Page 3 of Irrevocably Mine

“No surprise there, Killer. You always give one hundred and ten percent to your clients and that’s why they love you.”

“And why opposing counsels fucking hate me.”

“No one could hate you, Stacy,” she heard on his exhale. There was the typical awkward silence that always descended over them when Dax complimented her. It wasn’t like that with everyone else. Stacy would always take it all in stride, but with Dax, it always felt different, more serious.

“Hey listen, do you have time to swing by some time? I’ve got something I want to show you.”

Stacy was still angry with him about what had happened at the Reid’s barbeque, and considered saying no, but she couldn’t deny the invitation with her body yearning for him.

“Sure, I can pop by later today, if you want?”

And by pop, you really mean, pop that dick in your mouth.That wasSluttyStacy, making slurping sounds and moaning Dax’s name in her head. Oh, myeverlovingmotherfuckinggod, I’ve got so many freaking voices in my head, I should claim them as goddamned dependents on my 1040.

Mom JeansStacy was the pessimistic, glass-always-half-empty, parental figure her. There was alsoBitchy, you’ll-never-be-happy, Stacy,Rainbows and glitter, oh-my-god-puppies-I-love-puppies, hopeful, Stacy, and now,Slutty-Slutty-Mcfuck-Me-Hardhad to join the party. Her head was too fucking crowded, and sadly, none of them were the real her. Could she even remember the real her?Does that woman still exist?She wasn’t sure she knew the answer, but now wasn’t the time to think about it; it was time to prepare herself for being in close proximity to Dax and to figure out a way to stop herself from jumping him.

“That works for me. See you later.”

“Later.”

Big Daxwashopeful when he hung up with Stacy. She owned a piece of his heart from the first day he’d caught a glimpse of her incomparable spirit, and she owned many more with every day that passed.

They say you get honesty from drunks and children, and that was certainly true with Stacy. The night of her housewarming party, he had helped put a very drunk Stacy to bed, and she had said some things she probably wouldn’t have if she’d been sober. It was a moment of no pretense. She was vulnerable and genuine. That peek into who she was pretty much sealed his fate.

As she drifted into her drunken slumber that night, she mentioned an ex and a crime and something about short hair. It didn’t make a lot of sense at the time, but it was clear that whatever happened had affected Stacy greatly.

Dax held off as long as he could, not wanting to invade her privacy, but eventually, months later, once he realized how much he cared about her, he had called in a favor with Andy, Erika’s gay ex-husband, who just happened to be an attorney. He knew if he wanted the scoop, more than what he could learn from public records, he needed Andy’s Cracker Jack private investigator, Chuck.

In a matter of weeks, Chuck compiled a complete folder on everything surrounding Stacy’s ex, Hank Olson. Dax had never thought he was a chicken until Chuck put that sealed folder in his hands. He couldn’t open it. He wanted to, God knew he wanted to, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

Instead of ripping into it, he asked Chuck for just the highlights and had learned Stacy was the victim of a burglary and assault and had been the key witness in Hank’s trial where he had been convicted of breaking and entering. Dax immediately filed the manila envelope away at his tattoo shop and refused to open it.

Deploying Chuck was already a major betrayal, yet Dax somehow convinced himself that by not reading it, it made it less violating somehow. Now, he had to come clean with her about the envelope and what he already knew. It was the only way they could ever move toward having more than just friendship. And fuck, Dax was dreading having to tell her.

She had already been through so much, not only with the ex, but also her battle with cancer. She didn’t know he knew, but that night, she’d also mumbled about cancer and her smile. She never brought it up again, so he pretended he didn’t know, but he did question her brother, John, about it. John was tight-lipped, but reading the cues and of course, her body, Dax put two and two together. He was a boob man, after all, so it seemed fairly obvious to him. That revelation stole a second piece of his heart that night.

However, when it came to Stacy, he knew that no matter what she looked like under her shirt, he would absolutely love it. He adored everything about her. Stacy was a curvy, tiny package with denim blue eyes and short, platinum hair.

Her orchids and amber scent caused him to go insta-hard, no matter where he was or who was around. He was in a constant state of arousal whenever he saw her, smelled her, or even thought about her—an awkward position for man his age, for sure.

No matter what she wore, she looked absolutely edible. Unless she was dressed for yoga, she was dressed to kill, always in spiked heels and a skirt suit that screamed confidence.

Confidence was the sexiest thing a woman could wear, and Stacy had it in spades.

The first time Dax sat in the back of the courtroom while Stacy ripped an accused a new one, he was a goner. She was on fire, like an avenging angel sent down from the heavens to right wrongs. She took ownership of the biggest piece of his heart that day. That was the day all of the little pieces she had been taking over the last year finally added up to the whole.

He unquestionably belonged to her now, whether she knew it or not. Dax figured Francis had cleared the way for him to finally come clean with her admonishment of his “sisters” earlier that week at the barbeque for pushing him and Gus together.

He asked her over to see the table he’d made her, and if he were lucky, the table would grace one side ofhisbed instead of the one at her place. It only made sense since he carved the two bedside tables—one for her and one for him—as a complementary pair to his bed.

Maybe it’s too much, what if she freaks out and bolts?Dax wasn’t stupid. He knew Stacy avoided relationships like the plague, and would probably look for any reason to escape what he was offering her. Plus, he knew she was already upset about him holding out on what he knew before the big barbeque announcement, so he couldn’t anticipate her reaction to his revelation about the folder info, and his gift.This should be interesting, to say the least.

As Stacy droveto Dax’s house, she tried to rationalize her anger with him. The baby announcement at the barbeque still stung. Not because it was Gus carrying Andy and Marco’s baby, but because she felt on the outside once again. She was out of the loop, but Dax was firmly in. He’d known ahead of time that Gus was the baby oven for them, when it was supposed to have been Erika.

Plans had changed when Erika was injured in a car accident last year, and could no longer carry Andy’s child, as had been their plan since high school. She still donated the egg, but having the woman Stacy was sure her brother cared deeply for pregnant with another couple’s baby wasn’t ideal.

Stacy knew her initial reaction to Dax knowing was over the top, to say the least. Storming out of the barbeque with just a clipped goodbye and congratulations wasn’t the right way to handle it. She was strong enough to admit when she was wrong.

However, that moment had solidified her placement on the outside rather than the inner circle, and she had already added that moment to those in her life when a piece of her soul had died.

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