Chapter 14

Riley

The inside of Mama Rosa’s buzzed with activity—waiters shuttling back and forth with plates or drinks in hand, wearing their red, black, and green uniforms. The overhead lights were low, and the front window had an unbelievable view of the lights and the ocean.

A gibbous moon hung in the inky sky, which was spattered with stars yet muted by the brilliance of Miami.

“Nervous?” Veronica asked and took my hand. She gave it a squeeze. “If this guy likes you as much as I think he does, he’ll be here.”

I managed a smile. Hell yeah, I was nervous. One Long Island Iced Tea hadn’t changed that, and I’d already started on my next one. Beads of condensation raced down the glass, across the foot, over the lip and right onto the cream tablecloth.

It was easier to focus on water beads chasing each other than the butterflies in my stomach.

God, it was just Jax. And this was just Veronica, but it felt important. It felt like a moment that would change everything, except it wasn’t. It was just dinner with a guy and my best friend.

Veronica shimmied to the music, creaking her chair with the motion and grinning at me, a goofy smile plastered on her face. “This is the most fun I’ve had in weeks,” she said. “I never come out.”

“I know,” I replied. “Glad my eternal anxiety could bring you some joy.”

“Are you kidding? This is great!” Veronica laughed and patted my arm this time. “Everything’s going to be fine. Your guy’s going to arrive and we’ll all have fun chatting and—” She cut off and stared past me to the entrance of the restaurant.

I turned, those butterflies climbing my throat.

There he was.

Jax King strode through the doors, followed closely by a stocky guy in a suit with dark hair and chiseled features. Every eye in the place focused on the men—it was as if two Greek gods had sailed down from the heavens and graced the restaurant with their presence.

At least, they looked like gods.

Jax spotted me, and his face lit up from the inside. A grin tugged at the corners of those lips. He took two steps forward, his gaze dancing to Veronica, then stopped dead. The smile vanished.

“What the fuck?” Veronica whispered. “What the actual fuck?”

“What’s going on?” I asked and looked over at her. “Why—? Do you know him? Ron?”

“You said his name was Jax.”

“His name is Jax. What the hell is this?”

Veronica pushed her seat back and stood up, the cheery music now a mockery. “No, it’s not.” She strode from our table toward the men, her blonde hair whipping out behind her, her heels grinding into the floorboards.

Jax squared his shoulders, set his jaw and towered—doing what he did best, apparently.

Not Jax? That’s not his name? I scraped my chair back too and hurried after Veronica.

She’d already reached him.

“—liar!” The tail-end of her sentence caught me right in the core. Veronica’s expression was a thunderhead. She raised a fist at Jax, and he caught her wrist, easily, held it fast. “You’ll only end up hurting her.”

“Relax,” Jax said, in that rumble that had been my comfort up until about two seconds ago. “You’re making a scene.”

“I don’t fucking care if I’m making a scene,” Veronica replied. “You’re lying to my best friend. You’ll tell her the truth, right now, or I’ll—I’ll tell her myself.”

“Uh—hi, there,” Jax’s dark-haired friend spoke up. “Hi, listen, we’re disturbing everybody’s meal in here. Let’s take this outside.” He offered a bright smile, and Veronica blinked at him, sucked in a breath.

“Fine,” she said, and wrenched her arm from Jax’s grasp. “Fine.”

“I’m Bane, by the way,” the guy said and nodded to me. “Nice to meet you.”

“No, not nice to meet you.” Ron was on a rampage. “Not nice, at all. If I can’t trust him, I can’t trust you.” She stormed toward the exit, and waiters jumped out of her path, a yell here, a curse there.

I followed her, as did Jax and his buddy.

What the hell was this? Why was she so damn angry?

We burst out into the evening air, and I walked to Veronica’s side, nerves bouncing in my step. “What’s going on?” I whispered. “Veronica, what’s—?”

“Why don’t you ask him?” She pointed to Jax, who’d stopped nearby, but not close enough to impose. He had his hands in the pockets of his tight jeans. He tilted his head to one side, smirking now.

“What’s there to ask, Veronica?” He replied. “Huh? You’re clearly on a fucking warpath. I say, go for it. Spew your guts all over the sidewalk. Squeal like you’ve done so many times before.”

“Fuck you, shitheel!” She lurched forward, and I caught her arm, held her back. “Fuck you!”

“That’s enough,” I said, loud, but not shouting. Someone had to remain in control of this weird-ass situation. “Calm the hell down. Somebody had better tell me what the heck is going on, right now.”

Quiet. Bane shifted and shrugged his shoulders. Clearly, he was as clueless as I was. Jax’s smirk remained in place, that easy confidence that came so naturally to him.

Veronica took a deep breath—it wasn’t soothing, judging by her white knuckles—and pointed at Jax again. “His name is Cole Jackson,” Veronica said.

“Jackson?” That was Veronica’s surname. Oh god, were they married? My heart dropped so hard it threatened to penetrate my diaphragm.

“He’s my brother.”

A swell of relief and then…“Wait, what?”

“He’s my brother,” Veronica repeated.

“You don’t have a brother,” I replied.

“Yes, I do. I never speak about him because of who he is or was or whatever. I don’t know. We lost touch after he abandoned me, went to live with our uncle and aunt, then started stealing from people and ended up in prison.”

That was a lot of information to process in the span of a sentence.

I sifted through it for the important nuggets. “What?” There wasn’t enough context. I searched Jax’s face, but it was emotionless now. His gaze fixed on Veronica.

“I didn’t abandon you,” he replied. “We were separated.”

“Separated by whom? You could’ve refused to do what the social worker said.”

“No, I couldn’t,” Jax replied.

Oh god, it’s true. His name’s not Jax. His name is Cole or—I don’t even know this guy. Prison? Strip clubs? It’s too much.

“Yeah, you could—”

“Veronica,” he growled, “it’s not my fault Nana Jackson wanted you and not me. It’s not my fault our uncle wanted me and not you. None of it’s my fault. I’m not going to defend myself against your bullshit accusations.”

“Then leave. And leave Riley alone,” my best friend continued. “She deserves better than a scumbag like you.”

“Easy,” Bane said and lifted a palm. “No need to get personal.”

“Personal?!” Veronica huffed then turned toward me. “Listen to me, Riley, listen. This man is not who you think he is.” She took both my hands in hers and shook them. “Last I heard he was in prison, OK? He’s an ex-con. God knows how he got all the money to buy strip clubs or—I don’t know. Just that you can’t trust him. He’s been lying to you.”

“I haven’t lied about a damn thing,” Jax growled. Or was it Cole? What did I call him now?

This was too complicated.

“Cole—”

“That’s not my name,” he grunted.

“What, you had it changed? You’re that desperate to escape our family, huh?” Veronica cast that at him, baited and ready to reel in the catch.

“Enough of this shit,” Jax replied. “Riley, come with me, and I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell you what you need to know without the high-pitched shrieking from my sister over there.”

I stayed put.

What the hell was I supposed to do in this situation? Walk away from my friend, who was clearly distraught? Veronica shook her head at me so vigorously a piece of her hair whacked her across the lips. “Don’t, Riley. Please. You can’t trust him. I’ll explain it all back at my apartment. Please.”

Or did I go with Jax, who’d told me basically nothing about himself since I’d moved into his apartment? He’d encouraged me to look him up, and he’d been truthful about his business endeavors, but his actual past? His history? That was murky.

Each time we’d spoken he’d gotten me to open up about my past but never discussed much about his, except for that one night after we’d made lo—had sex, and he’d mentioned his mother’s death.

A car passed by in the street, headlights flashing as it drove over a hump, and I snapped out of my confused reverie.

Control.

I had to be measured about this. Not jump to dumb conclusions. I cared about Jax more than I should, and that scared me witless. If anything, this little secret was a wake-up call—What had I been thinking?

That I could have it all with some dude I barely knew?

Be rational. Be calm. Come on, Riley, you can do this.

I took a breath and focused on Veronica first, then switched my gaze to Jax.

He was tense all over, shoulders broad and strong beneath his neat, cotton shirt. That demon tattoo peeked out at me again. “Riley,” he said.

“Don’t talk to her!” Veronica snapped.

I took her hand and drew her attention back to me. Whatever this was, it was about more than just me right now. My friend was clearly freaked about something in their shared past. “Calm down,” I said. “I’m fine and so are you, OK?”

“Please, don’t go back to his apartment. Come with me, OK? It’s not safe to be around him.”

It’d been safe all week. I’d never felt safer. I met Jax’s gaze again. “I’m going with Veronica tonight. We need to talk about all of this.”

“We need to talk about all of this.” He took a step toward me, that same powerful stride he’d always had. “Don’t go where I can’t find you, Riley. Where I can’t follow. I don’t make excuses for myself, but I’m not what she says I am.”

“Liar!” Veronica snapped, again.

“I have to go,” I replied.

Bottom line, no matter what I felt for Jax, I’d known him a week and Veronica for years. And he was the one who terrified me, not physically, but emotionally, simply because he could ruin everything. He could crumble the walls around my heart.

And what if Veronica was right, and he was some master manipulator who’d wormed his way into my pants? After all, he had invited me to be his roommate on the basis of what? A pole dance he’d walked in on uninvited at my studio.

“Come on,” Veronica said, and tugged on my arm. “My car. Now.” I walked away from Jax, my heart sinking past my diaphragm now, right into my stomach and lower, until it was just about lost to the world.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked. “Your brother? Prison? Ron, I’m going to need some answers here.” She took the car keys out of her purse and dropped them on the sidewalk. I scooped them up for her, walked to the driver’s side and unlocked. She was way too shaken to drive.

I was too, but not anywhere close to the level she was at. Veronica trembled and opened the passenger side door without complaint, then she got into the car.

I spared a final glance for Jax.

He stood outside the front of the restaurant, staring at me, his gaze hotter than it’d ever been, his fists clenched at his sides.

Who are you?