Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
JAX
H ey, man,” I say when Mack answers the phone. I walk away from the hammering and noise of the construction site so I can hear him better.
Mack chuckles. “Jax, how’s it hanging?”
“Not bad, man. Not bad. How’s the car looking?”
I hear Mack’s muffled voice, then the sound of a door closing. “Had to get somewhere quieter. The guys are chattier than women today. But the car. We had to order a part, and it should be here tomorrow. It’s,” he pauses, “Wednesday now. Should be ready by Monday. Does that work?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” I say, my mind racing.
Personally, I’m not upset that Leesa’s car won’t be ready for a few more days, but I don’t know how she’ll feel about it. Seems like she needs time away from the life she fled, but whether or not she wants to stay with me the entire time… A man can hope.
“There a story behind this?” Mack asks.
I pause. When I called for Leesa’s car to be towed, I gave Mack the bare minimum of details. I left it that I found a stranded woman and offered my assistance. “Not really. Saw a woman on the side of the road, car broken down. I did what anyone would do.”
Mack chuckles again. “If you say so. She couldn’t have called for a tow herself?”
I rub the bridge of my nose. “She didn’t have a purse, and her phone was dead. She’s,” I hesitate, knowing I might regret saying this, “staying with me. She had some…stuff she ran from.”
It’s Mack’s turn to be silent. “That’s unlike you.”
“Helping someone? Of course I’ll help someone in need,” I say, bristling at the implication that I wouldn’t, especially a woman in need.
“That’s not what I meant. I meant you let a woman into The Lodge? You barely let your sisters spend time there.”
“It’s…” I pause. Mack isn’t wrong, but even though I know I’ve done things for Leesa I wouldn’t usually do for anyone else, I don’t have the words to explain why. Something about her brings out the caveman in me. She’s mine, and no fucking way would I tell her to stay somewhere else. “She’s different,” I finally admit. It’s not a lie.
“Indeed, she is,” Mack says knowingly.
Someone yells loudly enough for me to hear, and Mack swears under his breath. “Hold on.”
Mack’s voice muffles again, but he’s back quickly. “Look, I gotta run. I’ll call you when the car is ready.”
“Thanks, man. Appreciate it.”
I head back toward the construction site. Waylon has us building three different cabins to use as safe houses, and two of my men are working on the first one. I stride over to Ace and Cody.
“You guys got this under control?” I ask. I can’t help anyone if I don’t focus on the work, and given the detailed security specs Jake from Ghost Security provided, this is one project we can’t call good enough.
Ace pulls a bandana out of his pocket and wipes his forehead. It’s early, but it’s June, and the sun is already high and hot in the sky. “Yeah. It’s all going to plan. We should get everything needed done today so Jake and his team can get in here and start working on security. You got someplace to be?”
I nod. “Got some things to take care of. Call me if anything comes up.”
Ace calls out to Cody, and they dive back into work.
Been a while since we built a new cabin up here, but it’s not a skill forgotten quickly, and I trust my men to do everything right.
I wasn’t sure what I thought when I saw the text from my sister saying she “kidnapped” Leesa for the day. But, not being there when she showed up at The Lodge, there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I only hope she didn’t scare Leesa off. Andrea is a good kid sister, but she has more energy than any one person should have, and she can be intense.
After running some errands, I stop by the grocery and pick up fixings for an easy dinner. My cupboards are pretty empty, and I don’t want Leesa to think she has to do anything.
On the way back up the mountain, I find myself humming along to the radio. I usually experience a vague sense of emptiness when I head to The Lodge alone, but knowing that Leesa is there makes me drive faster than I should up the mountain roads.
I don’t know what will happen with her, but I know what I want. Every fiber of my being says she’s mine, and it’s a struggle not to claim her like I want to, like my soul needs to.
Yet if there’s one thing I know, it’s that I’m a patient man, and Leesa is worth waiting for. We may barely know each other, but I’m certain she’s the woman who will become my wife.
I frown as I pull up in front of the cabin. All the lights are out. I text Andrea.
I thought you said you dropped Leesa off.
My sister immediately responds. I did. Is everything ok?
I’ll let you know if it’s not.
I’m out of the car and up to The Lodge with a few long strides. If Andrea is screwing around…
I open the front door and still. The air is unnaturally silent. My mind runs through the possibilities. Could Leesa have been foolish enough to go for a hike? It’s dusk outside, and a night hike when you don’t know the terrain is dangerous.
Then I hear a muffled sob. I turn toward the living room and see my woman, sitting in the dark and curled up on the edge of one of the couches like she’s trying to disappear.
“Leesa,” I say softly, turning on a lamp as I move toward her. “What’s wrong?”
She looks up at me, her eyes red and swollen, a mountain of damp tissue next to her. I swear to almighty God that if anyone has hurt her, they’ll find themselves at the bottom of a ravine on this mountain, where no one will ever find them.
Leesa sobs and wraps her arms around herself even tighter. My heart clenches with pain.
“It’s…everything.” Her voice is choked with sadness.
Without thinking, I sit beside her on the couch and pull her into my arms. I hug her, and she doesn’t resist. When she lays her head across my chest, I hold her tighter.
I’m going to give my woman whatever she needs—tonight and forever.