Page 18 of Shared By Her Brother's Best Friends

“No, Jessica, I didn’t know where he was because no one told me,” Emma says through gritted teeth trying to keep her voice level.

“Oh, you poor thing of course you must have been worried sick! I’ll have a word with the school, they shouldn’t have scared you like that. Now of course I understand they must have been eager to get home, working as hard as they do, and that they can’t give extra care and attention to parents who need more help than others with caring for their children, but the least they could do was pass on my message.”

Again, I bristle at her barely veiled insinuations, while Emma wilts further. “Well, at least he’s safe, thank you for looking after him.”

“Oh it’s no bother, little Max is an angel, he’s just like one of my own to me!” Jessica pauses for a moment before looking around as if surprised to find us still standing on the porch. “My, how rude of me to make you stand outside this whole time! Would you and your… friend…” she finally looks at me, the disapproval evident in her eyes, “Like to come inside for something to eat? Dinner’s almost ready, you’re welcome to join us. Little Maxi could use a good meal, he’s been getting mighty skinny of late. Boys at this age need proper home-cooked meals, which I know you working moms can’t always provide, being so busy with your careers and all.”

Now this lady’s starting to piss me off. Emma again flinches at her words. No wonder she judges her parenting if this is the kind of friend she has.

I decide to answer for Emma, there’s no way I’m going to sit through a whole dinner with this woman showing off her ‘superior’ parenting skills and home. “Sorry, no can do, as much as I’d love to see the rest of your beautiful home and try your cooking, I promised Emma and Max I’d take them out somewhere special for dinner tonight. Perhaps another time.”

I flash her a grin and she’s barely able to hide her shudder, I intimidate her. Good.

“How nice of you Mr.?” she replies, her gaze flicking to Emma. I’m surprised the nosy bitch didn’t ask who I was the moment we arrived.

“Oh, yes sorry. This is my friend, Jax. Well, my brother’s friend…” Emma says, flustered and not knowing what else to divulge.

Jessica sniffs disapprovingly, though I can tell she’s aware of Emma’s brother’s connection to the Iron Serpents and that she’s correctly guessed I’m one, as she moves her hand to rest on the door as though involuntarily trying to get rid of us as fast as possible. “Nice to meet you,” she says, though her body language says otherwise. “Maxi, your Momma’s ready to go!” she calls out.

Max reappears clutching his school bag and a Tupperware container stuffed full of cookies. “Look, Mommy! Lucy said I could have extra to share with Mason and Ty when we get home!”

Jessica’s eyes widen with surprise, and likely jealousy, at the mention of two more men at Emma’s home. I chuckle to myself, I’ve got a pretty strong idea I know exactly the kind of small-town small-minded woman Jessica is.

“That’s nice of you sweetie. Now say goodbye and thank you to Auntie Jessica,” Emma says awkwardly, avoiding her friend’s questioning gaze.

“Thank you!” he says, giving her a brief hug before turning his attention to me. “Hi Jax, I have a cookie for you too! Do you want it now?”

“Thanks, lil’ man, I think I’ll save it for after dinner, we don’t wanna spoil our appetites, do we?” I say bending down so I’m at eye level with him. He shakes his head, and I ruffle his hair. “Go on and get in the truck with your mom, I’m gonna say goodbye to Miss Jessica.”

Emma shoots me a nervous glance, but I nod and smile at her reassuringly. “Bye, Jessica, I’ll speak to you soon,” she says before walking toward the truck, Max’s hand in hers.

Jessica looks startled to be left alone with me, caught like a deer in headlamps. “You be sure to get that phone fixed, as a mother, you know exactly how terrified she must have felt not knowing where her baby was. We don’t want that happening again now, do we? To her or anyone else.”

I let the words linger. I’d never dream of harming a child, no matter who their parent was, or what they’d done. But Jessica doesn’t know that. Hopefully, this will scare some sense into her, and she’ll think twice before waltzing off with someone’s kid without letting them know like she’s doing them a favor. Jessica shakes her head mutely with a gulp.

“You have a good night now,” I say before heading to the car, I hear the door immediately slam behind me by a shaken Jessica.

“Now, where do you guys wanna go for dinner?” I ask as I get in.

“Oh, you don’t need to do that…” Emma says shaking her head, “You’ve done so much already for us.”

“Nonsense, I want to. Besides, I figure you could use some downtime after everything,” I insist and Emma smiles gratefully at me.

Her smile lights up her face, I just know I’m gonna become addicted to making her smile. I also know Mason is going to tear me a new one when we get back. This is the exact opposite of keeping my distance and not getting involved beyond what we’re here to do.

But right now, with Emma and Mason laughing and smiling happily, I couldn’t care less about following the rules.

Chapter 10

Emma

Today has been a whirlwind of emotions, to put it mildly. I went from having the most out-of-this-world, mind-blowing sex with not one but three, super-hot guys—who are expressly forbidden, making it all the more naughty—to then having my pride wounded by Mason’s harsh dismissal, followed by the sheer terror of losing Max, then utter relief of finding him safe. I feel completely exhausted, both mentally and physically. Jax has been a rock to cling to throughout this nightmare, his strong presence and lighthearted jokes even in the most horrible of situations helped me hold on.

While I wanted nothing more than to go home and curl up in bed with Max by my side, no way am I letting him out of my sight tonight, Jax’s offer of dinner turned out to be a welcome moment of normalcy. Max is having so much fun with Jax playing and goofing around with him and I feel like I finally let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. Besides, it's helping me to delay the inevitable awkward encounter that’s about to happen.

Seeing Mason and Ty again is going to be unbearably awkward. I’ve no idea how I should act. Obviously, Jax and I haven’t been able to discuss what happened earlier. First, our focus was on finding Max and now he’s been with us the whole time, so we haven’t exactly been able to discuss what to do following our impromptu foursome. It’s not like this is a scenario I’ve been in before, or anyone else I know of, for that matter.

“So, what’s Jessica’s deal? Like how did you become friends?” Jax asks, tucking into an egg roll.

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