16. Jax
Jax
I felt as if the meeting with the rest of the board had gone well. It had been somewhat of a waste of time. Still, I was able to answer their questions and even enlighten them on a few new developments Nova and I had come up with.
Riding on that high, I decided to surprise Nova and headed across the street to the Hermès shop. When I walked in, the woman behind the counter greeted me a little stiffly. When I showed her the image of the bag Nova wanted, she warmed.
I waited as she disappeared into the back and was offered a coffee by another younger clerk. I sat and waited, second-guessing my choices in life.
My father had waited thirty years to finally get my mother the bag of her dreams. Every anniversary after, he’d gone out of his way to get her a new bag. They’d had thirty-four wonderful years of marriage, and I told myself that I wasn’t going to make the same mistakes my father had made.
If Nova wanted a Birkin, I was going to be the one to give it to her. Period. She could spend her winnings on something else. After all, she was worth it.
While I waited, I replayed last night and finally opening up to her about how I had felt most of my life.
Of course I’d remembered that kiss in the hallway her sophomore year. I was only at that party because she was there. Sofia had hinted that Nova was flirting with one of the football players, and since she was finally between boyfriends, I hadn’t wanted to miss my chance.
Then she’d kissed me. My mind had gone blank. When the kiss was over, I’d opened my mouth to confess my love, to ask her to run away with me right then and there. Only my mind swung into overdrive.
It was as if I could see what our lives would be like in fast-forward. She still had a few years left in school, and I knew how serious she was about getting her degree. I knew that she wouldn’t feel qualified for a full-time job at GSM until she had her diploma in hand.
I also knew that at that stage of her life, she wasn’t settling down. She’d changed hairstyles at least five times that year and had dated eight guys. I could easily just be one more of them.
She was far too important to me to mess that up. So I’d taken the cowardly way out. Instead of talking to her, I’d pretended to be really drunk and acted like I’d forgotten all about that soul-bending kiss.
For a whole year now she’d worked with me, and I’d waited, silently hoping she’d come around. I never expected that she’d been feeling the same way this entire time. I’d been so blind.
When the first sales clerk stepped out carrying two large orange boxes, I walked over and watched as she carefully pulled out the bags.
Both were the exact bags in the photo. One had silver hardware and the other gold.
I told the woman about how my father had spent too many years putting off getting my mother the bags she’d wanted. We talked about Nova’s likes and dislikes for a few moments.
“I couldn’t tell from the photo and figured I’d bring both out,” she said, showing me both bags side by side.
“What do you suggest?”
She smiled at me. “I always say that it depends on the rings she wears.”
“Rings?” I frowned.
“Honey, if a man is buying a woman her first Birkin, there is definitely a ring in the future somewhere.”
Suddenly, my mind was so clear. The scene of Rick showing me our grandmother’s ring. His confession of how he was going to ask Sofia to marry him.
Of course I was going to ask Nova to marry me. Hell, I should have asked before instead of just seeing if she’d move in with me.
Once again, I’d been so blind.
“This one,” I said, pointing to the bag I wanted. “Can you wrap it up and then point me in the direction of the nearest jewelry store.”
The woman laughed and nodded.
Thirty minutes later, I was almost floating as I stepped out of the elevator on our floor. I had a solid plan, at least in my head, of my next moves.
I stopped when I rounded the corner and saw that our hotel door was propped open. Was the maid working on our room? I glanced up and down the hallway, not seeing any sign of the carts they used.
I stepped to the door and called out as I went inside. “Nova?”
I set the bags down just inside the doorway and had taken two steps inside when I saw a young brunette woman sitting on the edge of our freshly made bed.
“Who—” I started to ask, instantly on guard.
Before I could finish my sentence, the adjoining room door flew open, and I was tackled by two large men dressed in all black.
I hit the floor and started to fight back. When I saw the badges on their chests, I froze.
Over the next hour, I was handcuffed, shuffled down a back hallway and out the back of the casino, stuffed in the backseat of a cruiser, and hauled to the police department. There, I was photographed, fingerprinted, and strip searched.
By the time I was sitting in a cell with at least six other men, I had figured out exactly what had happened.
I was pissed.
I was finally allowed my first phone call six hours later. I had debated on who to call.
I knew for sure that Nova would know what had happened by now and was one hundred percent positive that she knew of my innocence.
Which meant she would have called for backup.
If my brother wasn’t already here, I was sure he was on his way.
I also knew that in desperate times like this, Nova would have called her mother.
Which meant my phone call was pretty much a toss away. With help on the way, I only needed to talk to the one person that mattered the most.
Her phone rang twice.
“Jax?” Just hearing Nova’s voice had my eyes closing with pain.
“Are you okay?” I asked in a low tone.
“Yes, you?”
“I’ve… been better.”
“You’re an idiot,” she said suddenly.
I chuckled. “Why am I an idiot this time?”
“Kit had my things brought up to the suite.” I waited. “Which apparently included a few things you’d gone out to buy without me.”
I groaned. I hadn’t even thought of the bag. Thankfully, I hadn’t been able to take the ring with me since they were resizing it for Nova’s finger. I had planned to pick it up the day before we were set to leave Vegas. My hope was to propose to her our last night here.
“I wasn’t going to make you wait as long as my dad made my mom wait,” I said, resting my forehead against the wall.
“My parents’ flight lands in an hour,” she said. “Your brother and Sofia are staying in the suite with me.”
“I bet Kit loves that,” I said dryly.
“What happened?”
“The best I can tell, it was a standard setup. I came back from shopping and the door was open. There was a woman sitting on the edge of our bed. I didn’t even really get a look at her.
I have no clue what she was wearing. I think I got one word out before I was tackled,” I said quickly, knowing my time was limited.
“Mom’s going to get your bail set and paid,” she said. “Just hold on.”
“Will do. Nova?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks. This isn’t what I had planned for our trip.”
“Me either. I love you.”
“I love you too.” At this point, the guard hung up the phone for me, and I wasn’t able to say goodbye.
I was shuffled into a different private cell, where I lost track of time, replaying in my head everything that had happened to me my entire life. I must have slept for a while because I was jolted awake when someone screamed at me that my lawyer was there.
Sitting across the table from Nova’s mother felt humiliating. Until her eyes landed on me.
“Nova, your brothers and your mother are just outside.” She motioned toward the doors. I knew I wouldn’t be able to see them.
Bethany Clark—Beth, as she liked me to call her—was like my adoptive mother. For the past, hell, I don’t even know how many years, she had stepped in anytime a mother needed to and mine wasn’t available. My mother had done the same for Nova through the years.
I wanted to cry and hug the woman. Instead, I sat straight in my chair and listened as she explained the process. I really should have gone to law school or something, because most of what she was saying was causing my head to spin. Then again, I was working on only a few hours of sleep.
“If all goes well, you’ll be out on bond by tonight.” She smiled at me. “How are you holding up?”
“Good,” I lied. “Nova?”
“She’s got us here now.” She cleared her throat. “Now, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. Starting from when you left Nova in your room to head to your meeting.”
She wrote down everything I said as I replayed it for her.
I explained the shopping spree and even included both clerks names, since I’d spent a great deal of time with them.
Hell, by the time I’d left the stores, I was pretty sure I was going to take Nova back there and introduce her to them.
I knew they would get a kick out of meeting her and vice versa.
She made me run through everything two more times, making sure I hadn’t left anything out. By the time she left, she had that small crease in her forehead she got when she was worried or pissed. I was hoping the latter, since I’d seen what she could do when she was pissed.
I was shown back to a small cell and given what resembled a breakfast. I ate half it but then threw everything up in the toilet that sat in the corner of the exposed room.
I had never felt more humiliated than when I was using that thing while guards strolled by outside the bars.
Lunch was a cold bologna sandwich and stale chips. I passed the time by counting the cinder blocks in the cell and reading every bit of graffiti in the room. Most of it was very colorful, some of it funny.
By the time a guard showed up to take me to my arraignment, I was starved for dinner.
I stood next to Beth, who I had to confirm officially represented me, and clearly stated my innocence.
Bail was set at a million dollars, and I tried not to choke on air.
“This is good.” She turned to me and hugged me. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”
“Nova?”
“She’ll be there.” She winked at me as I was shown out of the room.
Just over an hour later, I stepped out into the Nevada heat and right into the arms of Nova and my mother.
I wouldn’t admit it to anyone later, but I cried holding onto them.
After a very long hot shower, with Nova sitting just outside the glass doors, I dressed in my shorts and a T-shirt I borrowed from my brother and sat on the sofa and replayed everything once more to my family and hers.
“The good news is you’re free,” Beth said. “The bad news is you’re stuck in Vegas until your preliminary hearing or trial. I’m going to file for a bail modification hearing and prove you’re not a flight risk, but until then, you’re stuck. They’ve already taken your passport. Sorry, kiddo.”
“It’s okay,” I said, looking down at Nova’s hand in mine.
“Food’s here,” Rick called out from the door.
For the first time, I glanced around the room. I’d been in a daze before and had stupidly assumed we were in the suite at the Apex. But this wasn’t the same room.
“Where are we?” I said as Rick helped wheel in two carts full of food.
“I thought it best to move to a different hotel,” Nova added. “Rick managed to get us suites at one of his other client’s places.”
“We’re at the Grayson Suites. It’s a few miles off the Strip,” Rick added. “Eddie Grayson is a California buddy of my partner’s. He got us both suites. The folks are across the hall from us.”
Much like the suites at the Apex, there were two rooms on either side of a larger sitting room. The furniture in this room was a little more worn than that at the Apex but just as nice.
I nodded and dove into the massive double cheeseburger someone set in front of me.
Talk continued while I shoveled as much food as I could bear into my stomach. When I was done, my head felt dull. I refused to let go of Nova and wrapped my arm around her while she talked quietly with Sofia.
The whole crew had come out for me. Even my brother Chris was sitting in the corner, looking at his computer. Probably studying.
I must have dozed off for a while. I woke when a door shut. Suddenly, I noticed how quiet everything had gotten.
“It’s okay.” Nova smiled over at me. “Want to head to bed? My folks and your mom went across the hall. Sofia and Rick are showering and then heading to bed.” She glanced over at Chris. “I think he’s taking the sofa.”
“Yup,” he called without looking up from his computer. “Exams are in two days.” He waved at us. “Glad you’re not some pedo, by the way.”
I held in a laugh and stretched. “I could use some air.”
“We could go out on the balcony in our room,” Nova suggested.
“Is there a mini-bar?”
She nodded and bit her bottom lip. I followed her into the room and dug into the mini-bar until I found orange juice and a candy bar.
She laughed as I held out one of the orange juices toward her. She took it and then burst out crying. Setting the juice down, I held onto her, rocking us both as she soaked my borrowed shirt.
“I was so scared,” she said into my chest.
“Me too,” I admitted.
She said something that sounded like, “It was Kit.”
“What?” I leaned back and waited until her eyes moved up to mine. She wiped the tears, and I cleared a stray tear drop from her cheek. “What?”
“Something tells me it was Kit,” she said firmly.
“Why?” I held my breath. “Did he… hurt or push you in any way?”
Her eyes moved to our balcony. “Air, juice, candy bar, then I’ll tell you what happened.”
I walked over and yanked open the doors. There was a small table and chairs outside and we sat down. I snacked on the candy bar and we sipped our juice as she started to tell me what happened after I’d been arrested.