Page 77 of Kiss Marry Kill
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“Calm down, Ryan,” Jax said, just a car’s length away, watching the knife pressed to Megan’s throat. Ryan looked all around, his eyes unfocused, dragging Megan around as he scanned the area. All the police officers had their weapons drawn, and Jax was terrified one of them would shoot and hit Megan while aiming at Ryan. “Hold fire!” he commanded. “Do not fucking shoot!”
“Get your guns down!” Ryan yelled in a shaky voice, hands trembling, and maybe it was purposely or maybe it was due to those shaky hands but the knife dug deeper into Megan’s skin and Jax heard her whimper as a drop of blood slid down her throat.
“Don’t hurt her. Just calm down, Ryan. Look, no gun!” Jax slowly placed his weapon on the floor and kicked it aside. “Josef!” He yelled at Joey. “Gun fuckin’ down!” Joey looked at Jax, then at Ryan, and then followed orders. “Now, Ryan, tell me what you want. Ease up, buddy.”
His eyes bounced around the area where spectators were taking videos and pictures from cell phones and where cops were pointing guns at him. It was a volatile situation. “Hey, look at me. Just at me,” Jax said, his palms up as he took very small and cautious steps forward. “She can’t sing for you if you hurt her, buddy. That’s what you want, right?”
Ryan kept looking around, confused or possibly planning his next step. “Listen, Ryan, there’s no scenario where you just walk away. The difference will be whether you serve a few months or a couple of life sentences. It’s still okay right now. Right now, you let Megan go, and you’ll be out before you know it.” It was bullshit: kidnapping, assault, battery, the shit went on and on.
As Jax was formulating a plan, his eyes slid to Megan and he saw it in her eyes. She was going to do something. Something stupid and careless. Just as he was about to yell “no” at her, Megan kicked her leg back, her heel slamming against Ryan’s groin. Jax and Joey both took off running as Ryan bowled over in pain, letting Megan go in the process.
Stabilize the enemy.
Jax ripped the knife from Ryan’s hand and folded his arm high up behind his body, causing Ryan to yelp in pain. The police moved in. The urge to hurt Ryan, to kill him for taking Megan, for hurting her, was overpowering.
“We got it from here, Irons,” someone said from behind him. “Irons! Let him go!” Yelling and talking was happening all around him but all he could do was tighten his grip, cause Ryan more pain.
“Jax! Jackson!” Joey’s voice snapped him out of his adrenaline-fueled haze. He turned to see Joey on the street, Megan in his arms sobbing. “S’okay, Megan, babe. You’re okay.” Joey looked up at Jax again and Jax let go of Ryan and rushed to Megan, lifting her off the floor into his arms and away from the crush of people. There was an ambulance waiting nearby, and he headed there. “Stay,” Jax said to Joey. “Get all the info. I want to know who he talks to and where they are taking him and what they are booking him for.”
“Got it.”
Megan was trembling, her arms around his neck. “It’s okay, Meg, baby. I’ve got you. You’re okay, sweetheart.” She nodded into his neck. “It’s all over now.”
Chapter 14
PRESENT DAY
Everything had happened so fast, her brain hadn’t caught up.
One minute Jax was kissing her, and the next, Ryan was driving her car. Her first reaction had been to jump out, but he’d attached something to the seat belt clip, making it impossible to unbuckle herself. The look of crazy that Ryan had on his face was not something she’d soon forget. Neither would she forget the look of fear and determination on Jax’s face, from the reflection in her side mirror, as he ran toward them.
“We need to ask you some questions.” Megan wasn’t even sure who was speaking. There was chaos and noise all around her, and she had the sudden urge to cover her ears and ball up in a corner. She heard the officer’s read out some of the information from Ryan’s license: “Ryan Milano. Local. Thirty-four years old . . .”
“Give her a moment to be checked out by the paramedics,” Jax barked to the police officer. Ryan Milano. Now she knew his full name. It wasn’t an intimidating sounding name or anything of note. Yet, it was a name she’d not soon forget. He lifted her chin and there was a look of self-loathing on his face as he found the spot where the knife had been pressed. He let go, gently, and left Megan to be attended to by the paramedics. After a short time, some ointment and light bandaging, the cops began to question her.
As she spoke to the police, detailing the twenty horrible minutes in the car with Ryan, Jax’s face turned so cold she had to look away.
“Did he have a gun?”
“I-I don’t know. He had some contraption thing on the seat belt and I couldn’t unbuckle,” she said to the police officer, rubbing her scalp where it hurt from where he pulled it.
“You okay?” Jax asked.
“My head hurts.” She cleared her throat. “I’m okay, though. Keep going.”
The cops asked her more questions. Jax insisted she be checked out again for her headache. Somewhere in the haziness she noticed her friends had gathered around and they were talking to the police as well. Joey had come by too and asked how she was holding up. The paramedics had given her a blanket, and even though it was over eighty degrees, she couldn’t stop shivering. She curled up in the back of the ambulance, putting her head against something hard—a gurney, maybe—and closed her eyes.
The next thing she remembered was being lifted from her spot and being in a car, and finally the soft covers of her bed.
At some point Megan woke up, not surprised to find herself alone in bed, since Jax didn’t sleep much. It could’ve been hours. It could’ve been days. Everything hurt. The skin around her neck, her scalp, her jaw—just everything ached. Taking a hot shower and washing her hair did nothing to alleviate the soreness in her body. She took three Advils and finally went downstairs. She was half-expecting to find all her friends and her parents, so it was a welcome surprise to only find Jax there. She didn’t want visitors, mostly because she wasn’t in the mood to talk.
“Hey,” Jax said from the kitchen table, a laptop in front of him. He closed the computer and went to her. His hair and beard were a mess and there was purpling under his eyes. He looked wrecked. “How do you feel?”
“Like shit.”
He led her to the couch. “Your mother had food delivered.”
