Jenna’s Cowboys (Cowboys Online #9)

Chapter One

Present Day ~ August

Sunnyside Maximum Security Correctional Center, Ontario Canada

Thirty-three year old prison convict Axel Rosetti frowned as he entered the penitentiary's visitor room. It smelled of a flowery disinfectant in here, and the concrete walls were painted beige with large colorful flower decals. He’d heard the decor was designed to give off a happy ambience for the visitors.

Like they could be fooled into being cheerful after having their loved ones locked up in here.

Axel wasn’t used to coming to this part of the prison. His mother was his only visitor, and she came only on his birthday or holidays. Today was not his birthday, nor a holiday, so he suspected a mistake must have been made.

His frown deepened as he spied a young, thin, blonde woman sitting at one of the metal tables scrolling through her cellphone. Her hair was straight, shoulder length with bangs and parted in the middle. She was dressed in a smart-looking navy blue pant suit with a prim and proper white blouse.

He figured she had to be some sort of professional. He didn’t recognize her and before he could tell the guard there was a mistake, the solid metal door slammed shut behind him with such a clang that Axel winced.

The woman looked up and the instant she spied him standing there staring at her, she had a momentary frightened expression. It disappeared when her gaze darted to his cuffed wrists and then quickly followed the two chains that dripped from the middle of the cuffs down to his shackled ankles.

She visibly relaxed when she realized he was restrained but she continued to watch guardedly.

Great. Now he was in the business of scaring kids.

His momentary guilt melted away. She was a petite thing, and he doubted she was more than twenty.

“Mr Axel Rosetti?” she asked in a shy, feminine voice as she slowly stood and reluctantly placed her cellphone onto the table.

“Who wants to know?” he growled.

Her eyes widened at his loud, booming voice.

He hadn’t meant to sound gruff, but it was lunch time, and he was hungry. He’d like to get back to the cafeteria before the food ran out, which usually happened on spaghetti day, which came along once a month.

To his surprise, the young woman strolled around the table and walked assuredly toward him. At least she was trying to appear confident. He was quite sure that if he said boo, she would jump six feet into the air from fright.

When she reached him, she held out her hand.

Okay, she wanted to shake hands. He would oblige.

He extended his arms and the clink of chains shrieked through the air as they awkwardly shook hands.

Man, he hadn’t touched a woman in years. Had forgotten how fragile and how soft they could feel and how nice they smelled.

“My name is Cyn Peterson. I'm a lawyer. I'd like to talk to you about Jenna.”

At the mention of his ex-fiancé, all the air went out of Axel’s lungs, and he felt as if he’d been sucker punched. Emotions, thick and raw, welled up in his chest and he let go of her hand as if it were suddenly on fire and not in a good way.

He exhaled as memories of the woman he should have married danced in his head. Jenna’s cute teasing smile, her sweet laughter. Their dreams of having lots of kids. Of the two of them growing old together with a bunch of grandchildren playing at their feet.

He forced himself back to reality. Back to the kid standing in front of him. To the serious expression on her face. And to the question that was now crashing through him like a storm, making his gut twist in a real bad way.

“Is Jenna okay?” he whispered, his voice cracking.

Suddenly his legs were trembling. He felt weak. He knew he couldn’t bear it if Jenna was dead.

Could this kid hear the pain in his voice? The guilt at what he had done. Of how he’d crushed their dreams in one violent night of rage.

The woman appeared frazzled. Probably realized he was suddenly very worried about Jenna.

“Oh, yes. I'm sorry. Yes, she's fine. I didn't mean to upset you. Please have a seat.”

Upset was an understatement.

For a few brief seconds he’d thought Jenna was gone forever.

Despite being locked up in here for twelve years of a twenty-five year sentence, he had held out the tiniest spark of hope that the two of them might hook up again.

..even after the horrible way he’d treated her at the end of their relationship.

He slammed shut those thoughts as he sat down on the cold metal chair. There was no hope of Jenna and himself ever picking up where they had left off. She was on the right side of the law, and he was on the wrong side.

Too many years had passed and the last he’d heard from his mother about Jenna was she’d become a lawyer and that she had married.

He’d asked his mom and the rest of his family to please never mention her again and thankfully they hadn’t.

Every once in a while he received a letter from Jenna, but he never opened them.

Just tucked them away in his cell. It just hurt too much.

Hell, Jenna probably had a bunch of kids by now. So why was this woman here?

He warily watched the young lady as she took a seat opposite him. Yeah, she was pretty and when she smiled, his insides brightened. Not in a perverted kind of way but in a she seemed to be a nice kid kind of way.

“How would you feel if I told you I could get you out of here,” she asked in a really soft voice.

Axel shook his head as realization crashed into him.

She was no lawyer.

“Who put you up to this? It's a really bad joke,” Axel snapped, anger rising inside of him.

The lady's eyes widened with apparent surprise, and she shook her head.

Well, he had to hand it to her, by the serious expression on her face, she was a good actress.

“Oh, this isn’t a joke. I’m the acting program director of Cowboys Online.

We design rehabilitation programs for prisoners.

Jenna was the acting director until she took a leave of absence leaving me in charge.

And if she knew I was here talking to you on the program’s behalf, she’d probably fire me.

She still might, that is if you say yes to what I’m about to offer.

But if you can help her, then sticking my neck out is worth it. ”

Axel stared at her for a long moment, trying to decide if she was crazy, lying, or both.

Cowboys Online?

His gaze flicked to the badge clipped to her suit, which said, Professional Visitor. There was a barcode and a number. It looked real. Too real. But still, it could be fake. No way was this real. No way was he getting out of here.

“Right. Sure. Which one of the guys put you up to this?”

She frowned.

“Put me up to what?”

Yep, a good actress. She did look confused.

He gestured at her suit, her phone.

“This. The whole early-release fairy tale. You expect me to believe someone like you walked in here for me?”

“I didn’t come for you. I came for Jenna,” she said with a shake to her head.

Anger growled inside of him.

“Don’t use her name.”

“Then listen,” she said, leaning in just enough to make him still.

“This isn’t a joke. In my briefcase I have your conditional-release papers. You sign them, you go to Jenna’s ranch. You don’t sign them, you stay here. It’s that simple.”

Her tone was cool and maybe just a touch of irritation.

Axel stared at her, searching her face for the lie. There wasn’t one.

“You’re telling me Jenna doesn’t know you’re here,” he said slowly. “And you want me to believe you’re doing this for her?”

Cyn didn’t flinch.

“If this is some kind of game, I’m not playing,” he said, trying to wrap his head around this…Cowboys Online.

“It’s not a game,” Cyn said. “It’s a chance. For you. And for her.”

“Why me?”

“Because you’re exactly what she needs. Her husband recently passed away. She needs help to keep her ranch going,” Cyn said simply.

Axel went still. The words hit him hard, sharp, unexpected. For a moment he couldn’t breathe.

Jenna’s husband. Gone.

A tight ache opened in his chest, old loyalty and something like grief all twisting together before he could shut it down.

Jenna didn’t deserve that kind of pain.

He forced his jaw to lock, forced the emotions back where it belonged.

“You’re telling me she’s alone now. Kids?” he said, his voice low, controlled.

She must have kids. She always wanted children.

“No children.”

Something inside him shifted. Shock, guilt and a small pull. A chance to do something right for Jenna, even if he didn’t deserve a chance.

But was this for real?

“She’s been good to me. She took a chance on me when no one else would. I want to give back to her. I believe you can help her despite your past issues with her. I was hoping you would be the man who would come to her rescue and help keep her horse ranch going.”

Axel frowned. What did she know about their past issues?

He searched her gaze for a lie. But what he saw was determination, layered over nerves. She was risking her job and her reputation for a woman he’d hurt, a life he’d lost.

He held up his shackled wrists, the chains echoing ominously throughout the room.

“Lady, Jenna will just have to hire someone. In case you hadn't noticed, I cannot rescue anyone. I am in prison and I am no cowboy.”

Although Nick, his cellmate had taught him plenty about horses while the two of them had been here, it didn’t make Axel a horse expert.

The woman smiled a smile like she knew something he didn't, which it appeared, she might. He was glad Jenna had succeeded in achieving her dream of having a ranch, but sad that she’d lost her husband. That is, again, if this kid was telling the truth.

“Oh, but you can help her, sir. I’ve taken the liberty of speeding your release through the system. I took care of an application through Cowboys Online on your and Nick’s behalf.”

Confusion rocked him.

Nick too?

“What are you talking about?”

Her smile widened even more, and he got the feeling he’d just been hooked like a fish on the line.