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“It’s okay,” she whispers, moving closer to me.
I raise my hand without having to think about it, wrapping it around her and squeezing her tight against me. Even now, my body roars at me to stop dwelling on the past and start indulging in this beautiful gift of my woman. Even now, she stirs me to animal hunger, but I manage to beat it back, my focus returning to Tyrone.
“Our business started small, a website where everyday people could sell second-hand stuff. Then Tyrone got this idea to start contracting our own couriers and providing a fast-track service throughout the city. It was a stupid proposition, in hindsight. How were we going to pay for all these couriers with a commission from second-hand items?”
I sigh, grinding my teeth. “But he was slick back then, and he managed to convince me. It was only later – after doing some digging, after wising the hell up – I realized what the little worm was actually doing.”
“What?” Jessie asks her tone of voice telling me to take my time.
She’ll always wait for me, the same way I will always wait for her.
“He was paying the couriers to talk their way into our customers’ homes when they made the deliveries. You know how it is. You deliver a scarf to a lonely old lady and she invites you in for a mug of something warm, simply because she needs the company, simply because it’s a damn tragedy some people have to grow old alone.”
I clear my throat, forcing the emotion away. I wonder if Jessie knows I’m talking about us, about how we’re never going to face that fate, how I’ll always be there for her. Always.
“Once they were inside, they would excuse themselves and go to the bathroom. On the way, they’d give the place a quick once-over, checking for valuables, and then they’d crack a window or steal a key… and later, they’d return and ransack the place. They did this six goddamn times before I connected the dots.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Jessie whispers.
I turn swiftly on her, shaking my head. “I can, Jessie. I’m sorry, but I have to. It was my business. I let that piece of shit dupe me.”
“What did you do when you found out?” she says.
“I drew up a contract to get him out of the company, got him shitfaced, and made him sign it in front of witnesses… witnesses who’d attest to him being stone-cold sober. I know, it’s not exactly aboveboard, but I couldn’t have that piece of filth using my business to hurt people. No damn way. And then I gave all the evidence I’d gathered to the police.”
“But he never went to prison?” she asks.
“A couple of the couriers did. But no, the snake slithered out of it. He used the money he’d made stealing from innocent people to pay for a good lawyer. He ended up with community service.”
“And then your company became super successful, and he’s wanted a piece ever since.” She wraps her arms around me, hugging me close, laying her cheek against my chest. “I’m sorry, Jax. I’m so sorry he did that.”
I kiss the top of her head, inhaling her scent, waiting for my anger to dissipate as I melt into my woman.
Chapter Fifteen
Jessie
I can’t stop thinking about Jaxon for the rest of the day, the pain in his tone when he told me what his business partner did. My mind goes over the passion in his voice when he said innocent people, showing me how fundamentally good his heart is… despite his wealth, despite his success, he still cares about the little guys.
I knew this on some level from all his charitable donations, but the cynic in me cautioned that CEOs often donate to charity to stroke their public image.
But Jaxon wasn’t faking it when he expressed his anger at Tyrone’s actions. I could feel his rage, emanating from him, a near physical force.
And then that small confidence inside of me – the crazy part that tells me we’re going to have a family and a future and a whole wonderful life together – ordered me to go to him, to offer what solace I could. We held each other on the roof for what felt like forever until finally, the buzzing of his cellphone informed him a meeting was about to start.
“Later,” he said, a promise in the gruffly given word.
Later.
The word has bounced around inside my head all day, as I wonder if he’s going to expect more than a date. Or if he’s going to be patient and wait for me to submerge slowly into the idea of us becoming one.
I just can’t freaking imagine what it’s going to be like when it’s time to go all the way, even if my body pulses for it. Every time I even think about it, I feel my body responding, telling me to put aside my silly nervousness and give myself to him at the first chance I get.
