“Oh, my god!”
“Yeah. He’s never said it to me, but I’m pretty sure that’s why he became a cop.”
“But wait…how did your mom go from being a drug addict who totally neglected you to a suburban housewife?”
Jax smiled sadly. “Got herself clean, met a new guy…a good guy. They got married, popped out Declan, and the rest, well…you know how that story ended.” He drew in a cleansing breath. “Declan’s dad told him about me when I was twenty-one. Dec being Dec, he tracked me down and introduced himself.”
“How’d that go?”
He chuckled. “About how you can expect. I wanted nothing to do with him back then.”
It wasn’t fair, and what happened to Jax as a kid sure as hell wasn’t Declan’s fault. But that still didn’t make knowing his mom had left him to go on and have another family an easy pill to swallow.
“And now?”
“Now?” Jax rubbed a hand over his beard. “Now things with Dec are…better.”
Poppy remained silent for so long, he was beginning to think he’d misread her acceptance of who he was and where he’d come from.
But then she looked deep into his eyes and said, “I’m sorry you had such a shitty childhood, but I’m proud of you for using it to push yourself to be better. Speaking of that, thank you for your service.”
The unexpected sentiment sent his heart reeling. Sure he’d heard the words before, but hearingthiswoman say them made him want to grab her and—
“Cam almost joined the military.” Poppy cut the heated thought short. “She made it all the way to the physical exam.”
“They find something?”
She nodded. “A small heart murmur she and her parents never even knew she had. So she became an elementary teacher instead.”
“Hey, speaking of Cam…” Jax remained seated as the sweet woman gave the newly dressed wound a final once-over. “I have something for you when we go back downstairs.”
“You do?” Surprise filled the browns in Poppy’s eyes. “What is it?”
“Remember the white plastic bag Ivan handed me back at the apartment?”
A slight nod. “Yeah.”
“It’s a phone.”
Surprised turned to confusion. “You got me a phone?”
He nodded.
“Why?”
Jax shrugged his good shoulder. “I know you and Cam are close, and she’s probably really worried about you. Plus I figured you’d want to call your parents at some point, so I—”
“Got me a phone.” It was a statement that time, rather than a question. “But wait…what about De Luca and his men? Is there any way they could be tracking incoming calls to Cam or my folks?”
“Nope.” Jax shook his head. “I had Ivan install an encryption program that makes tracking the phone and any calls going to or from it impossible.”
“That’s really…sweet.” Her lashes fluttered with a few surprised blinks. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Jax glanced down at his bandaged bicep. “Although, I should be the one thanking you. I didn’t feel a thing.”
Poppy huffed out a soft laugh. “I doubt that.” She brushed her thumb along his bare skin, a safe distance away from the bandage. “I’m just so thankful it didn’t need stitches.”
Her beautiful gaze turned sad, causing a sudden aching in his chest. Before he realized what he was doing, Jax brought his right hand to her chin, gently pulling her focus from the wound back to him.