Jax #2
Her voice was a small whisper, not to be overheard by Liz, and I gave her a grateful smile, even knowing that if I ever damaged anything in here, I would not only pay for it but also whatever penalty they deemed necessary.
“Of course.”
Jen went about her business, and I found myself walking toward Liz’s office still feeling charged from the day before.
“Come in,” she said.
When I lingered by the door, she held her hand out without looking at me. Taking a few steps forward, I placed the coffee in her hand. Still not looking at me, she took a sip and hummed when she found it was to her liking.
Satisfaction warmed my chest, so I slid the lemon loaf to her.
“May I sit?”
She looked up at me. Today, she had a white highlight near the corners of her eyes that made them pop and only a bit of blush and mascara. Her hair was in a half-up, half-down style, and she wore a simple cardigan and black pants that flared at the end.
Simple but put together.
And it had my body reacting in a bunch of embarrassing ways.
I’m down bad for her.
“Well behaved today, are we?”
I could have sworn that there was a slight teasing to her voice, so I met her with the same energy.
“I’m only bad when you want me to be,” I said and made a point not to sit down until she gave me permission.
She leaned back in her chair, taking me in. Her eyes raked my form. Seeing her reaction to my outfit yesterday, I decided to go even harder today.
I wore a tight white cropped tank top, no bra, and loose jeans that hung on my hips, only slightly showing the boxers underneath.
Whenever I did installation work—which was very rarely—I wore something similar, but for Liz, I decided to up the heat a bit.
“Whatever we discuss in this room stays with us, do you understand?”
Her commanding tone had a shiver running up my spine.
“Yes, M—” I slammed my mouth shut. That perfectly groomed brow rose again. “Ma’am.”
She gave me a satisfied nod and motioned for me to sit down.
“Did you meet her last night?”
“She had a last-minute work thing,” I said as I finally sat in the chair.
“You didn’t stand her up, did you?”
“Besides withholding information during the auction… I would never lie to you or her, Liz.”
She pressed her lips together as if she wanted to say something but was forcing herself not to. Reaching into her tote, she brought out a file.
“This matter is a bit more complicated than just a break-in.”
I took the file and opened it to the first page. A man with sunken eyes and a scowl looked back at me. To the right was a restraining order.
“Is this—”
“Claire’s father, yes.”
She looked at me for a long time while I went through the file. Besides the restraining order, it had every police report she filed and even pictures of him destroying property.
My fingers paused when I got to a domestic violence report almost twenty years prior.
“It was once in a drunken rage,” she explained. “After he woke up with a knife to his balls, he never tried to do it again.”
I didn’t know what to say. I felt a lot at that moment.
Pity. Anger.
I wanted to do so many things to such a sorry excuse for a man, but I pushed it all to the back of my head and focused on her. On this moment. On what we needed to do to keep them safe.
“He’s coming after you?”
“He’s spiraling. Very typical for him. Apparently, people are finding out about our divorce from somewhere, and it's not looking good for him,” she explained. “He acted like he was going to back down after the divorce and the restraining order, but as usual, he lied.”
She motioned to the folder. I closed it slowly.
“I’ve seen his type before,” I said, trying to keep the rage in check. “But Claire, she… doesn’t know about this? She’s never mentioned it.”
Liz looked down at the desk.
“This is why it can’t leave here. I… I lied to her.
She knows nothing about who he truly is.
She knows about the divorce, but she thinks it was amicable.
I tried to keep the worst from her. As far as she knows, he is far away in some country backpacking, which is why he never visited.
He’s out, living his life. And I told her we sold the house, even though he's still there. He never cared about being a father. If anything, he was happy to leave. His parents were the ones who forced us together after we found out about the pregnancy—”
She stopped herself and looked up at me with eyes I couldn’t decipher.
“You don’t need to know all of that.”
“The more I know, the better.” I leaned forward to catch her gaze as it tried to run away from me. “I won’t judge anything you say.”
“I thought it would be better to tell her he died, but just in case I—” She took a deep breath. “I told her he had decided to move. And the craziest thing was that she was happy. She took it in stride, and then we just… moved on.”
As Claire's best friend, I knew that she knew more about her father's bad behavior than Liz knew she did. Claire was extremely observant. To a fault. I knew she had grown up watching her father and mother’s relationship, so I knew growing up with a father like that had affected her.
It had to have affected the woman in front of me too.
She seemed to have everything together. The pinnacle of a successful, self-made woman.
But I knew there was something lingering behind her words. The same thing that matched the haunted look in her eyes.
“Are you scared of him?”
Her eyes shot to me, and she let out a shaky breath. It sounded like a laugh, but her true feelings were starting to show. Her face scrunched and her eyes glistened with unshed tears, which she blinked away quickly.
“He won't hurt Claire.”
I leaned forward, unsure if I should grab her hand, though I desperately wanted to.
“That's not what I asked.”
Her fingernails tapped the desk. There was a new woman in front of me, one who was turning in on herself. One who was taking every bad thing happening around her and internalizing it. It felt like she was shrinking in front of me.
I didn't like it. Didn't like that a man could make her feel like this.
“He's becoming reckless,” she whispered. “He's mad at me. And he does this thing where he spirals. I just… I think it's going to get worse. If I'm being honest… yes. His spiraling combined with his impulsiveness is a bad combination.”
I nodded. She was right to think so. It would only take a little thing to set off a man like him, and he might become unstoppable.
“So we do the perimeter. I've already set up a team for you. I'll have you meet them later. They'll follow you, watch out for you even when you sleep. If you need anything, we'll be a text away.”
She was nodding along with everything that I was saying, but her eyes still looked far away.
“Is there something else?”
She let out a sigh.
“He's watching my apartment. I don't know how, but he knows when I come and go and…” She leaned back and clicked her tongue. “He insinuated knowing I slept with someone that night. And I think it made him jealous, which is why I think he decided to break in here.”
I was very good at not panicking in my line of work, but her words made my chest tighten.
Jealous men and messy divorces were never a good combination.
“Okay, slight change of plans. Or just an addition. I'll put you in a safe house—”
“No.”
“It's safer for you to be somewhere that's not—”
“I know, it’s just…” She was looking around the room, anywhere but at me. “With the… money, I was going to buy a new place. And I don't want to move twice, so maybe we can pause on that for a moment?”
I didn't like it. Not one bit. But I could tell I was already pushing her too far.
“Then how about after your shift here today I have the team scope out your place?”
My nails dug into my palm. My team—her team—had already scoped out the place. And because of how the apartments were built, it was just too unsafe to help her there. Meaning I would have to find a way to get her out of that place as fast as I could.
She nodded.
“Sure, but there will be a show here tonight,” she said. “It's small, but important to my artists.”
“Okay, no problem.” I stood. “I'll get started outside right away.”
I made a mental note to add more to the team I’d assign to her. I didn't like the idea of this place being swarmed with people. It was just too easy for something to happen to her.
She opened her mouth and closed it.
“Any other orders for me, ma’am?”
Finally, that cute blush covered her face again.
“Just get to work and stop bothering me, okay?”
I left the room forcing a smile on my face, but I felt far more anxious than when I arrived.
Whatever happens, I need to keep her safe.