Our hands still touched, or they would be if the glass wasn’t in the way. Maybe she could sense that I was there. We stared at each other as we caught our breaths. I haven’t come that hard since all those years ago with Quinn.
“I still love you,” I admitted, thankful that she couldn’t hear me. That no one could hear me. Even through her hate and lack of faith in me, I loved her. I didn’t blame her for feeling scared at the time; I just blamed her for not loving me enough to believe in me. “I still fucking love you,” I said to the mirror, bitter and angry, and fucking devastated.
Her bottom lip trembled, and she ripped her hand away from the mirror, and I felt the loss of warmth for her palm against mine. She covered her mouth as a sob broke free. Tears fell all too quickly, and my own eyes burned as I watched her fall apart in a different way.
“Jaxon,” she said again. My eyes focused on her lips as she let little tidbits spill free, “Why? Why did you do this to me?” She slammed her hands on the glass, and it shook. She leaned her forehead against the mirror and continued to cry, to break, to let go. “You were supposed to be my forever.” She held her hand against her heart and wailed. I could almost feel the pain and the torment by the amount of tears dripping down her face. She was letting out all the feelings she let build up over the last ten years.
“I am. I always will be your forever,” I said as emotion broke my voice, then placed my forehead against hers too, wishing I could run in there and hold her, but I had a feeling this mirror was as close as I would get.
I switched one prison cell for another.
Chapter Nine
Quinn
My eyes hurt from crying all night.
I had a weak moment after Jaxon left me last night. My body was hot from lust and rage, and I figured release was all I needed. He was in my mind every second I touched myself. I came with his name leaving my mouth like it always did, and I didn’t want to be strong anymore. I realized I missed him.
I wanted to give in to the heartbreak. I never let myself truly fall apart, and last night, everything slammed into me. The reality of the situation, my harbored feelings for Jaxon, my worry for Brian, and the information Jaxon gave me about Brian using me.
No one had to know about my breakdown, and Jaxon didn’t need to know he turned me on last night. This was a fucked-up situation. I didn’t even have someone to call to let them know I was okay. I was the only one left of the Taylor’s. My parents died a few years ago, leaving me more money than I knew what to do with to add to the amount my grandparents left.
And I only had a few friends at work, but we weren’t close or anything. Everyone thought I was on my monthlong honeymoon exploring the world.
I was exploring something alright and it was how to get the hell out of here, but if what Jaxon said was true, and Brian was using me for my money, I had nowhere to go. Like I’d want to go back to the apartment we shared only to look at it all and see it was a lie.
I wanted to wallow in pity and self-misery today. I was allowed that much. I covered my head with a blanket when a knock at the door sounded, hoping if I didn’t answer, whoever was there would leave.
A key sliding into place clicked, and the door swung open, tapping against the wall. I was going to lay like the dead. Maybe if they thought I was asleep, they would go away.
“I know you’re awake. You’re breathing isn’t steady like someone asleep.”
A voice I hadn’t heard before peaked my curiosity. He sounded young, not so threatening, which was a relief because I didn’t have it in me to be angry all day. I was drained. I sat up, and the sheet fell from my chest. Cold air wrapped around my nipples, and I gasped, snapping my head to look at the stranger when I heard him intake a sharp breath.
Another set of shoes pounded inside the room, and when I looked up, it was Jaxon. And the air dropped to a frigid temperature when he marched toward the man with blonde hair and blue eyes, who was still staring my breasts.
I gathered the sheets and tugged them to my chin, completely forgetting I was naked. I never slept naked, but I was so tired last night that I just crawled into bed and cried myself to sleep.
“You have five seconds to get the fuck out of this room, Heaven. Before I change my mind and decide to kill you for seeing what she looks like.”
I gulped. I wasn’t sure why Jaxon cared, but he was pissed. He shoved Heaven toward the bedroom door, and Heaven gave me a wink, which made me blush.
“Boss, she’s hot. You did—” he didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Jaxon’s fist connected to his face. Heaven staggered and leaned against the wall, touching his lip carefully, and when he pulled his fingers away, he saw it was bleeding.
“Get. Out.” Jaxon punctuated each word as he spoke, trying to gain his composure. It wasn’t working. I could see him shaking from where I sat on the bed.
Heaven held up his hands and backed away toward the door, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth when the blood pooled again. He glanced at me again, and Jaxon stepped into his view. “Don’t even look at her,” Jaxon said, the warning drenched me like ice cold water, and it wasn’t even directed at me.
Heaven seemed to be used to Jaxon’s moods and took his threats in stride, practically bouncing out of the room and shutting the door behind him. Leaving me in the room with an angry beast that wanted to snarl and tear something apart with his bare hands.
I just hoped it wasn’t me.
I swallowed and laid my cheek against my knee, staring at another cart of food, probably filled with my favorites. Jaxon was silent, just standing there with his back turned toward me, but I could tell how furious he was. His body practically vibrated with fury. He wanted to unleash it, but he held it back, and that was what made me cower against the headboard.
Was it this the anger that killed his sister?
Was this the anger that would be the death of me?
It was like he could sense that I was scared. He turned his head, and the sharp line of his jaw stretched along the curve of his shoulder, and his cheekbones were carved out of stone, the light hitting the sharp points just right to make them appear hard as stone.
“You don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m the last person that would hurt you.”
You’ve already hurt me, I thought. The sentence came with the memory of his getting arrested, and his Miranda Rights read to him.
“You need to be more careful. The guys haven’t seen a woman like you in a long time,” he said, finally turning around so I could see him.
Oh, yeah, like that was supposed to make me feel better.
“I’d just be a means to an end for them,” I said off-handedly.
“No, that’s not what I mean.”
“Are you going to tell me what you meant?”
He stared at the ceiling for a minute before ungluing himself from the spot he was in. The closer he got, the more the warm feeling returned, throbbing my clit. His hair wasn’t slicked back today, so he looked rough around the edges. His shirt was black, short-sleeve, and stretched across his chest. The shirt brought my attention to his tattoos running up from his fingertips to his neck. He was covered. Was his back? His ass? Where else did he have tattoos?
I was more interested than I wanted to be, but when a man looked like Jaxon Steel, hate wasn’t even enough to make me look away.