Page 32 of Jaxon

His upper lip twitched in anger. He stepped closer and put his finger in my face. He seemed to think that would make me back up. Instead, I moved closer to the asshole. I could feel waves of tension rolling off him, and his crew were standing fully at attention, ready to take me out if I got too close.

"You've got two choices here. Swear right now that you will never see Bridget again, and I will let these boys off with a warning, or I will have that clown of an officer take them in and book them for trespassing."

"That's how you do business, isn't it? Blackmail, bribery and to hell with Bridget's happiness."

He scoffed. "You could never make her happy."

"And you think that jerk you sold her off to can?"

His face reddened. From the corner of my eye, I saw Ivan move closer to where we were standing. "That's none of your fucking business. I'm not wasting another second talking to you. You're not worth the grit on the bottom of my shoe. And they cost three thousand," he said with a sneer.

"And I'll bet you still step in dog shit like the rest of us. Sure, I'll leave Bridget alone. But if she comes to see me?—"

"She won't. I'll see to it. I'll tell the officer to let them off with a warning, but this is the final straw. If that little punk shows up on this beach again, my men have their orders?—"

"Their orders?" It was my turn to scoff. "You're going to turn those fucking rock-headed monsters loose on a bunch of young men because they had the audacity to surf in the ocean? Whooee, those are tough guys. Good for them. And we'll see how that works out for them. Your lackeys, I mean, not the surfers."

"You just make sure you stay away from Bridget, or your little brother's criminal record will be the least of your family's problems."

I looked hard at him. There were so many things I wanted to say, but mostly, I wanted to lay him flat with one good right hook. It took all my will to turn and walk away, giving him the last word.

"Officer, you can let them go with a warning. I think this is the last time we'll see them on this beach," Walsh said and walked away.

Crusoe and Max rubbed their wrists once free from the zip ties. They picked up their boards and walked silently behind us to the truck.

"Can't promise I'm not going back there," Crusoe said, defiantly.

"Just put your boards in the back and get in, Cru," I said angrily. Walsh was going to be a bigger obstacle than I thought.

CHAPTER 14

BRIDGET

Isat out by the pool for an hour, lamenting how shitty my life had become. I was never great in school, and I skipped college mostly because I'd had it ingrained in me that I would become Alex's wife and my life would be tennis at the club and parties, neither were things I liked. I never became good friends with any of the women in our social circle. In fact, I loathed our social circle so much, I hadn't seen any of our so-called friends for months. Most of them had stopped texting and calling, which was one of the perks of me becoming a hermit.

Dad's limo drove out the gates as I made my way back to the house. There seemed to be a lot going on with Dad's business. This morning I'd woken to him having a tense discussion with Alex's dad, James. A while back, I'd heard the men talking about some new venture in the Italian Riviera. They were gathering investors for something big, but since I had absolutely no interest in anything they did, business or not, I'd never found out details. Whatever was happening it was making Dad extra mean and short-tempered. Growing up, I always knew when to stay out of his way. Now I avoided him as a normal part of my day.

Most of the staff was off on Sunday, so I had the place to myself. Even Ivan and his crew were scarce. I assumed they'd gone down to the beach to scare offintruders. I walked into the kitchen and made myself a cheese sandwich. The kitchen was a blinding mix of shiny marble and chrome. My dad's interior designers had shit taste. Our houses never felt like homes. I sat on the leather upholstered counter stool and nibbled my sandwich. I badly wanted to talk to Jaxon, but once I got back to my room last night, it hit me that I was being selfish. I wanted to be with Jaxon so badly, but my dad could cause terrible destruction to the Stone family and that would all be my fault. Just thinking about my wretched situation made the sandwich feel like a rock in my stomach.

I pushed aside the second half and sipped some water. My phone buzzed. I picked it up reluctantly, certain it would be Alex pestering me to come out to the boat. He had invited some of his dreadful friends out for a ride on the yacht. It was the last place I wanted to be. Apparently, Alex's ego was too big to allow him to believe that we weren't getting married.

Jaxon's name was on the screen. I felt that instant burst of adrenaline and excitement I got whenever I saw him, and this was just his name. I had it bad.

"Had a fun chat with your dad," he texted.

"Shit." I called him.

"Hey," he said. Even that single syllable sent a rush of heat through me.

"What happened?" I asked, warily.

"Ivan and his pals called the cops on my brother and his buddy. They were out surfing. Your dad showed up like Atilla the fucking Hun in loafers. He told me he wouldn't press charges as long as I never saw you again."

My shoulders slumped. "My dad is really good at blackmail."

"Seems that way. But I figured since he's shit at keeping promises, then I won't feel bad if I break mine. I'm not going to give you up, not for anything, Gidge. As far as I'm concerned, you're mine and I'm yours and that's the end of it."

"Jaxon, I'm worried. You don't know him."

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