Suicide Mission (Guarded Secrets #1)

23: "We are both as good as dead!"

I had acted at the last second to grab Jax's gun and forced it up into the air, causing him to miss the kill shot on Tessa and hit the roof far above us. Jax and I were struggling for control of the weapon, his hand wrapped around the handle and mine dangerously close to being shot off. I heard the other two men react to my movements, there was an audible clank of metal as they drew their weapons, surely pointing them at me. Tessa must have reacted at that point, because suddenly there was cries of pain echoing around us as Jax and I crashed to the ground in a fight. He struggled to prevent me from taking the gun from him causing a few stray shots to go off. I heard a few hit the walls and one of the men cry out from being shot. There was a clanking on the ground when he fell and rapid footsteps as someone started to scramble.

Jax threw his arm back and let it go to punch me in the face. I cried out, but latched my free hand onto the arm that had caused the blow. I sank my teeth into his skin, causing a few more stray shots to fire off as I bit into Jax and attempted to force him to release the weapon, but instead he began to hit me with the butt of the gun. The metal pounded against my skull, and I sank my teeth in deeper while I tried to get my other hand to the knife I had on the waist of my jeans. I heard Tessa let out a tortured scream that caused me to look toward her, the man that hadn't collapsed to the ground was racing toward her. I had to help her, because she wouldn't have it in her to kill the people she saw as family.

I released my knife from the sheath it was held in, and raked it across Jax's shirt, cutting it and his skin to shreds. Jax clenched his teeth. I went for the gun, but before I could grab it he tossed it away from me, but he didn't have it and now we had a chance. I ordered Tessa to retrieve the gun, releasing Jax from my bite, which had drawn blood. Tessa scrambled for the gun, crying as she did so. I heard the metal move on the ground as Tessa fumbled to pick it up and Jax and I continued to struggle until he managed to pin me to the ground, my knife still tight in my hand.

"If you move, I will kill you," Tessa threatened. I glanced up to see her standing, shaking more like it, pointing the gun at Jax. He let out a laugh, and I couldn't blame him. Even I couldn't believe it because her voice was shaking as well as her hands while she held the gun.

"Now, Tessa," Jax said cautiously. "Put the gun down and we can all walk away from this unharmed. You are family after all, we can work this out in a different way, and just move on."

I looked over Tessa's face, the confusion etched deeply in her features. She was clearly having a difficult time deciding what to do. No matter what, she saw these people as family and wanted them to accept her.

"Your loyalty to our family hasn't gone unnoticed. If you put down the gun, I'm sure we could work this out."

There was inner conflict in her face as she started to lower the gun the more he talked.

"He's lying, Tessa," I cried, breaking her out of the mental debate she was having with herself. "You know he is lying! He's just telling you what you want to hear."

Jax tried to silence me by bending his arm and placing his forearm on my throat, cutting off my airway. Once I was quiet, he continued to try to talk Tessa down from shooting him or anyone else she once saw as family. There wasn't any doubt that Tessa wanted to accept what they were saying, but knew that they weren't telling the whole truth.

"He's the one who killed your father!" I choked out, successfully earning myself a direct punch to my cheek, but also snapping Tessa out of her inner conflict.

There was a moment of hesitation as Jax waited to see if Tessa would drop the gun, and while he looked away from me, I forced my knee up and straight to his groin. I heard the groan and felt his breath leave his lungs as he collapsed next to me. I heard footsteps, but they quickly stopped. Tessa must have been holding the weapon at Jax's partner now.