Page 76 of Save Me

“What are you going to do to the people on that list?” Bryce fails to hide the skepticism in his voice.

“That’s none of your concern.” The light in Jax’s eyes dims as he gives him a look that would make anyone shrink away.

“Will you… hurt… them? The people on this list?”

“What’s it to you if I do? You already proved you don’t mind standing around while others get hurt.”

“Okay, I deserved that.” Bryce shifts nervously in his seat, and I can feel the uncertainty radiating from him. “I’ll get you the list, if you promise no one gets hurt outside of Rhett and Tanner,” he says, his voice shaky despite trying to assert himself.

“Odd time to grow a backbone,” Ryan mutters from across the table, and I shoot him a look.

“We don’t hurt anyone who’s innocent, remember?” I look at Jax for confirmation, and he meets my stare before turning back to Bryce with a sigh.

“No one on that list will be hurt unless they had something to do with hurting the one person I would destroy the world for,” he says, squeezing my hand again.

Ryan looks between us. “We get it. You love her, you’ll kill for her, now,” he says as he turns to Bryce, throwing a piece of paper and pen his way, “write the damn list.”

I stifle a laugh at Ryan’s nonchalance, but Bryce only holds up the paper and pen. “Never heard of email?”

“Ever heard of, oh, I don’t know, hackers? Of staying out of jail if shit goes south?” Ryan counters. “Write the list. I’ll burn it once I memorize the names.”

“If he does this for you, if he helps you, promise you won’t hurt him?”

We all turn to look at Sam, her stare bold despite her voice sounding meek.

“You seem to care an awful lot about someone you’re supposedly not close to,” Jax says casually, leaning back in his chair again, his hand never leaving mine.

Sam doesn’t falter under his stare, but holds her chin high and stands her ground. “He’s my brother. Just because we’re not close doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to him.” She looks to me. “This is all sorts of fucked up Evi, and I’m not condoning anything he did—I’m so revolted by his actions I can barely wrap my head around it all.” She closes her eyes for a moment before looking at me again. “But I don’t want to grieve the death of my brother. Even if you think he deserves it for what he helped put you through, I can’t let you hurt him.” She gives Jax a pointed look.

I nod slowly, swallowing down my emotions as I try to understand where she’s coming from, recognizing the loyalty in her that I love so much. I look to Jax as well, trying to read what’s going on inside his head, but he only smiles at Sam.

“Well, at least no one around here can question your loyalty to your friends and family,” he says, “but I’m not the one you need to plead your case to.”

To my shock Jax looks at me, and I shake my head slowly.

“I don’t… I can’t… make these kinds of decisions. This isn’t my call to make. I can’t do this.”

Jax smiles at me. “If memory serves me correctly, youcando anything you want to do. You’ve proven that much over and over again.” His eyes scan mine before he gives me a more serious look. “You were the one who got dragged to hell and back, so you’re the one who gets to decide what happens to everyone who was involved. I am happy to do whatever you decide.”

I look at everyone at the table, at Ryan and his casual indifference as he leans back in his chair. At Sam, and the shock, despair, and disbelief written all over her face. And at Bryce, at the shame, guilt, and understanding I see in his eyes. We stare at each other, and it’s as if he is resigned to accept whatever fate comes his way. He looks as if he no longer cares whether he lives or dies, or, perhaps, as if he feels he deserves whatever decision I’m about to make.

“In exchange for helping us, nothing happens to Bryce.”

Sam exhales a sigh of relief, and Bryce’s shoulders sag.

The tension in the room remains, though lessens slightly after we finish talking about Rhett and Tanner. Jax’s anger seems to dissipate as the minutes tick by and Bryce focuses on writing his list, though there’s a tension still left that I can’t quite place.

“What’s wrong?” I ask Jax quietly, leaning into him slightly from my chair beside him.

“What’s wrong, is that I’m dreading what we’re about to find,” he says quietly enough so only I can hear.

I pause, knowing exactly what he means, how any evidence will hurt me just as much as it will hurt them.

“Maybe it won’t be that bad. Maybe he just sent a few texts about what his plans were for me, or anyone else he’s hurt. Surely, he’s not stupid enough to collect evidence of what he’s done.”

“Unless he never had to worry about getting caught,” Jax says, and I feel the hope falter within me. Of course Rhett never had to worry about getting caught. His family has enough money to pay off anyone they wanted to so that they could—and probably have—covered up a lot of unsavory things.

“Done,” Bryce says quietly.

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