“Jax, go after her, please,” Josh commanded as he stared at the table. At his hands.
“Seriously, Josh, don’t give up on her,” Erika pleaded. “She’s a hard woman to tie down, but she’s worth it. She really is. She’s just going through a difficult patch right now. She can be reasonable. She’s just not used to the feelings she has with you, is all. She’s proud. She needs a good, swift kick in the face. But…maybe not by you.” Erika chuckled, sniffed, and patted his shoulder.
“I shouldn’t have touched her.”
“Eh, she’s had worse. One time a photographer literally hit her across the face with his camera. She said she had to get stitches. And another time some guy full on punched her. She’d stolen his drugs or some stupid thing. The number of women she’s fought would make a pretty long list. Hell, she head-butted Jax. I have a feeling she’ll give you another chance. Although you do that again and I’ll probably have to kill you in your sleep—you’re too big to do it face to face. For reals. I’m not kidding about that. But I have a feeling you won’t. You’re just as keyed up as the rest of us. I get weepy, Jenna gets hard, you become violent. Jax gets bewildered. Although I’m starting to think that might be a regular thing with him.”
Josh looked at Erika directly. She still had her hand on his arm for comfort. She was chipper and peppy, but there was a hint of desperation in her face. “I just choked your friend. Why are you trying to make light of this?”
Erika teared up. “Because, Josh, she’s had it really tough. You wouldn’t know it on the surface—her rich dad, all her money, her high-powered job—but she hasn’t had any easy breaks. Not one. She has worked her ass off for everything she has. Life keeps handing her a big pile of shit. Except with you. She loves you; I can see it. And she needs you. Granted, you are a huge pain in the ass, and apparently have a violent streak, but I believe you can control that. It looks like you know that you have to try harder to control it. If you give up, then she’ll get her wish, and she’ll be alone for the rest of her life. I don’t want that for her. Please, please don’t give up on her. Please don’t stop chasing, because eventually she will stop running.”
“You would think she was the one that abused me.”
“She did, just not with violence. She knows you now. She knows your buttons. She shouldn’t have said that to you. The loving comment. Or the father one. She didn’t mean it, but she knew it would cripple you. She wanted to get a rise out of you. To hurt you. Remember when I said she wasn’t usually cruel? Well…this time, she was. She can’t hate me this time to make it easier—right now she’s hating herself pretty hard.”
Josh shook his head as his father walked into the room. Judging by the storm clouds peeking through the general’s normally calm, calculating eyes, Josh was number one on his father’s offender’s list.
“Erika, I would like a word with my son.” The general’s words came out clipped.
Erika jumped and scurried out of her seat. “No problem. Josh, think about it.” She walked out of the room without looking back. Clearly she hadn’t lost her fear of the general.
“Joshua, stand up.”
Josh did as instructed.
“You are a Williams,” the general said, putting enough emphasis on that name to hint at power and prestige. “Above that, you are a man. I did not raise a coward, did I, son?”
“No, sir.” Josh stood at full attention.
“I did not raise a weakling, did I, son?”
“No, sir.”
“I find that hard to believe, as only cowards manhandle women. Only cowards allow themselves the leeway to raise their hand to the lesser sex. Only weaklings cannot control themselves as you seem unable to do. Are you these things? Are you a coward and a weakling? Did I fail with you, Joshua?”
“No, sir.” Josh’s voice was hard and exact, as his father required, but he was hard-pressed to hide the tremor. Some battle-hardened hero he turned out to be.
“In all the years I was with your mother, despite our sometimes passionate debates, I never once, not once, raised a finger to her. Not once. I am a gentleman and I conduct myself as such. I will not allow someone in my family to make a mockery of me, is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Now, Miss Anderson is no weakling, and she is no coward. I see the effects of her defense on your face. She did not back down, and for that, I respect her. However, she is smaller and weaker than you, and therefore she was unable to properly exact your punishment. I will do it for her. Do not defend yourself.”
Josh saw his father step up to him, anger flashing in his eyes, as he cocked back and threw an impossibly slow punch. In his sleep Josh could have knocked the old man away like an irritating fly. Once the general might have been a match, but not now. Not after the years had stolen so much. Still, Josh knew he deserved this. He wanted it. He needed pain.
He stopped his body from moving and let the punch land, throwing back his head as it connected. The old man might be slow, but he still knew how to throw a punch.
Josh momentarily saw stars. He waited for his vision to clear, and then he straightened up and met his father’s eyes again. Those steel-blue eyes were still hard, but they were bereft of anger. Josh had been punished, and by accepting the punishment, he had made a step in the right direction. His father felt better.
Too bad he didn’t.
“Sit down, son.” The general took a seat at the table. He continued in a softer, though still commanding tone. “If it has escaped your notice, you brought home a lady, Joshua Williams. A lady of the highest degree and social standing. She is influential both of her own making and by birth. While she may be headstrong, she is still a model prospect for you—especially now that you’ve given up everything for a life of…drifting. I hope you will realize what you have, and ensure you keep her. Whatever it takes. She’ll fit into your world, but from what you’ve shown me today, you have fallen so low that I’m not sure you’ll fit into your world anymore. Or hers. I know why you left the service, and I know why you’re living a life of obscurity, but she deserves better than that. So you will make good for her, if not for anyone else. Am I making myself clear?”
What his father was saying was true, but for the wrong reasons. He was making accusations and demands for reasons Jenna would abhor. Society and connections were all that his father cared about.
Jenna would have waited patiently, then thrown water in his face and told him to bugger off. He inwardly smiled to himself at the mental picture. If Josh would ever be good enough for her in his own right, he had to follow suit. He had to court her on his terms.
With resolve, Josh spoke in a clear and steady voice. “I’ve crossed a line. If she forgives me, and I won’t blame her if she doesn’t…” He ignored the flare of fire in his father’s penetrating gaze. “But if she does, I will not lose her. I’ll follow her to the ends of the earth for no other reason than I love her. I will do right by her, but not because of her family. When it comes to her, you don’t matter to me, Dad. All the shit you’ve pushed on me, I’ve taken. But not when it comes to her. You’d better get that through your head. I will accept disdain based on tonight’s action, but if she forgives me, I will not tolerate talk of connections, wealth, or status. Do I make myself clear?”
Josh expected to feel fear standing up to his father. As a kid, it had simply not been done. He was an authority figure in the armed forces, as well as at home. In every aspect of Josh’s life, his father was one step higher.
Instead, he felt the tingling of adrenaline. He had to stop a smile from gracing his face. It felt good. The mere acknowledgement that his father only had the power Josh allowed him to have felt…goddamned sensational.
Suddenly he knew why Jenna sounded so free whenever she talked about her old man. Another puzzle piece locked into place.
His father stared at him for a long minute. “Is that the way you want it?”
The way he said it was akin to an ultimatum. His way or no way. Accept the
family ties, or lose them. Josh had heard similar all his life. And all his life he’d bowed before that look and that voice.
It was a good day to realize he didn’t bow anymore. Jenna loved him as an equal, though she wouldn’t admit it, and it sure as hell beat this “fatherly love” of a boot crushing his esophagus.
“Yes. If you can’t handle that, then you forfeit your ability to have a relationship with your son.”
The general’s eyes widened momentarily before he regained himself. “So be it.”
The general walked out of the room, stiff-backed and proud. He’d get over it, or he wouldn’t. It was no longer Josh’s concern.
Josh put his head in his hands, the misery at what he’d done returning. He noticed Erika quietly walking through the room, headed outside. She gave him a smile and a thumbs-up before she disappeared.
He was surrounded by incredibly odd women.
Jenna made it to the woods and immediately watched her tracks. She didn’t want a gunman finding her so easily again, assuming there were more. She made loop-de-loops around trees and walked through a small stream for a ways, just to be on the safe side. Then she found a big, bushy tree and settled in.
She’d sat there ten minutes before she started crying. Sobs racked her body and streamed down her face. After what she’d said to Josh, after her refusal of him, she’d sunk to a new low. He was right about her, and it didn’t take a smart woman to see it. She was scared of what he might mean to her, what it might mean to lose him, and she didn’t want to face it.
The night fully descended as she sat, hiccupping from her sobs. Stars peered through the treetops, twinkling down at her. She took a deep breath and allowed the sadness to recede a little, tuning in to her surroundings. She was still alive, so if there was a gunman, he was incredibly lazy, but there were other dangers in the woods. She didn’t want to get mauled if she could help it.
Her stomach rumbled as the soft breeze dried the remainder of her tears. It didn’t take long for the itch of warning to blaze up between her shoulder blades. She focused on it, and it felt familiar. Danger lurking, but not life threatening. It was a distinction she applied to Josh.
Another tear slipped down her cheek. She wanted to apologize and be held, wishing she hadn’t pushed him to the point of violence. That she hadn’t preyed on his weakness like the villain she was.
Wiping her face with the back of her hand, she said, “Come out. I know you’re there.”
A shape stepped out of the trees five feet away, much too close for her not to have heard his approach. She should’ve felt him sooner.
As she looked at his face, another shock had her eyes widening. “Wow. You’re as good as Josh.”
Jack wandered closer, absolutely quiet. “We were in the same class.” He sat down beside her. “How’d you know I was there?”
“I have a danger sensor. Apparently, you are dangerous.”
“Like I said, Josh and I were in the same class.”
He fell silent. They sat together as the insects of the night sang their song, peaceful and comfortable. Jack was every bit as unobtrusive as Josh always was.
After a while, Jack said, “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Josh is beside himself sorry for what he’s done.”
“He stepped over the line.”
“True. No argument there.” Jack picked up a leaf and folded it distractedly. “Listen, Jenna, you are a tough woman. You can endure things that… Well, it amazes me what I know of you already. But it’s a lot to handle on your own, you know? Big burdens are heavy.”
“Are you now going to say that you know someone named Joshua Williams to share the load? Maybe carry the ring up Mount Doom for me?”
“Wow, you’re a nerd. No, I was going to say that my boy has some heavy burdens that he can’t carry on his own either. I was going to say that he needs a strong woman to help him, just like you need…someone.”
“Jack, listen—”
“Call me Jax, Jenna.” He threw the leaf down. “I didn’t realize you called me Jack because I hadn’t told you otherwise. I thought it was because I’m a cop and you didn’t want to get too close.”
“Jax, you helped me bury…a horror. We have dirt on each other. That is closer than you schtupping my best friend. You’re blood, as far as I’m concerned. Closer, maybe.”
“You have a deep respect for loyalty.”
“Yes. That’s all people had on the streets. I had enough dealings to know it and adopt it. It means more—someone’s word means more—that way.”
“But you were raised in luxury.”
“If a love-starved addict knows luxury, then yeah, I guess you could say that.”
“But you still drink.”
“But I don’t do coke, crack, meth, heroin, or any form of cheap or expensive substitute. Drinking was never the problem. I am in no position to help anyone carry burdens. I am neck deep in my own. I want to live my life in peace. I want to build my building. After that, to be honest, I don’t really care what happens to my life. Not one bit. Alive or dead, I will have fulfilled my goal.”
“It’s not up to me to tell you different. But I know Josh. You have that man wrapped around your pinky.”
“Jesus, if this is him pussy-whipped, how did anyone deal with him before?”
“They didn’t. Look, Jenna, he’s controlling, but only up to a certain point, which involves you living. He is nothing like his father, not where it counts. And very much like his father in some aspects, but those are mostly positive.”
Jenna scoffed, wanting to be ten years away from this conversation. It hurt. What happened with Josh earlier hurt. Life these days hurt. “I stepped over the line, too. I was aiming to hurt. I’m good at that sort of thing.”
“Very, but we all have defenses. Tit for tat, Josh heard what you said to his father about him. How you defended him. No one has ever done that before. Not me, and certainly no other woman. The old guy is a bit…intense, know what I mean?”
“I’m sure no one has told Josh he’s like his father before, either.”
“No one has had the courage.” Jax shifted. “He probably needed to hear it, though. If only to reflect on it. They both did. But I’m not psychotic.”
“And I am, obviously.”
“A-yup.” Though his face was in shadow, she could hear the laughter in his voice. He sobered. “I’m not either of them—I don’t think words are enough to talk you around. But you are the best thing for him. There is no one else. Not for him. I’ve known him a long time. There isn’t anyone else on this earth that could tell me to show up with a shovel and help bury a body in the woods. I owe him my life, and I’d gladly give it to him. He’s a good guy. He has some issues, and you saw that firsthand tonight, but he will always stand by you. He would die for you without hesitation. He loves you implicitly and he needs you. Please, think about it.”
She shook her head. She was tired of this conversation. “What about you and Erika?”
Jax sank. “Jenna, I tried my damndest! But…well…I failed you. All said and done, I failed you. Please don’t kill me.”
She huffed out a laugh. “I said I would kill you if you got her killed. However, there is the question of the reward.”
“I didn’t do it for you.”
“Don’t be a dummy. I’m about loyalty, remember? You’ll have your reward. It’s already in the works. Thank you.”
“I don’t need—”
The feeling of danger flared again, feeling something out there moving in the darkness. She put her hand on Jax’s arm, feeling his muscles tense beneath her palm. He clued into the situation immediately, looking in the same direction she was. Slowly, he stood up, his muscles and movements in complete harmony. She followed, her muscles and movements completely chaotic.
A soft sound touched down on the forest floor, like a creature made of leaves. Another footfall, this time shaking branches. Something was walking. Toward them.
Jenna flicked off the safety an
d gripped her gun with both hands. Jax’s arm came out, his hand falling on her wrists and pushing down the gun. He stepped in front of her, blocking her with his body.
If she had to shoot, she’d rather not shoot him in the back.
She stepped out from behind him, only to sigh in irritation as he stepped in front of her again. She softly scoffed and stepped out a third time, ready to give him a kick if he didn’t yield. With a shake of his head, he gave up.
Something snuffed. An animal.
A huge, shaggy head advanced out of the trees, followed by a large body. The bear stared at them.
Jenna stepped back behind Jax.
Jax’s hands came away from his body, his gun held up, his knife out to the side. He braced as the bear snuffed again, looking like he prepared to rush.
The man planned to take on a bear. Were all Navy men insane?
After a tense minute, the bear gave a loud grunt…and lumbered off to their right, uninterested.
Jenna’s breath came out in a ragged wheeze.
Jax straightened up, watched it for a while longer, and then turned toward her. Through the tree-filtered moonlight she could see the beaming smile on his face.
“That was a rush, huh?” Jax said, walking back to the house.
Jenna followed, her heart still thumping. “I might hate wildlife just a little.”
“Ah, wild animals are better than humans by any stretch. More predictable. Respect them and they’ll respect you. Unless they’re hungry. Then you’re fucked.”
“How do you know when they’re hungry?”
“They’re gnawing on your leg.”
“Cute.”
Chapter Nineteen
Josh and Erika sat outside the house, neither of them talking. Jenna’s stomach rolled, knowing she had to make this right. The worst thing about drama was always the cleanup. Before she could say Josh’s name, though, Erika stood up. “Can I talk to you, Jenna?”
Josh stood without a word and followed Jax inside. Jenna watched, uncertain—worried he wouldn’t accept her apology. Not after what she’d said.
Unexpected Danger (Skyline Trilogy Book 2) Page 16