His big frame cast a shadow on the floor. The lamp behind him was the only source of light in the small studio apartment.
"Jax, what are you doing here?" she stammered, trying to keep her confidence. However, it was hard when a man she barely knew sat waiting in her apartment in the dark.
"What happened that night when I found you?" His voice was cold and calculating.
He held the knife's handle in his hand and turned it clockwise on his way over the floorboards.
"What happened, Lola?" he repeated when Lola didn't answer.
She didn't remain silent out of spite. She was simply too stunned to speak. Fear was creeping up her body. Her senses were telling her to run.
Could she leave this life behind too? Still, she had just built it and made a friend who was more family to her than those people who had raised her.
His dark eyes weren't like those that haunted her at night. Jax's eyes weren't looking at Lola with hate or shame. He seemed inquisitive, wanting her truest answer. However, how he was searching for it was what caused the alarms to go off in her.
Just like that, with one single step, he was gone. Lola looked around. A hand came around her waist from behind and pulled her back.
"Tell me what happened." His body pressed against hers.
His grip was solid enough for her to know instantly that getting out was not an option.
"I fell." The lie she had repeated in her head was suddenly spoken aloud.
The lack of conviction in her voice was a reminder of why she didn't get into law like Melissa did.
The bite marks appeared in her vision-those two perfectly even puncture marks on Melissa's neck. The blurry memories of the night they lived through.
Jax's hand came up to her side. "You're lying," he whispered. His hand stopped over her chest. Lola froze and closed her eyes. "Your heart doesn't," he said, and her breath poured out.
"I fell," she said in the exhale.
The room spun as he turned her around. His hands gripped her shoulders firmly, and his eyes suddenly became obsidian as they stared her down.
"It'll be much easier for us both if you tell me what happened. You know what happened, you remember. You saw it." He was pulling the truth to the surface, and the words rested uneasily on her tongue.
"Jax." Lola shook her head.
"No matter how much I adore hearing you say my name, it's not what I asked you."
"I don't..."
"Stop lying, Lola. Melissa was there. What happened to her? What did you see on her neck today? Why did you tell her to stay away from me?" The sound of air sharply inhaling between her teeth was all the sound that came from Lola.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked.
Jax leaned in. His grip around her shoulders slightly softened. However, it was still hard enough to keep her put.
"Because what I'm going to say next very much depends on you admitting to what happened that night."
Lola released a breath and gazed deeply into his eyes. It was all too weird to admit. Could it have been that she was right? That the fragments piecing themselves together when she slept were somehow the reality she had lived? Were they memories or just a nightmare?
Jax's eyes darkened.
"Say it." His fingers dug into her skin.
"We were in the alley behind the coffee shop." His eyes grew more intense as she spoke. "We weren't alone. Some guys were there. Melissa was..." Lola shook her head and ran her hand through her hair. She backed away from Jax and turned her back to him. "I can't." Maybe it was a defense mechanism. Her brain was working to keep her sane and safe, but the memories from that night were foggier than ever. Lola had decided to believe the truth she was told when she had woken up, that she had fallen.
She took a deep breath, feeling the air in her lungs. Lola heard the wind whining around her and opened her eyes. She gasped and fell back a step.
"Go on, please," he pleaded.
"Why do you care?!" Lola threw her arms in the air and took another step back. Things were getting a little too familiar.
"What happened that night, Lola?" His voice grew impatient, and his jaw clenched forcefully.
Lola looked at him, scanning his face, fearing the anger she saw over it.
"Tell me!"
She yelped when he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in close. A strong wind blew in through the crack in the window, the sound of the breeze covering her quick breaths.
Lola pulled back, but she didn't move. She scanned his eyes. There was something different about the color in them. The swirls of yellow weren't there before.
She parted her lips, ready to say something. The door burst open and hit the wall as it flew off the upper hinge.
Jax turned to see who it was. His shoulders rose in a predatory bow, and he stepped to the side to shield Lola behind him.
Someone stepped inside, whistling carelessly and pulling at the door.
"Sorry about that," he said, clearing his throat.
Lola looked over Jax's shoulder to peek at the person who had broken into her home. Well, the second person.
"They were getting antsy back home, thinking you couldn't handle it, so I said I'd check it out and make sure you behaved." His voice was dark with a deep amusement. She saw the hair, ash-blond with darker natural nightlights. His eyes were a dark shade of brown, hiding under a layer of thick lashes.
He smirked as he looked behind Jax to get a glimpse of the girl he was hiding.
"Protective already, I see," he mused. A growl rumbled for the body inches in front of Lola. She fell back at the sound.
Jax's fingers were rolled into his fists.
"Leave," Jax ordered.
"Is that her? Have you told her?" He faked modesty. "Or am I going to get that honor?" he said with his hand on his chest.
Jax took one step. Those brown eyes landed on Lola again, looking over her fear-filled face.
He smiled, seeing her back away.
"Did she tell you yet?" He mused and looked at Jax. His eyes narrowed, the smile changed into a devious grin, and he rolled back his shoulders.
"I'm taking care of it. You're not needed," Jax said coldly. They stood eye to eye, and the tension rose, pushing Lola back against the wall in an overwhelming fear.
"Why should I miss all the fun?" His grin deepened. He took one step, and suddenly, he stood in front of Lola. She gasped; the air stuck in her throat. The second intruder raised his hand and moved her hair from her shoulder. His fingers graced her skin, and she shuddered.
"Get away from her!" Jax's hands slammed at his chest, and he flew over the table and down on the floor.
"I'm guessing you don't want to share?" He laughed as he rose to his feet. In the blink of an eye, he stopped next to Jax, who put himself before Lola.
"Get it done, or I will," he spat.
Jax turned his body, his eyes slowly finding Lola's.