Chapter Eighteen
Jaxson
Last night had been amazing, fantastic, the best night of my life. No, I wasn’t going overboard. Being with Ariella reminded me how great it was to share the comfort of another and a warm bed.
I hadn’t wanted to leave, but my sister, Skylar, had been watching Izzie. Ariella hadn’t budged when I kissed her goodbye after throwing my clothes back on. I had scribbled a quick note and left it on her brand-new fridge.
Have to go home to Izzie. I wish I could stay all night with you. Text me if you want me to bring you breakfast. -Jaxson
I had expected she’d text or call. Something to let me know she didn’t regret what happened between us, and it meant more than a one-night stand to her. I hadn’t wanted to seem overzealous with the note or scare her away either.
My phone buzzed on my desk, and I reached out, hopeful that Ariella had answered me.
What time does Izzie go down for a nap?
It was just Skylar. She had come and visited me unannounced and stayed for the week. I couldn’t just bail on my job, and vacation time was usually planned out. Besides, spending time with my sister was hardly classified as a vacation. At least it kept Izzie from having to go to daycare for the week, which wasn’t a bad tradeoff. The daycare always closed by six o’clock, and I was shit for getting there on time. One of the guys would often pick Izzie up if I were stuck in the field on an assignment for a client.
I ignored my sister’s text. Izzie would not go down easy for Skylar. She hated naps, and it wasn’t even noon yet. Skylar would have to entertain her all day, not just for a few hours. That was the price for coming to visit. I was an ass, but if she wanted to spend time with her niece, she needed to act like she wanted to be there.
There were still no messages from Ariella.
Exhaling a heavy sigh, Declan trotted into my office. “We need to have a meeting,” Declan said, his arms folded across his chest, his brow tight.
“Sure. What about?”
“Come with me,” Declan said, gesturing for me to follow him. His heavy boots trampled on the floor as he led me to the conference room where the rest of the Eagle Tactical team had been situated around the table.
“What’s going on? Is there a new assignment?” I asked. Usually, I was consulted with first, but I had been preoccupied lately. Lincoln sat at the table with Declan, Aiden, and Mason.
Lincoln cleared his throat. His expression was grim. “We’re worried about your involvement with the new girl.” I hadn’t expected to see him at Eagle Tactical today. He was a contractor for us, worked specific assignments when we needed his expertise, but he wasn’t a full-time employee because of his restaurant.
Steam shot off my body, and I clenched my fists, my short nails digging into my palm. “My personal life is no one else’s business.” I couldn’t believe the guys! Were they trying to stage an intervention? They knew I didn’t sleep around. I had a daughter to worry about and look after.
Mason leaned back in his chair, all too relaxed for the occasion. “You’re getting too close to her, Jaxson. That girl is trouble, forty-two million dollars’ worth of trouble.”
That had been precisely how much money she’d been charged with stealing. “She’s not that girl,” I said, defending her. “What her ex-husband did doesn’t define her. Besides, don’t we all deserve a second chance?” They’d been through hell. We all had. We’d carried each other through good times and bad. None of us were free of our burdens and the mistakes that we’d made in the past.
“Listen, I don’t know her that well,” Lincoln said, “but I saw you two getting pretty cozy in my apartment, and that’s not like you. You don’t jump headfirst into fucking the hottie next door. That’s Aiden’s M.O.”
My jaw tightened. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” It was none of their business that we had sex. It wasn’t like they could tell!
“I know you’re a respectable man,” Lincoln said, “but what you were doing wasn’t respectable. She’d been drinking. Declan told me you’d been serving her piss-ass drinks at the bar.”
It seemed Lincoln hadn’t believed me when he’d stumbled into us last night. “I brought her upstairs to have some water, sit down away from the crowd, and calm down. I gave her two drinks earlier that night, and I thought she was having a panic attack after I said something to her downstairs while we were dancing. She has some other medical thing. It doesn’t matter,” I said, dismissing my rationale. They didn’t need to know about her medical history or what she’d been going through in minute detail.
“Right.” Mason didn’t believe me.
“I swear she spilled water on my clothes. Nothing happened at your place, Lincoln.” I wasn’t sleazy like that. While I may have wanted to rip off her clothes and listen to her scream out my name, I wouldn’t have done that on his couch and in his home.
“But something happened?” Lincoln asked.
It wasn’t any of their business what transpired between us. We were grown adults, allowed to behave however we chose. She hadn’t been inebriated. It had been two drinks and more time elapsed between her alcohol consumption and when I’d fallen into bed with her—something that none of them needed to know about.
Aiden sat quietly, his hands folded together on the table. I’d never known him to be so silent. “Do you have anything to add?” I asked.
“I haven’t met her,” Aiden said. “I’ve read her file, the one our client asked us to retrieve on her. I rarely agree with mixing business and pleasure, but I’ve never seen you so happy. Despite that, I don’t know her. I only know what’s on paper, and the girl has secrets. Did you know what she used to do for a living before her life blew up?”
I hadn’t asked her, and after I’d seen the name ‘Ariella Ryan’ and had realized the connection, there had been no reason for me to continue searching for information. “No, I guess I don’t know what she did for a living. Does it matter?” I hadn’t asked her. I should have. I didn’t think it mattered.