Jackson Read online

  A smirk spread across the man’s face and he shook his head, walking out of the room.

  “What’s with all the really good looking men? Are we at a hot man convention?”

  “No, that was Jackson and we’re at his house.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he pulled you out of your boyfriend’s house today. Is it hurting you to walk?”

  “Doc, I gotta be honest. I’m not feeling much of anything right now.”

  “Well, then the drugs are doing their job.”

  “How much further? I kinda want to take a nap.”

  I started to plop down on the floor and Kate quickly helped lower me to the ground. I sighed as I laid down on the rug that covered the hardwood floor and closed my eyes.

  “Jackson!”

  I heard Kate call for the handsome man and I yawned sleepily. The floor shook like an elephant was running toward me and then I felt a hand on my arm shaking me. I batted it away and brushed at something that was tickling my nose.

  “Go away,” I grumbled.

  Arms lifted me and I opened my eyes to see who it was. The handsome man that was in the doorway was carrying me. I blushed and snuggled against his chest, feeling his heart beat wildly against my cheek. I could get used to being around this man.

  “You okay, Raegan?”

  The deep rumble of his voice reverberated through his chest, sending tickles down my spine. “As long as I’m in your arms,” I replied. I heard him sigh and smiled. He obviously loved me in his arms as much as I loved being there.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  I groaned as I tried to roll to my side. That obviously wasn’t happening, so I flopped onto my back, a move I instantly regretted when pain shot through my body.

  “Are you in pain?”

  I blinked drowsily, trying to figure out where I had heard that voice before. It was a low rumble that sent tingles down my spine. A man came into my vision, a look of concern on his face. It almost seemed like I was seeing double and that’s when I realized that one of my eyelids would only open halfway. What the hell had happened?

  “Are you in pain?” he repeated.

  “Yeah. Where am I?”

  “At my house. I’m Jackson. Do you remember me from yesterday?”

  Yesterday? What the hell happened yesterday? Did I get drunk and pass out at some guy’s house? That would definitely explain the headache and the pain in my stomach.

  “No, sorry, did I sleep with you?”

  “No,” he said, looking at me funny.

  “That’s good. Xavier would be pretty pissed.” I closed my eyes and let my head sink into the pillow again. At the thought of Xavier, I popped up in bed, yelping in pain when my whole body screamed. The man quickly grabbed me from behind, supporting my back as he lowered me back to the mattress.

  “Take it easy. No one’s going to hurt you.”

  “Where’s Xavier?” I asked in confusion.

  “He’s dead,” Jackson said. His eyes were almost cold as he gazed over my body. Had I done something? I glanced down, making sure that I was dressed, which I was. Well, that was a relief. Although, I had no idea where I got a man’s dress shirt from.

  “What happened to Xavier?” It was practically an afterthought. I didn’t really care about Xavier anymore. Years of him treating me like a punching bag really marred my opinion of him.

  “He beat you within an inch of your life. We were there to get you out and one of my team shot him.”

  “Huh.” That was interesting. He was dead and I didn’t have to worry about him anymore. It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders and the world had opened up to me. I was free. I could do whatever I wanted.

  “That’s it?”

  Jackson broke through my thoughts, drawing my gaze to his. “What more is there?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I expected you to cry or…hell, I don’t know. Fall apart.”

  “Is that what I’m supposed to do? Because he was kind of a bad person and I can’t say that I’m actually sorry that he’s dead.”

  And I wasn’t. Xavier was nothing like he used to be and the furthest thing from my mind was whether or not Xavier was okay.

  “No, you’re not supposed to do anything. That’s just what I thought would happen. I guess I thought that a woman that gets assaulted regularly would be on edge.”

  “You would think,” I snorted. “But after you get beat up for the hundredth time because you opened your mouth, you just learn to roll with the punches. No pun intended.”

  He smirked at me, his lips twitching in such a way that his eyes seemed to sparkle at the same time. The light blue of his eyes pierced me like steel and I couldn’t look away from their hypnotizing color. A flush crept up my neck the longer I stared at him. I was watching him like a schoolgirl watches her crush. Only I was an adult and that just made me look creepy.

  I quickly averted my gaze, clearing my throat uncomfortably. I tried not to think about his dark hair that looked silky soft or the muscles that were obviously trying to escape the sleeves of his shirt. And I really tried not to think about the tattoos that made me want to rip off his shirt just so I could get a better look. “You said that I was beat up?”

  “Yeah, when I got to you, you pretty much looked dead.”

  “That would explain why my body hurts so much.”

  “I’m gonna grab some pain pills for you. I’ll be right back.”

  He stood and walked out of the room, giving me an opportunity to breathe and take stock of my body. I lifted my arm and grimaced when I saw all the bruises and cuts that marred my skin. Pressing against my face, I felt more cuts and the swell of my skin around my eye. It must have made me look like I had a tiny orange sticking out of my eye.

  “Lovely,” I muttered. And I of course looked like this in front of the most gorgeous man I had ever met. Wasn’t that just my luck.

  “Here,” he said as he walked into the room with a bottle of water and some pills. I went to sit up, but quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn’t a good idea to sit up yet. “Yeah, I wouldn’t try that on your own. You have four broken ribs.”

  “One more and I’ll have a basketball team,” I quipped.

  He grinned at my wry humor and slipped his hand under my back to help me sit up. He shoved another pillow behind my back so I was propped up and then handed me the pills and water. I drank down the water because I was so thirsty, but then wondered if that was a good idea since eventually I’d have to get up to pee. That was gonna suck.

  “So, can I ask you something?”

  “Shoot.”

  “Why’d you stay with him so long if he was hitting you all the time?”

  I shrugged and smiled at him. “I was going for the world record for the number of beatings I could take.”

  He shook his head, scrubbing a hand across his face. “Do you take anything seriously?”

  “Sure, hygiene is very important. Not washing hands after using the bathroom is my biggest pet peeve. Also, I’m very serious about my pictures all hanging straight on the wall. If they’re off even a skosh, I seriously lose my shit. And then there’s general courtesy to others. People can be so rude nowadays and that really bugs me.”

  He studied me, leaving me fidgeting under his scrutinization. I didn’t like anyone watching me so closely, afraid they would see who I really was underneath, an idiot that hadn’t left when I should have. Who was I kidding? A man like Jackson probably thought I was some crazy woman that thought I could change my man. Which I wasn’t. I knew as soon as Xavier started to change that nothing I did would make him who he once was. But I didn’t leave. I loved him too much. So, yeah. When a good looking man like Jackson started asking me personal questions, I was going to use my best defense mechanisms to ensure that he didn’t see the pathetic woman that hid beneath all the armor.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jackson

  After Kate had done all her x-rays and exams, I brought Raegan back to my house. Her father was in
sisting on being with her every step of the way and it pissed me off. What kind of parents watched as their child got sucked into a life that was so obviously killing her and did nothing? I didn’t want him anywhere near Raegan. He hadn’t earned the right to be back in her life. I realized that I may have been a little harsh on both her parents, but when I pulled her out of that house, bloody and broken, barely alive, I was filled with a rage so strong that I really wondered if I would be able to keep from killing someone.

  She had been high on drugs when Kate took her for x-rays, but she had backed off the good stuff and gave her a different drug when she saw how much it affected Raegan. I had decided to stay home with Raegan for a few days and made sure that her parents got settled. I basically had two wings of the house, not like a mansion, but the layout of the house had the master bedroom on one side and two other bedrooms on the other side. And since I wasn’t home that often, it wouldn’t really affect how I lived. Or, so I told myself.

  After a week of staying with me, Raegan finally ventured out of her room. She must have been expecting me to be gone, because she startled when she saw me. I could see the uncertainty in her eyes, but then she walked over and took a seat at the counter. I watched her for a moment, trying to figure out what she looked like when she wasn’t all banged up. Her eye wasn’t swollen anymore and her blue eyes were bright and cheery. She had dark brown hair that had to go to the middle of her back. I hadn’t noticed when we brought her here because there was so much blood everywhere. She was a small woman, skinny with pale skin, but I wasn’t sure how much of that had to do with the situation she was in. When she walked out of her room, I could picture her hips swaying as she moved. I’d bet my life that when she put on some weight she would have great curves.

  I pulled my gaze from her before she started to think I was psychotic and turned back to the stove. I had already started on bacon and eggs, so she was right in time. I gave her my best smile and said gently, “Hi, Raegan. It’s great to see you up.”

  “Well, after years of not being allowed to have a job, I figured I deserve a vacation, so I stayed in bed.”

  “Uh…” Right. I wasn’t sure how to deal with her sarcasm. Did I joke along with her or try and get her to open up to me? Maybe she was just this way naturally.

  “How are the ribs?”

  “They’re pretty good with the right barbecue sauce. I personally like Famous Dave’s.”

  I stopped what I was doing and stared at her. Did she really think I was talking about food?

  “Uh…I meant your ribs. You know, the ones in your body that are broken.”

  She shrugged slightly. “I’m sure they would be good with barbecue sauce too, but I’m not really into cannibalism. Although, I don’t think I’d be alive to eat my own ribs, so you’d have to be the taste tester.”

  I cleared my throat, wondering if now was the time to step away and excuse myself, then run for the goddamn hills. But I was a professional. I could handle this.

  “Do you want some breakfast?”

  “Sure. Do you want some help?”

  “Yeah, can you make toast?”

  She snapped her finger in a shucks gesture. “Damn, that’s the one thing I always burn.”

  “You burn toast?”

  “Unfortunately. I seem to be toast deficient.”

  “Toast deficient,” I repeated slowly. “You know there’s a little knob that you set to get the perfect toast, right?”

  “Oh, I know that. It just never seems to work for me.”

  “But all you do is push the lever down.”

  “I know,” she said incredulously. “It sounds so simple. You would think I could do it.”

  Looking at her strangely, I handed over the bread to her, sure she was lying to me. She shrugged and took it from me. I made sure the setting was right on the toaster and went back to making the bacon. The eggs were done and I scooped them onto some plates, then cracked a few more for her parents.

  “Do you have butter for the toast?” she asked.

  I pulled it out and handed it to her, then put the bacon on plates and finished up the rest of the eggs. Raegan’s parents, Robert and Susan, came out just a minute later, greeting us with smiles and gave Raegan hugs. I pulled out mugs and poured coffee for everyone, setting out sugar and cream in case someone wanted some.

  Setting the bacon in the center of the table, we all sat down and I frowned when I looked down at my plate. There were two slices of burnt toast. Not just partially burnt, but fully blackened toast. I looked at everyone else’s plates and saw they all had black toast.

  “See?” Raegan said with a shrug. “I told you it would happen.”

  I got up from the table and examined the toaster. The setting was where I always kept it and I didn’t see anything else that was strange.

  “Did you push the lever twice?”

  She quirked an eyebrow at me. “No. I’m well aware how a toaster works.”

  “But, the setting is where I always keep it.”

  “I know. I don’t understand it either. Toasters just don’t like me.”

  “A toaster doesn’t decide to burn toast out of hate,” I said, shaking my head at her insanity.

  “It’s true,” Susan said with a smile. “We could never figure it out either. I even stood next to her and watched exactly what she did. It still came out burnt.”

  They all bit into the disgusting, blackened bread, chewing as if it was normal toast.

  “So…you just eat it? Like that?”

  “You get used to the taste after a while.” Richard wiped his mouth with a napkin and dug into the rest of his food. I glanced back at the toaster. This couldn’t be right. I’d watch her the next time and find out what was really going on.

  “So, what do we do now?” Raegan asked. “I mean, now that my days as a gun moll are over.”

  “A gun moll?”

  “In my version of this story, I was on Lucky Luciano’s arm and I was living the high life. It was nothing but jazz, liquor, and money.”

  Raegan’s parents were staring at their plates, obviously not happy with the nonchalance in her tone. I wouldn’t be so relaxed either if I was hearing about my daughter’s involvement with gangsters.

  “Well, we’re going to keep you here for a while. We need to make sure that whoever was trying to kill you at the house is gone. Which leads me to my first question. Why were they trying to kill you?”

  “It was probably because I overheard Xavier trying to make a deal with his supplier to take over someone else’s territory. I would imagine that would be something his gang BFF’s wouldn’t want me to know. On the other hand, it could be this guy he was trying to outsmart. I’m sure he’d want to know everything I knew. And it’s not like Xavier was the brains he thought he was. I’m sure the minute he started planning out this little takeover, his competitor knew about it.”

  “Who’s this competitor?”

  She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. Her eyes flared with mischief. “Would you believe me if I said the boogeyman?”

  “No.” My voice was flat, letting her know that I wasn’t playing right now.

  “I don’t know.“ She sat back, crossing her arms over her chest in disappointment. “I’ve heard about him and how he controls things. I’ve seen some of the things he does, but I’ve never heard a name. I don’t think he wants anyone to know who he is.”

  “That’s kind of strange for an arms dealer. They usually want to be well known.”

  “All I know is that this guy is the largest weapons dealer on the east coast.”

  “And Xavier really thought he could pull off a takeover?”

  “Xavier started getting cocky over the past two years. He thought that he was Doc Holliday or something. That’s why I called my parents that day. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone shot him. Turns out, he got off easy. I don’t think the other guy would have made his death quite so easy.”

  I sat back in my seat and watche
d her, waiting for her to break down over that day, but she said it all so matter of fact, like it wasn’t her that had actually experienced any of it.

  “I’ll do some research into what you’ve told me and we’ll take it from there.”

  She shrugged indifferently. “What can I do to earn my keep around here in the meantime? Clean your weapons? Polish your boots?”

  “I’m not sure I want my weapons cleaned by a gun moll. And my boots have never been polished before and I’m pretty sure the guys would beat the shit out of me if I showed up with shiny boots.”

  “Suit yourself. Your boots would never be cleaner.”

  “And the weapons?” I asked, raising an eyebrow to her.

  “If I had actually intended to use a gun at some point in my life, don’t you think I would have shot Xavier?”

  I stared at her, wondering why she hadn’t used any of his guns on him. It wasn’t like she didn’t have access. When we walked into that house, there were guns everywhere.

  “Just get better. Those broken ribs aren’t going to heal if you aggravate them.”

  I pushed back from the table and gave a curt nod. I had to get to work since I had been at home for days.

  ✯✯✯✯✯

  Raegan’s last words continued to bother me as I pulled into Reed Security. I just couldn’t understand why she had stayed when she could have gotten her hands on a weapon. I went to Cap’s office to check in, still trying to figure out the woman staying with me.

  “Jackson, how’s Raegan doing?”

  “I don’t know, Cap. She’s….” I searched for a word that would describe her. Emotionally absent? Fucked up? I took a seat across from Cap and shook my head. I was going to need advice on how to handle this woman. “Something’s not right with her, Cap.”

  “Listen, Jackson, the woman’s been beaten for years. She’s going to need time to adjust. I know this is going to be hard on you, and if you want to put her in a safe house, everyone will understand. You have no idea what she’s been through over the years. Beatings could just be the start of it. I’m sure she’s going to be scared of you for a long time, probably flinch away from you. That’s to be expected and it’ll be hard to deal with.”