“Based on what? Everything they have up to this point is nothing more than speculation.” Jax took her hand in his once more, praying she couldn’t see how desperate he was to keep her with him. “They said it themselves, Pop. The FBI has been trying to take De Luca and the Mons Leones down for years.Years. Are you really willing to give up that much of your life in hopes that they’ll finally be able to put the son of a bitch behind bars…before he finds and kills you?”
Because he wasn’t. If he had to take her someplace safe and watch over her until the feds could make a case, so be it. But there was no way in hell was he leaving her safety—herlife—in the FBI’s hands.
“You got a better idea?” Declan asked, his tone serious.
As a matter of fact, he did.
“She’s coming with me,” Jax stated bluntly.
“Uh…hello, Pot.” Wade scoffed. “Meet kettle.”
Shooting the other man a narrowed gaze, Jax asked, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“It means you’re over there shitting all over WITSEC, you seem to have forgotten the fact that Allie and I nearly died inyourapartment when some asshole tried burning the place to the ground.”
Thathadbeen a rather unfortunate turn of events. But other than offering up his apartment to the now-happy couple, what happened that day had little to do with Jax.
Keeping his cool—sort of—Jax shot back with, “As I recall, that asshole who destroyed my home and club only did so becauseyourformer partner was in bed with the man trying to kill your wife. So don’t go putting that shit on me.”
Before Wade could respond further, Noah lifted a hand and intervened. “I think what Wade is trying to say is that your apartment might not be the most secure place to keep Poppy safe.”
Jax slid his focus back to Noah. “Who said anything about keeping her at my apartment?”
“You got someplace else in mind?” Declan’s dark brows dropped slightly.
He gave his brother a nod. “I have a cabin. It’s fifteen minutes from town, and it’s secure.” Jax turned to Poppy. “You’ll be safe there.”
I’ll make damn sure of that.
Poppy didn’t say anything in response. She simply looked back at him, the uncertainty in her eyes creating a knot in his gut.
She doesn’t trust me to keep her safe.
Jax opened his mouth, ready to say or do whatever it took to make her believe in him when Maggie expressed her thoughts on the current debate.
“I think we should hear what Poppy has to say.” The M.E. slid her hands into her designer dress pant pockets. “After all, this should be her decision.”
As much as Jax wanted to argue against that fact, Maggie was right. Ultimately what happened next should and would be up to Poppy.
Come on, Kitten. You’ve already seen what I’m capable of.
The room grew silent as all eyes turned to her. Jax watched and waited, praying she decided to go with his idea of hauling her fine ass to his cabin in the mountains rather than putting her faith in the FBI.
He held his breath and waited.
“If I go to the cabin with you, I’ll be putting you in danger, too. I don’t want that on my shoulders.” She licked her lips and shook her head. “I don’t want you getting hurt because of me.”
The woman had spent the last however many minutes listening to them discuss just how dangerous De Luca was, yet her first thought was about protectinghim?
Fucking amazing.
“It’s sweet that you worry about me, but I can take care of myself.” Of that he was utterly certain.
“This cabin of yours.” Noah seemed to consider Jax’s alternative. “How secure are we talking?”
“Very.” Jax went on to reveal information he’d never shared with anyone other than Ivan. “The house sits in the middle of twenty-five acres. It’s bordered by a high-end electronic fencing system with multiple cameras mounted around the perimeter. If something larger than a small dog breaches it or the cables lose connection, the system immediately sends me an alert that goes straight to my phone. The private drive is gated and equipped with biometric entry, and I also have a state-of-the-art security system installed in the house itself.”
He'd built the place a couple years back, slowly adding the upgrades as time went on. It was where he’d stayed during the club’s rebuild, and the cabin was where Jax went when he needed to get away.