I shot his back a dubious look. “What if we get lost?”

“We won’t.”

“But hypothetically, what if we do?”

He huffed in exasperation. “Then we’ll be Tarzan and Jane, mating like wildebeests and frolicking from tree limb to tree limb.”

“The Disney movie never showed them mating.”

“Jane was a hottie. Tarzan would have tapped that ass the second the credits came up. Now that’s a fact.”

“You have no proof.”

“Don’t need it.”

I grimaced. “You have forever ruined Tarzan for me.”

He laughed and turned back to me. His hair looked blonder under the sunlight and his eyes fiercer. I noticed the joy in them, too, and it made me smile hard at him. “Okay, we’re here, and if you shut your mouth for five seconds, you’ll hear the waterfall.”

“A whole five seconds?”

He shook his head in mock-irritation and extended his hand out to me. I took it and we walked in silence. The sound of rushing water drew nearer and nearer. Soon, it was a loud whooshing sound that was inescapable. We followed the noise until the fall came into view between the trees.

It was only a small waterfall, perhaps twenty feet high, flowing down a smooth cavernous rock and into a narrow river. We were close enough to feel the misty water against our skin and its coolness already had me shivering. I stepped back, away from the bubble of merciless cold, and found a dry spot in the grass a few feet from the lake.

Jaxon threw his bag off and unzipped it, removing a large blanket he’d found in the storage closet. He set it down where I stood and I sat down on it, crossing my legs like a kindergartener. I gazed up at the sky and the tops of the trees. It was a beautiful little spot, secluded and freshly green. Jaxon sat down behind me, legs spread against each side of me as he snuggled up against my back. His arms wrapped around me and I sank into him, resting the back of my head against his broad chest.

We sat in silence for several minutes, basking in each other’s arms and enjoying the waterfall’s soothing sounds as it deposited itself into the river.

“How’d you know about this place?” I asked curiously.

“Christy told me about it and gave me the directions.”

“Oh.”

“What’s wrong?” he said soothingly, pushing my hair from one side to the other. He trailed kisses down my bare neck.

“Nothing,” I lied.

“Stop lying. You tensed the second I said her name.”

No response.

“She means nothing to me, Tiny.”

“She must mean something. You helped out her grandmother and all.” Pushing the matter that she must have meant something was Sara-code for: continue to tell me how much of nothing she means to you!

“Because she was the only nice girl before you came back. She wasn’t after the Scorpion man second in charge of bad-ass-ville. I felt bad for using her. A part of me kept her around that time in case you showed up. I’m a dickhead, I know.”

“She was fawning all over you yesterday.”

He laughed suddenly. I felt his head shake. “No, she most definitely was not.”

I scoffed. “She rubbed up against you, whispered in your ear, gave me dirty looks –”

“She did not give you dirty looks.”

“Okay, she didn’t, but the rest is true.”

He sighed, taking the palm of my hand with his own. He drew circles on my skin before saying, “Tiny, she wasn’t. She told me she was heading to Winthrop to be with her tattoo artist boyfriend, and I smiled at her and wished her good luck.”

“Why would she whisper that?”

“It was loud as hell in that restaurant, plus Gretel was talking up a fucking storm about convict art or some shit.”

I thought on that for a few moments. “She has a man in Winthrop?”

He laughed again. “You’re such a dumbass, Tiny. Did you not spot the sparkling rock on her finger? Christy got engaged a few weeks ago.”

I stilled. “Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.”

Damn. “Why do I overreact?”

“Because you’re jealous and you love me.”

Still was no excuse for it.

“She’s been through a lot,” Jaxon continued quietly. “Gretel… she’s hard on her. She pushed her to go to med school when she didn’t want to. She’s taken up some receptionist job at her boyfriend’s shop and hasn’t even told her yet.”

“What about her placement?”

“She said it was too stressful on her. That she needed a break. So I wished her the best of luck.”

“Oh.” I hoped she would find the happiness she was looking for.

We relaxed for ages, soaking the heat of the sun while feeling the coolness of the mist emitting from the waterfall. It was so surreal being here with him again.

“Where are we going to go?” I asked after sometime. “Are we never returning to Gosnells?”

“We are. In time.”

“Are you still going to be a Scorpion?”

“There’s no out of the Scorpions, Tiny. That’s a done deal. I gave them my word. The only way out is death.”

“Maybe we can fake your death.”

He chuckled, his chest vibrating against my back. “That’s easier said than done.”

“How did you become one?” I’d been dying to ask this. Sure, Remy had vaguely offered an answer, but it wasn’t good enough. I needed to hear it come from Jaxon.

Apprehension clear in his demeanour, he tensed. Softly, he said, “The men inside that prison were the vilest fucking people you’d ever seen. The kind that’ll eat you up and spit you out. Pretty boy Jaxon was a hit, and I knew quickly I’d be face down and ass up for some Jabba the Hutt. By then, Finley was serving the last year of his six year sentence – tax evasion, he’d said. He watched me fight and liked what he saw. He took me under his wing and offered me protection. In exchange, I’d do what he wanted me to do.

“What he wanted… it was bad shit, Tiny. They aren’t things I’m proud of. I’d rather gloss over a lot of it for now. But I got the job done each time, and he took me in more and more. We bonded a bit. I had nothing else to do but bond with this convincing rich businessman who not only protected me, but taught me how to run a business and how to make money.”