SarahEvery morning I wake up and it takes a minute to remember where I am. From there it takes even longer to remind myself that it’s real, that I didn’t imagine getting the life of my dreams and it wasn’t some cruel joke someone tried to play. Jaxon is always next to me, the sun is shining still in some tropical land, and the giant DIAMOND rock is still sparkling and weighing down my left hand. I stared at it for a moment, watching the light reflect off the clear rock. I felt its weight and let it be a firm reminder of my current situation. I tried to let my eyes adjust and wiped away the remaining sleep.I sat up in the bed and looked at the mess of egg-white sheets around us. The sun was peering in, lighting up Jaxon’s face with specks of gold flakes and thin red streaks through his hair. Thoughts and feelings of the night before came rushing back and flushed my skin. I smiled at him sleeping peacefully. I had never had so much uninterrupted time being peaceful and not looki
JaxonSara had been right: being home felt different. It was clear things had changed. I loved starting mornings with Sara, driving to work with her and knowing she was around if needed. But at the same time everything was the same, it felt like we hadn’t gone away at all. I still received my regular amount of paperwork and meetings. I still had to present information to the board regularly, and unfortunately I still had the same number of shady calls and texts that I needed to answer. As much as I was starting to hate it, answering that world became almost more important. Something was off and I could feel the ground under my throne starting to crumble. It was a drizzly Thursday—which made me miss the heat of the islands—when that black other-world phone rang. I saw the number and recoiled. “What do you want, Cynthia?” I growled. I didn’t mean to be so instantly hostile with her, but talking to her was the last thing I wanted. Sara said we were starting fresh and I didn’t n
Sarah Jaxon hardly looked up from his computer, much less touched the salad in front of him. I had long since ignored the work in front of me and now causally popped grapes into my mouth as I watched him. I had been staring at him silently for the better part of an hour, and he hadn't acknowledged me once. I couldn’t decide if I was more pissed or concerned. “What is wrong with you?” I finally spit out. Jaxon glanced up at me like a deer in headlights. It seemed to take him a second to find my face glaring back at him. He looked stunned as if he hadn’t expected me to be there. “What are you talking about?” “For the last few days you’ve been acting… weird. You seem like you get more uncomfortable whenever I’m here.” I wanted to keep explaining and tell him how hurt and angry I was that he was being a neglectful jerk, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Sarah, nothing is going on. I’m just busy at work. You’re reading too much into things, my love,” he repli
JaxonI threw back some Advil and drank the rest of the whisky cup on my desk. Even though her suspicions had calmed, it didn't feel good to lie to Sara. An omission of the truth, I tried to remind myself. Manipulative conversations and the art of practiced silence had become a mastered skill while running the underworld. It never bothered me before. It just felt necessary to do what needed to be done. It kept me at a distance from people, but there had been no one I wanted to be particularly close to anyways. But with Sara, things were different. I never wanted to lie to her or hide things from her. I felt sick and guilty. I felt like a terrible husband, a terrible person. It felt like it did when things started to get bad with Cynthia, and that brought up a raging anger. Cynthia, she was the reason I was even here at all. Her and her magnificent lie. I had to prove her a liar before anything could get back to Sara.My blood was boiling, and it was not doing me any favors to
Sara My neck is still pinched and achy from my horrible sleep the night before. I downed the Advil in my hand and swallowed them with a gulp from my coffee. The coffee at work was not as good as the one at home but I couldn’t risk running late and missing this project proposal. I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed the medicine to work faster. I glanced at my watch and realized I only had a half hour before the meeting. I took another sip of my coffee and started typing feverishly. “Have you heard about it?” one of my coworkers whispered. Despite the small walls between each desk, sound still carried exceptionally well through the bullpen. “I heard she was fighting for him,” someone else answered. “It’s more than that! She got herself knocked up!” It was clear that they were doing their best to keep their voice low but it wasn’t working well. I tried to ignore them and keep working. I typed quickly. “Wait what? How did she get him to do that?” “She says he was
JaxonSara lay on her side away from me. She seemed better but still unnerved. I couldn’t help but feel guilty. I wanted to ease whatever was going on, and I couldn’t help feeling like it was my fault. I leaned over and wrapped myself around her, pulling her close. I wanted to create a sheltered cocoon to keep her safe. “What’s wrong, my love?” I pleaded. “Nothing, it’s stupid really.” “Please, Sara, talk to me.” She turned over slowly but wouldn’t meet my eyes. She played with the hair on my chest. I waited patiently for her to speak. “There were rumors happening at work today. I’m not sure why—I don’t even know who they were talking about—but it really upset me how callously they were talking.” I swallowed a dry lump in my throat. “What were they saying?” Sara frowned and kept her eyes down. “I had assumed they were talking about someone at the company but now I realize they could have been talking about anyone. But something about a married man impregnat
SaraI curled into a ball on the bed. It had been a while since I set foot in my old bedroom. Everything was how I had left it, though it was clear that the cleaning crew had recently been in here. Every part of my body hurt. It was like Jaxon shot a poisoned arrow through my heart and it was slowly spreading. I wrapped my knees tighter to my chest and finally let it all go. My phone buzzed next to me and read a text from Jaxon. It was sweet and considerate but it only hurt more. I wanted to reply. I wanted to go to him and bury myself in his arms but I couldn’t. I couldn’t handle it. Thinking of that only hurt more. Touching him would only hurt more. I wanted to run away, hide somewhere away from shame and humility. I had never been one to let my emotions ruin my work or professional life, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to face my coworkers. Not for a while. Not until Jaxon settled this. I thought about that. I had no idea what outcome I was even hoping for. Obviously, I did
Jaxon“I just don’t understand how that’s possible!” I barked. It wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t the person I needed to lose my temper at. Everything just felt so out of control. Sara hadn’t been home in two days, and I wanted to give her her space, but I wanted to run into her arms. The gravity of the situation hit me like a bomb when I came home and found her gone. I couldn’t blame her in the least, but it set me even more on edge.“I don’t know Jaxon, I mean you were married to the woman for 10 years. It doesn’t seem that much of a stretch that you’d have a night with her or that she’d have your DNA around.” I rolled my eyes and sat exhausted in my chair, leaning forward with my eyes closed. I knew he was right, her case was not that outlandish. I didn’t have a lot to go on, but I knew that I would never betray Sara in such a way. I knew Cynthia well enough at this point to know there was something deeper going on here. There had to be. “Set up an appointment with my doctor.”
SaraI sighed heavily as I put my glass down on the desk in Jaxon's home office. I'd come here because I knew that this was where he kept the good whisky. I'd retreated to the shower while Jaxon was being treated by the doctor.The thought of watching him pull a bullet out of my husband made me feel sick. It was the very last thing I needed to see after another nightmarish day. Even after receiving the threat on my desk, I hadn't expected the day to go this way at all. It was all so much to wrap my head around. It all still felt completely surreal, as if it were all some bad dream and not my very real reality. This had been the last thing that I had expected, and I felt fairly sure that Jaxon was just as taken by surprise. I felt sick with fear every time I replayed the events from earlier. I couldn't stop thinking what would have happened if Jaxon hadn't noticed the sniper on the roof when he did–if his arm hadn't been there in time.I'd be dead. Cynthia had actually tried
JaxonI could tell that Sara was still feeling uncomfortable about the threat she'd found on her desk. She'd spent the rest of the day working from my office, but she'd been silent and subdued the entire time. Now she was clutching onto my arm as we made our way to the parking garage.It made my blood boil that she was back to being in a state of fear and anxiety when we'd just resolved everything with Cynthia. We were finally getting our marriage back on track, and now we would inevitably take a few steps back.I held Sara's hand tighter as we entered the garage, feeling slightly paranoid myself. I couldn't deny that the note had also left me on edge a little. I'd called Eli and arranged to have more security around the building. I would have to be careful until I identified the source of this latest threat."We'll be home soon," I told Sara in a comforting tone as I slid into the car beside her.She shot me a small smile and turned her attention to the window, clearly still
SaraI wasn’t ready for my stay-cation with Jaxon to end. I rolled over in the bed on Monday morning and wrapped my arm around Jaxon. It had been so nice with him each day, just enjoying each other and getting closer again. "Good morning," he offered in a gruff tone. I smiled and traced the lines of his muscles. "Good morning." "Are you ready for work and the real world?" he teased. I scoffed and made no effort to move. "If we have to," I replied, unable to hide the giggle in my words. He pulled me up and on top of him and before kissing me deeply. "That’s not going to make me more ready for work," I said jokingly. He chuckled and kissed me again. He then flawlessly picked me up and carried me toward the shower. I continued to giggle as he placed me down and turned the cold water onto me. "Hey!" "Oh sorry! It’s that too cold?" he said sarcastically, turning the heat on. It started to warm quickly and he jumped in with me. We playfully spent more time cleaning eac
Jaxon "Did you have a good time with Lauren?" I asked as she got into the car. She smiled bigger than I’d seen her do in a while. "Yes I really did, and it got me thinking," she started as I waited anxiously, “that maybe you and I should have some quality alone time. Things have been really crazy and it’s been a hard first year of marriage. I wanted to say I’m sorry about how I reacted when you offered a trip to Las Vegas. Maybe we can make up for it now and have a little stay-cation this weekend?" The thought of time alone with Sara made my whole body react with excitement. I reached over and took her hand, then kissed the back of it. "I think that sounds wonderful. I think we should start tonight. I’ll call us both off of work for the next two days," I replied. Sara giggled. "Sounds good to me." I decided to surprise her by driving to her diner instead of straight home. When she realized what I was doing her eyes lit up. "Really? Thank you!" She squealed with
SaraWe had gotten rid of Cynthia, at least where our working life was concerned. Her vague threats were a little unsettling, but I was glad I didn't have to see her in the publishing offices ever again. Now, it was time to say goodbye to another woman who had overstayed her welcome in my life. I found this one much harder to deal with. "This doesn’t have to be the end," Jaxon offered sweetly. He brushed his fingers softly down on my face. I wanted to keep them there forever. After all we had been through, nothing felt better than him here, touching me, comforting me, and holding me. "I know, and I know what she said. But how could I ever trust her again after what she’s done?" I was asking myself more than I was asking him. I tried to picture it–I tried to imagine having a future with my mom and how things might be better, but I couldn’t erase the doubt in my mind. "I honestly don’t know but I have to believe it’s possible. I hate to see you lose more people," he repl
Jaxon Nobody could say I hadn’t tried to warn her. I told Cynthia, over and over, that she was playing with fire. She never fucking listened. I turned over what I had on her to the Board yesterday. Carmine, Board President, came to my office this morning and apologized in person for any trouble I might have gone through. Yeah, any trouble. His fucking bullshit apology didn't cover the crap I’d been dealing with lately, but it was a nice gesture. And I couldn't really complain since he also said he was fully supporting Cynthia’s removal from every aspect of the business. The vote was about to happen, so I told him I appreciated the support, and I did. I had to pick my battles lately. All I could say was, "Ding-dong, the witch is dead." She just didn't know it yet. But she would. I was really looking forward to this meeting. I couldn't wait to wipe that smug grin off of her face once and for all. She didn’t believe it when I told her it was all over. To be fair, there was a t
Sara I held King on my lap for comfort while I listened to the nonsense Cynthia and my mother tried to spin. I was so upset and disgusted that I didn’t know what else to do. In the time I’d gotten to know her, I had come to expect pretty much anything from Cynthia. She was, as my husband liked to put it, a real “piece of work.” But my own mother trying to seduce my husband, that was the last straw. “Don’t you have anything to add, Sara?” my mother asked me, with a note of hostility in her voice. “I thought you of all people should know how much I care about you. How I was only trying to protect you. I want the best for you, honey, and I’m just not sure that this marriage is it.” I couldn't believe she would dare to speak to me that way. She hasn't shown up for years, and she had me believe that she was dead while I spent my time fighting off lowlifes and working off my father’s debt. Then she came back when my life got good, and she tried to mess it all up for me. And I saw he
Jaxon Well, this week had been pretty fucking interesting. Two people made a move against me, and they were both family members. Well, sort of family. Sloan was by marriage and Cynthia was by law, but that was my own stupidity. I had no one to blame but myself for the latter. If I had never laid eyes on that woman again I would have been the happiest man on earth.I was hoping I could still make that possible. Not in the usual way. This wouldn't require a clean-up crew. I was hoping that she could be persuaded to go away on her own. I'd been told I could be very persuasive. I had a way about me. “So what’s the plan,” Sara asked me, her luscious lips begging me to kiss them. “How are you going to do this?” “I got a few ideas,” I told her, kissing her quickly at the light to avoid crashing the Rolls on my way to the meet. “Just follow my lead.” Leon had been looking into the situation for me, and he found out a few things. Cynthia had not been behaving herself. That frie
SaraI hummed to myself happily as I walked into our closet and kicked my heels off, putting my purse down on the ottoman. My life was finally on the up-and-up, and I was enjoying every amazing second of it.I wasn't sure if people at the office had stopped gossiping or if I'd just stopped caring enough to tune in. Either way, I hadn't been hearing annoying little rumors every time I went to work, and it was a welcome relief.Knowing that Jayne was on our side, and having an apology from her, made it that much better. Absolutely nothing could bring me down. On top of that, we had King now! The bulldog puppy greeted me at the door, and I spent some time playing with him and making sure that he had everything he needed.Then, I walked out of the bedroom and wandered toward Jaxon's office. He'd spent most of his time today attending meetings, and I had sorely missed him. I wanted to make him dinner, catch up about the day and then end the night with a bang.My libido had been ou