by Taylor Lee
Jax hugged her close to him and nodded. “Yeah, Viviana, I can’t argue with that. I agree. Because of the expertise of the people in this room, those on Serge Stryker’s team in DC, FBI offices in three cities including ours, and Mick O’Reilly’s SWAT team, there isn’t a chance in hell that Williams and Dillinger will escape. But none of us would be here if it wasn’t for you.”
Trying to swallow past the sob she heard in her voice, she forced herself to speak the awful truth. “But, Jax, I very nearly wasn’t here.”
He tightened his grip and agreed. She was glad that his gruff voice was as challenged as hers. “You are correct, Viviana. You came goddamned close to not being here. And, baby, I came too fucking close to losing the single most important person in my life and the reason I get up every morning thanking God for blessing me with you.”
They both were silent for a long moment, clinging to each other.
Seeing Greg Bannon approaching, Jax said, “Here comes your commander, Sergeant Moreau. I’m assuming from the eager look on his face that in his expert opinion the stars are aligned. My question to you, Sergeant, is, are you ready to take down some serious ass? Some of the most evil assholes either of us has ever run into?”
Viviana looked up at him through the blur of her tears and said, “Damn straight, Chief Hughes!”
***
Staring at the spectacular Boeing 747-81 VIP parked just off the runway, Viviana asked, “Whose idea was it to take them down at this airplane hangar?”
Jax laughed. “You aren’t the only one interested in the optics, Viviana. C’mon, Enchantress, tell me, what will make better B-roll on all the news shows? The two of them hiding their faces and walking down the sidewalk in front of Williams’s house? Or getting out of their Rolls limousine and preparing to hop aboard one of the most expensive and luxurious private jets in the world? Which happens to be their personal plane?”
Viviana laughed aloud. “My goodness, don’t tell me that the drop-dead gorgeous SJPD police chief is as much of a media whore as the Enchantress?” She added, “Of course the fact the police chief wears Carlo Brandelli and Benjamin Bruno originals is a bit of a giveaway.”
Jax pinched her cheek and said, “Really, Sergeant Moreau, how does a little unassuming police sergeant know men’s high-fashion designers? And by the way, I’ve been told that I look damn good in worn Levis and a black tee shirt.”
***
Viviana settled in the padded chaise lounge on Jax’s gorgeous patio, drinking in the beauty of the stunning night. The flames in the fieldstone fireplace competed with the starlit night in a panoply of vibrant colors, outshone only by the crescent moon proudly shining in the cloudless sky. Jax had allowed her the first shot of scotch that she’d had since she’d been captured. She was gratified that the opiates seemed to have worked their way out of her system for the first time in three days and was beginning to feel like herself. Sipping on the scotch, she watched the wall-to-wall television coverage documenting their extraordinary coup. The crawl on the bottom of the screen heralded, “Enchantress Soars Again!”
Seeing Jax standing protectively at her side, Viviana watched the throng of media shouting a barrage of questions at her. Viviana was relieved to see that the stage makeup one of the local reporters had given her had done a great job of masking the significant bruises on her face and arms. The cheeky woman had insisted that Viviana’s swollen lips were sexy, in fact, required enhancements for the female newscasters who relied on collagen, not battle scars.
The pictures of Roger Williams and Hannah Dillinger interspersed with hideous scenes from the Lolitas Unbound website played in an endless loop. Breathless newscasters described how the perpetrators and every one of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who’d downloaded the shocking images of young girls being sexually tortured were guilty of creating a demand for an illegal product—a federal crime.
Viviana was grateful that, unlike after the Diva exposé when they’d been mobbed by the media for seemingly hours, Jax had spirited her away. He explained that he and the Enchantress were working with national and international law enforcement entities to ensure that the despicable ringleaders would be charged to the full extent of the law. He assured the insistent horde that he and the Enchantress would be available for interviews tomorrow. In truth, Viviana had been hit by a wave of fatigue so intense that it was a wonder she was able to walk off the stage. As it was, the minute they got behind the barriers, Jax picked her up and didn’t put her down until Francis dropped them at Jax’s condominium.
Watching Mick and Greg stand in for them, Viviana was both thrilled and proud. It eased some of the pain she felt to see the two men who had helped save her life get center stage. Not for the first time, she was overcome by shame. Turning to Jax, she said, “How can I ever tell them how sorry I am?” She added in a pained voice, “Jax, they could have been killed.”
He shook his head, then shrugged. “I think they would have gladly died rather than having to find you dead, Viviana. That is the nightmare that all of us who love you will have to live with for the rest of our lives. The fact that we came damn close to not getting to you in time.”
Viviana forced herself to say the bitterly hard words, “And it would have been my fault, Jax.” She hesitated, then said, “All because I wouldn’t bring you, and Mick, and Greg into the case.”
Jax turned off the sound on the television and pulled an armchair up beside her. “Let’s talk about that, Viviana.” When she frowned as if she didn’t understand, he persisted. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
Viviana’s frown widened. “I’m not sure what you want me to say, Jax. You know what I’m like. It’s how I’ve always been. I don’t like to discuss a case until I’ve got it all figured out.”
Jax smiled at her, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He reached out and pinched her cheek. “A correction, sweetheart. That was the way you used to work, but it is not the way you or the rest of us will be working going forward.”
Seeing her irritation rise, Jax shook his head. “Just so you understand, Viviana, this topic is no longer open for discussion. It’s been settled. The way we have worked in the past is not the way we will be working now. Why? Because it’s dangerous. Not only to you, but to those of us who work with you. You just said that Mick and Greg could have been killed two nights ago. More likely, you would have been killed. Just imagine, Viviana, if because of your actions the people who love you the most would spend the rest of their lives blaming themselves for your death.”
“But, Jax, that’s not right. It would have been my fault.”
“I agree. It would have been your primary responsibility because you were unwilling to trust us. However, we would also be to blame for not holding you to a higher standard, insisting that you bring us into your trust. But, sweetheart, the good thing is that we all agree. That mode of working is a thing of the past. Going forward we will be working as a coherent team. Period.”
He poured her another finger of scotch and studied her for a long moment, then made a decision. Painting a thoughtful smile on his face, he said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about us lately, Viviana, and I’ve come to a strange conclusion. I’ve realized that as close as we are, as much as we love each other, we really don’t know very much about each other. For example, do you know how many siblings I have? No? I have two: a sister and a brother. And I bet you don’t know that I’m an uncle and a damn good one. Did you know that my mother is an obstetrician? That she has delivered hundreds, probably thousands of babies? And that my dad is a biochemist? He’s actually had a number of breakthrough scientific discoveries that have changed several fields of study.”
Viviana tossed her head, knowing where he was going with this conversation or thought he was. She decided to make it clear that wasn’t going to happen.
“Sorry, Jax, all I can tell you is that your all-American family ain’t mine. And frankly, that’s enough said. I’m glad you have prominent, prosperous, educated parent
s. And that you have siblings and nieces and nephews and probably six or seven show dogs.”
Jax interrupted her with a grin. “No show dogs, but we do have a couple of mutts, both of whom are incorrigibly spoiled and, frankly, are a pain in the ass.”
When she turned away, her expression hard, closed, he reached for her hand and allowed a soft frown to replace his smile.
“Can I assume that’s not the way you would describe your family, Viviana?”
She reared up and tossed the throw on the ground. Striding to the table, holding the bottle of Maker’s Mark, she refilled her glass and took a large swallow. Facing him, she said bitterly, “No Jax, that’s not the way I would describe my family. Number one, I didn’t have a father.”
He cocked an interested brow. “Hmm, so you are the product of an immaculate conception?”
She glared at him. “If immaculate implies that my mother didn’t screw around, that is a joke. The last thing anyone could ever accuse my mother of was being immaculate. And no, while I didn’t have a father, I had lots of stepfathers.”
Jax was at her side in seconds. “C’mere, baby. Let me hold you. You need to know, darlin’, when you are ready to talk to me about what happened to you when you were a kid, I’m here.” Tipping up her chin, he forced her to look at him. “And, sweetheart, just know that I won’t force you, but we are going to have that conversation. Do you understand?”
She slammed her eyes closed, then looked up at him her eyes dark with pain. “But not now, Jax. Not tonight. Please.”
Jax pressed his lips together and continued to hold her gaze. “Okay. I’ll take a rain check, but I will be back to take you up on it.” He took his time, then not letting her go, he said, “But for now, Viviana, I have one thing that I will ask of you. Can you feel compassion for the little girl that you were, the way you do for the Ariels of the world?”
She looked startled. “But . . . I’m not like the Ariels. I wasn’t . . . ”
“Wasn’t what, Viviana? You weren’t abused?”
When she didn’t answer, he pulled her closer to him and held her chin so she couldn’t look away. “Oh, sweetheart. I don’t know when it happened or how, but it did happen. Listen to me, Viviana. You have spent your adult life trying to protect those abused girls. And, baby, you’ve done a hell of a job. You’ve even risked your own life to take care of them, to right the wrongs that were done to them. But now, I have another job for you. I want you to look at that other little girl . . . the one that you and I aren’t going to talk about tonight—but will later.” At her surprised start, he pressed his lips in a thin line and put down his marker. “When we do talk about her, Viviana? You and I are going to come up with ideas about how we can take better care of her. How we can heal her, let her know how strong and loved she is.” Swiping at the tears streaming down Viviana’s face, Jax said, “The best part of that work is that we are going to do it together. You and me. You got that, baby?”
He held her in his arms for several long minutes without speaking and then reached for her hand. “Now come here, woman. Back here on this chaise lounge and lay down beside me.” At her questioning frown, he chuckled. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. You’re too fragile and too covered with ugly bruises for us to make love. Instead, we’re going to hold each other and talk about where we are going to live.”
Viviana looked up at him, clearly surprised. She frowned, her confusion apparent. “I . . . I don’t know what you mean, Jax.”
He grinned at her. “Well, darlin’, it’s obvious I need to keep better track of you. While my condo is bigger, I can understand why you might want us to live in yours.”
She was flustered. “Uh, mine isn’t big enough for both of us, Jax.”
He shrugged. “Fine. That settles it. You’ll move in here with me.” He reached over and pinched her cheek. “I love you, Viviana.”
She startled and then a smile crossed her lips as she leaned against him. “And I love you, Jax.”
AFTERWORD
Thank you for reading SEIZED. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much I enjoyed writing it. Fortunately for Viviana, Jax discovers the secret she has spent her life trying to forget. However, if you think that they got everything settled at the end of SEIZED, buckle up your seatbelt and hang on for the ride in BETRAYED. Just know you ain’t seen nothing yet!
If you enjoyed SEIZED, do a huge favor for me. Click on this link and write an honest review of the book. Authors live and die by their reviews. The few extra seconds it takes really helps us authors out. Many, many thanks! AND please go to my website www.taylorleebooks.com for my publishing schedule and lots of FREE stuff! Sign up for my newsletter. It is the way I stay connected to my glorious readers.
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Darkest Before Dawn (A KGI Novel)
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About the Author
USA Today Best-Selling author Taylor Lee writes Suspenseful Mystery Thrillers – with a heavy dose of Sexy to Sizzling HOT Romance.
