Page 41 of Jaxon

His cheeks turned ruddy red. "No, I didn't say that." He huffed in aggravation. "Look, I've just had to deal with Nathan Walsh, and I'm not in the mood for this shit, Jax. Is Bridget here?"

Bridget came around the corner. "I'm here, and I'm on my way home."

Prentiss looked her up and down and then, for no reason at all, he scowled at me.

"Fuck, Prentiss, she's a grown-up."

"Did you—" he paused. "Did you—" He pointed at his own face.

"Seriously? Did you just ask me if I hit her? When have you ever known a Stone to hit a woman?" I was pissed enough to make him back up a few steps. "Why don't you ask Alex Hurst how that bruise got there instead of accusing me."

Prentiss put up his hands. "All right, all right, Jax. I needed to ask. It's my job." He looked past me. "Miss Walsh, why don't you get dressed, and I'll give you a ride back home. Your dad is waiting for you."

"Yes, I'm sure he's very worried," she said wryly.

"Hey, Gidge, just stay here. You're a grown woman. Make your own choices." The words came out wrong, and she instantly bristled.

"I know that, Jax. And it seems every time I try and make my own decision, a man tries to make the decision for me."

"No, I didn't mean that, Bridget. It just came out badly. You can stay if you like."

"I should probably go home before my dad sends out the national guard." She laughed sadly. "You'd almost think the man cared about my safety, but he really just wants to make sure he still has control. And I'm sorry I snapped." She looked past me. "I'll be right down, officer."

I closed the door, leaving Prentiss on the front stoop. I followed Bridget up the stairs. "Are you sure about this?" I asked her as we reached the bedroom.

Bridget turned around and landed snugly in my arms. "My dad is up to something shady, and the only way I can find out what he's up to is by hanging around his house." She kissed me. "I'll be back soon." She reached up and pressed her palm against my face. I held it there and closed my eyes. Her touch always made my chest tighten.

"If you need me, Gidge—You call me, right? I'll jump the fucking walls of that prison compound and take 'em both out, I swear. If they lay one hand on you?—"

She hopped on her toes and circled her arms around my neck. "I'll be fine, but thanks for being my knight in shining armor. Now I see what the big deal is all about. No wonder those fairy tale princesses were always singing their praises. I've never felt protected until now, Jax, and it's nice. It's really nice." She kissed me. "Go to work, and I'll call you later."

CHAPTER 20

BRIDGET

Iwalked in the door and headed straight to the stairs. "Bridget, is that you?" Dad shouted sharply from his office.

"Yes."

"We need to talk." Footsteps landed in the hallway. It seemed I wasn't going to make a clean escape to my room. Then his phone rang, and he answered it brusquely and turned back toward his office.

"Saved by the fucking bell," I sighed and headed up the stairs. I plugged my phone into the charger by my bed, and headed to the bathroom. I turned on the water to fill the bathtub with steamy, fragrant bubbles. I glanced reluctantly in the mirror. The bruise on my face had darkened, but I was lucky. Could have been so much worse.

I walked out to the bedroom to gather some clean clothes. My phone rang the moment it powered back on. I raced over to it hoping it was Jaxon. I'd only just left his house, but I already missed seeing him, hearing his deep voice. It was another financial agency. I'd seen the name, Serendipity Finance, before and decided to just answer it and let them know they were barking up the wrong tree, a very poor and destitute tree. It was so horribly ironic living inside a multimillion-dollar house on a big estate and being as poor as a field mouse. I didn't even have the privilege of a car anymore.

"Hello."

"Oh, hello." The woman was obviously surprised that I'd answered. "I'm Eve, co-owner of Serendipity Finance, and we specialize in helping women coordinate and invest their wealth."

She sounded pleasant enough, and her company focused on women, which was going to make my bad news harder to break.

"Hi Eve. I know you've called my number a few times, but I need to let you know that I have no finances to coordinate or invest. I literally have a zero-dollar balance in my checking account. So, I think you have the wrong person."

There was a pause and some tapping on a keyboard. "But Miss Walsh, you have more than 80 million dollars in liquid assets."

A laugh shot from my mouth. "I'm sorry I think you're looking at the wrong Walsh. Those are my dad's assets."

"These assets are clearly under your name."

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