“Lighten up, man. We’re in Kauai. The media’s not trying to fly to the island to get a shot.” Jaydon waved me off.
“You’re the most famous person here,” I ground out, trying to keep my frustration at bay. He’d been acting for years now and tabloids loved to put him center stage. “You should understand how detrimental crazy paparazzi can be,” I responded.
“Oh, I understand. I’m just not going to let them dictate my fun,” Jaydon said.
Jax sighed. “You’re not having strange women at the reception, Jaydon. Aubrey will kill you and then me for allowing it.”
“I’ll ask her.” Jaydon scanned the crowd.
“If you do that right now, I promise I’ll help her kill you,” Jax grumbled.
Jaydon didn’t seem to care because he started texting someone. I snatched his phone away.
“What the fuck, Jett?” He made a grab for it, but I held the phone out of his reach.
“You’re not bringing a girl that hasn’t had a background check into this event. Everyone signed an NDA. No one outside our circle comes in. End of story.”
Jaydon stared at me a second longer and then slumped into the bar. “You two are fucking buzzkills. Brey would let me bring someone in.”
Jax snorted.
Jaydon continued, “She might have married you, but she’s still my best friend. She’s nice enough to give me the opportunity to get laid here.”
“Yeah, she’s too fucking nice to you. And everyone. Which is why we have to speak up for her.” Jax tapped the bar and the bartender appeared, aligning three hand-cut crystal lowball glasses on the shined wood. He poured whiskey in each.
“She’s not always that nice.” I broached the subject everyone had been avoiding.
Jaydon laughed and sat down on one of the barstools. “She can be a sass pot. Girl knows when to lay down the law.”
“If you say so. You’re already married but it’s still something you should consider, Jax,” I said and slid Jaydon’s phone back to him.
Jax turned to me and handed over the glass of liquor. His blue eyes held a warning when he asked, “Consider what?”
Maybe I should have backed off. “Her dad’s in prison. You and I both know the media can twist a story.”
Jax turned to set his glass on the bar and faced me again. This time, I saw the anger. His muscles bunched with it, and his jaw ticked. Behind him, Jaydon stood up—his phone forgotten—with the same look in his eyes that Jax had.
They both wanted me to retract what I’d just said. They wanted me to apologize and say I didn’t mean to talk badly about Aubrey Whitfield.
Aubrey Whitfield, the love of his life, was intelligent, inspiring, and driven. In fact, I’d offered her a job investing with me at Stonewood Enterprises after she’d graduated. My team consisted of extraordinary people and she’d overcome her father burning down her childhood home. She took risk after risk. The girl was strong. Perfect for him and for our family, considering the media that followed it.
But they were naive to think the media wouldn’t have a field day with how quickly they were getting married. And stupid to think it wouldn’t take a toll. I needed them to last, not crumble under the pressure.
And most people folded under the institution of marriage because the titles, the expectations, the compromises—they pushed people to the brink. My parents were a perfect example of that.
If I had to be the one to consider every angle, I would. Fact was, her father was in prison for arson and the homicide of her mother. My brother was a Stonewood and a retired musician. With his fame and her father’s notoriety, the press loved to watch their every move.
“She has done well with being in the news, Jax. I’ll give her that. But what happens when she gets stressed? What then?”
“Then she gets stressed, and we handle it,” Jax replied, his tone flat and void of emotion.
“You have to consider that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce—” I started.
He cut me off. “I went to visit her father for years, Jett. I made it my business to be there, bring him to his knees, and make sure he never bothers us again.”
Jax had climbed a metaphorical Mount Everest to make sure Aubrey’s father never had the money or authority to come in any contact with his daughter again. I didn’t agree with the amount of money he’d lost by disassembling her father’s company, but I understood that he’d done it for her. “If you say so.”
His eyes narrowed, a glare meant to wither me. "I’ve considered every aspect of this relationship more than you can ever imagine. Repeat what you just said and you’ll regret it.”