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“Jamie,” Rix replied.
His dad turned to Judge. “Right, got you all a car. We’ve got suites at the Rosewood. Do you want to get settled in or…head out and maybe see your mom?”
“Do you have your own car or a driver?” he asked back.
“A driver for now. But—”
Judge didn’t let him finish, he encompassed Chloe and Rix with the same look. “You two go with Dad to the hotel. I’ll go out to Lucas and start looking into shit.”
Lucas being his hometown.
Or the one he grew up in. It was a great place with great people and he still had friends there.
But it was never really home.
To his command, he got two versions of the same answer.
A low, “No,” from Rix.
A sharp, “I don’t think so,” from Chloe.
But Chloe took it further.
Turning to his dad, she said, “We’ll check in and settle in. Judge needs food. And then, will you come with us to the funeral home?”
“Of course,” Jamie murmured, watching her closely now.
“Babe—” Judge started.
“Shush,” she shushed him without even looking at him. Her attention was still on his father because she wasn’t done with him. “I’d like to know where AJ Oakley is right now.”
Jamie shifted, and Judge saw it.
She had his approval on sight.
She had his attention when she got bossy.
He was understanding right now she’d have his admiration in about thirty more seconds.
“He’s aware this has happened, but I can’t say where he is right now.”
“We know he’s aware,” Chloe retorted. “He’s called Judge no less than fifteen times since you phoned, seemingly incapable of understanding Judge knows he’s calling because his name comes up on the screen, but he doesn’t want to talk to him, which is why Judge hasn’t picked up. I assume you’re going through your own emotions right now, but someone needs to tell that man to back down. When and if Judge wants to see him, that’s Judge’s decision. It always is, but now, it definitely is. So who’s going to share this with him? You? Or me?”
Rix moved and Judge looked to him to see he’d slightly turned his upper body away, but fully turned his head.
Probably so no one would see him laughing at this appropriate but still inappropriate moment.
“Although I would very much like to witness your end of a phone call with my father, I’ll take care of that,” Jamie told her.
“Fine,” she said tersely, glancing away and noting the staff were bringing their bags. “Then let’s move this along.” She tipped her head back to Judge. “And you’re eating, chéri.”
“Whatever you say, General.”
Her lips pursed in annoyance.
He bent and kissed them.
She allowed this, but when he lifted away, she was right back to his father. “He refused breakfast and wouldn’t eat anything on the plane. Fortunately, Rix was there, and he kept the attendants busy servicing his every need.”
Jamie made a pained noise as her meaning wasn’t even close to veiled, a noise very similar to the one Judge made as he swallowed laughter.
Rix entered the conversation. “Uh, excuse me, but that was private.”
“If you wanted it to be private, you shouldn’t have been so loud,” Chloe shot back.
Rix shrugged. “She was pretty.”
“Does the level of their attractiveness correlate with the level of your racket?”
“Well…yeah,” he replied.
“You are not to be believed,” she retorted.
Rix grinned.
She clicked her teeth then turned back to Judge. “Are you okay to drive?”
“My mom died, I didn’t.”
The hilarity he knew she’d forced, and Rix had played along with to elevate the mood, evaporated.
“I think I want Rix driving anyway,” she said gently.
“I know Dallas, he doesn’t.”
“He can hear fine, so he’ll follow directions.”
“Whatever,” he said, then to his dad. “Keys?”
“The fob is in the car.”
And the car was a Jaguar SUV into which Jamie’s airplane staff were currently loading Rix’s chair.
“You’re shotgun,” he told Chloe.
“You should sit up front to direct Rix.”
“He can hear fine, baby, if I’m up front or in the back. You…are…shotgun.”
She nodded immediately.
With nothing further, Judge moved to the car.
His woman and friend followed him.
His father, though, stood and watched.
* * *
Judge was unsurprised that the suite they were given had two bedrooms, one off each end of a large living room area that also had a four-seater table and massive bar.
Chloe undoubtedly advised his dad that the accommodations needed to be such that Rix wasn’t too far.
She was totally overreacting, but this was her gig. It gave her something to do. Something to turn her mind to. Something that made her feel better.
And Judge was all for that.
They were barely in with their bags before there was a knock on the door.
Judge stood back and wondered, as they both moved quickly to the door, if Rix and Chloe would duke it out as to who would get to open it.
Rix glowered down at her and won the Protect Judge Battle.
