The Valkyrie Returns and Slays (Raven)

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The crew behind Jax stared at the phone on the ground, swapping confused glances.

They couldn't figure out what kind of call could shake Jax enough to make him drop it like that. The guy always kept it together.

Next to him, Dane sat in his wheelchair, watching Jax's stiff posture. A sick feeling churned in his stomach.

"Jax, what's up?" he asked, his brow wrinkling.

Jax didn't say a word, just stood there quiet.

Then he slowly turned his head toward Raven, his glare cold and piercing.

"You behind this?" he asked, voice low.

Raven looked back with a small smile.

"Told you," she said easy, "I'd show you what regret feels like."

Jax's fists tightened, knuckles cracking from the pressure.

Dane caught their back-and-forth, and panic hit him hard.

"Jax, what's going on?" he pushed, his voice jumping with worry. Jax took a deep breath, his words coming out rough and gravelly. "The Group-it's finished," he said, heavy and slow.

Dane's eyes widened. He was dumbfounded.

He scrambled for his phone, pulling it out of his pocket in a clumsy rush.

It'd been on silent before they got here he hadn't even noticed till now.

When he got it out, the screen lit up with a call coming in.

He sucked in a shaky breath, his trembling finger tapping accept

The Group's done!" the voice on the line

heart stopped. He

"What happened?" he snapped.

left-how could the Group

raced on. "Everything's out-all the files. You know a ton of that stuff

went wide, shock all over his

locked tight. The Group had killer programmers-They were supposed

added, sounding helpless. "Our firewall

breath

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16:17 Mon, 14 Apr

Chapter 23

we fix it?"

seconds of quiet dragged

Maybe... you could hit up Mr. Jax Grayson

"Smash!"

slammed the phone

and his phone smashed into the ground, breaking apart. It didn't touch the anger burning in his chest, though-his breathing went

of work, wiped out in minutes. Hopelessness

like this. His fists clenched hard. Then he swung his head toward Raven, eyes flaming with hate, locked on her. "Jax, kill her!

then set his eyes on

going to end you fast," he said

that big-shot CEO line and shook her head, half-smirking, half-

the same tough-guy talk back then-and she'd

was tired of wasting words on Jax and got to

said,

I'll take a little more

burned darker, his

on Raven, each word

you've got," he

the Grayson Group was done, and the Grayson family would feel the sting-