Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
JAX
Getting a call at seven o'clock on a Saturday morning was never a good sign. We had already been up for an hour, but there was only one reason my phone would be ringing so early.
"Father." He hated when I called him that.
"Son, don't start with me." There was beeping in the background, which meant he was with my sister.
He spent most of his time there now. He was hopeful the triton and human doctors were wrong about my sister getting better, and he wanted to be there when and if she woke up.
"Is Olivia okay?" Of course she wasn't okay. She was never going to wake up and was going to spend the rest of her life in a tank hooked to machines.
"She's stable. I'm calling about Riley." Here we go. He said he was done with what he needed. "She is having an estate sale as we speak."
"And?" I turned off the television from the coverage of the oil spill cleanup that was still underway. "Why should I care?"
"My intelligence tells me her mother and father are watching her every move. If she gets money, they won't come out of the woodwork to help her." He sounded annoyed. "They aren't going to show themselves if she's figuring things out on her own."
I snorted and stood. "I used to think I wanted to be like you. Now, I'm ashamed to call you my father."
"Don't speak to me like that. You have no clue what type of people these are. They are hateful and-" I'd never heard him sound so frantic. He usually was calm and collected when dealing with his duties as admiral.
"This isn't about the oil spill at all, is it? Natalia dumped you, didn't she?" I sat down at the dining table as Morgan brought breakfast over. I put the phone on speaker.
The phone went silent for a few moments. "I showed her my true self and then she dumped me a week later."
We all froze. Never in a million years would I have thought my by-the-book father would tell a human about our kind. I was certain he didn't know she had siren in her because he would have killed her and he would have killed Riley.
"Are you sure that's the reason she left you?"
"That's what she said." He cleared his throat. "Stop Riley or I will intervene."
He hung up and I wanted to throw the phone.
We pulled up outside the townhouse to find no parking anywhere near her place. It was like a Black Friday sale and it was barely eight o'clock.
"This is nuts." Morgan stared as we passed a couple carrying a boxful of books and kitchen items. "Is she really selling everything?"
"That's what an estate sale is." Blake had been quiet since the phone call from my dad. I couldn't tell if he was pissed off or trying to figure out what it all meant. "Maybe we should give her money."
We walked up the walkway and onto the porch. "We could try, but you saw what happened when I tried to put some in her locker."
"What about what your dad said?" Blake walked in the house first. "We should tell her about it."
"My dad isn't going to do shit. Maybe it's time to go to one of the other admirals." I loved my dad, but he was acting erratic and out of character. My sister getting sick was taking a toll on him. "Let's find her and buy a potholder or something for a few grand."
She had gotten all of her friends involved with the sale. They were wandering the house, answering questions and giving prices. Riley was nowhere to be seen.
I went back to the door where Ivy was manning a cash box. She narrowed her eyes at me when I approached. "What are you doing here?"
Ivy didn't like me one bit. "Hello to you too. Where's Riley?"
"You're a smart man. The townhouse isn't that big." I didn't appreciate her bitchiness toward me. "I doubt she wants to be bothered by the likes of you."
"We'll see." I went back upstairs to her room, which had a Do Not Enter sign on it.
The door was locked, so I pulled my keys out and used the end of one to turn the lock. Whoever decided to make door locks on interior doors just have a small turning slot to unlock it was an idiot.
I slid inside to find her lying on her bed, hugging a pillow. I relocked the door and looked around at boxes piled everywhere. Her nightstands were now plastic storage containers, and even her headboard had been moved out to sell.
My father was a monster for wanting her to suffer. I was going to get reamed for defying him, but it was worth it. He surely wouldn't demote us further. Not when our family name was on the line.
I climbed on the bed and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me. She sniffled and put her face in the pillow she had a death grip on.
"The house is in foreclosure." She muttered in the pillow. "In three months, I'll be homeless."
I rubbed her arm and kissed her shoulder. She was wearing skinny jeans that made her ass look amazing, and a tank top. She was sexy without even trying.
"We won't let that happen." I rolled her so she was on her back and looked down at her reddened face and puffy eyes. "How much do you owe?"
She shut her eyes. "I don't want your help."
"It doesn't matter what you want. It's what you need." I wiped her tears. "I've been thinking about starting to invest in some properties. Maybe this can be my first. Or, you can just come live with us."
It was out of my mouth before I could really think it through. I couldn't just invite her to live with us when there was no telling where we would end up after graduation. We might stay on land or go back to the ocean city.
Then there was the whole issue of her being a siren and my dad wanting revenge.
"Live with you?" She snorted and sat up. "That's the most absurd thing I've heard leave your mouth."
She leaned over and grabbed a tissue, the movement causing her shirt to bare some of her smooth skin. I couldn't resist and reached forward to run my hand from her hip to the small of her back.
Her skin was warm and velvety smooth. She didn't move as I rubbed my hand back and forth. She blew her nose and looked down at me.
"What are you doing here?" She put a hand to her cheek. "I must look like shit."
"You look beautiful." I relaxed into a pillow and put my other arm behind my head. "My father sent us to stop you from selling your stuff and making any money. He thinks your parents are watching, and if you're suffering enough, they will come to your rescue."
"If my mom was going to show up, she would have already. And how did you plan on stopping me?"
"We didn't. We came to buy something. Maybe a potholder for a thousand." I dipped my hand slightly into the back of her pants and she stiffened. "Do you want me to stop?"
"I'm not selling the potholders." She knocked my arm to the side before lying back down. "Keep your fingers out of my butt crack."
A laugh burst from me, and she started laughing too. "I wasn't going to do shit to your crack."
"Stop it." She swatted at my chest, and I took her hand, bringing it to my lips. "Jax..."
I kissed the top of her hand and then held it against my chest. "Don't sell your knife."
"I wasn't planning on it." She curled up against me and rested her head on my chest. "Don't think this means anything."
It definitely meant something, but I didn't know what exactly.