“Just having a bit of a read. Thought I’d see what all the fuss is about.”
I glance down at the magazine and scowl when all I see are pictures of half-naked women. “Seriously? Did you bring your own dirty magazine to the library?”
“Are you calling naked women dirty, Scar? I like to think of it as an art form,” he says, keeping his face straight. “I had no idea you were so judgmental.”
I roll my eyes, and sit down next to him. “Is everything okay?”
He closes the magazine and nods once, slowly. “Yeah, it’s fine. I called Jaxon, but he didn’t answer. Guess I was just wondering how he was yesterday.”
“It was a rough day,” I admit, exhaling deeply. “He seemed a little better this morning though. How are you holding up?”
“I spent yesterday drunk,” he admits, looking down at his hands. “So the reality of everything is only hitting me today, and yeah, it’s fucked. I’m glad Jaxon had you to be there for him.”
“And who do you have to be there for you?” I ask softly, wondering if the real reason he came here was because he needed someone to talk to.
“She wasn’t my sister,” he says, playing it off. “But yeah, it’s hard to deal with, you know? I grew up with her. Jaxon loved his sister so much. And for her to take her own life because she was being abused at home by her husband, something the two of us could’ve stopped had we known, yeah, it’s a hard pill to swallow.”
Olivia was being abused?
Jaxon never mentioned that.
“I can imagine,” I say, studying Demon. “I’m about to go on my lunch break, do you want to grab something to eat?”
He nods and stands, leaving his magazine on the table. I pick it up and pass it to him, and he grins and takes it. “You sure you don’t want to have a look?”
“I’m sure,” I tell him in a dry tone.
Jaxon’s sister was being abused. I don’t know if it was mentally or physically, but it’s similar to my own past. I feel for everything the poor woman must have been put through, especially to be so broken and feel so helpless that she resulted in taking her own life. What did he do to her? Why didn’t she turn to Jaxon, or even Demon? Two strong men who could have handled the situation and saved her. Olivia had options, so why did she take the way out that she did? A thought crosses my mind, and I wish it didn’t, but once it’s there, it stays.
And it grows.
My situation was exactly like Olivia’s. Is that why Jaxon went out of his way to help me? Is that why he believed me?
Was he trying to save me because he couldn’t save her?
In some twisted way, is that what drew him to me? My weakness?
I walk outside with Demon, my eyes closing at the sunlight hits my face. “Do you think that Jaxon helped me because of what happened with his sister?”
Demon’s eyes lock on me. “I don’t know, Scar, what do you mean exactly?”
“I mean that the moment I told him what Darren had done to me is the moment he decided to take a chance on me, and only now am I figuring out why,” I admit, wrapping my arms around myself.
“Does it matter why he did it though?” He asks, placing his hand on my back and leading me down the road toward the restaurants. “He believed you when the evidence was pointing in the other direction, and made it his mission to save you. He did his job, sure, but he also did it because clearly he was falling in love with you along the way.”
“What if he wanted to save me only because he couldn’t save Olivia, and that’s the reason why he’s with me now?”
There. I said it out loud.
It may seem crazy, but it makes sense to me. He feels guilty over what happened with her, and now he’s saved me from the messed-up situation I was in. To what? Make amends somehow? “If I didn’t tell him about Darren and my past, would we be standing here right now?”
Demon stops and turns me to look at him. “Jaxon loves you. Fuckin’ adores you, Scar. Yes, what happened to Olivia messed him up, I know it did me, but that doesn’t mean the outcome wouldn’t have been any different with the two of you. You were made to be with each other, in my book. Don’t overthink shit. And I think you should talk to Jaxon about this.”
“I will,” I say, sighing and forcing a smile. “I will. Okay what do you feel like eating?”
He studies me for a moment longer, but then lets it slide. “Lady’s choice.”
I lead him to my usual lunch spot. I don’t miss the way women look at him as we pass, all practically panting. “Why are you single, Demon?”
“Like being alone,” is his reply, and I don’t push it.
I guess everyone has issues—you just need to find someone who makes you want to work through them. Makes you want to be better. I sent Jaxon a message and tell him I’m having lunch with Demon, asking him if he wants to join us. He replies straightaway saying he’s stuck in meetings, but he’ll see me at home.
I love you, I send him.
I love you more, he types back.
Demon and I have a nice meal together. Maybe he just wanted some quiet company, I don’t know, but I like hanging out with him.
“Are you going to eat that?” he asks as I stare at my dessert, too full to move.
“Yes,” I reply, bringing my plate closer. “You should’ve chosen a better dessert.”
He looks down at his sticky date pudding. “I thought I chose fairly well, but now yours looks appealing.”
“Always want what you can’t have. Typical man,” I tease, taking a bite of my cheesecake and exaggeratedly moaning. “It tastes so good too.”
“You’re evil,” he states, eyes on my plate still. “And I believe it’s women who want what they can’t have, not men. Trust me, I know. If you want a woman, all you have do is tell her no. They get off on that shit.”
“Charming,” I say, pursing my lips. “I can’t imagine many women say no to you though.” I pause, and then add, “Unless you open your mouth and say crap like that, then I can imagine it quite well.”
His lips twitch, and he takes a huge bite of his sticky date pudding. “Give me an ego boost, then take it away why don’t you? Women are easy, Scar. It’s not a big deal to me, you know? They come; they go; they’re replaceable. Until I find one who isn’t, I don’t really have any plans to settle down, or even have a girlfriend, or whatever they’re calling it these days.”
“Bae?” I snicker, pushing my cheesecake toward him. “Go on, have a bite. See if the grass is greener on the other side.”
He slides a huge piece onto his fork, then pops it into his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, before swallowing and flashing me a smirk. “Mine’s better.”
I reach out with my fork and grab some of his. When it hits my tongue, I know he’s right. “Dammit.”
“Well there you go,” he comments, tone superior. “Not is all as it seems, is it?”
“Can we swap?” I ask, being dead serious.
He just laughs and says, “Let’s just order another two.”
“Deal.”
He signals the waitress, and I silently thank myself not just for Jaxon, but for everyone he’s brought into my life.
chapter 39
Jaxon
I’M MAKING NOTES IN my daily planner when there’s a knock at my door. It’s late, and the office is about to close, so I assume it’s one of the crew coming to harass me about something or other, so I’m surprised when Sharon, in a red dress with red lipstick, walks into my office.
“I’m just about to head out, Ms. Beetle. You’ll need to make an appointment with Yvonne at front desk if you need to see me for something,” I tell her, keeping my voice stern. She needs to stop thinking rules don’t apply to her, because this is getting fucking ridiculous.
“I left my phone here this morning,” she murmurs, glancing around. “I’ll just grab it and be o
ut of your way.”
I look on my desk but don’t see any phone. Nor did I come across one during the day. “I don’t think it’s here,” I tell her.
Only a few more weeks, and then I’ll never have to see her again.
“I definitely left it here,” she says, looking on the floor. “It might have fallen down somewhere.”
In her dress, gold heels, and face full of makeup, she starts crawling around on the floor. I look up at the ceiling and pray for patience. Is Hunter still here? I feel like he’d really enjoy this situation right now.
“Oh, there it is,” she says, sounding excited. “It’s near your foot, Mr. Bentley.”
I look down and see that there is, indeed, a small black phone under the corner of my desk. I pick it up, happy to be rid of her, and hand it to her.
“Thank you,” she says, then takes me by complete surprise, by jumping up on me, wrapping her arms around my neck and kissing me. She missed my lips properly though, so it’s more like her sucking on my lower lip and chin. I’m about to push her off, when in a flash, another unexpected turn of events takes place. Demon walks into my office, sees . . . whatever the fuck Sharon is doing to me, except instead of saving me, he assumes the worst.
And that’s how I got punched in the face by my best friend.
“I THOUGHT YOU WERE cheating on Scar!” he growls, pacing up and down my office. “How was I supposed to know a woman would be attacking you and trying to seduce you? Fucking hell, Jaxon! How’s your nose?”
“Broken,” I reply in a dry tone.
I don’t think it’s actually broken, but the bastard deserves to feel bad over hitting me in the face. “And even if I was kissing another woman, what the fuck happened to bro code? Whose side are you on here, Demon?” I yell, then point to my bleeding nose. “Pretty sure this answers that for me.”
“You’re angry at me for being close with your woman and defending her honor?” he throws back at me. “If you were cheating on her, you fucking deserved that hit, and you know it. And if you cheated, period, you wouldn’t be the man I’ve known my whole life.”
“Yet you still punched me without asking any questions!”
“Trigger reaction to what I walked in on, brother! Can you really blame me?” he asks, rubbing his knuckles.
“What, did my face hurt your hand? Should I be saying sorry?” I ask, voice laced with sarcasm.
“Your face is fucking hard, actually,” he says, anger gone. He drops into my client chair and scans the room before bringing his eyes to me.
Then the bastard laughs.
Laughs.
There’s blood on my carpet, but he’s laughing.
“You’re an asshole, Demon,” I growl, sighing heavily. “How am I going to explain this to Scarlett?”
“I’ll explain it to her if you want,” he grins, adding. “I’m going to go up a notch in her books.”
My eyes narrow to slits, and I take the cloth from my nose. “Explain what? That instead of saving me from that she-devil you hit me in the face? A face she happens to be quite fond of. What did you come here for, anyway?”
“I haven’t seen you since the knife fight and . . . Olivia’s . . . and you know, I just wanted to see how you’re doing is all. I don’t think it’s safe to keep going to your house, so I thought I’d quickly drop by here. A biker in a lawyer’s office is probably a pretty common sight, hey?” he says with his expression blank. Sometimes I’m so self-involved I forget I’m not the only person who loves Olivia. Demon must be struggling too, and trying to seek me out because I’m the only one who would know what he’s going through right now.
“I’m doing okay, Demon. Or at least I was,” I say, tightening my lips and touching my nose. “How are you doing?”
“Yeah, okay,” he says, looking anywhere except me now. “I went to her stone and saw your roses. I added some of my own. She’s the most spoiled person there now.”
I close my eyes and reopen them. “It’ll never get easier, will it?”
“No,” he replies instantly, sounding miserable. “But that doesn’t mean we don’t push through like we always do, right?”
I nod. “Something like that. It’s just so hard not to think about the what-ifs. I think that’s the part that kills me. It didn’t have to be like this.”
“I know,” he whispers, voice cracking. “Trust me, brother, I know. She could have been here with us right now, yelling at us for fighting, then tending to your face.”
“Her touch would have been soft, no matter how angry she was,” I add, remembering all the times she helped us tend to cuts, wounds, and bruises after getting into fights or doing some other dumb shit.
“The good die young,” he murmurs. “And boy, was she good.”
He loved her—I know it; he knows it.
And Olivia loved him too.
We share a look, a moment of vulnerability where we don’t hide the truth from ourselves. Where we let our weakness, our pain show.
And then we let it go.
Until next year.
“You all right to drive home?” he asks me, standing up. “Or you going to be a little bitch about the tap I gave you?”
I smirk, silently grateful the intense moment is now over. “I’m good to drive, don’t worry about me. I’ll just send Scarlett over to sort you out.”
“Ha! She’s just as soft as Olivia was,” he blurts out, trying to be funny, but the words must hit us, because we both go quiet again.
I disagree with this comment though, because Scarlett is much stronger than Olivia was. Yes, she’s gentle and soft and kind, but she also has a spine of steel.
“Until next time,” Demon says, lifting his chin at me and then disappearing. I get into my car and drive home, ready to face Scarlett and explain why my nose looks like Owen Wilson’s.
“SHE DID WHAT?” Scarlett growls, rushing to me and turning my face from left to right. “That bitch put her lips on you?”
I inwardly feel smug that she’s finally showing a reaction to this whole scenario, but I hide it. “Well, she tried. She mainly kissed my chin.”
“And then Demon punched you?” she asks again, making a tsk-tsk sound. “What am I meant to do with the two of you? He shouldn’t have hit you, but to be fair he thought you were making out with that hag.”
I smirk at her choice of word for Sharon. “He should’ve given me the benefit of the doubt. Fuck, I’d never cheat, Scarlett. He should’ve known better.”
“Don’t take it personally. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing. I probably would’ve done the same,” she admits, brushing it off.
“You would have punched me in the face?” I ask, doubt leaking from my words.
“No,” she says slowly, but then explains that she already knew Sharon was after me. Demon didn’t have any of the background information, which is true. Still, I’m allowed to complain about being hit square in the nose by my best friend, who is a cop, and a trained fighter—not that Scarlett knows about that.
“Well, it doesn’t appear to be broken,” she says, examining me. “Which is the good news. Bad news is it’s swollen and looks extremely painful. Why don’t you have a shower and get changed and then we can put some ice on it, and give you some painkillers.”
I pull her close, and rest my forehead against hers. “As if I’d do anything to jeopardize this, Scarlett.”
“I know,” she says back, kissing my lips gently. “You aren’t that stupid. I trust you, Jaxon. I know you’re a good man, and an honorable one. You’re loyal.”
“Yet I still get punched,” I grumble, which only makes her laugh. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”
She kisses my cheek. “Do you want me to run a bath for you, Mr. Grumpy?”
I nod. “Yeah, that actually sounds good.”
She smirks, like she finds my sulky mood amu
sing, and heads to the bathroom. I follow her and strip down along the way. “Are you going to join me?”
She nods and turns the water on, then removes her clothes. I stare at her body from behind, the flare of her hips and the soft curve of her ass. She’s so beautiful from every angle. I reach out and trail my finger down her spine, and she stills, then turns her head back to look at me, her hair flipping to the side. “Feeling better, are we?”
“Just admiring the view,” I say, gaze roaming. “You’re so beautiful, Scarlett. And not just on the outside.”
She beams at me, and then bends down to test the water temperature.
Well, fuck.
I glance down at my dick, which is now standing to attention, and wonder which position will be most comfortable in that tub. She straightens and turns back to me, a sultry, playful look on her face. She bites her bottom lip, and then steps into the tub, beckoning me. She doesn’t sit down though, she waits until I’m in, before she gets comfortable in between my legs. She ignores my hard-on, and I do the same, feeling so relaxed in the warm water, with my woman’s back pressed against my chest. Sometimes the most intimate moments you can have with someone don’t involve sex. I cup some water in my hands and pour it onto her shoulders, and she rests her head on my chest.
Not a bad way to end the night, ‘broken’ nose and all.
chapter 40
Scarlett
I HAVEN’T SAID ANYTHING TO Jaxon, but the conversation I had with Demon still plays in my mind. I know it’s not fair, especially since I haven’t brought it up with him, but the whole “his wanting to save me because of what happened to his sister” thing makes me wonder what would have happened if I didn’t tell him about Darren. Would he have walked away from me, from my case? I don’t know. I don’t even know why I’m letting it get to me, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, it’s always on the back of my mind. On an upside, my boss said I can have time off to go away with Jaxon, so I won’t have any issues with work. For one month it’ll just be us, traveling Europe and exploring together. I’m browsing through a travel book when Gwen walks into the library, and my mood instantly brightens. Her black skirt swirls around her legs with each step.
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