Page 25 of Saved By the Rogue

"Dad?" he repeated after me. "You don’t get to call me that anymore, Star. You’re no daughter of mine. Not after what you did to this family."

"I haven’t done anything to this family-"

"So talking to that journalist was just a friendly meeting, was it?" he asked, his eyes glowering with a terrifying coldness that sent shivers down my entire body.

"How did you know about-"

"I have eyes everywhere, Star," he reminded me. "I know what you said to her. What you promised her. The information you offered her. Is this the only way you have to make money now, selling my business to some shady journalist?"

"It’s not about the money," I told him, my voice trembling as I tried to stare up at him. I felt like I would crumble and crumble at any moment, like everything might fall apart if I allowed him to see how terrified I was. I couldn’t let him get to me, no matter how much he clearly knew he was – no matter how easy it seemed for him to just loom over me in the dim light of this basement and remind me why I played by his rules for all these years.

"So you just did it because you wanted to," he replied, smirking slightly. "Almost impressive, Star. I didn’t know you had it in you. That kind of betrayal."

He reached Jaxon’s side, and all at once, grabbed his hair and yanked his head back.

"Don’t touch him!” I screamed, my heart exploding with terror as soon as I saw him lay hands on the man before me.

"You think anyone would miss a piece of criminal scum like this?" he demanded. Jaxon’s eyes were locked on me, stoicism on his face – like he was telling me, quietly, that I shouldn’t give in to him, no matter what he said, no matter what he did.

"Please, just let him go," I pleaded with him. "He’s got nothing to do with this. This is between you and me, Dad, I’m begging you-"

"Oh, I’ll let him go," he replied, a grin spreading over his face. "Just as soon as you reach out to that journalist and take back everything you said. And just as soon as you agree to marry Lombardi, like you were supposed to."

I swallowed hard. No. No, I couldn’t do that. I had come so far, put so much distance between myself and this life, and I knew I couldn’t turn around and start over again. I couldn’t go back to it, no matter how much I wanted Jaxon safe, no matter how much I needed to see him free. I didn’t want him caught up in the middle of this. I knew how much he had been through, how much he had already helped me survive, and I couldn’t repay him by letting him be used as a pawn in my father’s game.

"Don’t listen to him, Star," Jaxon told me.

"Shut the fuck up," My father snarled, yanking his head back against, pulling on his hair. Jaxon winced, but he didn’t give my father the satisfaction of seeing how much it was hurting him.

"He needs you to speak to the journalist yourself," Jaxon pointed out. "He can’t get anyone else to talk to her for you. He won’t do anything to either of us until he’s got you to agree."

A flash of anger crossed my father’s face – he didn’t want to admit it, but Jax was right. My head began to clear as I listened to him speak, beginning to make sense of everything that was going on here – we had my father right where we wanted him. He might have had us both here, but he knew there was no way I could get Abbey to drop this story unless I went to her myself and told her it had all been a lie. If he called her up and tried to intimidate her into dropping it, she would likely just get more suspicious, and have more reason to come after him than she did before.

My father reached for a gun, bulging at his side, and drew it into his hand. He didn’t point it at Jaxon, but he didn’t have to. The threat of it was enough to send a cold grip of horror through my system.

"You can make this easy on us, baby girl," he told me. I hated when he called me that, and he knew it – the way it made me feel like a child, like some useless, helpless infant, reliant on him to get me through.

"I’m not giving you anything," I snapped back at him, feeling a sudden rush of certainty rise up and through me. I meant it. If he thought I was the same woman I had been when he had last seen me, docile and innocent and naive and willing to go along with anything that he asked of me, then he had another thing coming. He had a whole other heap of shit coming.

He pressed the gun into Jaxon’s temple, holding it there. Jaxon didn’t flinch. He stared at me, silently telling me to keep going, silently promising me everything was going to be okay.

"Listen to me," my father snarled. "You give me what I want, or I blow his brains out all over this basement. And you can sit here with his body for as long as it takes for you to see what’s best for you. You understand, Star?"

"Don’t listen to him," Jaxon told me. "It’s all talk. You’ve got this, Star. I know you do."

I inhaled deeply, shakily. There was a part of me, of course there was, that wanted to give him everything he wanted right now – that wanted to just tell him to stop, let that gun drop. Let Jaxon go so I could give him everything he was asking for. I wasn’t going to put Jaxon’s life at risk like that, I wasn’t going to put everything on the line when I knew I might lose him.

But there was another part of me, a surer, stronger part, that was mustering up the courage from somewhere deep inside. Mustering up the belief that I could take my father on, no matter how much he tried to throw at me. I didn’t like this, I didn’t like this one little bit, but I could handle it, I knew I could. Jaxon was right, we had him right where we wanted him, and nothing was going to get me to agree to his demands.

My father let out an annoyed grunt and dropped the gun back down by his side, clearly able to see that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted from us so easily. I felt a flood of relief, and Jaxon grinned at me, pride written all over his face. He didn’t seem shaken at all, like he had been ready to take on whatever might have come as a result of this – like he was willing to die, if it meant that he could protect me from my father right now.

"Fuck it," Dad muttered, stuffing the gun back into the holster. "You want to stay down here a little longer? Be my guest. I’ll be back. And when I am, I’ll expect you to see what’s good for you and give me what I’m asking for, Star."

And, with that, he pulled the light switch once more, plunging us into darkness. But I could still see the grin on Jaxon’s face, the reminder that I had done the right thing – that he was there by my side, no matter what.

And I couldn’t help but return it. My mind was racing as I tried to figure out what to do next – and I knew I was going to have to make a big swing if we were going to get out of this alive.

Chapter Sixteen – Jaxon

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