But what if Wolf works for them? Didn’t that scenario cross anyone’s mind?
Who was the man that he killed with the knife? Someone else trying to kill me or someone trying to protect me from Wolf? The vicious cycle of unanswered questions spins in my throbbing head.
Wolf parks the car in the underground parking lot. He opens the back door and drags me out, putting his arm around my shoulder. He’s so big next to me, he feels like a moving mountain. He pulls the front of his jacket to the side so I can see the gun he’s carrying.
“Keep quiet,” he says as he nudges me forward to the elevator. I comply. His sheer body mass would be enough to crush me in an instant.
“Are you going to kill me?” I say, instantly regretting it. Why put ideas in his head?
Instead of an answer, he pinches my forearm hard enough to make me squirm. I manage somehow not to produce any sounds. He’s requested total silence. My compliance is a given.
In front of my apartment door, Wolf dives into my jeans pockets, first on the front and then in the back. I bite my tongue not to shove him away, hating the intrusion. We both know how far that would take me.
“Keys?” he barks at me.
“Purse,” I manage to say with trembling lips. “They were in my purse.” A purse that was left in Tanner’s car.
Wolf swears non-stop as he takes out some special device from his pocket. His huge left hand remains tight around my arm. When the door opens, he pushes me inside the apartment violently.
The urge to scream for help has been hard to suppress ever since he parked the car and we walked through the parking lot and then the hallway. But what good would that do? Wolf carries at least one knife and one gun and those are just the weapons he allowed me to see. Who knows what else is underneath that jacket.
Jax said Wolf is lethal and not someone you want to have around on one of his good days. This is clearly not one of his good days. Screaming would only get me killed faster as well as anyone who might try to help.
The more I think about it, the less plausible it seems that he’d bring me back to my place to kill me. Why go into all that trouble when he had me right there, outside Tanner’s place? There must be something else he wants.
He shuts the door behind him and then he yanks my arm and spins me forward until I crash down on the couch. My heart beats out of control.
Wolf bends his face down to my level. I’ve never seen a harsher expression on a face. His breath is surprisingly minty and fresh. I sense endless darkness behind his eyes. Nothing I say would make a difference. He has seen and heard it all and then some.
“Why are you not in hiding?” he growls at me. “Are you a stupido?”
Nothing. I have nothing to say to that. My teeth chatter when I try to open my mouth so I keep it shut.
It doesn’t look like he’s expecting an answer. He straightens himself up and throws glances around the place. His eyes focus on a picture on the coffee table. It’s a picture of Madison and me as teenagers, having just come home from school and posing in front of Jim’s sedan.
Wolf picks up the picture and stares at it for a long while, almost forgetting I’m right here. It’s hard to believe that Madison dated this animal but I guess she saw something in him. Something that would come in handy right now if I could find it.
His contemplation is interrupted by noises at the door that sound like nails scratching. Wolf lets the picture drop and quickly draws his gun.
He gets to the door in two long strides and opens it swiftly, gun in hand. Jaxson is standing on the other side, key in hand, about to unlock the door. The two men stand there, face-to-face, totally still.
> Oh God, don’t let him shoot Jax!
All the screams I’ve been holding down come to the surface. “Jax, run!” I yell. “Get out of here!”
Wolf lifts his big fist and puts his hand casually on Jax’s shoulder. “Get the fuck in here, bro, and shut her up.” Wolf steps aside to let Jax enter.
Jax winces with pain as Wolf pats his back. What’s going on? I give up. The sobs begin beyond my control. No matter how much I try, I can’t stop them, they just pour out from some deep well.
“She looks alright,” Wolf growls, “but I’m not sure she has much sense in her head. She makes a racket and processes everything too slow. Shut her up or I’ll give both of you a beating.”
Jax barely listens to him. “Was all this completely necessary?” He touches my temple which hurts mightily under the soft pressure of his finger.
“We’d have both been dead if we’d done it her way,” Wolf says.
“It looks like it,” Jax says. Does he even know what he’s saying? Is he taking Wolf’s side in him assaulting me? “The important thing is she’s in one piece,” he continues. “Where did you collect her?”
One piece? Collect me? I give up and collapse. “Fuck both of you,” I manage to say. “The way you talk about people. How do you even know he collected me?”
“In this business we notice these things.” Jax says. “Did Wolf hurt you?”
“What are you? A stupido?” I tell Jax. I’m surprised to see a white picket fence of teeth emerge from Wolf’s mouth. I think he’s grinning.
“She’ll be fine,” Wolf says, indifferently. “She’s slow and weak. A normal person would have made it out easier. It was like trying to get a panicked eel into my car. I had to do some quick convincing.”
“He brutalized me,” I say.
“Wolf has a suddenness about him,” Jax says, stroking my hair.
“She was a heartbeat from catching her death,” Wolf says. “I collected her up near Canyon Road outside that Tanner dude’s crib.”
“What’s your angle in this?” Jax says. They somehow understand each other in ways I could never imagine.
“She’s lucky she’s Maddy’s sister or I would not have gotten involved,” Wolf says. “I’m just here to give you what you want.”
*
I pick up the picture of Maddy and me off the floor while Jax and Wolf sit at the dining table to talk. I yearn to be in Jax’s arms but it will have to wait.
“What is it you think I want?” Jax says.
“Don’t play dumb. Leverage against Bronson.”
Jax considers his words. “I asked for your help before. You refused.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure who I loathed more then—Lucius or Bronson.”
“And now you do.”
“Now the scale has tipped a little. I can’t live another day knowing that bastard, Bronson, will always get his way.” He spits in his hand and then rubs the hand on his pants. I can’t even get grossed out, I’m so out of it.
“It seems you have everything under control,” Jax says. “What do you need me for?”
Wolf turns his face to me. “It’s not for you, it’s for the girl.”
“How does Ella figure in your plans?” Jax says, looking at me, more than a little worried.
“Let me tell you what happened today,” Wolf says. “Your girl’s guard was set up today. Bronson must have gotten to Carter’s men, turned them. Carter’s own men attacked Tanner Hayes. He was caught off guard.”
Jax’s face goes pale. He comes to me again and takes me in his arms, kissing the top of my head. There’s something urgent about the way he touches me. “Tanner failed you?” he says, voice trembling.
“He was shot,” I say, through sobs. “He told me to go to the house. I don’t know all the rest of it. It was madness. This terrible man grabbed my hair and dragged me. Punched my head.”
“Jesus,” Jax says, kissing me all over my face. “Ella, listen to me. Wolf manhandled you because there was no time.”
“How do you know?” I say.
“I just do,” he says.
Wolf grunts at me. “I saved your pretty little ass, you dimwit. You’d be the one lying down with a knife in your gut if it wasn’t for me.”
“Yeah, you might have saved me, but it sucks that you are the least gentle hero ever.”
Wolf laughs heartily. “God damn it, I like the sound of that. You really are a magazine writer, aren’t you? Least gentle hero ever. Fuckin’ right I am.”
“Let’s back up,” Jax says. “How did you happen to be there?”
“I have a nose for that stuff,” Wolf says. “Always been lucky that way.”
“Lucky?” I repeat. “I would call it a curse.”
Wolf nods. “Of course you would, because you are weak.”
“You’re a chauvinist,” I say with an insincere smile.
“And a hero too, right?” Wolf says. “Your words, pee wee. Not mine.”
Can women really be called pee wee? I’ve never been so openly bullied before. Wolf is one strange guy. He treats me like we’re both boys in middle school.
“Better fucking start from the top,” Jax says, dead serious. He takes me back to the table with him, sitting me in his lap. I want to bury my face in his neck and just breathe him in but I control the urge.
Wolf keeps staring at me as if I’m some weird, wild animal that’s going to bite him. “Women distract me,” he says.
“She’s staying,” Jax says. “Just talk.”
“It’s like this. Bronson had Madison killed. I liked the crazy bitch. She was fun and she was under my protection.”
I want to slap him across the face for the disrespectful names. Jax squeezes my hand so I focus. I’d be so lost without him.
“I cared for Madison, she cared for this one,” Wolf goes on, pointing at me with his chin. “Do the math.”
Okay, that makes sense, at least in simplistic Wolf math.
“I’m on board with keeping your girl in one piece,” Wolf continues, “so guess what old Wolfie did? I got hired to be in Bronson’s crew. I worked certain angles to make that happen. Carter Wade made a bet against Bronson’s son, David. A series of bets. Wiped the little sucker clean. David is that little prick who makes scum look like an angel’s choir.”
For a devolved beast man, Wolf actually has a way with words himself, probably popular around campfires as a kid.
“Turns out Carter cheated,” Wolf says. “Carter had his reasons. There’s no end to reasons to fuck over that fucking little prick, but he did it. Carter cheated. It was proven.”
“So David is the one demanding Carter’s head?” Jax says.
Wolf nods. “Years back, I worked for Bronson. He was my first big boss. I made a mistake so the bastard had me branded.” He pulls his shirt up to reveal the letter B burned onto his skin on both sides of his ribcage. “Like an animal,” he says. “I promised revenge then and I’ve decided the time has come. It’s the fucking day of the Wolf.”
Jax nods. “So what’s this leverage you’re talking about?”
Wolf barely listens, lost in his own thoughts. “When they killed Madison, that was it. Either they go or I go. She was a good kid and she was mine. They won’t get away with this evil.” He finally turns to Jax. “Carter’s security team has been compromised. I’ve killed one already,” he says with a toothy grin.
“Tanner?” I say, getting a chilly feeling in my bones.
“Not sure about him. My people have him for now. I can’t be sure who he’s working for. He might be a free shooter, a man with no country and whatnot.”
“He works for my father,” I say, stupidly.
“Your old man’s not the man he once was,” Wolf says, shrugging. “He’s erratic. Loyalty don’t come easy and mistakes lead to disloyalty.”
“Tanner was shot,” Jax says. “He was still on the job. You said he was set up. Bronson has not got to him.”
“Carter’s men set him up today and I think he knew it.
That’s why he went after them. He was pissed and lost focus. And blood.” He chuckles as he says this. “We tracked him easy.”
“So why bring us in?” Jax says.
“I like working alone but it might be more fun to kill two birds with one stone. We’ll kidnap Bronson’s son tomorrow night. That will be the leverage. I’ll take you straight to him and you can do the rest.”
I turn to Jax to see his reaction. I completely depend on him to make this judgment call. “Tell me more,” Jax says, furrowing his brow.
Wolf rubs his hands together. “Kid’s a little weasel. He likes to get stoned and torture strippers in a private room downstairs at the club. No one knows of that room except his lackeys. And me. He thinks money has earned him the right to do whatever he wants. We’ll show him otherwise.”
Jax thinks for all of a second before he shakes Wolf’s hand.
—thirteen—
Ella
I don’t dare ask Jax if he trusts what Wolf has said—if he trusts Wolf himself. I want the plan to work and I want the nightmare to be over, but I also realize that at least a dozen things could go wrong.
Jax closes the door after Wolf leaves. I move quickly to get to him and wrap my arms around him from behind, face against his back. His body immediately tenses at my touch, his back muscles twitching. He spins around to take me in his arms, forcing a smile.
“Is everything okay?”
“God, I missed you,” he says, kissing my lips softly.
“I need to sit down,” I say as all the stress and shock make me lightheaded.
Jax walks me to bed, his strong arms supporting me the whole way. I lie back on the pillows, making room for him next to me. He sits on the edge of the bed without lying down.
“I guess the meeting with Bronson didn’t go all that well,” I say. “I’m obviously still on his kill list.”
He gives me a sad puppy face. “You must think I’m an asshole for abandoning you.”
“Jax, no, I know you did what you thought was best. You always do. You were tricked, we all were.”
He looks away and that worries me more than anything. Something’s off with Jax, eating him away, and I don’t know if it’s concern or guilt or something more.
Scandal: The Complete Series Page 23
