Page 16 of Thorns of Malice

Jaxon holds his hands in the air. "I'm on your side. Just tell me how you know."

"Because it was dated. My father had dates on every page. The notebook's in chronological order. He even had written he needed $10,000 for a patent. It's all in his notebook." I start to cry again.

Jaxon pulls me to him and lets me sob on him for a while.

When I finally calm down, I retreat. "I'm sorry, your shirt's destroyed," I say, cringing at the black streaks of mascara all over his white button-down.

"Who gives a shit?"

I sniffle again. "I shouldn't have said anything to you, but you see why it's my fault that my dad died? You understand, right?"

He firmly asserts, "No, Ivy. You didn't kill your dad."

"I did. It's my fault."

"No. If it's anyone's fault, it's theirs."

I insist, "It's mine. I let them into our lives. They would've only gotten that notebook information because of me...because Dax was in my house. I let him in there."

"You don't know when he came in contact with the notebook and stole that information," Jaxon argues.

I look away, staring into the blackness through the window. I'm not sure what to believe or think anymore.

"The Carringtons are powerful," Jaxon says in a low voice.

I turn toward him. "Yes. Maybe that's why I'd never said their names out loud."

Something changes in Jaxon's eyes. A determination, a hatred, a darkness that I've seen at times while we've had sex or while he's talking at Sex Addicts Anonymous.

A chill runs down my spine. "I shouldn't have said anything. Forget we had this conversation."

He shakes his head. "No, Ivy, I'm not going to forget this. And I know I told you we wouldn't talk about this with anyone, but tomorrow we're meeting with my attorney."

"What? No, you can't tell anyone!"

"They can't get away with this!"

I cry out, "They won't! I'm not going to let them!"

"How?"

"I-I don't know. But no attorney is powerful enough to fight them. They're the Carringtons. I-I'll have to figure out how to beat them at their own game."

Jaxon's voice fills with more determination than I've ever heard. He says, "Ivy, they will pay for this. This is your dad's hybrid, and I'll be damned if I'm going to sit back while they make billions of dollars from it. This is your fortune to reap, not theirs. Tomorrow, we're meeting with my attorney."

4

Dax

"Michelle, where are those numbers I asked you for?" I bark at my assistant.

"Check your email. I sent it to you."

I hit refresh on the computer. "It's still not here."

"I know I sent— Oh, shoot. I forgot to hit the send button again," she claims.

I groan and shake my head. "Well, hit the send button. I don't have all day," I demand and hang up. I make another note to figure out how to get my normal assistant, Katrina, to return from maternity leave early.

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