They say never play where you’re paid. The moment Jax met Andria, that mantra went flying out the window, along with any reservations he had on working with GAPS.

You can keep up with your training, they said.

You can choose which jobs you want, they said.

You’ll fall in love with your charge, said no one.

Jax sighed and when Andria stepped out of her bedroom in her come-fuck-me-and-never-let-me-leave-the-bedroom-ever-again dress, he wanted to make an excuse to keep her home. That damn dress showed off the sexiness of her legs, the curves of her body, and the barely-there straps could be snapped off easily enough. The dress would be shredded by the end of the night. He knew it.

He did not, however, like the idea of venturing out to an area he had not scoped out. His team did not have this pub on their perimeter.

Before they left for the evening, he went through the bible, as he called it, with his team.

He dialed GAPS and waited for someone to answer. When the line picked up, it was Cash McAlister, one of the newer SEALS Jax brought on under his wing. Cash was fairly new to the operation of GAPS, but he and Cash went back a number of years.

“GAPS, we have your six,” Cash answered.

“This is Jax. I need a location on a place called Skinny Bob’s.”

“10-4 that, buddy. What’s the place?”

“A place in downtown by the beach. We don’t have it in our bible of Andria’s township, neighbors, or popular spots she frequents.”

“Right. Is she going out on a girls’ night thing?”

Jax heard Cash typing in the background. “It’s a bachelorette party. She told me she was going, regardless what I wanted her to do.”

“10-4 that, buddy. Yeah, got it right here. It’s about fifteen miles from Andria’s residence. I can have the satellites point to the location but it’ll take some time.”

Jax thought on this for a moment, then shook his head no. “No, don’t do that. Like you said, it’ll take a while and we’ll be back before the setup is complete. I’m going to set a tracer. Let me know when it shows up.”

“10-4,” Cash returned.

The line grew quiet and Jax opened a case like a tackle box for fishing. He pulled out a small device, so small it barely sat on the tip of his finger. He pressed his thumb against it and waited.

“10-4, buddy, it just registered. It’s hot,” Cash told him.

“Thanks, Cash. Keep this online. I’ll be in touch.”

“10-4.”

The line went dead and Jax hung up his phone. He opened the book of reports that had been provided to him by intel.

Draven popped up on a few reports between Denver, Missouri and Kentucky. The fucker was making his way toward Andria. She was right, he would manage to find her. However, this time, he would not get close enough to her.

He flipped the pages of the report and read where stolen credit cards between Denver and Kentucky had been reported and wondered if it tied back to Draven. Most likely.

“Jax?”

He came back to the present as they made their way inside. He looked over to the woman he had fallen in love with. Her dark hair had been curled and hung loose down her back. He wanted to run his hands through it and pull her close. Her hazel green eyes lit up the room anytime she walked into it. He had it bad for her and it would progressively become worse, in the best possible way.

But he could not tell her about the report book he had. She paid him to protect her and more often than not, ignorance was bliss.

“Girl, did you bring me a stripper?”

Jax chuckled and when he looked to Andria, she blushed.

“Umm, no. Guys, this is my boyfriend, Jax. Jax, these are my girls. And this here,” she pulled who was the bride, if the sash gave her away, to her side, “is Bailey. Bailey here is about to get married and we’re so very excited for her.”

“Congratulations,” Jax told her. He scoped the pub, finding all possible entrances, exits, and windows. There were only a few, but there were a lot of people. He was not particularly fond of crowds, but this was for Andria. He would make do.

The women chatted, drank, woo’d in between shots, and laughed. A lot. It was good to see Andria having fun with her friends, but it did not do anything to relieve the edge Jax continued to teeter on.

On one hand, he wanted to relax with his woman and enjoy the night. On the other hand, he was being paid to guard and protect her. If he let his guard down for a second, that valuable moment could cost Andria her life.

He sighed and continued to scan the area, taking in all the different faces and picking up any possible patterns in people. He was trained for this, but not necessarily on the fly at places like this.

Jax glanced to the bracelet Andria wore and felt some relief knowing she would be found if that assbag did happen to find out she was here.

He thought back to the reports he reviewed. Nothing on social media about tonight that he was aware of. She didn’t post anything anywhere, part of what they talked about. She was good there. But that did not account for her friends. If they did anything and tagged her…well, he wouldn’t think of that right now.

A loud bang erupted and Jax went on high alert. He moved directly next to Andria and put her behind him. He scouted around and found it was the bartender. He had dropped a tray of glasses.

“Jax?” came a mousy voice from behind him.

He turned to find Andria standing there, petrified. Her eyes were wide and fear unlike he had witnessed in her resonated. He rubbed his hands on her arms and smiled. “I wasn’t expecting that. It caught me off guard.”

She nodded and motioned with her finger to come closer. He bent down and she kissed him. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He smiled. “You’re welcome.” She returned to her friends and they began to ask her questions.

“Why did he guard you like that?”

“What is his deal?”

“Is he military?”

She waved off their questions and refused to answer, except with, “He’s very cautious of me, that’s all.”

Good answer, he thought and took a sip of his water.

A few hours went by and Andria had been dancing with her friends most of the night. As much as he wanted to dance with her, doing so would take him out of his element. He needed to pay attention to their surroundings. He did enjoy the show she put on for him, though.

She would move her hands over her body in a seductive way while she danced. He made a mental note to ask her to do that later in the bedroom.

Hot damn.

Andria said something to her friends, then she approached Jax. “I need to use the bathroom.”

He nodded and the conversation they had earlier briefly came to mind. “I’ll watch you from here, if you like?”

She nodded with a smile. “I’ll be fine. It’s just right over there.” She pointed toward the wall.

Jax could see the lit sign. He nodded and pulled Andria toward him. “Kiss me,” he growled. She grinned and stood on her toes. They kissed and when her tongue touched his lips, he pulled her hips against his. “Damn, woman, I’m ready to get out of here and go home. I want to peel this dress off you and have you dance for me.”

“Hmm, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” She licked his lips again then turned to leave.

“Come on, Andria,” called one of her friends. Jax furrowed his brows to recall her name. Did he know it? He couldn’t remember and the look on his face must have been obvious. The girl smiled. “Brandi.”

He grinned and nodded. “Thanks.” He pulled Andria back once more and kissed her.

She smiled and touched his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”

He let her go and lightly spanked her butt. She let out a squeal. He grinned as she made her way through the crowd. When she disappeared inside the bathroom, Brandi on her tail, Jax held his breath and waited. She would return unharmed and continue dancing. It would take only a moment. Just a moment. She would use the bathroom, wash her hands, fix her hair, lipstick, whatever women do in the bathroom, then head back out.

His chest tightened from holding said breath, and he waited. And waited. And waited. He felt the need to rush inside to make sure she was fine. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and head home, right now.

Then it all changed and all hell broke loose.

A woman screamed and ran from the bathroom. Jax’s heart skipped. Another woman followed the first and screamed, “He has a gun!”

“Fuck!” Jax bolted through the crowd, pushing people as he went. Everything around him meant nothing. Everyone became the enemy and became a barrier between him and Andria. Screams faded into the void. He pushed forward but felt as if he were in a dream and his feet were being pulled further into the earth. With the silence of the void, a part of his soul shattered. The only part of his mind on repeat were the words, ‘He has a gun.’