Page 20 of The Hitman
“Okay,” I murmur.
“Okay.” He smiles, coaxing me toward him like a spider luring its prey into its beautiful web.
He guides me back to the couch, and just like that day in the fort, awareness sparks between us. But this time, it’s different, bolder in a way that tells me Jaxon might be as starved for connection as I am.
“Are you worried about Isabella?” I ask, changing the subject before I find myself crawling over his lap.
“My sister’s as tough as they come,” he says after a moment. “She’ll get through this, but it’s Leo I’m worried about. I’m not sure what lasting effects this will have on him.”
I nod solemnly, reminded of Leo’s concerns about his mother and the truth he feels his uncle is withholding.
Now’s my chance. I can either stay silent and pretend Jaxon isn’t hiding something, or I can give him an opportunity to tell me the truth.
“Leo said he thinks there’s more to his mom’s accident than you’re letting on.” I hesitate to ask the question that’s been burning in my gut since day one. “Is he right?”
Jaxon’s jaw tightens, his silence confirming my fears, even though he doesn’t speak.
I stand on shaky legs, staring down at him with a confidence I don’t entirely feel. “Listen, if I’m in danger here, you need to tell me now. No bullshit. No lies.”
“Danger?”
I scoff. “This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
I sweep my arm out, losing my patience. “You have a ridiculous amount of security in this place, even for a wealthy man. If that wasn’t suspicious enough, you pulled Leo out of school pretty abruptly after Isabella’s ‘accident,’ you work oddhours for a day trader, and sometimes you leave for work in clothes you don’t come home in.”
His expression is sharp, cutting through me. I get the sense he doesn’t want to have this conversation, but that’s too damn bad.
“I found a freakinggunin your kitchen earlier, Jaxon.”
He tips his head up when I step closer, but his lips are stubbornly sealed. Firelight flirts with the angles of his face, highlighting one side while hollowing the other, and a shiver skates up my spine.
“Just tell me what’s going on. Please.”
Jaxon sets his glass on the coffee table.
“Fine. The truth is, I think someone attacked Isabella.”
The confession steals the air from my lungs. “What?”
“Isa worked as a financial advisor. I thought it was just boring numbers and client portfolios,” he says. “But about six months ago, she started managing accounts for some dangerous people. One in particular I would’ve kept her away from had I known.”
A chill raises the hair on my arms.
“She thought it was all legitimate, just investment portfolios and whatnot.”
“What was she actually doing?”
He shakes his head once, sharp and controlled, like anything less would break him apart.
“Turns out, she was cleaning money for people who don’t exactly send warning shots. The second she asked too many questions, the second she got curious…” He swallows hard and braces his elbows on his knees. “Well, they wanted to make sure she couldn’t ask anything else.”
The weight of his guilt fills the space between us, thick and suffocating. My heart hammers against my ribs as a wave of unease grips me.
“You’re afraid they’ll come after you and Leo.”
“No,” he says, voice low and lethal. “I’m not afraid.”
