Page 67 of Thrown Off Balance

“I-I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me!” He roars, hitting me in the head with the butt of the gun.

“Yeah, I'm doing whatever I want,” Jax mumbles as my world spins.

A moment later I'm tugged to the side as Jude turns to face the bathroom. Jax steps out with his hands raised and a frown on his face.

“Hey, Jude. What are you doing, buddy?” His voice is calm and collected, but I can see the fear in his eyes.

“Jax! I told you not to go out there,” Mason hisses.

I watch as Jax takes a few steps towards us, trying to get closer without freaking out Jude.

“I'm just getting rid of our problem.” Jude stands a little taller and his muscles relax the smallest amount.

“Eh, I think if you get rid of her, I’ll have a problem.” Jax winces, like this is paining him to say any of this.

“What do you mean?” Jude asks quickly. He’s practically hanging on Jax’s every word.

“Well, Sloan is Cody’s girlfriend. He’d be really upset if something happened to her.”

“I don’t care about Cody.”

“Yeah, but I do. He’s my twin.” Jax’s shoulders rise and fall with a shrug. “Cody’s one of the most important people in my life. After you, of course.” He motions to Jude. “But it would really upset Cody if something happened to Sloan and that would make me angry. Do you want to make me angry, Jude?”

The way he cocks his head to the side and examines Jude, I can almost believe every word coming out of his mouth.

“No! Never!”

“Then I think it’s time you put the gun away.” Jax narrows his eyes on Jude, waiting to see how he’s going to respond.

“Yeah, ok. I can do that.” He slips the gun back into the waistband of his jeans.

“Let Sloan come to me. I need to make sure she’s ok.” Jax makes a motion for me to come and I glance at Jude, terrified he’s going to change his mind.

“Go, Sloan.” He nudges me softly.

I don’t waste a second, I fly across the room and into Jax’s arms. I bury my face in his chest as he wraps me in his embrace. My entire body is shaking with tears, but I don’t care. This is the worst day of my life.

“I was thinking of heading to Kennedy’s Pub tonight, do you want to come?” Jax asks like he’s talking to Cody and not his stalker.

“Yes! I’d love that.”

“Awesome.”

A creak in the floor draws everyone’s attention towards the hallway. Jude tugs his gun out as he spins to face Maddox. He points the barrel at Maddox’s head and all the air leaves my lungs.

“No! Don’t hurt him!” I sob.

Maddox’s a great guy. He has a wife and kids, I don’t want any of them to get hurt because of me. I need all of them to be ok.

“Who are these people, Jax?” Jude growls.

“They’re my family. It would really upset me if you hurt any of them.”

Jude spins around to face us again and his gaze narrows on Jax. I see the second it all clicks and he realizes Jax is playing him.

“You’re lying. You don’t care about me at all. She’s still poisoning you.” He trains his gun on us and I'm not quite sure if he’s hoping to hit Jax or me. It’s a toss-up at this point.