Jax and Ash had left the girls to their discussion of gowns for the upcoming event. However, gowns were now the last thing on their minds.“His ex will be there?” Lola shrieked and grabbed her head.The pictures in Lola’s mind were creating a beautiful woman, strong and brave, just like Jax and much more adapted to this life than Lola was.“Stop freaking out. It’s his ex for a reason, right?” Melissa said in hopes of calming her down.Lola scoffed and looked dumbfounded at the floor in a blank stare.“Look at me.” Melissa grabbed Lola’s shoulder and gave her a light shake.“It doesn’t matter who she is because Jax has chosen to be with you. Now you’re gonna find a dress that will put all others to shame, and you’re going to hold your head high when you walk in there tomorrow,” she said as her eyes glinted with a belief that Lola didn’t share.“Mell, I know nothing about fundraisers or galas or anything else fancy and I mean holy shit—” she said and started swatting her hands in front
The music played from the speaker, filling the room with the girls’ singing voices. They walked around in their robes and took a seat at the different stations that had been arranged for the pre-party preparations. One woman did their makeup, another did their hair, and the final one was laying out their clothes and picking out matching jewelry and shoes to go with the outfits.“How are you feeling?” Melissa asked.Her hair was being braided in two thin braids that would wrap around her head like a crown. They curled her hair and made it wavy as it fell down her back.“Nervous, but I’m glad you’re here,” Lola said. She reached out her hand and grabbed Melissa’s to gain some comfort.Lola’s hair was straight and fell down her back. The woman grabbed her hair and spun it before putting several pins with crystal beading underneath to lift it. Her hair now looked half the length. Two small locks fell in front of her face, framing it nicely.The event was in a few hours. Everyone was getti
The door to the study slammed shut behind Jax. He pulled Lola in front of him and released her hand.“What is up with you?” she asked.“You’re not wearing that,” he said coldly and scanned her body.Her brows shot up, and she crossed her arms over her chest, pressing her breasts together. Jax groaned huskily.“Excuse me?” she asked as her anger rose.“It’s too revealing,”Lola looked at the dress. It only exposed her back and went down just below the middle of her chest.“You’re joking, right?” she asked, hoping he would say yes.His eyes rose and pinned her down. They were dark still but not in anger. They were lustfully gazing at her with something dangerous swirling in their depths.Jax walked over to her and lifted her chin.“No other man needs to you like this,” he said. His voice got impossibly darker, and the words rasped.“No other man’s attention is of importance to me,” she whispered.His eyes flickered over her lips. Her chin rested on his fingers as he continued holding he
It took them less than an hour to arrive at the chateau in the neighboring town. Jack opened the door for them, and Lola was the first to get out. She looked down the road they had driven on. Each side was lined with trees that bowed at the top, making a tunnel for the cars to drive up through.When she turned around to look at the house, she was struck by its beauty. In the middle, behind a grass-filled roundabout with a statue of a woman, was a mansion the size of Jax’s. What was taking her breath away was the towers that went up behind the main building. There were more floors than she could count from the outside, with three towers of different heights.Two more buildings were attached to the mansion on either side, both were big and part of the main building. The lamps along the exterior were lit up, shining a bright, warm light over the front yard.
The breathtakingly beautiful girl standing in front of her was Jax’s ex-girlfriend.Lola grabbed the bar, glanced at the wine, and against her better judgment downed it in one go. Her confidence was fading, and she needed to find it again.“There you are!” Melissa cheered with a bright smile when she came up to the bar.Lola looked past all the strange faces in the crowd and tried to find Jax. He was over by one of the pillars. As though he sensed her looking for him, Jax turned his head, and their eyes locked. Lola was silently begging him to come over, hoping he would see the plea in her eyes. Jax’s lips pulled up in a smile until his eyes wandered over the others standing by the bar.He saw Lavina and Ash. Melissa was oblivious to why the tension was rising.
Lola took her time to breathe after the incidental walk-in. She knew now that someone was guarding the door and that it wouldn’t be repeated, but she hated that she was constantly on high alert.The fear she’d felt when that door opened was as though her body prepared for a fight. Not a single mistake could happen without Lola immediately thinking it was life-threatening. It felt like an internal war shadowed her reality.Lola took a breath and then another before walking to the door. She plastered on a smile and thanked the kind woman for standing guard.“No worries, sweetheart,” she said and walked away.“Aren’t you going to use the bathroom?” Lola asked.She turned around, her head full of flaming red little curls.
The black rim along the barn stalls was pressing against Lola’s back. The dress got caught in a nail sticking out from the wood, and the fabric ripped when she moved back. Lola kept her eyes on the two men standing by the doors on the other side of the barn. Without turning her head to see the door behind her, she moved her hands along the wooden panels to find her way back.One of them shook his head and lifted the phone to his ear.“Just hurry the fuck up,” he said to the person on the other line. “She’s here, it’s fine. The others don’t even know she’s missing, but let’s not push our luck.”Lola found the handle. She took a pin from her hair and bent it until the thin piece was straight. She took a shaky breath and slowly turned around. The man was still on the phone, cussing at whoe
Jax stood an inch from Casper. His mask had been torn away to let Casper see all the hatred he felt at that moment—the rage and the pending doom. Jax grabbed Casper’s head and snapped his neck like a twig on the ground.Lola turned to see that the door she’d unlocked was wide open, and the moonlight shone through in strings, lighting up the hay-filled barn. She saw Melissa standing in the door frame, trying to make sense of the scene in front of her. Her fingers touched the pendant around her neck, and the stone was bright, a shine that mimicked the moon. Jax was quickly over to Casper’s friend and pressed his hand into his chest. The man choked and gave a final warning when he saw in Jax’s eyes that he was not getting away.“You can’t save her. He’s coming, and he won’t stop until he has her.”