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***
"There's one thing I'm foggy on, Jax." My dad stirs another teaspoon of sugar into his second cup of coffee. So far the conversation has been going well but that could change at the drop of a hat depending on which direction my father decides to steer things.
"What's that, sir?" Jax sips on his coffee. I can tell it's not up to his standards because he's barely touched it.
"Ivy tells me that you own part of Mark's business?" He pushes the question with an even tone.
"That's right." Jax nods and offers nothing beyond that.
"But she also said that you own part of that jewelry store that sells her trinkets." He leans slightly forward in his chair and I know that the horizon is about to change. Things are headed into darker territory.
"That's also correct." Again Jax is being vague. He's not going to elaborate on anything without some coaxing.
"How does that work?"
"What exactly do you mean?" Jax glances at his watch and I curse under my breath. He's becoming increasingly uncomfortable and we haven't even gotten into the hard questions yet.
"He owns a lot of different businesses, dad." I decide to move things along. I hope my answer will be enough to appease my father's curiosity.
"He can speak for himself." My dad isn't going to back down from this. "I want him to explain why he needs to take Mark's business away from him."
Jax clears his throat and shifts in his chair so he's facing my father directly. "I'm not taking it away from Mark, sir. I'm taking it back from him."
"What's the difference?" He isn't buying Jax's charm like most people do.
I feel Jax rest his hand on my thigh and give it a slight squeeze. "Mark and my father were partners for years." Jax takes a deep breath before
he continues, "my dad died last year and when he did he asked me to take back control of the company because he felt Mark was neglecting it."
"Go on." My dad gestures with his hand for Jax to continue talking.
"I tried to talk reason with Mark but he wasn't receptive to that. I wanted us to work together to rebuild the company." Jax runs his finger along the chipped rim of his mug. "So I had to do what was necessary to get it back into my hands and Ivy is helping me with that."
"Do you think your dad would be proud of you?" There's a definite softness in my father's tone.
"I hope so." Jax peers beyond my father's gaze to the wall behind him. "That's what I hope for. That I can make him proud and save the company he worked so hard to create."
"I wish you luck with that." My dad rises from the table. "I'm going to rest for a bit now. I'll see you at the restaurant later for the party?"
"We'll be there." I stand to embrace him. "Thank you, dad." I whisper in his ear.
He only nods as he walks out of the room.
***
"You're wearing that to my father's birthday party?" I clasp my hand over my mouth as I stare at Jax.
"Um, yeah. Why?" he says smugly with a hint of humor running beneath it.
"You look like a clown." I throw it out there. He does. He's wearing a bright red shirt, jeans and a somewhat tattered and torn paper hat with the words Happy Birthday emblazoned across the front of it.
"So, you don't like red?" He pulls on the hem of the shirt.
I don't respond. I only tilt my chin up slightly in the direction of the hat on his head.
"Oh," he says it with mock surprise. "The hat? You don't think it matches the outfit?"
"Where did you get it?" I turn back around towards the mirror on the wall to finish applying my mascara.
