Chapter 1 #2
A blank gap sits in my mind where the dream rests. Something behind his answer is bigger than he’s showing me. The more I reach for it, the more it slides just out of range.
“Jaxon.” I inch closer to him. “Did you actually do that for me?”
“Do what?”
“Guided me through a haunted house.”
“No, we’ve never gone to a haunted house together.” He remains fixed on me without flinching.
“Then why does it feel like we have?” It’s not an accusation. It’s a genuine confusion that I don’t know what to do with.
He exhales, slow and controlled. “Livianna.”
“My name is not an answer, Jaxon.”
“I know.”
“Then give me one.”
He turns his glass in his hand. “What would you do with the answer if I did?”
The question hits an unsteady place. I reach for context, a reason this man standing at a garden wall at my own engagement party makes my heart feel like a key turning in a lock I didn’t know existed.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
“Then maybe we should hold on to that question for now.”
The energy between us settles and doesn’t lift. Behind me, the party carries on. Champagne, laughter, and Callum’s voice somewhere in the warmth of it all.
What is Jaxon trying to tell me?
“There you are.” Callum approaches from behind me. His arm wraps around me before I even have time to turn.
“I didn’t go far.” I lean into him. His solidity against my side resets my equilibrium.
His attention lands on Jaxon. It’s not hostile, but it’s not exactly warm. It’s somewhere in between. “Jaxon.”
“Cash.” Jaxon lifts his glass in a brief acknowledgment.
“What are you two talking about out here?” Callum’s question is light. His hand at my waist is less so.
I open my mouth, but Jaxon answers first.
“Livianna had a question for me.” He takes a sip of his drink.
Callum peers down at me. “What kind of question?”
“It was silly.” I shake my head. “I had a dream. It’s nothing.”
“A dream about Jaxon?” Callum glances at Jaxon.
“It sounds worse than it is.” I turn toward Callum. “I had a strange dream, and wanted to ask him about it. That’s all.”
Callum nods for a beat. He reaches over and lifts my champagne flute right out of my fingers, takes a sip, and hands it back.
“Your ma has been trying to round everyone up for a photo for the last half hour.” He tucks me under his arm. “If we don’t get over there, she’s gonna have my ass.”
“She’s been planning that photo since I was born.” I let him steer me toward the crowd.
“I know.” He presses a kiss to my hair. “Go find her. I’ll be thirty seconds behind you.”
I peek back at Jaxon. “It was good chatting with you.”
“It was.” He shoots me a smile.
I start to leave, but slow down for Callum. Behind me, I overhear Jaxon saying something to him.
“We need to discuss the…issue we’ve been following, Cash.”
“Why? Did you get new information?”
Callum’s back is to me now. For a second, I consider grabbing him and making him come with me, but my mom beckons me with her finger to join her. Quinn, acting like my mom’s best friend, waves me toward them.
“All right. I’m coming.” I trek to them with my mind spinning from my interaction with Jaxon.
If we weren’t in a haunted house, where were we?
I join Quinn at her side. “I swear, you two are trouble together.”
“Why would you say that, darling?” My mom takes my empty glass and places it on a tray held by the passing butler.
“She’s glued to your side, Mom. If I’m being honest, it’s a bit frightening.” I’m joking, and it’s obvious.
Quinn just grins as if she has a plan, and she probably does. My mom’s attention drifts to a couple near the garden gate.
“Oh, there are the neighbors. I need to say hello.” She pats my arm. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back for that picture.”
She floats away before I can answer.
Quinn points in her direction. “Your mom is absolutely adorable. I don’t know why you don’t spend more time with her.”
“She has her moments.” I scan the crowd, gauging whether I have time for a serious discussion with Quinn. “Can I ask you something?”
“Always.”
“What do you actually know about Jaxon?”
Quinn’s brow furrows. “What do you mean? Like business-wise?”
“Personally.” My pulse speeds up for some unknown reason. “I’m not talking about professionally. I think I know who he is at work because he’s been helping me so much.”
“Livianna.” She frowns as if I’m asking her to betray someone. “I work for him. That’s a very short list of things I’m allowed to share without getting fired.”
“Then share what’s on the list.”
She huffs out a small laugh. “You’re relentless. Do you know that?”
“I’ve been told.”
Quinn glances around briefly, then leans in. “Honestly? Nobody knows much. He’s the most private person I’ve ever encountered in my life. And I’ve worked in rooms full of people who make careers out of keeping secrets.”
“That’s not nothing.”
“It’s also not useful.” She sips her champagne. “What I can tell you is that the people who work closest to him are intensely loyal. And not because they have to be. He earns it.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning whatever he does for people, it sticks.” She lifts her eyebrows. “You included, from what I can tell.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The way he shows up for you, Livianna.” Quinn shrugs. “Men like Jaxon Crowne don’t do any of that without a reason.”
“What’s his reason?”
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” She doesn’t say it like a question. She says it like someone who’s already been thinking it over. “He had a conversation with you tonight at a garden wall for twenty minutes when he clearly wanted to leave an hour ago.”
“Why would you notice that?”
“I notice everything.” She tips her glass toward me. “Observe more, and you’ll discover more.”
“Jaxon says that!” My eyes widen with my memory.
“He does.” Quinn runs her tongue along the inside of her cheek like she’s holding back saying something to me.
“Quinn, I just remembered something from my past.”
“That you did.”
“I need to tell Callum.” I glance toward him, now deep in conversation with Jaxon. “I guess I can tell him later. Tonight is about our engagement.”
There are a few moments of silence while I twist in confusing emotions. I can’t pinpoint what, or how I should feel. I shouldn’t be asking anything about Jaxon’s personal life. It will just complicate everything, but I have no idea why.
Quinn pulls me from my thoughts by asking a question. “Why are you asking about Jaxon?”
“I just want to understand who he is to me.” Heat covers my cheeks. “You said it yourself. He’s helping me, but why? What have I done for him?”
Quinn takes my hand and starts pulling me toward Jaxon. “Let’s find out.”