I shot up in bed, fisting the sheet

I shot up in bed, fisting the sheet, as Jax strode for the door, whipping it open.
Looking over, I saw a young guy, nicely styled black hair, tattoos scaling down both arms, with several facial piercings. He peered around Jax, taking notice of me, and I immediately pulled the sheet up, embarrassed. I was fully clothed, but I was still trying not to be “that girl.”
Yeah, I needed to get over that.
“A couple of the guys have someone cornered downstairs,” he said to Jax. “Apparently someone saw him putting something in a girl’s drink. You want to deal with this?” he asked Jax, and then looked at me again. “Or you want us to handle it?”
Meaning Jax looked busy.
This guy wasn’t being snide or suggestive. He was asking Jax as though looking for orders. I turned away, shaking my head.
“Juliet, stay here,” Jax commanded, and I jerked my stunned gaze over to him just as he slammed the door shut.
Um, what? My eyes burned like light sabers at the closed door, and I clenched the black sheet. Was he serious?
Yeah. No. I wasn’t following orders like Jaxon Trent’s latest toy.
Throwing off the covers, I went to the mirror and smoothed my messy hair, pushing away the delicious burn of him pulling it earlier. Then I tucked in the front and back hem of his T-shirt so it wouldn’t make me look as though I had nothing on underneath. It wasn’t particularly baggy, but it was long as hell.
I turned to leave but stopped, noticing two pictures peeking out from underneath a wooden box on top of his dresser. I reached over and pulled them up, studying the women in the images. One picture was old, an actual photograph of a girl—maybe sixteen or seventeen—wearing a defiant look on her face and a Cure T-shirt. Next to her sat an older guy—early twenties—with a cigarette in his hand. He had Jax’s eyes.
The second photo was a rack card, advertising a club in Chicago that held some kind of show. The woman in the images was dark and beautiful, dressed in a black corset and top hat. She was hanging in the air above a full crowd, but I couldn’t tell what was holding her up.
I looked between the two pictures, seeing the resemblance between the women.
I quickly stuffed the photos back where I found them and walked for the door.
Stepping out of the room, I turned the corner and descended the stairs. The party was still going strong—it was only a little after midnight after all—but the crowd had thinned. I didn’t see Shane, Madoc, or Fallon anywhere, and I was little pissed off about that. My cousin, at least, should’ve checked in with me before she ditched me.
A few people lingered around the pool table, in the foyer, and I could hear voices coming from the kitchen. Everyone seemed heavily relaxed as they barely noticed me.
Five Finger Death Punch’s “Battle Born” droned out of the speakers, and I walked out the front door in my bare feet, ready to just go home, when I reared back, planting my footstep back where it came from.
Holy shit!
“Jax! Whoo!” someone cheered, and I sucked in air and pinched my eyebrows together in horror.
Jax’s naked back faced me as he hunched on the ground, slamming his fist into some poor guy’s face. Well, not poor guy if he was the one slipping drugs to an unknowing girl, but poor guy because he was obviously down, and Jax wasn’t stopping.
His arm shot back, the muscles in his triceps and back bulged, and his fist hammered down right on the guy’s face. Again and again, and I fought against the pitching sensation in my stomach.
When Jax brought his fist back again, I saw blood, and I raced down to the walkway at the bottom of the steps, thinking it might be his.
Wiping his bloody fist on his jeans, he stepped up, bringing his victim with him by the collar.
I veered around the crowd that had gathered and hugged myself against a chill that didn’t come from the air. Jax dug in the guy’s pocket, bringing out a few small vials of liquid, and handed them to the same guy who’d come to Jax’s room.
The dealer wobbled back and forth, blood dripping down his lips and chin, and Jax hovered down on him, damn near pressing the guy into the ground with the anger in his eyes. His lips moved, and he whispered something in the dealer’s face, but I couldn’t hear it. I doubted anyone could, and I knew there was a reason for that.
People shouted threats they never intended to keep. Others whispered threats they didn’t want witnesses to hear.
Dropping his hands, Jax talked to Tattoo Guy while everyone started to disperse. Then he turned around and locked eyes with me.
“I told you to stay upstairs.” His voice was quiet but hard and annoyed.
I dropped my eyes, trying not to see all the blood. “I think I’ll go home. I’m not even sure I want to know you right now.”
Some girls may want a tough guy. An alpha dog who pushes them around. Someone who beats up drug dealers on their front lawn. It struck me that I’d simply like someone who didn’t attract drug dealers in the first place.
“You already know me. Intimately.” He smirked.
Several bystanders laughed, and I glared at Jax.
“That doesn’t mean you know me,” I bit out.
He stepped into my face. “And witnessing me pummel a nineteen-year-old guy who gave a sixteen-year-old girl GHB so he could do who knows what to her body doesn’t mean you know me, either, K. C. Carter.” He drawled out my sister’s name, trying to piss me off. “You can leave now.”
“Ohs” filled the air around me, and I stared at Jax as I ran my tongue along the back of my teeth, fuming.
I could say it was the fight that had pissed me off. Or I could say it was the plethora of questions without answers that had made the bug crawl up my butt.
But it wasn’t either one.
If he had come up to me and put his arms around me, looking at me as if I were the Christmas present he’d been waiting for as he had done in that room, I would’ve folded. I wouldn’t have cared that he got into fights or that he was a complete mystery.
What shut me down was the fact that I was disposable to him. Just like to my mother. To Liam. To most people who looked through me as if I were a piece of glass.
Fuck him.
I walked past him, not saying a word as I headed toward Tate’s house.
“Are you okay?” Fallon rushed up and touched my shoulder. “I just came out and caught the tail end of that. Anything I can do?”
I nodded, still walking. “Yeah. Get Madoc’s car keys, and get Shane. We’re going on a midnight run.”

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Aku menembak sampai di tempat tidur, fisting lembaran, sebagai Jax berjalan untuk pintu, cambuk itu terbuka.Melihat dari atas, saya melihat seorang pria muda, baik gaya rambut hitam, tato scaling kedua lengan, dengan beberapa tindikan wajah. Ia mengintip di sekitar Jax, mengambil pemberitahuan saya, dan saya segera ditarik lembar, malu. Aku sepenuhnya berpakaian, tapi aku masih berusaha untuk tidak "gadis itu."Ya, saya perlu untuk mendapatkan lebih dari itu."Beberapa orang memiliki seseorang yang terpojok di lantai bawah," katanya kepada Jax. "Tampaknya seseorang melihat dia meletakkan sesuatu dalam seorang gadis minuman. Anda ingin menghadapi hal ini?"Dia bertanya Jax, dan kemudian memandangku lagi. "Atau Anda ingin kami untuk menangani hal itu?"Makna Jax tampak sibuk.Orang ini tidak bersikap sinis atau sugestif. Ia meminta Jax seolah-olah mencari perintah. Aku berbalik, menggelengkan kepala."Juliet, tinggal di sini," Jax memerintahkan, dan aku tersentak tertegun pandangan atas kepadanya sebagaimana ia membanting pintu menutup.UM, apa? Mata terbakar seperti pedang cahaya di pintu tertutup, dan aku mengepalkan hitam lembaran. Ini dia serius?Ya. No. I tidak mengikuti perintah seperti Jaxon Trent terbaru mainan.Melemparkan selimut, aku pergi ke cermin dan merapikan rambut saya berantakan, mendorong menjauh membakar lezat dia menariknya sebelumnya. Kemudian saya terselip di ujung depan dan belakang t-shirt nya sehingga tidak membuat saya terlihat seolah-olah aku tidak ada di bawah di. Itu bukan sangat longgar, tetapi itu lama sebagai neraka.Aku berbalik untuk meninggalkan tetapi berhenti, memperhatikan dua gambar mengintip keluar dari bawah kotak kayu di atas meja rias nya. Saya mencapai dan menarik mereka, belajar perempuan di gambar. Satu gambar sudah tua, sebuah foto yang sebenarnya seorang gadis-mungkin enam belas atau tujuh belas tahun — mengenakan Lihat menantang di wajahnya dan Cure T-shirt. Di sampingnya duduk orang tua — awal dua puluhan — dengan rokok di tangannya. Ia Jax's mata.Foto kedua adalah kartu rak, iklan sebuah klub di Chicago yang diadakan beberapa jenis Tampilkan. Wanita dalam gambar adalah gelap dan indah, mengenakan korset hitam dan topi. Dia tergantung di udara di atas kerumunan penuh, tetapi saya tidak tahu apa memegang dia.Aku memandang antara dua gambar, melihat kemiripan antara perempuan.Aku cepat memasukkan foto kembali mana aku menemukan mereka dan berjalan untuk pintu.Melangkah keluar dari kamar, aku berpaling sudut dan turun tangga. Partai masih akan kuat — itu hanya sedikit setelah tengah malam setelah semua — tapi keramaian telah menipis. Saya tidak melihat Shane, Utica atau Fallon di mana saja, dan saya agak kesal tentang hal itu. Sepupu saya, setidaknya, harus sudah memeriksa dengan saya sebelum dia membuang saya.Beberapa orang berlama-lama di sekitar Biliar, di lobi, dan aku bisa mendengar suara-suara yang datang dari dapur. Semua orang tampak sangat santai karena mereka hampir tidak memperhatikan aku.Lima jari pukulan maut "pertempuran lahir" berdengung keluar dari speaker, dan aku berjalan keluar dari pintu depan saya kaki telanjang, siap untuk hanya pergi rumah, ketika saya dibesarkan kembali, penanaman langkah kaki saya kembali dari mana datangnya.Kudus omong kosong!"Jax! Whoo!"seseorang bersorak, dan aku tersedot di udara dan mencubit alisku bersama-sama dengan ngeri.JAX's telanjang kembali menghadapi saya seperti ia membungkuk di tanah, membanting tinjunya ke wajah orang miskin. Yah, orang tidak miskin jika ia yang tergelincir obat untuk gadis ketidaktahuan, tetapi orang miskin karena ia jelas turun, dan Jax tidak berhenti.Lengan menembak kembali, otot-otot di trisep nya dan kembali melotot, dan tinjunya dipalu bawah kanan di wajah orang. Lagi dan lagi, dan aku melawan sensasi pitching dalam perutku.Ketika Jax membawa tinjunya kembali lagi, aku melihat darah, dan aku berlari ke jalan di bagian bawah tangga, berpikir itu mungkin nya.Menyeka tinjunya berdarah di jeans-nya, ia melangkah, membawa korbannya dengannya oleh kerah.Aku berbelok di sekitar kerumunan yang telah dikumpulkan dan memeluk diri melawan hawa dingin yang tidak datang dari udara. JAX menggali di saku orang, membawa keluar beberapa botol kecil cairan, dan menyerahkan mereka kepada orang yang sama yang akan datang ke Jax di kamar.Dealer bergetar bolak-balik, darah menetes di bawah dagu dan bibir-nya, dan Jax melayang turun kepadanya, sialan dekat menekan orang ke dalam tanah dengan kemarahan di matanya. Bibirnya bergerak, dan dia membisikkan sesuatu di agen muka, tapi aku tidak bisa mendengarnya. Saya meragukan siapa pun bisa, dan aku tahu ada alasan untuk itu.Orang-orang berteriak ancaman yang mereka tidak pernah dimaksudkan untuk menjaga. Orang lain yang berbisik ancaman yang mereka tidak ingin saksi untuk mendengar.Dropping his hands, Jax talked to Tattoo Guy while everyone started to disperse. Then he turned around and locked eyes with me.“I told you to stay upstairs.” His voice was quiet but hard and annoyed.I dropped my eyes, trying not to see all the blood. “I think I’ll go home. I’m not even sure I want to know you right now.”Some girls may want a tough guy. An alpha dog who pushes them around. Someone who beats up drug dealers on their front lawn. It struck me that I’d simply like someone who didn’t attract drug dealers in the first place.“You already know me. Intimately.” He smirked.Several bystanders laughed, and I glared at Jax.“That doesn’t mean you know me,” I bit out.He stepped into my face. “And witnessing me pummel a nineteen-year-old guy who gave a sixteen-year-old girl GHB so he could do who knows what to her body doesn’t mean you know me, either, K. C. Carter.” He drawled out my sister’s name, trying to piss me off. “You can leave now.”“Ohs” filled the air around me, and I stared at Jax as I ran my tongue along the back of my teeth, fuming.I could say it was the fight that had pissed me off. Or I could say it was the plethora of questions without answers that had made the bug crawl up my butt.But it wasn’t either one.If he had come up to me and put his arms around me, looking at me as if I were the Christmas present he’d been waiting for as he had done in that room, I would’ve folded. I wouldn’t have cared that he got into fights or that he was a complete mystery.What shut me down was the fact that I was disposable to him. Just like to my mother. To Liam. To most people who looked through me as if I were a piece of glass.Fuck him.I walked past him, not saying a word as I headed toward Tate’s house.“Are you okay?” Fallon rushed up and touched my shoulder. “I just came out and caught the tail end of that. Anything I can do?”I nodded, still walking. “Yeah. Get Madoc’s car keys, and get Shane. We’re going on a midnight run.”