Page 29 of Saved By the Rogue

"You better, that’s your new name now," he teased. We reached the edge of the city, and he began to slow down, watching in the rearview mirror to make sure we weren’t being tracked.

"All good?" I asked him, and he grinned at me.

"All good," he promised me. "You’ve got nothing to worry about. No way are they going to catch up to us now. I’m going to call Chuck, get him to send some guys out to meet us."

I leaned my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, the freedom really beginning to settle in around me now. I knew there would still be complications to contend with, but, for now, they would come some other time – in this moment, all I cared about was how good it felt to be out, how freeing it was to know that my father was going to be exposed. I would share all of this with Abbey, and when she discovered what he had been up to, I knew she would put it out for the world to see.

Everyone would know what kind of person he was. But, beyond that, I knew – I knew the man he was now, and the man he had always been. The man I wanted nothing more to do with. He might have dismissed Jaxon as a criminal, but I knew he was so much more than that – he was brave, strong, compassionate, and if he hadn’t been here, I knew I wouldn’t have survived this. He was my reason to keep pushing forward, and I was so, so grateful for that.

"What are you thinking?" He asked me, as the wind rushed through my hair. I grinned. I didn’t have the words for it yet – but I knew, soon, I would.

Chapter Eighteen – Jaxon

I hooked my head over Star’s shoulder as she looked down at the newspaper in front of us. Right there, on the front page, was a picture of her father. Not him winning his next electoral campaign – no, instead, he was being led away in handcuffs, trying to hide his face from the camera.

"I can’t believe it," Star muttered, reaching out to touch the page as though making sure it was real. "He’s really...he’s really done."

"Yeah, I wasn’t sure if the cops were going to pay attention to that article Abbey wrote," I agreed. "But I guess with the neighbors calling the authorities about what happened at the mansion, it was only a matter of time."

"Yeah, you’re right," she replied, resting her head back against mine. I could feel the way the tension had left her body, as she realized, at last, she didn’t have to be fearful anymore. After everything that her father had done to her, everything he had put her through, there was nothing more he could do to her. The relief was palpable, for both of us.

It had been nearly ten days since we had broken free of his mansion, and we had been laying low since then, apart from Star’s meetings with Abbey. Abbey had put together a whole expose on everything her father had been up to, and the cops had swooped in to arrest him, officially kicking him out of the office and bringing his reign of terror to an end, once and for all.

I was so happy for her, and I could tell that Star was ready to leave all of this behind. She turned to me, planting a kiss on my cheek.

"I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you," she murmured to me.

"I think you would have," I replied. "You’re stronger than you think, Star."

"Yeah, but I’m not as good with a gun as you are," she teased, and I chuckled.

"I guess you’ve got a point."

She lifted her head and looked around the room, at the new painting I’d just hung over the couch. Getting to her feet, she looked it over, shaking her head.

"I still can’t believe you’re not letting anyone else see these paintings," she remarked. "It’s such a shame. You’re so talented, Jaxon. The world deserves to see these."

I shrugged.

"It’s just a hobby," I replied. "Not like there’s much room for it in my line of work."

"Yeah, but there could be," she pointed out. "If you shared it with the other Dogs. You could...I don’t know, design an insignia for them."

I cocked an eyebrow.

"You think we need one?"

"Well, it would be good to know who’s part of the group or not at a glance," she replied. "Just a thought."

"Trust me, I think I’ve put Chuck through enough without asking him to indulge my hobbies, too."

She cocked her head to the side.

"With me, you mean?”

"Before that, too," I admitted. "When we first met. I wasn’t exactly in the best state."

Her eyes softened.

---