Sara"Are you going to eat?" Jaxon asked with a laugh.I tore my eyes away from the paternity results with a sheepish smile and carefully placed the paper beside me. I'd been reading the results over and over since we'd sat down to eat. I just couldn't believe it–the relief I felt was indescribable. "I'm just… I'm feeling a lot of different things right now," I explained as I dug into my dinner with a happy moan."I'm glad that the truth is out now and there isn't anything between us," Jaxon said with a sincere smile. "I'm so sorry for the turmoil you've been going through."I nodded at him, with my mouth full, feeling the most content I'd felt in a while. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders but it was a lot to process all at once. It was exactly what I'd wanted but I hadn't actually thought it would happen. I'd been resigned to my fate.My heart felt full knowing that Jaxon hadn't betrayed me at all–he hadn't slept with Cynthia before our wed

Jaxon I sipped my coffee with a smile. Last night had been fucking incredible. Sara was the best thing that ever happened to me. And as anybody who knew me would know, I was not exactly given to sentimentality. But this girl, this woman, she was something else. I never thought I could feel this way. Most people in my line of work had wives, sure. And girlfriends on the side. I didn't judge. You never really knew what was going on in someone else’s marriage. Fuck, for a while there I wasn’t even sure what was going on in my own. But anyway, Sara, she was different. Special. I didn’t deserve her, a man like me. If she knew half of the shit I did, would she still want to be with me? I didn’t know. I never wanted to know. But I would have killed to protect her. To protect what we had. It was precious. It was fucking everything to me. Which of course, begged the question, what the fuck was I supposed to do about my bitch ex-wife? The person who tried to fuck it all up. Christ, if s

Jaxon That fucking bitch wasn’t going to get away with this. I had had it up to here with her fucking bullshit. It wasn’t enough that my asshole ex-wife tried to destroy my marriage with her bullshit baby lie. Now she was telling my people that I was losing money on my investments. I was the king of the fucking underworld. "People in my world, they don’t take it so well when they think they’re about to lose money. They don’t exactly lodge a complaint to human resources, if you know what I mean. That crazy bitch is trying to get me clipped. And that ain’t happening." "Calm down Jaxon, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack," Eli said to me over lunch at Rastelli’s. "Nobody but nobody would believe a word that bitch says. She’s got no credibility on the street, not where it matters." I hoped to Christ that was true. I had enough to worry about with the Board members of my legit business breathing down my neck. Cynthia had been running her mouth again about how I was not

Jaxon "I’m not sure where else to dig, but she has to be getting more support from somewhere," I shouted, banging my hands on the table. "Maybe you're looking in the wrong places," James offered. I glanced at him sideways. "Pray tell, what are the right places?" "Well, you’ve looked at the company. Clearly, you’ve hired a lot of gossiping slimeballs, but none that would go so far as to help Cynthia. The only ones who are hanging around are a singular girlfriend and your mother. That leaves one other factor. Who were the crime lords she had connections with?" "You think she’d resort to organized crime? I mean she was comfortable in that world but to do it without me, against me?""There’s a lot of people who want to see you out of power, Jaxon. Don’t be too surprised. But if we can prove ties to organized crime, you have a winning ticket."I stood hunched over my desk staring at him, waiting for him to reach the punchline. All I wanted was Cynthia out of our lives. I

JaxonThings had been calm. I was surprised Cynthia wasn’t starting a violent war. But it seemed the end–or at least the eye–of the storm had come. I felt better each morning knowing I’d wake up next to Sara. I hadn’t realized how much I relied on her comforting presence to start my day. I headed downstairs, leaving Sara asleep in the bed. As I hit the base of the steps I heard voices arguing in the kitchen. I paused and listened carefully, edging as close as I dared. "…I’m doing the best I can! I don’t think you appreciate the delicacy of this situation!" Sloan."She’s your daughter, she’s not going to turn on you. You can push harder than this. It almost seems as if you’re pushing them closer together instead of wedging them apart!" Cynthia. My body went stiff and my breath caught in my throat. There had to be a reasonable explanation. "I think you’re seriously underestimating his love for her. I’ve tried, and he won’t sway," Sloan barked. "Perhaps you’re just not