Jax's POV
I needed the noise. I needed the smoke and the cheap perfume and the feeling of being somewhere that wasn't my own crumbling kingdom. I went to The Velvet Saddle, a high-end strip club downtown we had a silent interest in. It was neutral ground, all chrome and red velvet, where money talked louder than club colors.
I took the VIP lounge in the back—a sunken area with plush couches and a private pole. I had two of the house’s best dancers with me: Destiny, a brunette who knew how to move, and Blaze, a redhead with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. They were professionals. This wasn’t about them. It was about drowning out the static in my head—Layla’s hurt eyes, Frank’s lies, the bomb at my gate, the unseen enemy tightening the screws.
I lit a cigarette, leaned back, and let t
