“You not coming back with us?” Jaxon asks.
She shakes her head. “I’ve got a bank run I’m doing for Mom. Chantel and Blake are home though.”
Jaxon just nods, and then starts back down the hall, pulling me after him. My brain is still reeling from everything that just happened with his younger sister, but my feet are moving down the hall, no pauses.
But just before we get to his mother’s door, Jaxon hesitates. He drops his head a little, and I watch as his brows furrow a bit.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, already on high alert.
He shakes his head. “I just feel…weird. I…” He shakes his head again. “I guess I’m just nervous.”
I place my hand on his cheek and brush my thumb over it. “It’s okay,” I say quietly. “We’ll get through this, together.”
He gives an appreciative nod, but there’s still something off about the look in his eyes. But he enters the code in the door and pushes it open.
It’s exactly as I remembered it before. The penthouse is black and white, elegant and hard at the same time. Vivian’s butler is in the kitchen and it looks like he is preparing lunch.
I hear Jaxon breathing a little harder and glance over at him. His brows are even more furrowed and there’s a look of fight in the set of his lips. His eyes flick from one side of the penthouse to the other.
I never would have expected him to be quite this nervous about seeing his mom again. He’s kind of freaking out.
A door opens and Blake, Jaxon’s oldest brother, steps out.
“Well, there is the prodigal son,” he says. He looks annoyed and angry, and it makes everything in me bristle. “I think you might have forgotten who you were for a bit there, Jaxon.”
My husband opens his mouth to defend himself, but just then, Chantel also steps out into the living area. “So, you really did it? Went off and married someone you met four weeks ago?”
“Nice to see you too, brother- and sister-in-law,” I say with a smug smile.
I need to be careful. These are dangerous people. But I’m down for a little danger right now. Especially when it comes to laying claim on Jaxon.
But Jaxon’s breathing hitches sharper, and the next moment, I hear the sound of heels clicking on marble.
I look over and see Vivian Gray step out of her office.
Everything about Jaxon’s body locks up. His shoulders go rigid. His arms stiffen. His eyes lock on her with an intensity I’ve never seen in them before.
And suddenly his hand, which is wrapped around mine, is sonically hot. I drop it instinctively and look down.
Light has splintered all over it, and I can already see the heat rising from his skin.
What the hell?
Now he’s starting to lose control?
I step forward a bit, blocking the sight of his hand from the view of his family.
Jaxon breathes harder, harsh and loud, as it rips in and out of his nostrils.
Crap. Crap, crap, crap.
He’s going to lose control here, right in front of his family. And then what do we do?
“Welcome home,” Vivian says. As always, her tone is cool and even, always in absolute control. “I trust you had a nice visit with your family, Serena?”
“It was wonderful,” I answer smoothly, even though my brain is playing through all the different ways this might go down. “They were so excited and happy to see us. They took quite a liking to Jaxon.”
Vivian’s eyes shift over to her son and narrow slightly. “Are you feeling okay, Jaxon? You look a little…off.”
His jaw is clenched so tight I’m sure all of his teeth are cracking in his mouth. He lets out another hard breath through his nostrils. He’s pausing way too long.
“I’m fine,” he says through slightly clenched teeth.
Every single one of his family members stares at him with narrowed eyes.
Jaxon is an exceptionally good liar, so they can tell something is obviously amiss.
I wish I knew what the hell was going on with him.
“So, are congratulations in order?” Vivian asks. Her left eyebrow arches just slightly.
I don’t know what is going on with Jaxon right now, but obviously he can’t get it together right now. I have to step up and take control of the situation right now before it gets any worse.
So I put on a bright, proud smile. I step forward just one step, drawing the attention to me, and hold up my left hand. “The deal was sealed last night. He can’t get rid of me now.”
“Way to go, Jaxon,” Blake teases. “You pinned down the queen of the dark.”
Jaxon’s eyes slide over to his older brother, but he doesn’t even crack a smile.
“I really didn’t think he’d go through with it, I have to be honest,” Chantel says. “This is the man who has gone on one date in the past three years. I didn’t think he had the guts to jump in with both feet.”
I smile and turn to face Jaxon. I keep up the façade as I grip the front of his shirt and pull him toward me just slightly. Really, I’m checking his temperature. He’s still raging hot, but at least it doesn’t feel like he’s going to burn down the entire building. “He practically begged me to do it last night. I think he would have done it a week ago, but North Dakota has a five-day waiting period on marriage licenses.”
I hope I’m correct on that guess. Knowing Vivian, she’ll have one of her minions fact check me later.
“He hauled me straight to the Little White Chapel as soon as we drove back into Las Vegas,” I say with a smile as I look up into his eyes.
They’re whiter than they should be. I can still see something like panic in them, and from the way his body quakes just a bit, it’s obvious he’s barely hanging on to his control.
He could burst into flames at any second.
“Really?” Chantel asks with an annoyed, disbelieving tone. “The Little White Chapel, Jaxon? I thought you loved this woman. Couldn’t you at least have taken her to The Cosmopolitan?”
“It’s okay,” I say with a smile as I step to his side again. I take his hand so I can continue to monitor his temperature. I can barely stand to touch him. “The place didn’t really matter to me. So long as he had a ring on his finger by the end of the night, and I gained a new last name.”
That sends silence through the penthouse.
The Gray family is possessive of their name and those who are allowed into the circle of trust. They didn’t get any choice in this matter. I can tell it’s making them uneasy that I’ve seemingly seized what is theirs.
“You’re awfully quiet, my son,” Vivian says as she takes a step closer to him. She holds his gaze, evaluating him. He just stares back at her, and he starts squeezing my hand tighter and tighter with every step she takes closer to him. “Are you sure you’re alright? If you have any regrets about last night—”
“Not a single one,” he says in a sharp hiss. Suddenly, he steps around her, dragging me with him, and he makes his way to the couch, adjacent to the one Blake and Chantel are sitting on. He drops down into it, and actually pulls me down into his lap. He wraps one arm around my waist, holding onto me so tight, I’ll likely be bruised later, and takes my hand in his other.
As I look around the room, not a single one of us can hide the awkwardness from our faces. No one seems to know what to say or do about Jaxon’s strange behavior.