I watched him chat with Lexi with a relaxed smile on my face, wondering what on earth she was feeding him. I felt so rejuvenated, so full of life, all thanks to Jaxon’s forgiveness, and big heart, pulling me back from a lonely abyss.

“Well, I’ll let her know. You should come down and see us. I’m not letting her out of my sight. No way in hell. See ya, Lexi.” He threw the phone behind him and resumed cuddling me.

“What was that all about?” I asked curiously.

“Lexi was being a good information filler.”

“About?”

“About how miserable you’ve been without me.” He grinned giddily at this.

“I’m glad you find my misery amusing.”

“No,” he disagreed. “Not amusing at all, but I’m glad I wasn’t the only one suffering. Anyway, she wanted to know when you intended on returning.”

“I suppose that’s when you told her I wasn’t.”

“Absolutely.”

I laughed. “You know, I do have to go back.”

“Nope, you’re not leaving my sight.”

“Since when have you been all possessive?”

“Since you left me.”

My smile faded. “I loved who you were before, Jaxon. I never meant to hurt you. You were perfect.”

He stroked my arm as he considered my words. “I have changed,” he finally said quietly. “I can’t help the change, but it’s there, and… there are things you need to know about me now. You have to give me your word you’re in for the long haul.”

“Shouldn’t I know what it is first?”

“Would it make a difference?” He looked worried as he regarded me seriously.

I gulped and shook my head. “No, I’m here for the long haul.”

“No matter what?” Jesus, what was he referring to?

“No matter what.” I said it without hesitation, and he relaxed significantly. Only I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hesitant on the inside. In fact, I was trembling like mad at the thought of how serious this might be on us. Lucinda had hinted at his nature and some unsettling things. The first night I’d slept in her home she’d told me it wasn’t the first time he’d come home in a bloodied shirt.             

Just what exactly was Jaxon involved in?

Now it was his phone that rang, jostling me back to the present. He grabbed his jeans and pulled the phone out of his pocket. Looking down at the screen, he sighed in irritation and answered. “Yeah?” Listening for a moment, he looked thoroughly inconvenienced and said, “On my way.”

“Who was that?” I asked after he hung up.

“Business,” he muttered. Grabbing my hand, he kissed my palm and sat up. “Time to get up and get going. I can take you to my apartment. It’s in the centre of town–”

“Where are you going?” I interrupted.

“I gotta talk to my business partner.”

“Is that all you’re going to tell me after your little ‘long haul’ spiel?” I raised a brow questionably.

He was deeply thoughtful as he threw on his shirt. He prolonged answering me, putting on my own shirt like I was a child. I watched him until he was fully dressed, and until he fully dressed me.

“I love you,” I suddenly sputtered out. “No matter what.”

He rested a chaste kiss on my lips and inhaled sharply. “There’s no sense in delaying this then. I’ll take you to meet the guys.”

“The guys?”

“Yep.”

“And who are they?”

Without looking me in the eye, he said, “My other fucked up family.”

Twenty One

I was glad he hadn’t ridden his motorcycle. The second I got into his car, it’d started raining again. He drove in silence with a hand entwined in mine, and an occasional glance in my direction. He looked content; his eyes twinkled in happiness when I met them with my own.

I was on pins and needles the entire way there. My mind was going a million miles an hour as I wondered where he was going to take me.

When the car slowed and made a turn into a parking lot, I clicked out of my daze and peered out the windshield. We were at a large red bricked bar, the name, “King’s Temple” in big, lit letters hung high and luminous in the night.

Jaxon parked the car and shut off the engine. He had a contemplative look as he stared dead ahead, lost in some kind of thought. I watched him fidget and then look over at me, brows furrowed with concern. He was apprehensive about this, I knew. But having overcome whatever was troubling him, he finally opened his door and motioned me out.

Holding my hand tightly, we walked through the entrance doors. I could hardly see the interior of the bar properly with the amount of people inside. We were immediately bombarded with looks, and I could barely register each person turning to Jaxon and whooping at the sight of him. He was pat on the back, greeted and even given hugs.

The men all looked relatively the same, I quickly realized. Most of them were wearing black leather jackets and were covered in ink. I got a lot of looks as I waded by Jaxon’s side, and I looked into the eyes of over a dozen men as we passed them. I noticed one man smoking a cigar with a large scorpion tattoo on his neck, and another man with the same tattoo on his arm. A strange tingle flowed down my spine reminded by the same tattoo Jaxon sported on his chest.

Almost every guy had an attractive young woman on his arm, and when they took notice of Jaxon, their beautiful eyes brightened and they called out to him with, “Jaxon, baby! How are you?” Jaxon smiled politely while I studied each and every one of them blowing kisses at him, even rubbing his shoulder intimately as we walked to what I noticed was the back of the bar. They devoured him with just one look, and the way they tried to feel him even with their men standing beside them made me overly uncomfortable and unhappy with the situation.

Confused by the openness in their demeanour, I was even more taken aback by the wanting glances of men who greeted Jaxon and then pressed themselves against me. “Hey, baby,” I’d heard over a dozen times. I felt hands all over me, and when one grabbed my behind, I yelped and squeezed Jaxon’s hand tighter. He stopped in the crowd and looked over at me as a body pressed behind me.

“Beautiful girl, Jaxon,” a man’s voice said behind my right ear. “Where’d you find this one?”