Page 14 of Jaxon

I leaned my head toward him. "Hey, you were the one who took them up on their offer … you slut," I added with a chuckle.

The music was some weird techno shit that I'd never heard before, and the lights pulsed to go with it. The air reeked of perfume and cologne and whatever other overpriced shit rich people doused themselves with to rid themselves of the stink of greed. Shiny booths filled a huge floor past the chrome bar counter. Servers dashed around in black shorts, white shirts and silver bow ties. A dance floor was set up near the front of the building. Heavy silver pendants hung down from a beamed ceiling, and the floor was packed with Biffs and Buffys and all the other fluffy names rich people saddled their kids with.

Griffin was already eyeing a new set of women, but Riana wasn't going to let him out of his pact with the devil. We found a tall table near the entrance and filled in spaces around it to wait for a server.

I leaned closer to Griffin. "Remember when we were thirteen and we hopped on the city bus after we'd just been in a fight with the Gaxton twins—bloody noses and all—and the whole damn bus was filled with some wide-eyed, sweet smiling church choir group?" I asked.

"Hard to forget that one. All their conversations came to a dead stop, and I was sure I heard a few of the girls sobbing."

"Yep, there were definitely tears. Well, this is so much worse. Seriously, bro, what the fuck are we doing here?"

"Yeah, not too sure myself now." Griffin's eyes drifted across the room. "Oh, hell yeah. Maybe this night isn't a total loss. Ah shit, she's with someone. Figures."

I decided to amuse myself and look in the direction he'd been staring. I was interested in finding out just what kind of snobby woman would interest my cousin. My eyes zigzagged through the crowd and landed on a face that made the breath catch in my chest. Bridget stood in a group of five people, including her shitty boyfriend. She looked sad and bored and incredibly beautiful in a pink dress. Her long hair was swept up in a ponytail, and she wore dangling diamond earrings and a matching necklace. The jewelry was like a slap in the face. It reminded me that she was from another world, this world, the one filled with arrogance and greed and all the things our parents had taught us to despise. I dragged my gaze away but found her once again in the sea of Botox-filled faces. God, she was a fucking angel, no matter what world she belonged to.

The three women ordered expensive drinks. Griffin was filled with regret as he pulled out his credit card to pay for the order. A drink that would cost ten bucks in Trayton was twenty-five in Oceanview. Same fucking booze, same ice, same level of service, except for the stupid bowties, but more than twice the price.

"Let's get the fuck away from this table," Griffin muttered. He caught me staring across the room and a low laugh followed. "Ah, I see you found her too. Our fucking radar is still in sync. But look at that asshole standing next to her with his possessive arm around her waist."

I hadn't noticed the arm, but my jaw clenched instantly at the idea of him touching Bridget. "That's her," I said through clamped teeth.

"Who?" Griffin asked.

"Oh, Griffin, honey, are we gonna dance?" Buzzy asked.

"Nope, didn't wear my dancin' shoes," Griffin told her curtly.

"The girl who dropped the watch and jumped off the yacht. The one I told you about on the way over here," I explained.

"Walsh's daughter? That's her? Shit, bro, that's gotta hurt knowing she's the enemy."

I looked over at him. "Now you sound like Cru. It's herdadwho bought Croft Beach."

The server placed down drinks. Griffin picked up his beer. "Yeah but …"

I held up a hand. "Let's just drink these overpriced beers and get the hell out of here."

"You're leaving already?" Riana asked. She smiled sweetly at me. "Thought you and I might find something fun to do after a few drinks."

"Not tonight, hon. Gotta get up early for work."

All of them scrunched up their faces in disgust at the notion of getting up early for work. "Are you in stock trading?" Buzzy asked.

I was going to be sending motorcycle parts to various places in the world and those parts were part of our stock so I nodded. "Sure, stock trading." I couldn't keep my gaze from straying across the room, even though just looking at her caused an ache in my chest. Bridget had slipped away from Alex's greedy clutches and was heading to the hallway that led to restrooms.

It took me all of a second to peel away from the table and make my way through the crowd to the same hallway. She'd just reached the door.

"Gidge," I said loudly to pierce through the music and the voices behind us. She froze for a second and then turned around. We both stared at each other as if we'd just discovered each other as the only other living being on the planet.

"Jax." My name fell off her lips in disbelief. "I didn't think this would be your kind of place."

"No? Nothing I love better than the smell of snobbery in the air." I took a deep breath.

She shook her head angrily. "Never mind, I'm already surrounded with enough assholes tonight." She spun around to reach for the door, but I snatched her free hand. I glanced around and found another hallway that led toward an emergency exit. I stopped just short of the exit and spun her toward me. Fuck, I'd already memorized everything about her, including the little lines on the sides of her lips, real lips, none of those pumped-up slugs on half the women in the club. I wanted nothing more than to taste those lips again, but the pout they were wearing assured me the kiss wouldn't be welcome.

"I'm sorry. My cousin talked me into coming here, but you're right, it's the last place you should expect to see me. Honestly, this place sucks."

"I agree," she said. "I'm here because after my few hours of freedom, I found myself back in my maximum-security prison." Her bottom lip quivered. "I haven't stopped thinking about you, Jax."

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