Chapter 9
Nine
Jaxson
Against better judgement, I agree to take Bristol back to her dorm. I’d prefer to drive her to the cabin where her mother is staying, but she’s vehemently against that, and apparently, my mentioning that they bought the place is news to her.
It’s been a trying day. I had intended to bring Bristol to the hotel to help with the girls who were brought in from the trafficking ring.
My team has been tasked with handling new identities for those who don’t have families or safe spaces to go.
And those who do have families, we’ve been quietly reuniting them, one girl at a time.
We have to make sure their families aren’t the ones who sold them into the trafficking ring before returning them home.
It’s quite a job, and it doesn’t exactly pay anything.
Getting mixed up with Dante Ricci isn’t my favorite pastime, but the girls need help.
I’m doing it for them.
Also, getting on the wrong side of the local mafia isn’t a wise decision. I’ve lived in Breckenridge long enough to know to steer clear of Dante and his men.
They cause their own brand of havoc, and while I’d rather not get involved in their current mess, at the end of the day, it’s for the right cause.
The girls are the priority and going to the police would make things worse for Dante’s men.
Why do I care?
Let’s just say we all have secrets of our own, and some are best left buried six feet under.
I owe him.
And his cause is justifiable. I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t.
I do still have morals.
Besides, if I don’t help the girls, they could still be in danger. And our local police force is no match for the mafia—Dante’s or anyone else’s, for that matter.
And I’m convinced whoever trafficked the girls brings far more trouble than Dante would think to bring to town. To me, it wreaks of the cartel, but it could be an opposing mafia family or bratva pushing into the area.
I’m staying out of the dirty details. I don’t want to dig up dirt on an investigation that could get my men and my family in further danger.
Protecting the girls, though, it’s a noble pursuit, which is why I agreed to it.
“Why did you bring my mom back to town?” Bristol stares at me while I focus on the road.
“Isn’t that something you should ask your mother?” I glance at her briefly.
The girl has a bit of hostility and quite clearly a temper under that quiet persona I’ve seen the past couple of months at the office.
“I’m asking you,” Bristol glares.
Fair enough. I don’t have any reason to keep secrets regarding Emerson coming back to work in our main office.
“She requested a transfer and to close the New York field office where we operate.”
“No,” Bristol gasps. “She wouldn’t do that.”
“She would if she were concerned about you.” Had she not realized the entire reason Emerson chose to move out to Breckenridge was to be closer to her daughter? To watch over her?
It couldn’t have been easy being apart from her husband, but they make it work. I’d do anything for my children, Izzie and Olivia. They’re both grown, twenty-three and twenty, but they’re still my children.
“Why would she be concerned…” her voice trails off as my phone rings and my dashboard lights up with the caller’s information.
Kyler Greyson.
“My dad is calling you?”
I haven’t talked to Bristol’s father in quite some time.
While Declan had arranged the original contract with him to hire Emerson more than a decade ago, I’d been the one to originally set up his security system in the house prior.
We’d met when he was still playing hockey in New York City for the Ice Dragons.
I hit the answer phone button on the steering wheel. “This is Jaxson.”
“You and I will have words if something has happened to my daughter.”
“I’m with her right now if you’d like to talk to her. I’m driving her back to campus.”
“What the hell is going on, Jaxson?” Anger exudes from Kyler’s voice, and I shift in my seat.
“Perhaps your daughter would be the best one to explain everything to you.”
Bristol opens her mouth and then closes it.
I raise an eyebrow at her before returning my full attention to the road.
“I just had a dizzy spell at the hotel.” Bristol exhales loudly and folds her arms across her chest. “I’m fine. You don’t need to be calling my boss asking about me, Dad.”
I smile at her little scolding to her father.
Cute.
“I’m concerned when I get a phone call that you were at a hotel with your boss!” Kyler is like a train at full-speed, unable to slow. “Jaxson, do you want to tell me what the hell you’re doing bringing my daughter to a hotel?”
I shift, albeit uncomfortably, and realize how this actually looks.
I laugh under my breath. “I see how this could be construed as something nefarious, but I can assure you that I was bringing your daughter to meet with our clients, who are being housed off-site for their protection. I thought she could help with some arrangements, but clearly, it was too much for her.”
Bristol is shooting me daggers, but I ignore it. I’m more concerned about one of my best paying clients, Kyler Greyson. Not to mention that his wife works for me, and when she gets wind, I’ll get another earful at the office.
“Too much for me?” Bristol chokes and sneers at me. “That’s not fair. You bring me to a hotel room, what was I supposed to think?”
My jaw drops.
She was overreacting.
Maybe I was under-reacting in bringing her with me. I could have brought Emerson along, perhaps I should have, but that’s all in the past.
“I won’t make that mistake again,” I grit between clenched teeth.
You do a favor for someone, hire their college kid for a summer, and this is the thanks I get?
I take a few deep breaths and release my tightened grasp on the steering wheel as I take the exit toward Great Falls. We’re still thirty minutes out, and this drive is growing all the more tense.
“Anything else, Kyler?” I’m hesitant to even ask, but I also want this conversation over.
Kyler clears his throat then answers. “Yes, what was that earlier about my daughter having a dizzy spell?”
“She fainted in the hotel hallway.” I glance at Bristol and her eyes widen in horror, like I just revealed that she’s pregnant to her father.
My brow pinches and I glance her over.
She isn’t pregnant, is she?
“It’s nothing, Dad, just another dizzy spell,” Bristol quips, making it known to her father that she’s fine.
“Fainting isn’t a dizzy spell, Bristol. And this is the second day in a row.”
“It was Saturday night when I went to the Emergency Room,” Bristol counters. “Well, Sunday morning by the time I left, but it’s not a big deal.”
“It is a big deal.” Kyler’s voice is gruff. “Mom and I are concerned about your health. Are you having issues in class?”
“I don’t know, Dad. It’s summer break!”
I roll my lips and keep my mouth shut. There’s no sense in me getting between those two. I’d offer her my phone to take the call with a little more privacy, but it’s in my pocket, and quite frankly, I’m slightly amused at the antics between those two.
She’s flustered and frustrated.
I can only imagine Kyler up in arms, not being able to do anything.
Perhaps that’s why Emerson decided to move out here? Had she sensed something was off with their daughter?
Kyler grumbles and I suppress a smirk. Oh yeah, he’s definitely pissed.
“You’ve been fainting a lot, Bristol. That’s not normal. I’m going to bring in a specialist, someone to make sure everything is all right.”
“Dad!”
I glance at Bristol. I should keep my mouth shut, but I can’t.
“Listen, my wife has some health anomalies as well. We found a good autonomic neurologist for Ariella. The doctor is hard to get an appointment with, but Ariella can reach out and try to get an appointment for Bristol. She’s the best in the area, and I’m sure if Ariella reaches out, then she can get Bristol in for a work-up.
She’s in Billings, which is a six-hour drive—”
“That’s not a problem. I can have my jet fly her anywhere she needs for the best care,” Kyler says.
Bristol is glaring at me. “I don’t need a work-up. I’m fine. I just faint when it gets a bit warm. I probably need to drink more electrolytes.”
“What are some of your other symptoms?” I ask.
“I really don’t want to do this,” Bristol huffs.
Kyler, however, ignores his daughter’s request. “She’s always been dehydrated easily. She gets migraines, faints, has had some balance issues, low blood pressure. When Bristol stands up too fast, she blacks out for a few seconds.”
When I first met Ariella, there hadn’t been a diagnosis for her condition. It had just been weird symptoms that plagued her at the most inopportune time, like when we were dancing at the bar together.
What I thought had been one drink too many had been entirely something else.
Bristol quips, “You forgot the nausea, irritability, and the fact that my heart feels like it’s pounding out of my chest. Plus, the stomach problems, do you want to hear about my diarrhea, too, and how I can eat one food one day, and the next, I can barely make it to the bathroom in time?”
The similarities to her and Ariella are uncanny.
“I told you I thought going away to college wasn’t a good plan,” Kyler says, concern in his tone.
“That’s what you’d like, me to go to school in New York and live at home. No, thank you! I’m quite happy at Great Falls.” Bristol is a bit of a spitfire.
I bite my tongue. I don’t think my interjecting is going to help the two of them right now.
“Is that why Mom is working in Breckenridge?” Bristol asks. “Is it because of me?”
There’s a soft sigh on the other end of the phone. “Mom is there in case you need someone, and of course, to work. We just want to be close to you.”
“I’m nineteen, Dad! You have to learn to let go eventually.”
He grumbles and clears his throat. “Jaxson, send me the information for that physician you recommended.”
“I’ll have Ariella call their office and also give Emerson all the details. Does that work for you?”
“Yeah, appreciated.”
We end the call, and Bristol is glaring at me. She’s probably relieved it’s the last week she’s scheduled to work for me and school is resuming, because I have a feeling it’d be tense as hell in the office with her around.
Kind of like when Ariella first began working for me.
Except Ariella and I had a constant hard-on for each other, and well, that is definitely not the case with Bristol.
She’s practically my youngest daughter’s age.
I’m relieved when I arrive at her campus, and she directs me toward the dorms. I pull up out front. “Do you need help getting inside?” I offer.
“I’ve got it, Jaxson. Thanks for the ride.” She hurries out of the car into the blazing heat, and I just hope that she’ll be all right on her own.
“Stay hydrated!” I shout at her as she slams the door shut and gives me a forced fuck you smile.