Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
I used to avoid Zax. Him more than Grey.
Zax’s pain after losing Suzie was as acute as mine, and not only was it crippling to witness his grief, it exacerbated mine.
His suffering was different, but no less tragic.
If anything, his was more tragic than mine.
I lost my sister, but he lost the love of his life—well, the love of his life until Aurelia came along.
For a while, he avoided me too, for the same reasons I was avoiding him.
Or at least, that was the reason I told myself I was avoiding him.
The reality was that I couldn’t look him in the eye.
I was positive he’d see through me. See how I felt about his cousin, what I was doing with her and to her.
I didn’t want him to call me out on it because then I’d have to stop, and I didn’t want to stop, or worse, I’d be talked into being her man when I was in no shape to be him.
It wasn’t until I came clean to him after I walked away from Georgia that I could finally face him.
Somehow then it became easier to be around him.
Less strangling, even though I still felt like shit about it all.
Or maybe because that was when I forced myself to crawl out of the gutter of my mind and become something better.
For Suzie, for myself, and… well… mainly for Georgia.
I let her go with no intention of returning, but that didn’t mean part of me wasn’t anxious to become a man worthy of her.
It was a notion in my head. A guiding force.
I will always regret not acting and saving Suzie, and I will always regret that I stood still and allowed my father to spiral so far out of control with his grief over losing Suzie and venom toward me that it cost him and someone else their life.
But Georgia telling me she loved me turned that self-loathing into a wake-up call. A motivational fuel. I realized what a gift I had been given in Georgia’s love, and though I couldn’t keep it for myself, I couldn’t squander it either. It was time I used my guilt for good.
Except now I’m holding Georgia’s hand, entering the luxury suite we all co-own as her husband, and I don’t want to be here.
The rational part of me knows I shouldn’t feel guilty.
I stepped in when Georgia needed me. I married her, and now I’m not only thrust into a media circus as a headlining performer—something I hate being—but I’m also about to embark on a dangerous hacking game.
I will protect her. I will keep her safe.
So I shouldn’t feel guilty. Not at all.
But after spending the night inside Georgia’s body, and the day touching and teasing and tormenting each other, I’m once again realizing I don’t want to stare into Zax’s eyes and have him see beneath my facade of emotional indifference.
Fallon had the brilliant idea of letting the world see us out in the open in public.
Fallon is an heiress herself and dodged her own arranged marriage before running off with Grey, so this isn’t unfamiliar territory to her.
And while I agree with it on principle, how the fuck am I supposed to kiss her and hold her and touch her for the cameras under the guise of it all being one hundred percent fake, and not have Zax see right through me?
“Well, if it isn’t Mr. and Mrs. Georgia Monroe.” Asher, wearing his game gear including pads and cleats, grabs me and hauls me in for a big hug, and then does the same with Georgia.
Fucking Asher.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on the field?” The game is set to start in about thirty minutes.
He gives me an incredulous look. “And miss the chance to be the first to congratulate you and officially welcome you to the Our Women Own Our Balls Club? Pfshaw. Never. But now that I got my moment, I do have to go.” He smacks my shoulder.
“You know, I didn’t think you’d take my trying to set you up to the next level so fast, but I suppose it’s fate that you became a Monroe. ”
I roll my eyes, but I’ll never be able to stop myself from smiling. “I hope you get sacked on your first play.”
“Thanks, Thor. You know we could use an offensive lineman since Bruno got hurt, but now that I know you’d let the defensive end through to tackle me, I won’t present the offer.”
I extend my fist for him to pound. “Kill Miami.”
He grins at me, his gray eyes sparkling as he pounds my fist. “I plan to. See you after, brother.”
He grabs his girlfriend Wynter’s hand, and they walk out of the suite since she’s the team orthopedic surgeon. It’s actually how they reconnected after a bad one-night stand nearly two years prior that left Wynter with their son, Mason, and no clue who Asher was or how to contact him.
Zax steps right in front of me and pulls me in for a bro hug, and the sinking weight of I’m an asshole hits me. When he first wanted to start dating Suzie, he asked my permission and promised to never hurt her. He kept that promise as well as being respectful as fuck to our friendship.
I, in turn, did not extend the same courtesy or promise when I fucked his cousin behind his back and then broke her heart.
The night this all began, Aurelia mentioned Georgia’s name when everyone was teasing me about setting me up with someone.
Both of them said no, and I don’t have to guess why.
I promised to stay away from her. Hell, I promised I’d never see her again, and now here I am .
Both before her and after her, I haven’t had relationships. I never sleep with a woman more than once. The hacker in me doesn’t trust anyone. I do heavy, hard, illegal shit and live a mostly isolated life. And frankly, I’ve had no desire to open myself or my life up to anyone.
She’s the only one who has ever managed to break through, and she didn’t just crack my shell, she shattered it. Georgia is sunshine, and I am the darkness that creeps in before the storm.
Georgia launches herself at Zax, jumping up into his arms and giving him a death squeeze that makes him laugh. “You’re heavy,” he lies teasingly, and she leans back and smacks his shoulders.
“Or more like old age is finally starting to creep in and you’re weak,” she counters, planting a ruby-red kiss on his cheek before hopping down and doing the same thing to Greyson and then hugging Callan, Aurelia, Fallon, and Layla. Fallon is Grey’s woman, and Layla is Callan’s.
“When do you go home?” Grey questions once we’re all seated watching the game. Georgia is sitting beside me, my hand on her knee, simply resting there. She’s busy chatting with the rest of the women.
By home, Grey means Maine, and we can’t get into too many specifics here in the booth. There are cameras sporadically trained on us, not to mention the suite attendants who come and go with regular frequency.
“Tomorrow or the next day,” I answer, sipping a beer and watching the field as the Rebels defense tries to keep Miami out of the red zone.
He’s smiling. Grey hasn’t stopped smiling once. “You know you’re officially something like my brother now.”
“Like he hasn’t always been?” Callan quips, devouring a huge plate of dip and chips, mini lobster rolls, buffalo wings, and pretzel bites. “Like when Zax was with Suzie, that didn’t seal the deal?”
“I know, but… he’s actually married to Georgia. Fake or not, that does make us family beyond us already being family. It’s next level.”
Zax makes a noise, and Grey shrugs at him. “What? Don’t give me that look. I know what you’re thinking, but tell me any other situation you would have been happy with.”
Zax takes a sip of his bourbon and looks directly at me. “None. I wouldn’t have been happy with anyone else doing this.”
“But?” I challenge, and he angles his head as if to say, do I need to go there ?
He doesn’t. I got the message loud and clear when I first told him what was going on, and he has every right to call me out on it now.
I would if I were him. If it had been Suzie, you better fucking believe I’d call him out on it.
“What am I missing?” Callan asks.
“Nothing,” Zax answers, still looking at me. “I’m being an asshole, over-protective big brother type.”
“Shocker,” Callan deadpans.
“What about you, Georgia? What’s your deal? Are you staying in Boston or going back to LA?” Grey asks, changing the subject.
She turns to him and then searches around the box, making sure the attendant isn’t here to overhear. He’s not. Asher already told them we’d handle everything tonight and wanted privacy.
“I’m thinking I’ll stay here for a while,” she says, making sure her face is away from the wall of glass where cameras could possibly read her words. “I honestly have no pressing need to return to LA right now, and with all that’s going on with a certain someone, I’d rather not be there.”
“What?” Aurelia squawks, cutting herself off midsentence from whatever she’s saying to Fallon.
Georgia gives her a bemused look. “What? What’s wrong?”
Aurelia climbs up on her seat, her expression serious, even as she twists her face so she too is shielded from potential cameras.
“You can’t stay here in Boston or go back to LA.
You just told me your ex and his father are looking into having your marriage invalidated or at the very least questioned, and that your ex has been having you followed. ”
The back of my neck starts to prickle at where I’m afraid she’s going with this.
“Yeah…” Georgia trails off as if she’s not following.
“So you have to live with Lenox,” Fallon finishes, picking up where Aurelia left off, her hand covering the side of her face. “You can’t give them any avenue to challenge you, and not living with your new husband would do just that.”
“Right. Exactly.” Aurelia points at Fallon.
“No,” Zax and Grey say in unison, and it’s like fucking déjà vu.
“Yes,” Layla presses, pushing her long blonde hair back behind her ears as she stands and turns her back toward the field so she’s not seen talking either.
“Not only will her ex be all over that if she doesn’t, but so will the press.
We’re here tonight to prove you’re a couple.
Living separately, especially when you have their watchful eyes on you, will show the opposite. ”
Georgia’s face turns red, and she throws me a quick, uneasy glance before returning to the women, who are all staring at us as if they’re ready to take up this charge. “What are you suggesting? That I move to Maine ?”
“One hundred percent that’s what we’re saying,” Aurelia states adamantly.
“It might not be ideal or your first choice, but it’s the smart one.” Fallon takes a sip of her drink and stares Georgia down.
“No. I can’t do it,” Georgia says softly, folding her arms defiantly and staring straight ahead out the glass only to remember herself and soften her position in case anyone is watching.
“Then why bother marrying him?” Callan asks. “Listen, I hate to side on this since I can tell none of you want that, but I agree with the women. They’re right. It’s why I had Layla move in with me as my fake fiancée when I was trying to win guardianship of Katy. You need to appear legit.”
Georgia chews on her lip. He has a point. They all do. But having Georgia in Maine in my house for who knows how long is a seriously bad idea. For both of us.
“I’m sure we can figure something else out,” she mumbles.
Only I can tell in her voice that she isn’t so sure.
“Shit,” she hisses, and then twists until she’s leaning over the armrest of the chair, practically crawling in my lap.
I stiffen, but she presses her lips to mine.
“Smile like you love me, put your hand in my hair or on my face, and kiss me like you mean it. The cameras are right on us. I see us on the television in the corner.”
The national broadcast for the game is playing, and sure enough, she’s right. My hand lightly touches her face before I gently press my lips to hers, so very mindful of our audience. Still, the feel of her lips never fails to steal my breath, even with her cousins sitting right beside me.
Aurelia whistles a catcall, and Georgia covertly flips her off, much to Aurelia’s delight.
“Done. They’ve moved on.” Georgia retakes her seat in a harrumph. She’s not happy.
“Yeah, but that image will be all over social media and the internet within seconds,” Grey says, giving me a wan smile. “I’m sorry. I mean, I’m grateful as fuck for all that you’re doing, but I’m also sorry.”
“I’ll survive,” I mutter.
“You do realize it’s not just social media and the internet.
The paps will be all over you. Both of you,” Layla asserts from the other side of Georgia, her head angled toward us.
“It won’t just be Vegas or even Boston.” Layla comes from a family of billionaires.
Famous billionaires at that. She, like Fallon, is no stranger to this sort of thing either.
“What about in Maine?” Fallon asks.
Zax makes a noise in the back of his throat. “I’d love to see them try. They won’t be able to get within five hundred yards of Lenox’s house, and the town doesn’t take kindly to outsiders digging for information. Especially on him.”
“What does that mean? Especially on him?” Georgia asks and I shake my head, refusing to answer, so no one else does. Not that anyone else knows beyond the guys.
“Whatever. That’s exactly my point. It’s why she needs to move there with him.” Aurelia’s words ring out through the suite, and we all fall silent, the only sounds are the muted fans and the game outside the thick glass wall of the suite.
“Absolutely not. I’m not doing it.” Georgia is furious, whether it’s about moving to Maine or living with me or the impact that has on her life, I’m not sure.
“There has to be an alternative to this,” Grey says with a note of desperation, except we all know there isn’t one. I throw Grey and Zax a quick glance, and neither is visibly happy, but the truth is, as much as I don’t want that, it’s what needs to happen. And we all know it.
Done with all of this, I stand and extend my hand to Georgia. “Enough. I need a moment alone with my wife.”