Page 98 of Wicked Truths

One of the Rossi men stops and turns to face us. “Wait here. Jax, you come with me.”

I step around the glass coffee table and sit down on one of the couches and glance around the gaudy room. Everything is gilded and overly decorated, like a bunch of men just bought a lot of furniture and threw it in here.

A man steps through the doorway, drawing our attention to him. He’s wearing a well-fitted suit with a patterned tie that commands attention.

He looks like an older Jax. Still handsome in his older age with wrinkles on his face, but a youthful body and a sharp angular jaw.

“Can I speak to Miss Francesca, alone? I promise, I mean her no harm.”

Uncle Tony and AJ seem like they want to refuse, but I give them a reassuring smile. Besides, I still have the gun at the small of my back. “I’ll yell if I need anything.”

The mystery man laughs in response. “I won’t even sit on the same couch as her.”

Uncle Tony and AJ follow the guard out of the living room, giving me a look that is more of a warning.

When I am alone with the mystery man, I sit in the same spot I was and true to his word, he takes the other couch that is on the opposite side of the coffee table.

“Do you know who I am?”

I shake my head. “Sorry, I don’t.”

Should I?

“That’s okay. I completely understand why your family would keep my identity a secret. I’m Giuseppe Rossi.”

Jax’s father. The Rossi boss himself.

A maid enters the living room, carrying a tray with teacups and a pot of hot tea.

She gives me a smile as she places it on the coffee table in front of me. My stomach tightens as I feel conflicted. I don’t want to be rude and not accept the beverage, but I don’t know if I can trust them.

“It’s not poisoned.” He says before making a cup for himself and taking a sip.

Maybe a couple of sips won’t hurt.

I make a cup and take a sip of the hot liquid.

Giuseppe clears his throat. “I want to thank you for bringing my son home. My family is indebted to you. You know, he told me you were different, but I didn’t believe him.”

Jax has talked about me to his father?

I place my teacup on the coffee table. “Different? How?”

“He said you weren’t made for this world. That you were too caring and kind, and that he didn’t feel right leading you on like he was. I, of course, encouraged him to keep pursuing you, but now, I can see he was right. Your father was right to keep such a kind soul away from this life.”

Jax said that? About me? That’s not like the Jax that pointed a gun at me and dragged me to his getaway car. It’s like the Jax that I saved. The one that was soft and gentle in the backseat of AJ’s car.

“Wow, I don’t know what to say.”

Could this be the opening both families need to put the rivalry behind us? I just have to know one thing.

“I do have a question, if you don’t mind. After Jax told me about my mother still being alive, he said the plan was to kill my entire family. He hinted at some wrongdoing that my family did to him. Would you mind telling me what it could be?”

He doesn’t get the chance to tell me, but based on the look that crosses his face, I’d say my question caught him by surprise.

A loud bang sounds from the front door.

I jump up and follow Giuseppe toward the noise. The entire front door and framing is laying on the ground in shreds.

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