Page 55 of Redeeming Violet

Jaxon stood and offered his hand to the man that had saved me. “I never got to properly thank you,” he said.

“Glad Tex could get me there in time. Happy to help,” Cutter returned. “I got shit to do. I’ll see you around sometime.” Then he turned to me. “Take care of yourself, Violet, and remember what I told you. One minute at a time.”

“Thanks again, Cutter. And I’m sorry for thinking you were such a douchebag.”

He chuckled, then his face turned to granite. “Any man who tries to buy another person isn’t a man; he isn’t a douchebag either. He’s a vile piece of shit, and as far as I’m concerned should meet a slow and painful death.”

With a lift of his chin he walked to Zane and the two of them started speaking in low hushed voices I couldn’t hear. Declan took the opportunity to walk over to me and Jaxon. My brother pulled me in for a hug and the waterworks started again.

“I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t stop him before he got to you,” he said, wrapping his arms tightly around me. “So fucking sorry he put his hands on you. I’m so damn proud of how strong you are.”

“I’m not strong, Declan. I knew as soon as I left that building I was going to break.”

“None of that matters now. You’re safe.”

We continued to hug until Jaxon cleared his throat. “You ready? Traffic is gonna be a nightmare.”

“I’ll see you when you get back to Maryland,” Declan told me.

“You’re staying?”

“Yeah, sis, I’m staying. I talked to Zane. I’m gonna be doing some part-time work with him.”

I couldn’t stop the smile that formed. “That will be great. Maybe I can move closer. It’s not like I have a job anymore.”

“You are moving closer,” Jaxon cut it.

“What?”

“When we get back. We’re going to Virginia, packing your shit, and you’re moving closer. I know this great old colonial that has six bedrooms. I’m sure there’s space for you there.”

“Huh?” What the hell was he talking about?

“Never mind. We’ll talk about it later,” Jaxon laughed, and tugged me to his side.

Zane was standing with Linc, a thoughtful expression on his face as he stared at me. I gave him a tight smile but was too afraid to talk to him. Jaxon might’ve said he didn’t think Eric’s death was my fault, but Zane’s body language said something else entirely. Zane being the type of man you didn’t fuck with, I opted not to stop and chat with him.

Jaxon and I had almost made it to the door when Linc jogged over and scared the hell out of me when he pulled me to his chest and lowered his head to whisper in my ear.

“Twice now you’ve saved my wife’s life. I’m forever in your debt. You ever need anything it’s yours. Anything. Anytime.”

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t. My throat was clogged, and I didn’t want to turn into a babbling fool again. Instead, I nodded in acknowledgement and hugged him back.

“You have your own fucking woman, let go of mine,” Jaxon growled and Linc laughed.

“Give him hell,” he told me, then let go.

His woman? What the hell was that about?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jaxon

The decision to drive Violet up to Los Angeles for a few days was a gut reaction to what had happened. But the more I thought about it, the more it became clear we both needed this time. Together. Just the two of us. Call it instinct, but I also didn’t think she could handle being on the same plane that was transporting Eric’s body. It was hard enough for the rest of us knowing Eric was in the cargo hold in a pine box. That knowledge would’ve sent Violet into a tailspin. The next few days were going to be eye opening for her. Even though she’d worked at the Agency, she still had a lack of understanding about combat and the men that willingly put themselves in harm’s way. Those were the very reasons Ortega was able to exploit her the way he had.

I settled us in the Mustang convertible I’d rented, giving her a baseball cap and sunglasses. I had to say, she looked fucking hot in mirrored aviators and my black death dealers hat. We hit the 5 North and she leaned her head back with her face to the sky. It was a beautiful sunny Southern California day, not a cloud in the sky and temperatures hovering around eighty. An hour into our drive we’d passed the 405 interchange and traffic nearly came to a stop.

Nothing says welcome home like the 405.