Chapter 22
JAX
Iwander the island, aware of the paper burning a hole in my pocket.
Leaving Kat was not easy, but I needed to put some space between us. Whatever Zach has divulged…
The look on her face tells me I’m not going to like it.
I find myself outside her villa. The maintenance team have finished for the day, so I make my way into the garden, sitting down on the new plush daybed beside the plunge pool.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
I pull out the letter and begin.
When I finish, I clench my fists and have the strongest desire to punch something.
The letter crumples in my hand.
One phrase keeps swirling around and around in my brain.
You never loved me, it was always him. I’m sorry I ruined that for you.
Sorry! He’s fucking sorry!
He took what wasn’t his on a bed of lies and deceit.
My stomach churns. No wonder Kat looked green.
Between them, he and Darra have made a career of ruining people’s lives. Elijah and Pen, Lottie and now I find, Kat and I.
I rest my elbows on my knees, pressing the palms into my eye sockets. I’ve not cried since that day. I look up at the canopy of trees above me, blinking rapidly. I cough, working to clear the lump in my throat as emotions I thought I’d let go, resurface.
When Kat walked away sixteen years ago, it was like someone taking my heart in their hand and squeezing with all their might. The pain was unbearable.
I throw back my head and laugh. The memory of Mum and Dad telling me, “There are plenty more fish in the sea.”
How wrong they were.
Kathryn Frazer ruined me for all other women. From the moment I met her to the moment she told me she felt something too, I was lost.
Sixteen years ago
“Kat, stay where you are. I’m on my way.”
I disconnect before she can argue, and knowing Kat, she’ll definitely try. The details her friend gave me are enough to have me moving quickly.
I grab Elijah’s keys, glad I decided against the beer earlier. I need to finish my assignment, but there’s no way I’m leaving Kat in that club with that dickhead.
I drive across London, pleased it’s late, so I don’t have to navigate the traffic. Eli put Zach and me on his insurance when we all moved in together, as much for convenience as anything else. I don’t think he’ll mind me borrowing it for his sister.
I make it to the club in record time. I pull up into one of the spaces outside, reserved for VIPs. I chuckle. The monster Land Rover Discovery with its custom trim and Frazer personalised number plate fits in perfectly.
I get out and make my way to the door. The bouncer looks at the car, then looks at me, removing the barrier instantly.
I make my way inside. It’s packed. I pull out my phone.
ME:
Where are you?
KAT:
You didn’t need to come, I’m fine.
ME:
Well I’m here now.
KAT:
Far corner near the fire exit.
I look up and spot the fire exit notice, pushing my way through the crowd of drunk students.
I catch sight of Kat immediately. She stands out in the crowd. She always has.
A guy is trying to talk to her, but her friend is giving him a hard time.
I walk up and sling my arm over Kat’s shoulder.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I say. “Ready to get out of here?”
Kat doesn’t jump, instead, she sinks into my touch. The guy in front of her frowns, he’s definitely had too much to drink.
“Who the fuck are you? Why have you got your hand on my girlfriend?”
“I think that’s ex-girlfriend,” Kat says. “I don’t share.”
“I told you, she means nothing to me. Clo was just a—”
“What? An easy lay while you waited for me to come around,” Kat says, rolling her eyes.
I want to chuckle, but bite my tongue. Kat was always quick, probably being raised with brothers.
“Sloppy seconds aren’t my style,” she adds.
She turns to me and gives me a wide smile.
“Shall we get out of here?”
I nod.
“‘Bye, ladies, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Do any of your friends need a lift?” I ask Kat.
She shakes her head. “They all live together and have a taxi booked.”
We turn.
A hand closes around my arm.
“I asked you a question. Who the fuck are you?” the dickhead asks again.
“I’m Kat’s new boyfriend,” I say, before I can stop myself.
“I’m her boyfriend,” he says, his eyebrows coming together.
I chuckle. “You were her boyfriend, dickhead, but I think you blew that this evening. A woman like Kat isn’t alone for long.”
He snarls and pulls back an arm, but his friend catches it.
He shakes him off.
“Good luck, she’s a frigid bitch,” he hisses, snarling at Kat. “You’re a total prick tease.”
I step in front of Kat and glare at the dickhead. What the hell did Kat see in this guy? I feel her hand on my bicep, her voice close to my ear.
“Jax, he’s not worth it, believe me,” Kat says, her breath triggering a fluttery sensation deep in my chest.
I give him a withering look and turn toward Kat.
“Let’s go,” I say, wrapping my arm around her shoulder and navigating us both towards the door.
When we finally make it outside, I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Thanks,” Kat says.
“Is he always such a dick?”
Kat shrugs.
“Kat, I seriously thought you had better taste,” I say.
She bites her lip, her nose wrinkling.
“He’s popular,” she says, with a shrug, as if that explains everything.
“You went out with him because he’s popular? Why on earth would you do that?”
Kat puts her hands on her hips and glares at me.
“Because I’m not,” she says, her eyes flashing. “I’m a nerd, or a geek or whatever else you want to call me. I’ve spent the past two years in my room, with no friends. It seemed like a good way to gain a social life.”
I stare at her for a moment, amazed. How am I only just hearing this? Does Eli know?
“Was it worth it?”
She sighs.
“No,” she admits. “It’s been awful! I realised quite quickly, his brains are in his balls, and he can only talk about rugby. He’s failing in all his subjects and will probably get kicked out at the end of this semester.”
She sighs again.
“But you hate rugby,” I say with a smirk.
“I really do.” She laughs, her eyes now sparkling. “On the plus side, I met the girls I was with tonight. They’re fabulous.”
I sling an arm over her shoulder.
“I’m glad,” I say. “Come on, let’s get you home.”
Kat groans.
“What?”
“Cleo… Clo as he keeps calling her. I live with her.”
“The girl he was kissing and sleeping with behind your back is one of your housemates?”
“Yes,”
“That’s fucked up, Kat.”
“I agree,” she says with a sigh. “But it is what it is.”
“I’ll come back with you.”
No way am I letting her walk into the lion’s den without backup. I don’t know who this Cleo is, but sleeping with someone’s boyfriend, especially someone you live with. She’s not a person I want Kat around.
Kat stops and turns to face me.
“Jax, you really don’t have to. If you could just drop me home, that’s fine.”
I shake my head. “Kat, stop arguing and get in the car.”
“Eli’s?”
Kat chuckles.
“It was an emergency, he wasn’t using it, and he’s insured Zach and me on it.”
Kat smiles and touches my arm. The tiny hairs, standing upright at the contact, send a shiver down my spine. “I know he did. You’re a good friend to my brother.”
I place a hand over hers and squeeze gently. “I’m your friend, too.”
“I know. Thank you.”
I unlock the car and hold the door open while Kat jumps in. I move around to the other side and reverse out of the space.
“The girls you were with, they seem nice.”
“They are. They’re lovely,” Kat says.
“I thought you said you didn’t have any friends.”
Kat turns her head to look at me. “I didn’t. I met them after I started dating Danny. We went to a house party. Danny got drunk with his mates, Carol, Claire and Rach were there, we got talking, and as they say, the rest is history.”
“You hit it off. Why did you stay with him if you’d achieved your goal?”
Kat’s nose wrinkles, making her look super cute and incredibly sexy.
“I couldn’t get rid of him, he was like superglue. Tonight, I found out why. He’s a Frazer money hound.”
“I’ve heard you guys use that term before.”
“I’m sure you have. It’s girls and guys who see our parents’ bank balance, not us,” Kat explains.
My heart lurches at the thought.
“It’s not just potential lovers, it’s also friends. People befriend us for who we are and what they think they can get.”
“I’m sorry, I never realised.”
Kat places her hand on my leg.
“You wouldn’t.” The look she shoots me tells me I should know this. “You’re not like them. You befriended Eli because you’re similar, share the same drive to succeed.”
I cough, she couldn’t be further from the truth. Eli and I are polar worlds apart. My parents are divorced, and I’m up to my neck in student loans. Even Elijah doesn’t know by how much.
“I don’t mean in terms of money,” Kat says, as if reading my mind. “I’m talking in terms of your ambition, determination to succeed. You’re both relentless. You’ll keep going, fight on, until you get to your destination. Eli admires that in you.”
Elijah Frazer was not what I imagined when I first met him. I’d expected some wealthy, privileged prick. But then, when I saw him train in the pool and how much effort he puts into his studies, our friendship grew.
Kat rubs her hands together and shoots me a smile. “Well, at least I’m rid of him now,” she says.
“You think he’ll drop it?”
Looking at the guy, I’m not sure it will be that easy. He seemed to have a major hard-on for Kat.
“I can hope,” she says, but her tone lets me know she’s not convinced.
We pull up outside the large Victorian house, which she and her fellow students are renting.
“Thanks, Jax, I really appreciate you coming to my rescue.”
“Anytime.”
The front door opens, and music blares out.
Kat groans. “Just what I need,” she hisses under her breath.
“I’m coming in,” I say before I can stop myself. “Check everything is okay. Once I know you’re safe in your room, then I’ll leave.”
I walk into the house. The base has the walls pulsing, it’s that loud.