17. Chapter 17
JAX
Hey, it’s Gideon. You need to come to The Pointe.
Adrenaline raced through Jax’s bloodstream as he slowly rose from his bed, texting back.
Is Tristan okay?
Gideon replied within seconds. Yes, he’s getting the proof you need. And he’s also facing off with Eve. I think he could use you after.
Wait. What kind of proof? And why was Eve at The Pointe?
In his gut, Jax knew that Tristan was the victim when it came to his ex, but he couldn’t get past the fact that Tristan had been shifty about seeing her, and Jax needed some time to look into his injured heart and figure out what to do.
Unfortunately, his anger and sadness had twisted into knots, hurting him in a different way than his back, and he couldn’t untie them for answers.
Tristan’s shattered expression as he’d left the hospital was engraved in Jax’s mind, and he still felt awful about it, but if Tristan hadn’t left that morning, then Jax wouldn’t have been lying there in agony, wishing for help.
Once again, what gnawed at Jax was the why. Why did Tristan leave? Jax was a thousand percent sure that Tristan wasn’t cheating; he didn’t have it in him, but something was going on.
And Gideon had reached out, giving Jax a chance to find answers, get his reputation back, and see Tristan again.
Be there soon. Jax thought for a moment before adding another text. BTW how did you get my number ?
I grabbed it off Tristan’s phone when he wasn’t looking. See ya.
Shaking his head at Gideon’s audacity, Jax walked through the townhouse with only a slight waddle, nervous excitement washing away his pain. In another day or two, he’d be back to his baseline, so he could take a short car ride to the wedding hall.
Finding Finn and Ollie in the living room, Jax stopped next to the couch.
“We need to go to The Pointe.” He tried not to sound shaken, but his voice wobbled.
“Why? What’s going on?” Ollie asked, his hand in a bag of pretzels. Finn paused the show they were watching, looking at Jax with concern.
“Tristan is facing off with Eve right now.” Jax opened and closed his fists, not sure how to feel as his tangled emotions twisted and heaved.
“What?” Standing, Ollie tossed the bag aside. “How do you know this?”
Jax made a confused face. “I have a man on the inside?”
“Is it Marci?” Finn was already up, grabbing his keys.
“No. But we have to leave.” Shifting from foot to foot, Jax tried not to scream, biting his lip when his mother walked in from the kitchen with a dishtowel in her hands.
“Where are you boys goin’?” She’d been staying at the townhouse to care for Jax while he recovered. Not only had she made healing somewhat bearable, but she’d also touched up Jax’s roots, given Ollie a haircut, and whipped up a few meals that had Finn applauding at the table.
But they’d been butting heads over Tristan.
“The Pointe.” Jax tried to be vague, but she could always see right through him
“Is everything okay?” she asked in a leading tone as Ollie and Finn acted like the audience of a tennis match, their heads swiveling back and forth in sync.
“Yeah.”
“Is this about Tristan? I said that he’s too old for you.” She tossed the dishtowel aside and crossed her arms, but Jax wasn’t ten anymore; he was almost twenty-seven, and he didn’t have to be that scared of his mom.
“Ma, we’ve been over this a million times!” He gestured toward the garage, and his brother and Ollie snapped into motion, heading to the door. “Besides, that deadbeat was fifteen years older than you. ”
“It was a different time! And you’re my son, I’m allowed to be a hypocrite.” She threw her hands in the air. “Fine. But I’m going too.”
While Jax didn’t scream, he let out a haggard groan that had his mother rolling her eyes.
“I wanna talk to this man myself.”
“He’s a great guy, Ma.”
“I don’t care if he’s Mother Teresa,” she mumbled, finishing the sentence with a string of Italian curses as they all got into Finn’s SUV. Jax took the passenger seat, adjusting it to his liking, and the ride ended up being short and quiet, the air tense with anticipation.
As they drove up The Pointe’s long driveway, Jax looked out the windshield, his apprehension growing.
It hadn’t been long since his disastrous weekend as head chef, and the anger, shame, and embarrassment were still fresh.
It didn’t matter that he’d been set up to fail; his body had let him know that his borrowed time had just run out, and he didn’t want to talk about it yet.
“Is anyone gonna tell me why we’re here?” His mother broke the silence, giving the hall a cursory look.
“Apparently, Tristan is telling off his ex and it’s a spectator sport,” Ollie supplied.
“This man keeps getting better and better!” She tapped Jax’s head with her hand. “Older and still messy with his ex-wife? Ex-girlfriend?”
“Does it matter, Ma? You’re going to judge it anyway.” And why was he even arguing? Why was he even here?
Because Tristan had always been a permanent fixture in Jax’s heart, he’d just needed to remember that. While Jax never gave second chances, if Tristan had been busy trying to fix the situation with Eve and get proof of Derrick’s sabotage, then he could have all the chances in the world.
Despite The Pointe being closed, the glass doors in front were unlocked, and Jax almost ran into Gideon as he entered the foyer, everyone else right behind him.
“Gide-” he stopped as Gideon put up a finger, indicating that they should be quiet.
“Glad you came,” he whispered. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“What’s going on?” Jax hissed as they followed him up the main staircase. Since the building was mostly empty, he could hear distant, muffled voices that got louder with each step.
“It’s better you see for yourself.” Gideon opened the door to the offices, and Jax tried not to jump at Angelo’s deep, angry voice.
“You fucked with my kitchen, Derrick. My . Kitchen. Over what? A jealous girlfriend?”
“Naw, her pussy ain’t magic. She paid me to.” Was that Derrick? Jax crept toward the office door, which had been left ajar.
“And you fucked up the job, you idiot!” Eve yelled, and a record scratch echoed through Jax’s brain.
Eve and Derrick. That made sense. Scary sense.
“You break into this place then!” Derrick shouted back. “I had to hide in the bushes for two hours until they left. A raccoon almost bit me!”
Goosebumps rippled up Jax’s arms. He was right. He was right about it all. Derrick had been hiding outside that night, waiting for Jax and Tristan to leave so he could break in and sabotage Jax once again.
But he’d never guessed that Eve had paid Derrick to do that.
Now Jax understood that the why was much bigger and more targeted than he’d ever suspected. He almost couldn’t wrap his mind around it, but one question still fought its way to the front.
How was Tristan involved in all of this?
“A raccoon almost bit me!” Eve mocked Derrick with a baby voice, then her tone turned to ice. “I gave you a lot of money-”
“ Enough!” Tristan’s booming voice echoed into the hallway, and Jax took the last few steps to the door. Peering inside, he had to hold back a gasp.
Tristan stared down at Eve as if she were gum on his shoe, his eyes dangerously dark, his presence daunting. Derrick sat next to her, his mouth open in fear, while Owen, Marci, and Angelo looked on with stunned expressions.
“You came here threatening to cause trouble for Rain and me, and I paid you to stay away. But you didn’t stay away, you took that money - my money - and gave it to Derrick,” Tristan shot him a lethal glare, “to sabotage Jax.”
Jax placed a hand against the wall, practically staggering where he stood, because that was downright diabolical. Eve had blackmailed Tristan and then used that cash against him, not caring that Jax, The Pointe, and hundreds of guests were caught in the crossfire.
And Tristan had been trapped as soon as he’d placed a single dollar in Eve’s hand, because she was the type of person to never let him stop without an all-out war.
“Of course I did!” She seemed proud. “You were paying more attention to that twink than me. You don’t deserve to be with-”
Jax started as Tristan suddenly towered over her.
“Don’t call him that again.” Even Jax swallowed nervously at that deep, steel tone, feeling the others bristle behind him.
Honestly, he should be angry right now, angry enough to storm into Owen’s office and handle this himself, but between the excess pain, the heartbreak, and the shock, the beast within couldn’t find a foothold, especially with Tristan taking care of things.
Frozen in place, Jax could only watch in wonder as Tristan continued to rake Eve over the coals, tearing her apart little by little, but once Jax heard his name, he came to life, taking a tiny step forward.
“You tried to ruin Jax, and the stress from that hurt him. You hurt him, Eve. Just like you do to everyone around you, and I’m sick of it.
I’ve already lost too many years to you, but I’m not going to lose anything else, especially the man that I love.
That’s why I’m going to make sure that you pay for what you’ve done. ”
Jax’s brain screeched to a halt for the second time as he heard that four-letter word, the one with the v .
It weaved through his soul like a trail of light, unraveling the knot in his chest, and the surge of emotion had his eyes blurring with tears.
Without thinking, he took another step, dangerously drawn to Tristan, and their eyes met.
Paling, Tristan stilled, and everyone else followed his gaze.
“Oh!” Marci exclaimed in surprise, but Eve immediately turned to him, murder in her eyes.
“Your stupid twink is here?” she screeched, and Jax realized his mistake far too late.
Within seconds, she was up and across the room, faster than Jax had expected, and cold fear spiked through him.
He couldn’t take an injury, not now, but his back wouldn’t let him dodge, so he blocked and braced, hoping that he wouldn’t get too messed up.
“Don’t touch him!”