JaxonIt was hard to concentrate on anything for too long. Thoughts of the previous night with Sara consumed me. I replayed the memory of her saying she loved me over and over in my mind. It still felt like a dream. I tried to force myself to look at the quarterly documents. I could feel the smug smile still strong on my face. The numbers on the report were abysmal, all things considered. I knew most of it had to do with the drama around Sara, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I knew things would go back up soon, especially with Sara as our new writer. Her words replayed in my mind.I barely registered the phone ringing. I picked it up without taking my eyes off the computer. "Devereux," I answered in a surprisingly cheerful tone. It was hard to believe that was my voice. My smug expression grew wider as I thought about Sara again and that I never had to give her up. "Jaxon, it's Walt." "Walt! How are things in the law enforcement business?" I really was in a good
SaraI felt a strange sense of peace, something I hadn't ever experienced before. For the first time in my life, I wasn't worried. I had the career of my dreams, and I was doing so well at it. I was surprised when Jaxon's mom congratulated me personally on my success. I was with Jaxon–for real. I no longer owed anything or was bound by some selling of me like property. I was just with him, and I wanted him. No one was coming after me. After the funeral, it felt like everything in my old life had died with my father. I knew Jaxon wouldn't give up being the king of the underworld, but that didn't bother me. Nothing in that world could touch me anymore. No one would dare threaten the queen. I sat in the private jet feeling elated and shocked by my reality. I had never taken a true vacation in my life. I had never been beyond the boards of the state I was born in. Now, I sat comfortably with just Jaxon, taking a dream vacation across the Pacific. I had just wanted to go to Hawai
JaxonI never wanted to get married again. I had been through so many fucking terrible experiences, but the last few years leading up to my painful divorce had taken the cake. Yet somehow with Sara all of that washed away. Nothing else mattered except tying myself to her in every way possible. Marriage no longer seemed like a daunting nightmare; instead, it was an extravagant dream come true. I was never one to believe in the universe or grand signs, but I felt like something or someone out there was giving me a second chance with Sara. When she screamed out ‘yes’ as her answer to my proposal, I felt my heart was so full and light it might sprout and fly me away. My smile spread so wide it hurt my face. My muscles were sore for days from the constant grin from ear to ear. Dinner had been a blur. I swept her away to our room and spent the rest of the night inside her and in her arms—trying to be as close to her as possible. Our wedding was beyond perfect, like closing a ch
SarahEvery morning I wake up and it takes a minute to remember where I am. From there it takes even longer to remind myself that it’s real, that I didn’t imagine getting the life of my dreams and it wasn’t some cruel joke someone tried to play. Jaxon is always next to me, the sun is shining still in some tropical land, and the giant DIAMOND rock is still sparkling and weighing down my left hand. I stared at it for a moment, watching the light reflect off the clear rock. I felt its weight and let it be a firm reminder of my current situation. I tried to let my eyes adjust and wiped away the remaining sleep.I sat up in the bed and looked at the mess of egg-white sheets around us. The sun was peering in, lighting up Jaxon’s face with specks of gold flakes and thin red streaks through his hair. Thoughts and feelings of the night before came rushing back and flushed my skin. I smiled at him sleeping peacefully. I had never had so much uninterrupted time being peaceful and not looki
JaxonSara had been right: being home felt different. It was clear things had changed. I loved starting mornings with Sara, driving to work with her and knowing she was around if needed. But at the same time everything was the same, it felt like we hadn’t gone away at all. I still received my regular amount of paperwork and meetings. I still had to present information to the board regularly, and unfortunately I still had the same number of shady calls and texts that I needed to answer. As much as I was starting to hate it, answering that world became almost more important. Something was off and I could feel the ground under my throne starting to crumble. It was a drizzly Thursday—which made me miss the heat of the islands—when that black other-world phone rang. I saw the number and recoiled. “What do you want, Cynthia?” I growled. I didn’t mean to be so instantly hostile with her, but talking to her was the last thing I wanted. Sara said we were starting fresh and I didn’t n
Sarah Jaxon hardly looked up from his computer, much less touched the salad in front of him. I had long since ignored the work in front of me and now causally popped grapes into my mouth as I watched him. I had been staring at him silently for the better part of an hour, and he hadn't acknowledged me once. I couldn’t decide if I was more pissed or concerned. “What is wrong with you?” I finally spit out. Jaxon glanced up at me like a deer in headlights. It seemed to take him a second to find my face glaring back at him. He looked stunned as if he hadn’t expected me to be there. “What are you talking about?” “For the last few days you’ve been acting… weird. You seem like you get more uncomfortable whenever I’m here.” I wanted to keep explaining and tell him how hurt and angry I was that he was being a neglectful jerk, but I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Sarah, nothing is going on. I’m just busy at work. You’re reading too much into things, my love,” he repli
JaxonI threw back some Advil and drank the rest of the whisky cup on my desk. Even though her suspicions had calmed, it didn't feel good to lie to Sara. An omission of the truth, I tried to remind myself. Manipulative conversations and the art of practiced silence had become a mastered skill while running the underworld. It never bothered me before. It just felt necessary to do what needed to be done. It kept me at a distance from people, but there had been no one I wanted to be particularly close to anyways. But with Sara, things were different. I never wanted to lie to her or hide things from her. I felt sick and guilty. I felt like a terrible husband, a terrible person. It felt like it did when things started to get bad with Cynthia, and that brought up a raging anger. Cynthia, she was the reason I was even here at all. Her and her magnificent lie. I had to prove her a liar before anything could get back to Sara.My blood was boiling, and it was not doing me any favors to
Sara My neck is still pinched and achy from my horrible sleep the night before. I downed the Advil in my hand and swallowed them with a gulp from my coffee. The coffee at work was not as good as the one at home but I couldn’t risk running late and missing this project proposal. I pinched the bridge of my nose and willed the medicine to work faster. I glanced at my watch and realized I only had a half hour before the meeting. I took another sip of my coffee and started typing feverishly. “Have you heard about it?” one of my coworkers whispered. Despite the small walls between each desk, sound still carried exceptionally well through the bullpen. “I heard she was fighting for him,” someone else answered. “It’s more than that! She got herself knocked up!” It was clear that they were doing their best to keep their voice low but it wasn’t working well. I tried to ignore them and keep working. I typed quickly. “Wait what? How did she get him to do that?” “She says he was