“I’m fine,” she muttered, throwing a glare over his shoulder at Cord. “He just had to tell them, didn’t he?”
The betrayal she felt wouldn’t be easily wiped away. He’d figured that out in the beginning. That one piece of information, her identity, she felt endangered her family too much to reveal until her mother’s killer was found. By revealing it and bringing the men he’d revealed it to into the house, he’d sliced at her sense of security, the small amount of safety she’d tried to find in Jazz’s arms.
Gently, he pressed the ice pack he had with him to her face. “He trusts them with his life, Kenni. And unfortunately, he’s right. You and Gunny against the Kin going out after you, over and over again, made both of you weak. Neither of you was to blame, though, I promise you that.”
Uncertainty shadowed her eyes, haunted them. The tears she kept trapped in her soul darkened the emerald color and filled them with a pain so deep, it went far beyond what she obviously revealed in her face.
“He should have at least asked first.” The betrayal refused to abate, and Jazz couldn’t blame her a bit. He just understood it.
That didn’t mean he was going to forgive it, just that he understood it.
Kenni didn’t much care at the moment, though. Slade and Zack had taken Phoenix to the basement and that left no one to expend her anger on.
She tried to rise from her seat again.
“Come on, Kenni, sit here with me for a minute,” he told her firmly, placing the ice pack on the side of her face again. “Let’s see if we can help the swelling here.”
“I need to check on Squirrel…” She actually made it to her feet this time.
“Squirrel is fine.” Rising, he looped his arm around her waist as she tried to move past him. “You’re going to sit right down here.” He pushed her back into the chair. “And let all that lovely adrenaline racing through you begin to crash so we can contain it.”
Kneeling in front of her again, he watched her closely as Cord’s men moved around the kitchen.
“What are they still doing here?” She glared at them. “He needs to take them and leave.”
“And you need to sit still and hold that ice pack to your face,” he ordered, wondering if anything could get through to her and her need to release the fury pounding through her.
Rising, he turned to drag another chair over to the side of the table when he felt her move again.
“I’ve had enough of this!” Jumping from her chair Kenni stalked to the steel barrier holding the puppies outside.
Squirrel was howling in outrage at the sight of her, his head tilted back like a wolf as he formed a perfect little O with canine lips. It would have been cute under other circumstances.
“Not yet, Kenni.” Jazz caught her before she reached the barrier. “There are too many strangers here for Marcus and Essie to be comfortable with the babies romping around them.”
She hadn’t considered that. The remorse on her face was as clear as the shock and pain.
“I have to get out of here, Jazz.” She rubbed at her arms, her pale face almost white now as she stared up at him beseechingly. “I can’t just sit here.”
She was going to explode at this rate, he knew.
“Come on, I’ll take you upstairs then.” Maybe a few minutes alone, without strangers moving around her, would help settle her down. God knew he could use a few minutes himself.
“Escaping, is she?” Cord drawled from behind them then. “I should have known that one was coming.”
Jazz almost cursed as Kenni froze for a second before turning to face her brother and cousin.
“You know how he gets, Kenni,” Banyon said with a grimace. “He’s worse than a damned kid at a candy store when blood is spilling.”
“Don’t waste your time, Banyon. Kenni doesn’t believe in letting family in any more. She’s going to protect us all, ya know,” Cord drawled from the kitchen doorway.
Lifting the cup of coffee he’d helped himself to he sipped at it lazily before tilting it in her direction in mock acknowledgment.
“And you’re a moron,” she snapped. “Someone should have neutered you at birth to halt the testosterone development.”
A mocking smile tilted his lips. “Too late now.”
“Like hell. One day someone’s gonna show you different with the sharp edge of a good knife,” she guessed. “I want to be there when they do.”
“Little girl, that’s not a day you’ll ever see,” he assured her, still laughing. “Hell, Kenni, you’re so damned good at running I don’t expect you to stick around past fall now.”
She smirked back at him. “Oh, I’ll still be here, Cord Maddox, if for no other reason than to prove you wrong.”
He sipped at his coffee again, his expression thoughtful.
“Don’t do it, Cord,” Banyon muttered. “Jazz will retaliate.”
“Come on, Banyon, what’s there to retaliate over?” Cord mocked. “A sister who cut us out of her life ten years ago? I should have figured out why I couldn’t find her all those years. It was because she didn’t want to be found.”
“Finally figured that out, did you?” she asked painfully, rising from the chair as Jazz straightened in front of her. “Took you a while, didn’t it, Cord.”
As she turned her back on them and left the kitchen, she would have been surprised had she seen Banyon’s and Deacon’s expressions, Jazz thought. Not that either of them said a word.
And honestly, Jazz had had enough of it. This picking and poking at Kenni by Cord, Deacon, or whoever else decided they didn’t agree with her decisions was going to stop.
And it was stopping right here.
Turning to where Slade and Zack stepped from the basement, Jazz waved them out to the back porch. Cord would know better than to accept an invitation outside by Jazz. That left good old-fashioned trickery.
Not that Slade or Zack stupid. But whether they agreed or not, they would still help.
As Jazz moved to the back porch, Slade and Zack moved to each side of him.
The screen door hadn’t even closed when Cord pushed out of it, glaring at Jazz when he moved around him to face him.
“Trying to hide something, Lancing?” he snarled.
Jazz smiled complacently before delivering an uppercut that lifted the other man from his feet, throwing him back over the steps and to the grass in the yard.
And he wasn’t finished with Cord Maddox, either.
* * *
Fuck!
What just exploded in his head?
And why the hell were rainbows twisting and screwing one another across his vision. Those freaky lights were scaring the shit out of him. Especially as he felt himself being hauled to his feet.
Swaying, Cord gave what he hoped was a hard shake of his head.
Okay, they were going away now. No more weird rainbows.
Reaching up and gripping his jaw, he worked it slowly as he focused on the man in front of him.
“Jazz?” He stumbled just a little before Jazz caught him. “Thanks, man,” he muttered, shook his head again, then frowned up at him. “Jazz, did you just fucking hit me?” He had to blink again to chase away more rainbows.
Amazement filled Jazz’s features.
“Cord, I just helped you up, man.” He sounded pleasant enough. “Here, let me see what you’ve done to your face.”
Cord dropped his hand from his jaw.
Hell exploded in his abdomen then. His stomach was shoved clear to his throat with a whole lot of help from Jazz’s fist. Before he could catch his breath Jazz delivered another iron-bitch fist to his jaw and Cord was sure something broke this time.
He slammed into the side of the porch.
Ah fuck.
Shit. Dammit.
His legs went limp. Cord felt himself slide down the wall supporting the porch until his ass hit grass.
Fuck.
Jazz’s fists had only gotten harder over the years.
He might actually puke. Maybe Jazz ruptured his stomach?