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One thing. All it could take was one thing to ruin everything and all I could focus on was how rude I had been to Marina yesterday. Was this my fault? Did I push her too far?
“He… what would he do?” I asked weakly.
“Jax?” Luke slowly sank down onto the sofa. “I… he’s been fighting so hard for Bonnie. Constantly trying to prove he’s changed, that he’s a good man and a decent father. But it drains him. I see it every day. Fuck. We were…” Luke glanced up at Theo. “We were going to surprise him tonight.”
“With what?”
“We want to make him a partner at Helix. Promote him to be equal to us, not that his title has ever stopped him being equal, but he’s so fucking good at his job,” Luke explained. “And he saved my life. And on paper, it would make him look even better against Marina. That wasn’t why we were doing it, but it would help.”
“We’ve been planning the paperwork for months,” Theo added. “It was the best present we could think to give him and now…”
“Now you’re scared all of this new pressure from Marina has cracked him and he’s found peace at the bottom of a bottle.” I quietly filled in the blanks and they both looked at me, then nodded. “I argued with her,” I added softly.
“What?” Theo approached. “What happened?”
“She—yesterday, I was stressed, and she cornered me. She was saying shit about him, and I got angry. I called her a bitch, I called her so many awful things, and—is this my fault? Did she take it out on him?”
“Oh, Summer,” Theo chuckled softly, and he pulled me into a tight bear hug. “We’ve all called her that and much worse to her face. This isn’t on you.”
“Then where is he?” I gasped against Theo’s chest. His grip tightened, and I buried into his shoulder.
“Fuck this,” Luke growled. “I don’t care about Marina or how this looks. We have to look for him. Get the whole resort out if we have to.”
Theo pulled away and a deep sigh escaped him, his internal struggle clear on his handsome face. “Alright. I’ll call them.”
“I’m going to look for him myself,” Luke declared as he moved to the coat hanger, grabbing his jacket.
“I’ll come too!” I pulled away from Theo and darted over, mostly fueled by the guilt of my words to Marina.
“No,” Luke began as he pulled open the door. “You should stay here just in case—”
His words stuttered to a halt, and I bumped into him as he held the door open.
Jax stood on the other side, his head hanging low and stance unsteady. He had one arm up braced against the door frame and his clothes were utterly soaked. It wasn’t until he slowly lifted his head and gave a crooked smile that I glimpsed his beaten face, and my heart dropped to my gut.
“Lil’ help?” Jax slurred and he sagged forward into Luke’s waiting arms.
25
SUMMER
“I’m okay,” Jax said weakly as Luke dragged in him inside.
“Shut the fuck up. No, you’re not,” Luke growled. With one arm around Jax’s waist, Luke hauled him inside, slammed the door, and then half carried him toward the couch in the lounge. He set him down on the seat closest to the fire where Theo was by his side instantly, working to remove his soaked jacket.
“What happened?” Theo asked in a tone similar to the warm one he used on Kane. “Where were you?”
“Let me… let me catch my breath,” Jax gasped, and a pained groan escaped past his gritted teeth as his jacket was finally removed.
I’d not moved from my spot by the door from the moment I had seen his wounded face. My heart had fallen and an icy chill swept over my skin. He lookedawful,and with it came a hundred different terrible scenarios in my mind as to what could have happened. It wasn’t until his groan of pain that I snapped out of my trance and into action.
I ran into the kitchen, pulled the cupboards apart for the medical kit and some water, then ran back into the lounge. Luke sat on the coffee table across from Jax while Theo sat beside him, both men crowding around like a protective shield. I slid onto the table next to Luke and popped open the case.
“Let me see,” I said gently, my fingers trembling as Jax gave me a small smile that pulled at some of the grazes and wounds on his face. Fuck I didn’t know where to start. Never had I been more thankful for first aid training.
“What happened, Jax?” Theo asked firmly.
I scooted forward to the edge of the table and began to dab gently at his bleeding wounds with some cotton. His skin was chilled to the touch and concern churned the acid in my gut.
