I can’t get a hold of Jax. He left my apartment over two hours ago and I’ve been calling him for the past hour but his phone goes straight to voicemail. I am frantic with worry and my mind is in overdrive, thinking of all of the worst things that could have happened. What if my father couldn’t forgive him? What if he shot him and is currently driving him out into the desert to bury him in an unmarked grave? I know that’s crazy-talk but the thoughts won’t stop running around my brain.
As I take the elevator to the top floor of my father’s hotel another, more realistic, thought enters my head. What if my father made him leave and I never see him again?
A few moments later, I burst into my father’s office to find him sitting at his desk. He holds a large glass of whisky in one hand, sighing as he sees me walk through the door. I can’t help but notice the cut on his lip and hope that Jax is okay. Guilt washes over me like a wave. My father and Jax are like brothers. They have never fallen out before and now I have caused this huge rift between them.
“Papi,” I say as I walk into the room.
“Lucia,” he says and the flicker of a smile pulls at his lips as he takes a glass from his desk and pours me a Scotch. “Sit down, mija.”
“Did you and Jax fight?”
He brushes his lip with his fingertips but he doesn’t answer me.
“What happened?” I ask as he passes me the glass of amber liquid.
“I told him he had to choose,” he says matter-of-factly, as though he hasn’t just plunged a knife straight into my chest.
“What?” I stammer. “How could you do that?” I slam my glass down onto his desk.
“I had to, Lucia. I did it for you.”
“No,” I snarl at him. “You did it for you. So that you could keep your best friend and your most loyal soldier. I suppose this works out well for Mom, too. Does she think that I’ll stop working for you now?”
“This has nothing to do with your mama,” he snaps at me and his eyes darken. “You think that I don’t want to see you happy, Lucia? It breaks my heart to see you in pain.”
“So why did you make Jax choose?” I sniff as a fat tear rolls down my cheek.
He sucks in a deep breath and looks down at the glass in his hand, swirling the dark liquid around the bottom for a few seconds before he answers me.
“Because I know Jax better than anyone, Lucia. I know the kind of man he is.”
“I know him too, Papi. I love him.”
“I know that you do,” he nods. “And I also knew that he would make the right choice.”
“No,” I cry as the tears roll down my face. I have lost Jax. For good this time.
“Lucia,” he says, pushing back his chair and walking around the desk to me. He places an arm around my shoulder and I try to shrug him off but he is too determined. That is my father after all. Determined. Stubborn. Always getting what he wants no matter what the cost. “He chose you, mija.”
“What?” I look up at him, wiping the tears from my face. “I don’t understand…”
“You think that I would believe the right choice was me?” He frowns at me. “You think I would sacrifice your happiness for my own?”
I look into his dark brown eyes and remember that while he is all of those things I just thought of, he is also the greatest father anyone could ever ask for. To the few people who are blessed with his love, he is the kindest and most loyal man there is.
“He chose me?” I whisper.
“Of course he did.”
“But what about you and him?” I stammer. “You need him, Papi. He needs you, too.”
He sits on the desk and sighs, running a hand through over the stubble on his jaw. “Your mama tells me you are a grown woman and I need to find a way to get past this. You know I hate to admit it, but she’s right.”
“She always is,” I remind him.
He laughs softly. “Yes. But it will take me time, mija. I will try, for you. If he is the one for you, then I guess I’m going to have to get used to this, right?”
“He is the one, Papi,” I say as I look up at him.
He nods his understanding, but then he narrows his eyes at me. “But me and him—we can never be what we were before, Lucia,” he says with a sigh.
“No.” I shake my head. “You can’t say that. You and he are still the same people you were.”
“No we are not. He has betrayed my trust. No matter what the reason.”
“But, Papi.”
“Besides, how can I ask him to do things I do, to put his life in danger when I know that you would be waiting for him to come home to you?”
“You can’t live life like that. You of all people know that.”
He stares at me and I see the anguish written all over his face. I hate that I have put him in this position. “Come here,” he holds out his arms and I stand and allow him to pull me into a hug. “I want you to be happy more than anything in this world. If you are happy with Jax, then I will accept this, but do not ask me to change who I am.”
“I would never,” I whisper.
“If he ever hurts you though…” he warns and he doesn’t need to finish the sentence.
“I know, Papi.”
I’m walking through the lobby of my father’s hotel fifteen minutes later when I see Jax running toward me. “Lucia.” He pulls me into a hug as I reach him.
“Jax, where the hell have you been? Why aren’t you answering your damn cell?”
“It fell out of my pocket when I was with your father and he stood on it. It’s broken,” he shakes his head. “I went to your place but you weren’t there. Then I went to your mom’s work to see if you were there. She tried calling your cell but it went to voicemail.”
“Oh damn! My battery got flat. Sorry.”
“You and that damn battery, Luce.”
“It was only flat because I called you like a trillion times.”
“Fuck.” he mumbles, pulling me closer to him and burying his head in my hair. “Your mom and I thought you’d be here. Have you spoken to him? Are you okay?”
“Yes, and yes. Everything’s going to be fine.” I untangle myself from his arms and slide my hand around his waist. “Can we go home? We have three hours before we need to pick Matthias up.” I look up and smile at him. “Then we can tell him as soon as he gets home.”
“What the hell happened up there?” He flashes his eyebrows at me.
“My father and I have come to an understanding,” I reply with a shrug. “But I’m sure you already suspected that we would.”
“Well, he can disown me, but I knew he would never do the same to you.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and we head to the exit.
“He hasn’t disowned you, Jax. He needs you and he knows that he does.”
“We’ll see,” he says with a shrug as we step out of the doors into the glorious sunshine.
“And you need him, too. I won’t allow the two of you to be complete jackasses and stop being best friends because of me.” I give him a playful nudge in the ribs.
“You better watch that mouth, Angel,” he growls, making my insides melt like chocolate in the sun. “You can’t wrap me around your finger the way you can your father.”
I laugh softly because I know that’s not true, not that I would ever take advantage of that—at least not often. “Is that so? I know that he made you choose and you picked me,” I purr.
“Hmm,” he mumbles as he walks us to his car and opens the door for me. Before I climb inside, he dips his head low and whispers in my ear, “Three hours is plenty of time to make you beg for my cock, Angel.”
