He’s takes my hand, “Oh, sweetheart, there is so much more that you don’t know.”
I need to know it all. “Go on, Jax, just get it all out, so we can get past this and close the book.”
He closes his eyes and lifts his head back, seemingly fearful of what he is about to tell me.
“If only it would be that easy.” He has a really tight grip on me and I see fear in his eyes.
“Jax, what is it? What is so bad, that you’re afraid to tell me?”
I’M SILENTLY PRAYING FOR her to have the strength to deal with this whole mess. “Raven, your mother is not dead. When she gave birth to Duke, she had a breakdown. Joseph had her put in a clinic in Switzerland. He took the money your mother inherited when her parents died and invested it. That money is used for her care. He took the money you received when your father died and put that, plus some of his own, into a trust fund for you.”
She suddenly loses color to her face and starts shaking, her bottom lip is quivering while the tears spill out of her eyes.. “My mother is alive?”
“Joseph left Max and me in charge of the estate, and the care of your mum was left to Max.”
She wipes away a tear, “Why would he do that?”
“We don’t know. He made these changes the week before he died. I do know that he admired Max’s tenacity; he called him a ‘bull dog’ when it came to never giving up. He also left three envelopes, one for each of us.”
She clutches my arm, “I want to see my mother, is she safe?”
I nod, “Max flew there the other day and increased her guards. He is in constant touch with her doctors, and he is going to have her moved to a facility here. He is just waiting until he feels it’s safe to move her, and he gets the go ahead from her doctors. Raven, we only found out when we landed in Italy. I don’t want you to think that I kept this from you.”
She takes a steadying breath. “Where are the letters that Joseph left?”
HE JUST KEEPS STROKING my arm, and I’m not sure if, it is for his benefit or mine. “They’re at his attorney’s office.”
I stand up. “I need to talk to Max. Please, Jax, I need to see him now.”
“He’s here. He knew you would want to talk to him.”
He stops me as I start to head for the living room, “Raven, you need to put on something, other than a towel, or I will lose it.”
“HI, MAX, PLEASE TELL me what happened when you went to see my mother.”
“Miss Raven, I don’t know all the details about why she is in her condition. I’m hoping there is more in the letters that Joseph left. I can tell you, that she is comfortable. She seems to have understood me when I was talking to her. I did not tell her anything about you. I felt it would just be too much, too soon. However, she doesn’t speak at all. I gave all of the proper paperwork, that grants me guardianship of your mother, to the Swiss doctors, and as soon as everything is filed with the authorities, she’ll be moved to a facility here in New York. I promise you that I will take the upmost care of her.”
I smile. “I know you will. Do you know how long it will be before we can move her here?”
He takes a deep breath. “I’m hoping for the end of next week. We do, however, need to get to Joseph’s attorney’s first. I took the liberty of making an appointment for tomorrow morning at ten.”
I’m tired, but I need to know everything and then, process it, so I can move forward. “What about Duke and Vincent? I remember Jax telling me that the Italian authorities have Duke, but Vincent got away. Has there been any more news on either of them?”
“I am in contact with the Italian authorities. They move very slowly, but as far as Vincent is concerned, I was able to track him into Greece and then to Los Angeles. Miss Raven, for now, that is all I have, but be assured, as soon as I know anything, I will advise you and Jax. Is there anything else you need?”
I shake my head, “No, Max, thank you. I could never repay you or Jax for all that you’ve both gone through for me.”
He gets up to leave. “Miss Raven, you are very welcome, and now, I will let you rest. I’ll be by tomorrow morning at nine, to pick you both up.”
“Jax, there is so much we need to talk about, but right now, can you just hold me?”
“Sweetheart, always. Come here.” He pulls me into his lap, and I curl up into a ball in his arms. I don’t think I have it in me to shed another tear. I cried so much, when I thought he was gone from my life. I cried for Marco, Joseph, and a mother, whom I thought was dead. I have gone through and witnessed more in my twenty-seven years than most people will ever experience in their lifetime. I know there is so much more to come, but just for tonight, I need to forget the rest of the world.
For tonight, I just need Jax. “Jax, will you please take me to bed and make love to me?”
I feel his cock twitch underneath me. “Raven, you just got home from the hospital. You’ve been shot and you’re exhausted…”
Before he can say any more, I look up and kiss him. I lock violet to blues “Jax, I need you—now.”
He gives me a slow nod. He lifts me in his arms and carries me to the bedroom. He, slowly and beautifully, makes love to me all night long.
JAX IS STILL BURIED within me when I wake up, his hands are latched on to my ass. I can’t help but giggle. I take a peek at him, but his eyes are closed. I like to look at him when he’s sleeping; he is just so beautiful. He always has scruffy facial hair, and it’s such a contrast to his deep blue eyes. He has such long eyelashes, and his mouth with lips soft as pillows. Thinking of all the things he can do with that mouth, makes me instantly wet. I trail my finger along those lips, down his chest, around his nipples.
“Sweetheart, are you done taking inventory?”
I hum, “I thought you were sleeping.”
His eyes are still closed, but he tilts his hips up, and his morning erection has sprung to life.
“Jax, he is always ready for action. Oh my God, now you have me, referring to your cock as a he!” I can’t help but laugh until Jax lifts my hips and then pulls me back down.
“Raven, he is in cock heaven, so, of course he is ready. Feel free to talk to him whenever you want.” He gifts me with that crooked smirk, and I start to move up and down, slowly.
“Take the lead, Raven, and ride me however you like.”
I love that he doesn’t always have to be in control. “Really, Jax? Anything?” I continue up and down, real slow.
I stop, and he watches me like he’s waiting to see what I will do next. I lean down and run my tongue along his lips. I follow it with kisses. Traveling to his neck and down to his nipples, taking each one in my mouth—sucking and nibbling—just like he does to me. I lift myself up really slowly and then come down even slower, feeling every inch. I lift myself up again, but this time I climb off of him. I work my kisses down his happy trail. I nip and lick up and down his V. He is so hard. I kiss the top of his cock. I can taste myself on him, and it is so erotic. Nothing like I thought, as I swirl my tongue around the top and down to the base, I take him in my mouth and latch on to him, hollowing out my cheeks. I take him deeper than I ever have before, and I can see by the look on his face he is in shock. I start to slowly move up and down, going deeper with each pass.
He’s moving his hips with me now, “Oh, Raven, what you do to me.”
As I bare my teeth, his head flies back, and his hips shoot up. He screams and comes the hardest I have ever seen him come. I devour every drop of him that he offers up. I climb up his beautiful body real slow, leaving soft kisses in my path. When I reach his lips, my eyes search his. “I love you, Jax, heart and soul. And I always will.”
“Raven, sweetheart, I never thought I would hear those words. The three months without you almost killed me.” He lets out the deep breath that he had sucked in.
I kiss him. “Jax, the only thing that gave me any hope was, knowing that your baby was a part of me. I needed to stay strong to keep our baby safe. What were you doing while I was gone
?” Once I ask, I see him avert his eyes like he is ashamed or embarrassed. “Jax, you can tell me,” I stutter, “Did you try to move on?” I lower my eyes unable to look at him.
“Raven, Look at me!” he bites. I return my gaze. “I was dead inside without you. Even my cock didn’t want to be bothered with me. I do have a confession for you, though. I purchased your apartment.”
“Why?” I widen my eyes.
That glaze of embarrassment washes over his face again. “Well, I needed to keep the place to feel close to you somehow.” He admits and I furrow my brows. “Don’t look at me like that. I know I wasn’t thinking like a normal guy. Hell, normal flew out the window the day you doused me with your coffee. I couldn’t take a shower here. I couldn’t sleep in my own bed. I wouldn’t even let my housekeeper clean the living room because your handprints were on the window. I practically lived at your place for three months so I could be close to you, and while we're at full disclosure, I was seriously considering selling Raiders, Inc.”
I just stare at him, in total shock. “Why would you sell your company?—you love it!”
“I LOVE YOU MORE.” It was just a whisper, but I know she heard, and I know she understood. I told her once that those words are said too much, that it’s a person’s actions that speak louder than those words ever could, but I know she needed to hear them. “Raven, what happened for the three months you were held prisoner? Did they hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “You want to know if Vincent raped me like he raped my mother?”
HIS GRIP TIGHTENS AT the mention of Vincent’s name. “I want to know everything you want me to know. I want to help you get all of this behind you, so we can move forward together.”
I know he needs to hear this as much as I need to tell him. “On the first day, Vincent gave me a book that was left there by my mother. It was her account of what Vincent did to her while she was held at the villa. Every time he raped my mother, when he was done, he would look up to the heavens and tell my father that he did it for him. It was also her thoughts about my dad and me. There were pictures that she drew. I never knew my mom was an artist. She kept it almost as a diary. Unfortunately, we left it behind when we escaped. But to answer your question, Vincent never touched me.”
I see relief in his eyes. “What about Duke, what did he do while you were there?”
I’m sad to think I have a brother and I will never know him. “Duke came in my room one day to talk to me. It was after Vincent gave me the book. He wanted to ask me questions about my mother. He needs to know she is still alive.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not sure that’s possible, especially if he is in contact with Vincent.”
I know he’s right, but what does that make me if I withhold that from him? “Jax, I need to talk to him.”
“Please explain why, because right now I’m trying not to lose it.”
I take a deep breath “When Duke came into my room, he was looking for answers. Jax, he was lied to and manipulated. I’m not excusing what he did. I mean, he did murder two people. I saw him pull the trigger. There was no remorse in his eyes, but he protected me from Vincent.”
His grip on me tightens “What do you mean, protected you from Vincent? I thought you said Vincent didn’t do anything?”
I stroke his arm to calm him. “He didn’t physically attack me, but he did flip out when he found out I was pregnant. Duke stood up to him in my defence. Vincent called me a ‘common whore, that was knocked up by the big New York City tycoon,’”
Jax winces. “Jax, please don’t.”
“Don’t what, Raven? Don’t get pissed off that you were made to feel like filth, for no reason? Our child was not conceived out of common, everyday lust. Our child was conceived from two halves becoming whole, two souls that are meant to be together. The fact that you had to go through this, makes me sick!” He gets up and heads to the bathroom. “I’m going to jump in the shower before we need to head out. Do you want me to set up the tub for you?”
“How about setting up the tub for us?” I can tell by the way he’s stroking his chin that he’s thinking. “Jax, what’s the problem?”
He’s staring at the tub. “Um, well, okay, so here’s the thing, I’ve never had a bath.”
I gape at him. “You mean you never used that beautiful claw foot tub?” Oh my God, he is blushing and looking down. “Jax, why did you even have such an elaborate tub installed?”
“For resale purposes.”
“Did you design this bathroom?”
“No. Bella did, she loves baths. Even as a child, she was always soaking in the tub.”
“Well, I will have to thank her. She did a wonderful job.”I don’t know what to say, I have ever met anyone who never had a bath. “What about when you were a child?”
He shakes his head, “No. As far as I can remember, my mum always left me to shower on my own. I’ve always been very independent. Plus it seems such a waste of time to just sit there, doing nothing.”
Wow. “Okay. Well, Mr. Phillips, I am going to introduce you to the wonders of a big, beautiful tub. You wait here.”
I go about filling the tub with that wonderful vanilla spice that I have come to love so much. I can’t believe it. If I had this tub, I’d be soaking in it all the time. I love a good book, some soothing music, and a soak in the tub. I’m so excited that I’m going to give Jax a first.
Jax walks in and smiles at me, “What’s that look for?”
I must have the most ridiculous smile on my face right now. “I just realized that I’m going to be giving you a first, and there is not too many firsts that I can give you.”
He pulls me towards him “You’re giving me another first—my first child.”
Realization hits me at that moment, he’s right. “Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.” He climbs into the tub, and I watch as he sinks into the water. “Are you getting in too?”
He is so beautiful; I could watch him all day long. “I just wanted a minute to look at you.”
He opens his arms for me and I climb in. “Jax, can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me whatever you want, you know that.”
I turn and face him, “I understand that you love Doctor Who, but you never said why?”
He strokes his chin then, stops to move my hair from my right shoulder to my left. He places several soft kisses in the crook of my neck.. “I knew you would eventually ask me this, and I don’t want to hold anything back with you but I have to say, this may be a little hard for me to share.” He takes in a deep breath. “When I was a kid, the only thing I ever shared with my father was sitting down with him once a week to watch the show. I don’t have very many memories of my father, but that is one that is so clear. My sharing it with Junior, I guess is, in some way, my sharing his grandfather with him. I hope that he will share it with his children, and I know, I will share it with ours.”
I throw my arms around him. There are no words left to say. Oh, how I love this man.
M
AX IS ALWAYS ON time and today is no different. “Max, where did you learn to drive?” His driving is fast, but not reckless.
“Miss Raven, I spent my summers in Italy working for Lamborghini. Why are you laughing?”
“When Marco first met you, he said you reminded him of Daniel Craig. Then when you and Jax rescued me, I realized, not only do you look like him, but you are James Bond. If I had any lingering doubts, your driving proves it.” I lightly smack his shoulder. Max gifts me with a very large smile, which is so rare for him.
Jax leans over, “Sweetheart, don’t encourage him, his head is big enough.”
We arrive at the attorney’s office right on time. We’re ushered in, and then we have to wait. Finally, a man enters and introduces himself as Joseph’s attorney. He looks to me, “Raven, I am sorry for your loss. Joseph left three letters with a codicil which names, Jaxson James Phillips and Maxwell Fleming, as executors of his will. Mr. Fleming has also been given legal
guardianship of your mother.
“All of Joseph’s assets were put into the trust, which controls both your trust and that of your mother. Your mother’s trust is to be used for her care. In the event of her death, everything rolls into your trust. If you should precede your mother in death, then your trust would revert to your mother’s trust, unless you have children. In that case, everything would revert to the children. Under no circumstances is anything supposed to go to Duke Jensen. Do you have any questions for me?”
Questions? Probably a million, but I doubt that he will have the answers. “Yes. Why?”
“Pardon me Miss. Anderson why, what?” He asks me in an uncertain tone.
I have tight grip on Jax’s hand. “Well, first, why did he name Max and Jax when he really didn’t know them? Why did he hide my mother from me? Why did he hide my brother from me? Why didn’t he tell me he was ill? I guess the list of questions is really endless.”
He nods. “Well, there really isn’t much I can tell you, because I really didn’t know the man very well. I can tell you, he made the changes in the last weeks of his life. The letter to you has been here for a long time, although he did add to it. The letters to Mr. Phillips and Mr. Fleming are new. Maybe the answers you seek are within these letters.” With that, he has us sign some paperwork, hands us the letters, and then asks us if we wanted to use his conference room.
“Jax, I would like to go home,” I say. Jax nods his head and excuses us from the meeting and the law office, letters in hand. We drive home in silence, the three of us lost in our thoughts. I really want to ask Max to stay. I want to know what Joseph wrote to him, but it’s is personally addressed to him. Jax and I sit in front of the fire, and he pours a scotch for himself and water for me. We put the envelopes on the bar and stare at them. I just can’t do this now. “Jax, I’m going to lie down for a while, I’m just not ready yet.”
The Unraveling of Raven (The Unraveled Trilogy Book 1) Page 23
