Page 87 of Reckless and Rooted
He glances up at me, maybe deciding if he can trust me or not. I don’t really care if he does. All I need is an opportunity, just one, to get away from this place so I can get home to my son. And Jax.
God. He was probably beside himself with worry. I’d just left and not thought I’d never see my boys again, and now I wasn’t sure I would make it to the next sunrise.
“I fell for the fucker’s words, I guess.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Life hasn’t been easy.”
I sigh, biting into a cracker I didn’t want. “Life is not easy for anyone.”
Scoffing, the guy leans back against the wall. “Says the famous millionaire.”
I shake my head, having heard this before. Everyone thinks that because they didn’t have to see me struggle, everything was handed to me, when it is far from the truth.
I worked my ass off to get to this point, to a place where I can settle down and work when I want to, instead of having to.
“Yeah, well, saying no got me to a lot of places in life.” I lift a brow, and from his reddened cheeks, I can tell he gets my meaning. “But I had to say yes to more things than I wanted to as well. Being famous isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
I actually hate it now. I appreciate my fans and those who loved my music, who spent their hard-earned money on my music. But being famous…I didn’t want that anymore. Not that I could ever get away from it, but moving back to my small town was one step closer to just living that normal life I ran from so many years ago.
“How did you say no?” His question surprises me, as does his open expression. I have no idea how this guy got here, but being that he looks awfully young, I’m guessing it was a series of unfortunate circumstances.
I pause, uncapping the water and swallowing before I answer him. Sighing, I look at him and say, “I don’t know. I guess…I saw the people that said yes. I saw how they went from creative, imaginative, happy, and talented, to not being able to get through the day without something to help them. I’m not someone who wants to rely on others to help her. I like being in control of my own life.”
The guy leans onto his elbows, and I don’t know which part, but something that I said seems to hit him.
“Woo hoo!” I hear from the other room, then the door opens again, and Keith is standing there, looking victorious. “Look what just went live.”
He turns his phone to me, and I see a news article announcing that famous singer Felicity Vogel has been kidnapped months after having her baby. Great.
“You leaked it to the press,” I state rather than question. I mean, it was right there in front of my face.
“That’s my job,” he announces proudly, kicking the leg of the guy who is talking to me. I watch him leave the room almostsadly, wishing I could do something for the guy who is obviously here after making bad choices. Then again, aren’t we all? “Now I’m going to get that ransom and never have to deal with my sniveling ungrateful sons again.”
I scoff, unafraid of what this bastard could do. At this point, it feels like he is all for show. “Ungrateful. That’s hilarious. Your sons are some of the most respected men in our town, and you think they’re the scum under your boot.”
He waves his phone around, that smarmy smile not leaving his lips. It makes me want to smack him across the face, but I don’t. “After this, I’ll be a king compared to them. They’ll always work nine to five on that old bastard’s ranch.”
He was speaking about Cal Trevors, of course. CT’s dad was nothing but a nice old man who took care of his family. Something that Keith was obviously incapable of doing.
“So does Jax even know you have me?”
“Of course.” He shrugs. “Why not get double the money? He’s working on his portion to come rescue you, and now your people are working on theirs for you. It’s a win-win for me.”
“Ha!” I shake my head, almost not believing how fucking ridiculous this guy is. “You’re insane. They’re not going to just let you take the money and leave.”
“They will if they want you to live. Plus, I have extra insurance coming.”
I freeze, my mind immediately racing with what he could mean. “What does that mean?”
He walks over, roughly taking my hands again and wrenching them behind my back, wrapping the scratchy rope back around them. “It means, sweet thing…” He leans down, his weed breath and scratchy beard rubbing against my cheek and making my stomach clench with disgust. “That you’re about to have company.”
42
jax
The call comes justas we are clearing a ridge.
It is the middle of the night. No lights on the road or surrounding the mountains we are in make it impossible to see, but that is going to be to our advantage.
We made one stop before we finally set out, and it was to Mitch’s cabin. Logan and Stetson had looked at me for confirmation on where we were, and I’d just shrugged, not sure what to say about our brother’s little home hidden away up here.
