The beautiful elegance of a huge horse farm surrounds the house. I gaze at the rugged hills in the distance and the gorgeous variety of horses feeding in gigantic outdoor pens.
The sun blurs my vision for a moment so I reach for the sunglasses in the pocket of my jeans. Riders appear on four spectacular horses and enter a simple wooden outdoor riding arena. I’ve always loved horses but have never actually been so close to them before.
The main house looms majestic behind the guest house, all white with a wraparound porch and several balconies on the second floor. The place is strangely quiet for such a large property.
I’m still taking everything in when Jax approaches on a tall, brown horse with a beautiful golden mane. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that Jax can ride a horse—after all he’s had the money and opportunity to learn, but it still takes my breath away a little to see him like this, back perfectly straight, knees held tight against the horse’s ribs, concern in his smoky green-blue eyes.
“Where are we?” I say as he approaches. If I reached out, I could pet the horse’s silky neck but I don’t want to disturb the magnificent creature. I’m even more reluctant to touch Jax no matter how much I crave his arms right now. I need him. I ache for him, but can’t get past the fact he’s lied to me repeatedly.
“We’re in horse country,” he says, looking at me from above.
My eyes question that sentence as I take off the sunglasses, not sure if it’s a joke or if such a place exists. “We’re in California,” I say, confused.
“Just north of LA,” he says. “This is the area where they shot hundreds of westerns. There are ranches like this in every direction. We’re safe for now.”
“That’s reassuring,” I say with more than a tinge of sarcasm.
He extends a hand which I don’t take. “Do you want to ride with me?”
I stare at his hands on the horse. “Are we supposed to act like everything’s just rosy?”
His eyes meet mine and narrow as he surveys my face. “We’re here, baby. Things are not rosy. I wish they were, but we’re here and I’d rather ride than overthink every detail again. We need a break.”
Is he serious? We should just take a ride in paradise? My long lost father kidnaps me and tells me he’s some kind of underworld figure and his enemies want to kill me and now I wake on some tranquil horse ranch where Jax suggests an idyllic ride on a beautiful stallion. Am I missing something?
“It’s a nice clear day. We’ll make excellent targets,” I say, shading my eyes with my hand as I feel a headache settling in.
“Lucius worked out a temporary truce.”
“A truce? What does that mean? A stay of execution?”
“It means negotiations are taking place as we speak. There will be no threat of hostility for two days.”
I consider his words, feeling more and more like I have entered someone else’s dream. “Carter said that?” I can’t find the will to call him father. I don’t know if I ever will again.
Jax nods, almost sadly. It’s obvious he feels responsible and maybe he should.
“And you believe him?”
He sighs and then gets off the horse with one leap. “I believe he cares about you. He would not put you at risk on purpose.”
I can’t help but sigh. “Well, that’s something, I guess. Other kids had fathers who guided and cared for them every day to ensure their happiness as children. My father prefers me not be murdered on his account. Isn’t that just so warm and fuzzy?”
“Not even a little,” Jax says, bringing out his sexy voice. He knows exactly how to use his husky tone as a weapon. “You and I weren’t very lucky in the father department. Let’s not let that come between us. Let’s have a day free of all that shit. I don’t know if I deserve it, Ella, but I need to be near you.”
Jax takes one step closer and I can feel the fabric of our shirts touch barely. My skin feels electric with him so close, but not embracing me. I take a step back, raising my hand in front of his chest to stop him from taking me in his arms.
He’s not fazed. He extends an arm and wraps it around my shoulders. “Please, tell me you’ll forgive me one day.”
His sudden vulnerability makes me furious all over again. “Your timing sucks, Jax. If you had any real regret, you’d give me some time to process, for fuck’s sake.”
I slap away his arm, looking around the grounds for signs of human life, needing the distraction—any distraction, really—to stop thinking about how I truly long to be weak and let Jax devour me with his need. His strong arms could obliterate the emptiness and loneliness that makes me feel bruised in my heart and ribs. I almost shiver imagining his breath against my ear as he whispers naughty little things that would set my blood on fire, chasing away all the fears and demons.
What I am is pissed. It does not allow me to be weak right now. The swelling disappointment I feel in his serial dishonesty overrides every selfish ounce of my desire to let Jax off the hook so we can make love. The fact that I need him more than I’ll admit just makes me angrier and more stubborn.
“Please, forgive me, Ella,” he says with a quiet, deep whisper. His almost fragile eyes weaken me even more than his voice.
“Forgiveness must be earned,” I say, totally unconvinced that I can keep this brave façade up for much longer.
“I’ll do whatever,” he says, lowering his lips to my ear. “Whenever.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, I’m really screwed now. Delicious lips on needy ears is a recipe for disaster. His hand finds its way to the back of my neck, pulling me closer as his lips move from my ear to my mouth.
I slap him hard across the face—I don’t know what else to do to get out from under his spell.
He rubs his cheek. “That hurt,” he says, showing no pain. “I guess I had that coming. Maybe that slap carried a little forgiveness in it.”
“Is this a joke to you?” I shove him, putting my hands on his chest.
“A joke? Damn it, Ella. I’m dying here. I can’t stand this distance you’re keeping between us. I need you, baby. Please, let me in. I want to protect you.”
“I thought we were safe for now. And you’re not getting in anything.”
“You know what I mean.” His voice gets breathy, the muscles on the sides of his neck visibly twitching as he swallows. “I love you. More than I can control. I’m lost without you. You’re all that matters.”
His lips dive for mine again, sealing them with their hot breath. I do the only thing I can. I slap him again—harder than before. Not because I don’t want him to kiss me but precisely because I do.
“All right, that’s it,” he says, picking me up.
“What the fuck?” I yell. “The fact you’re stronger than me doesn’t give you the right to manhandle me.”
“Stop being so melodramatic,” he says, setting my butt on the saddle.
That has a strange effect on me. I realize that I’m scared to be sitting on a living, breathing horse. My heart pounds almost as hard as when I was forcefully kidnapped and handcuffed and had no idea what was going to happen to me.
A shiver goes through me but then Jax climbs on the horse. He sits right behind me on the saddle. His powerful, loving arms wrap around my body to take control of the reins.
I melt in his embrace. My fear drains from my body. I can feel his heartbeat everywhere at once. The brute. I can’t resist him.
Fighting the truth is exhausting. I live and breathe and drink Jaxson Cole. My five senses hone in on this moment. I can smell him and taste him and feel him. I hear the soft release of his breath. My eyes drop to savor his muscular forearm wrapped around my belly.
So I don’t protest when he spurs the horse on. He holds me tight and steady like I’m something precious, something breakable—the thing in this universe he values most.
We trot straight to the riding arena but instead of entering, Jax veers the horse to the left and through a gate on the fence toward a thinly wooded area.
I’m abo
ut to ask if that’s wise but Jax reads my mind. “We’re shadowed by Carter’s men who have secured the area. Wherever you go, they go. They’ll let us know if we need to go back.”
I turn my head and, sure enough, two bulky figures dressed in black are discreetly on our tail, riding expertly on horseback. I wonder if they order these guys for every occasion like birthday party performers. For this bit of evil we will need a couple of trained killers who are excellent equestrians.
“There are guards everywhere,” Jax reassures me.
“Who’s going to guard me from you?” I say, half meaning it.
Jax laughs weakly, a courtesy laugh. “Little Ella has me wrapped around her finger and she knows that will never change no matter what she says.”
I’m about to slap some sarcasm on him like a lash from a whip but then he pulls me closer to him. The small of my back can feel him getting hard.
That gorgeous fool is always ready—ready for me. And maybe he’s right, maybe I have him wrapped around my finger just a tiny bit and maybe I can get him to do whatever I want. Lord knows I have no shortage of ideas.
As much as I wish to fight him, my need betrays me. I grind my ass a little against his growing erection, making him moan.
“You like to torture me, don’t you, Ella Wade?”
Instead of an answer, I reach behind my back to gently stroke the lengthening bulge in his pants. “Do you think the guards can see this?” I say, my impish self out in full mode.
“Your punishments are too severe,” he says with a groan.
I rub him slowly, enjoying how my touch makes him shiver, when he suddenly takes my hand. “We need to talk, Ella.”
I don’t like the sound of his voice. It’s too serious, too insistent and a little bit distant for this sexual moment.
“What’s wrong?” I say.
“C’mon, let’s get off the horse.”
My whole body tenses as he glides off the horse and then helps me down. He has been the harbinger of terrible news so many times, I don’t know if I can handle any more of his talks.
The guards follow suit, getting off their horses and sprawling themselves on the ground, close enough that they can keep an eye on us without actually being able to hear us.
“This is getting to be ridiculous,” I say, totally creeped out by their diligence. I can’t help but remember seeing similar faces popping up all around me for the past week or so. It’s finally dawning on me that Carter’s men have been on me ever since Madison’s murder.
“Ridiculous, but necessary,” Jax says, plopping down on the ground and taking my hand to get me to sit.
I do as he wishes, facing him and clearing my throat. “Let’s hear it.”
“I told you there’s a temporary truce in place, right?”
I nod because I remember but also because, unfortunately, I can guess where this is going.
“Ella, once that’s done, your life will be in danger. Bronson is not a man to forgive or forget. He will make good on his threats.”
My blood goes a little cold. “I’m glad you have so much confidence in my assassin. That’s reassuring.”
He shakes his head. “That’s why we need to take action. I’ve told you about my uncle Lucius. He’s the only one who can protect us now.”
“How would he do that exactly?”
He hesitates for a beat. Someone else may not have noticed that but I know him too well.
“By taking us in. We’ll have to stay with him until…”
“How long?”
“I don’t know. Days, weeks, months. Until Carter is dead maybe.”
His words produce strange reactions in my body and mind. I feel like screaming or kicking or maybe both. “Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to lock myself up in some mobster’s sick fortress waiting for my father to be killed. No fucking way, Jaxson! No fucking way.”
His features harden. “I’m afraid we have no choice, Ella. Carter agrees.”
The nerve of these people, making decisions for me behind my back. I don’t get to give him the loud, crystal clear refusal he deserves. I’m cut short by the thundering sound of a gunshot and then a second shot, so close together to the first they kind of blend into one fading echo.
I’m shocked into complete silence as Jax jumps on me, knocking me flat against the sparse grass to cover me with his heavy body.
The horses make uneasy sounds trying to escape their bonds. The guards draw their guns as they crawl their way to us.
“Is she all right?” one of them growls at Jax.
“She’s fine,” Jax says.
“The shots came from the farm,” the other guard says.
Jax nods, scanning the area like a hawk. “We’re clear,” he says, rolling off me and helping me to my feet. He pushes me behind him so that he stands between me and the farm.
Another shot rings in the distance and then another and another. I realize that Jax is right. Whoever’s shooting isn’t gunning for us. Not yet.
“Stay put,” the guard says. “We’ll investigate.”
“A gun,” Jax says.
The guards look at him, their faces completely emotionless.
“Don’t fucking stare at me like morons. Just give me a gun,” Jax insists, growing more and more impatient.
“It’s okay,” one of the guards says, motioning to the second one who reaches down to his ankle to produce a gun that he hands to Jax.
When they leave, Jax kisses my forehead three times. “They’ll have to go through me to touch you. That’s not happening.”
I focus on his hand that holds the gun. It’s a steady and confident grip. There are no signs of hesitation or uncertainty. If anything his face is calmer than usual. This man who moments ago almost fell apart at the thought of losing my love has now gone cold as stone. It would be terrifying if it wasn’t so fucking sexy. Another echoing shot brings back the terror.
I find his free hand and hold it. I don’t care anymore what he’s done or hasn’t done. I press myself against his back. His warmth reassures me.
*
It takes an eternity before a jeep arrives to pick us up. At the same time I realize it’s only been a few minutes. I’m in the spinning vacuum of their dark and sinister world now. Time expands and contracts in hellish ways.
Back at the main house, Jax storms in what must be an office to find Carter. I follow as fast as I can. It takes me a moment to catch up on the fact Jax is still holding the gun which he raises as soon as we enter the office.
He trains the gun on Carter, grasping lethally with both hands.
“What the fuck was that?” he says. “You told me Ella was safe.”
“She is,” Carter says, seemingly unfazed.
“You call that safe? There was a shootout for fuck’s sake.”
“Yeah, I’m aware.” Carter’s cool demeanor shifts to anger. “Though it was hardly a shootout.”
“Who was doing the shooting?” Jax says.
“That I can only presume,” Carter answers. “They fired on the horses in the stables and then drove off before we could get to them.”
They killed the horses. Of all the things he could have said, this is the most devastating. I feel the need to sit down.
“I don’t think this was about Ella,” Carter continues. “Killing horses is not Bronson’s style. He owns a few himself.”
“Just how many killers out there want you dead, Carter?” Jax says, losing patience completely. “What the hell have you been doing all these years?”
“Would you mind lowering that gun?” Carter says, then turns a sideway glance at me. “You’re pale,” he tells me. “Drink some water.”
He reaches for a bottle of mineral water on the desk and hands it to me. Jax lowers the gun slowly as I start to drink. I don’t feel thirsty, I just do as I’m told. The stress is getting to be too much for my nerves. I wish I could be anywhere but here. I wish I could go back somehow and start again. Who would have thought I’d miss the days when
I first started work at the Daily Scandal.
“That settles it,” Carter says. He takes a step closer and I think he’s going to hug me but he changes his mind and pats my left hand instead. “You have to go to Lucius. Now. I’ll get your car and escort ready.”
This time, I have no argument.
—four—
Jaxson
It feels good to have a gun in my back pocket. To know I’m not defenseless beats the alternative. I left my own piece in a drawer at my place because it made Ella uncomfortable. Not having it made me uncomfortable, but now, after what she’s seen and heard, I’m hearing no more objections.
The gates at HQ opened without issue when I gave my name through the intercom. By the time Lucius realizes Ella is on the premises, I will have convinced him to let her stay.
I’m waiting in the main briefing room where my control freak uncle greets most visitors. I always feel like I’m at a job interview, but really it’s just Lucius flexing his power and control. Making others wait for as long as he likes in this bland, impersonal room gives him the psychological advantage.
That might work for people he can intimidate, but it’s useless on me. I use this time to focus. I tell myself I have the advantage sitting here.
“Jack,” he says as he enters the room quietly, opening a door behind my back. It’s been twenty-three long minutes since I was led here to wait. I used the time to review my entire pitch.
“Lucius,” I say, nodding at him.
“Hey,” he says, placing a hand on his heart as if hurt. “What happened to calling me Uncle?”
“This is business,” I say randomly.
“Is it?” he says. “I thought you were out of my business.”
I don’t have time for his fucking wordplay. “I need your help,” I say.
Lucius opens his arms and grins. “That’s better.” He sits and leans back on his chair. “Let’s hear it. What business can I help you with?”
We stare at each other a long time. For all the bad blood, when our eyes meet there is no hostility, only a sense of understanding like any two family members that have been through bad times side-by-side.
Scandal: The Complete Series Page 18