“Wedoknow.” Her expressive eyes pierce mine. “Let’s set aside the fact he killed a man tonight. He works inside that club; that automatically makes him a criminal. They have illegal firearms in that club. That’s one strike. They sell and consume drugs in that club. Strike two. They sell women. That’s your third, baby girl. It doesn’t matter if he’s not the one selling the women. It doesn’t matter if he’s not the one handing the guns over. Ignorance is not a legal defense.”
Laine cries on my right. Wringing her hands together, she watches the table as tears streak down her face.
“I’m not trying to hurt you, Jess. But I’m saying he will go down when Abel does. There’s no way around it. The inevitable downfall is coming, so you can jump ship now, or you drown later. Save your career. You don’t get to keep him either way.”
For the first time tonight, tears well in my eyes. The finality in her tone cuts me.
There’s no threat in her words, only a promise. A promise of heartbreak.
“I love him, Jules. Help me save him. Don’t send him away.”
“This isn’t a love story that’ll end well! He could squeal on Abel’s entire organization, but he’ll still go away, at least for a little while. And when he gets out, do you honestly think you can keep an ex-conandyour career? The world doesn’t work like that.”
I shake my head and consider my options. If he squeals on Abel, he says Abel will kill him. Even from thesafetyof prison, he’s still a dead man. If hedoesn’tsqueal on Abel, he goes to prison, and Abel will stillassumehe squealed, which makes him a dead man.
“Can we get him protection?” I meet Alex’s eyes. “If he talks about Abel and helps take him down, can we get him protection?”
“You gonna go into WITSEC with him, Jess? Gonna ditch your family, move to Kentucky, live on a farm, and raise chickens?”
“Yes! If I have to, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“Just like that?” He looks between me and Laine. “You girls find it so easy to latch onto a man and ditch your family?”
“Hey!” I shoot to my feet when Laine’s breath comes out on a sob. “Don’t be an asshole!”
“What?” Alex throws his hands up. “She ditched too, didn’t she? She got a man, he says jump and she asks how high.”
“Oh, and you wouldn’t jump for Jules?”
“That’s different!” He points a dangerous finger, once again declaring himself superior to the rest of us. “She’s my wife. She’s carrying my baby. She asks me to jump, I pick her up and bring her with me.”
“She wasn’t always your wife, X. She wasn’t always carrying your baby. You don’t get to claim the world’s most loving relationship and pretend no one else measures up. Scotch and Sammy beat you to it two decades ago.”
“They’re married, too!”
“Right, but most relationships don’t start out with a wedding ring on day one. Just because it’s notyou, doesn’t make it not real. There’s a man in your cages right now, and he’s agoodman. You cannot convince me otherwise. You think you’re right; so often, you think you’re right. But not this time. Yes, he knows bad people, but he’s not a bad person. He doesn’t deserve to become Hayes’ new target. If you arrest him, if you send him away, you sign his death warrant. If he wasn’t here, I would be dead.” At his denial, I nod. “I would bedead. That’s not a catchphrase, not a euphemism, not an exaggeration. You’d have a dead sister. You’re all about family, X. How is he bad, when he saved your family?”
“You’re looking for loopholes! You’re looking for gray area. Robbing a bank and then handing a twenty to a homeless guy doesn’t excuse you for robbing the bank!”
“No, but that twenty might’ve saved that homeless man’s life. How can that be discounted? Not only aren’t we talking about a random homeless guy, but we’re talking aboutme. Will you trade me for an arrest simply because you’re a stubborn ass?”
“I’m not being stubborn! I’m upholding the law. How am I the bad guy here?”
“Because you’re not listening to me! This isn’t black and white, Alex. Just like that time Oz shot Thomas. He put a bullet in his brain to protectyou, when he could’ve easily shot him in the arm and disabled him. Just like you could’ve charged Marc for hurting Luc, but you didn’t. You pretend to live oh so fucking proper–”
“Don’t swear at me, Jessica! Don’t disrespect me.”
“You pretend to be so proper, but you find loopholes all the time. Marcshouldhave been charged for what he did to my brother. Lucshouldhave been questioned at the very least for attacking fuckface Drew with a plank of wood. But nothing! Ozshouldhave been investigated, but he wasn’t. Because they’re family, and we trust they made fair choices under pressure. Kane ismyfamily, and I trust him! You don’t know him, and that’s fine. But you know me. Trust me! Believe me!”
“He won’t sell Hayes.”
No, he won’t.“But we could at least make the offer. Help me, Alex. Don’t kill him just because you’re set on pigeonholing him into a monochromatic world. You don’t know him, but I do. He’s the most protective, most loyal, and the kindest man I know. I won’t let him die because you’re in a bad mood. And if you get what you want right now, hewilldie. Abel won’t let him live.”
He scrubs broad hands through his hair and bites off an oath as he resumes lapping the boardroom. Stopping at the end of the long table, his bright eyes come back to me. “He shot at me!”
“If he shotatyou, you’d be dead. I’ve spent the last week at a shooting range with him. I watched him hit target after target. He never misses, X. Never.”
“He was holding the gun.”