Page 38 of Jax: Untamed

She nods, pressing her lips together and by the time her baby blue eyes meet mine, they are glossed over with a layer of tears.

“I think it’s that guy Kyle from the bar…” her last word lingers and I know she has another option in mind.

“Or?” I ask taking another swig.

“Or…my dad.”

I swallow harder than expected at the words and hiss as the liquor burns my throat this time, “your dad?”

She nods.

“Why is that? Have you been back there? Have you talked to him?” I wish I had put that tracking app on her phone a lot sooner.

I begin to pace trying not to spit. “I should have killed the fucker when I had a chance! Made it look like a bad drug deal!”

The words come searing out of my mouth and my head jerks her way searching her eyes, wondering how badly I just scared her. But her face is blank and I’m not sure how to interpret it, so I move on…fast.

“Why do you think it’s him?” I scowl.

“The last time I talked to Alyssa, she said he came into the diner and was asking about me.”

My heart moves at an exorbitant rate now and I want to roar like a lion at the thought.

“I don’t know why he would leave me a note like that though. I’m not sure that even makes sense.”

“I guess it could be him. We can’t be sure, but it could be a vendetta, jealousy that you got out. Does he even know about Danny?”

She shrugs.

I take one last gulp of the liquid in my cup and slam the glass on the mantle over the fireplace, “I want you to stay here until we figure it out…not just tonight.”

“Jax, I can’t do that again.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” She looks around like she’s trying to gather evidence for an answer, “because…you don’t need to rescue me again.” She lets out in a sigh. “Because I have to work, because it’s probably nothing.”

She knows it’s not nothing.

I cut her off and step closer looking down on her perfect body, “Technically you’re my adopted sister now and it’s my duty to take care of you,” her blue eyes look at me as if she never thought about that before. “For Danny.”

Those last words make her eyes tear up again and a lone tear drifts down her cheek.

I wipe it away, “You can take time off work for a personal emergency, I’ll see to that. Let me keep you safe until we figure this out.”

I can’t afford to be replaced at work Jax and bartenders are a dime a dozen. I don’t have money…” her arms fly up in disgust at my belongings, “like you.”

“I’ll make sure if anyone is brought in it will be temporary. And I’ll pay you vacation time while you’re off.

Her eyebrows clench together and she jerks herself back on the big white cushion, “about that…”

I nod and step back crossing an arm over my chest.

“Did you know I worked there from the beginning.”

I don’t even hide it. I nod, face blank, unapologetic and she gasps.

“Listen, our family owns a lot of things. We’ve never had a chance to talk about it and it was by pure luck of the draw that you applied for a job there. I didn’t make that happen.”

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