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“We barely know each other.”
“And yet you’re coming to Maine with me. Why can’t I go to Germany with you?”
“Yes,” she says, her lips curve, those beautiful green eyes of hers warm, her voice heavy with sleepiness. “Why can’t you?” Her lashes lower and I watch her features soften into slumber. I watch her sleep but I don’t sleep. That damn journal and folder call to me. After an hour, I can’t take it. I sit up and I reach for the folder.
Chapter forty-one
Jax
Two hours later, Emma’s still asleep when I shove everything I’ve been reading back into the seat pocket. I stand up and walk to the back of the plane and press my hands to the wall, fighting off demons, fighting off the need to punch the wall. There’s not only plenty in those documents to prove malice toward my brother, but there’s reason to believe that malice extends to me and Emma.
I force myself to rein in my anger. I don’t want to tell her what I learned until I have time to connect a few dots. I push off the wall and walk to the front of the plane, sitting down next to Savage who has a bottle of North Whiskey next to him. I pick it up and down a few swallows before I fill him in on everything I now know. He whistles and grabs his laptop. “I’ll talk to Blake. He’ll get us answers by the time we’re on the ground.”
I take another swig of whiskey but say nothing. I get up and return to my seat next to Emma. I’m exhausted from not sleeping last night, and clearly, she is, too. I need to be fresh when I deal with this hell I’ve unlocked. I lower my seat and roll to my side, facing her. I watch her sleep a few minutes,and damn it, she’s beautiful and sweet, and smart. She doesn’t deserve any of this while me, well, I’m like Eric. I’m not all that good of a man but damn if a woman like Emma makes me want to be.
I shut my eyes and Emma’s hand settles on my face. My lashes lift but hers are shut. I can’t even explain the emotion that pumps through me in that moment but I need this woman in my life. I shut my eyes and pull her hand to me. I’m not letting go and based on everything I just found out, that means war, but bring it on.
Emma
I wake to find Jax sitting up with coffee in his hand, and for a moment I just stare at him, because why wouldn’t I? He’s gorgeous. “Did you sleep?” I ask, sitting up, my gaze catching on his forearm where his sleeve is rolled up, that North tattoo meaning more to me now than ever. It’s pride. It’s family. It’s every reason he’s fighting for answers.
“A few hours,” he says, turning to face me. “We’re about to land. How do you feel?”
“Like I need to pee and I don’t even want to know how I look right now.”
“Beautiful, baby,” he promises, leaning over to kiss me. “Hurry. We land just a few miles from the castle. We’ll be out of the plane and there in no time.”
My spirits lift. “I can’t wait to see it.”
He winks and helps me to my feet and by the time I’m back, we’re in descent. It’s not thirty minutes later, and we’re gathering our things to exit the plane, which means gathering those files I took from my father and brother. A part of me wants to set them aside until tomorrow. I just want to see Jax’s home and be with him right now.
We exit into darkness and load up in an SUV again. “You’ll be able to see the ocean and the land tomorrow,” Jax says, pulling me close. “It’s stunning.”
“I can’t wait.”
We travel winding roads and in a few minutes the castle is in view, lit up with spotlights and my Godit’s stunning. It’s medieval, with two towers, and white stone that seems to go on for days. I point to the right. “Is that a lighthouse attached to the castle?”
Jax seems to stiffen, a barely-there flex of muscles that I don’t understand. “No. It’s the Century Tower.”
He doesn’t offer more, and I glance up at him but he leans up to talk to the driver. Avoiding me? Yes, I think so, but why? A giant black steel gate opens and the driver pulls us past it, around another winding path until we are at the front door that includes a massive stone staircase and a towering wood door. A doorman opens the doors on either side, and I glance at Jax. “It’s amazing.”
“It is,” he agrees. “I’ll come around for you.”
I nod, but I’m eager to see more and I slide to the edge of the seat and out of the car, greeting the man holding my door. Jax appears and offers me his arm, his eyes warm, whatever spikedthat reaction in the vehicle now gone. “Welcome to my castle,” he says.
I smile and we start up the stairs, the cool night washing over us, the ocean air depositing salt on my lips. At the top of the stairs, a man in a suit greets Jax and punches a button. The door lifts upward, dungeon style, and then we’re entering an incredible round room with stone floors, and four arched hallways to choose a path.
“Jax, thank God.” A pretty blonde rushes from a doorway to our right, her black dress hugging every curve, of which she has many. “I have a problem. I’ve been trying to call you.” She glances at me. “Hello.” Her voice is stiff, lips pursed. “You are?”
Hated apparently, I think.
“Emma,” Jax says. “Emma, this is Jill, my operations manager.”
She doesn’t say another word to me. She casts all her attention on Jax and her look is full of female admiration. “Can I see you alone?”
Jax’s fingers flex where they have settled at my hip and he turns to look at me. “Give me just a minute.”
I don’t like this. I don’t likeher. I feel like I walked in on a lovers’ spat. “Okay.”
