by Lane Hart
“But the difference is that you don’t condone violence in your everyday business.”
“True,” Logan says. “Although it’s not like Jax was a pastry chef when you met. You knew who he was, what he did for a living.”
“Yeah, I did,” I reply, refusing to admit to my brother how hot it was to see Jax in the cage. “And then we started a family. That changes things.”
“Does it?” Logan asks.
“Yes! I don’t want Xavier to grow up angry and hitting people!” I exclaim. “And where is the freaking waiter?” I ask, glancing around the busy restaurant.
“Do you really think hitting people for a living makes Jax a bad person?”
“Yes, when he can’t control himself in public and hits my client. He could’ve been charged and arrested again, Logan!”
“I know, that was extremely uncalled for,” he agrees. “But plenty of men, husbands and boyfriends of the non-fighter variety, would sock an asshole if he ran his mouth about their wife, right?”
“Maybe,” I agree as I think that over. “The difference is that most men aren’t professional fighters holding world records for knockouts. Mine is, so he should’ve had some restraint. He could’ve seriously hurt Preston.”
“He could have. But he didn’t,” Logan says. “In fact, as a hothead fighter, I think Jax showed a great deal of strength by limiting it to one hit.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree, Logie.”
Chapter Thirteen
Jax
I’m rinsing the last dinner plate in the sink when I hear the garage door opening.
Fuck. She’s finally home.
Was she really with her family tonight? Or was she with that baseball prick?
Dammit, I’ve got to get a grip on myself. The PI said there was nothing going on, and I need to trust that he’s right.
Placing the plate in the dishwasher, I quickly load up the detergent and shut the door to start it.
As soon as I tucked Xavier in, I started cleaning the house, hoping to get on Page’s good side before I see her for the first time since the night of her Christmas party.
The garage door that leads to the kitchen opens, and then she walks in, her blonde hair pulled back in her elegant, professional style, a long black dress coat over her beige pantsuit, keeping her warm, her ivory cheeks flushed from the cool night air.
“Hey, boy,” she says in greeting when Boo runs over to greet her and she rubs his head.
“Hey,” I say, jealous of the attention the dog’s getting from her when I’ve gotten nothing for so long.
Page freezes mid-petting and lifts her eyes to where I’m standing with my hands shoved into the front of my jean pockets.
“Hey,” she says as she straightens, gaze locked with mine. Finally, she pulls her eyes away to look back toward the living room. “Xavier in bed?”
“Yeah,” I reply. “I tried to keep him up until you got home; but when he fell asleep on the sofa watching Frosty with me, I went ahead and put him to bed.”
“That’s fine. He’s been tired lately after running around at daycare all day.”
“So he likes going?” I ask, secretly hoping he hated it and missed me.
“He really does,” Page says with a nod. “But he also misses days home with you.”
“I’ve missed…him too,” I say, refraining from telling her I also miss her. “Maybe I could get him tomorrow and let him stay with me at my dad’s?” I ask. “Melanie would probably like to see him again before they leave…”
“I’m sure Xavier would like that. He said he had fun the other night.”
“Good,” I reply. When she doesn’t say anything else, I can’t resist asking, “Did you have a good dinner?”
“Yeah, Logan and I went out. It was nice, being able to catch up with him,” she says, allowing me to release a sigh of relief. “He’s talking about leaving the firm, going into criminal work.”
“Good for him,” I say, surprised that he would leave the family business.
The two of us just stand there, six feet of distance between us that seems to grow with every silent second. I don’t want to leave, but I’m not sure what to do here. I’m pretty sure Page wants me to go.
Pulling out my keys from my pocket, I start toward Page heading to the garage door where my car is parked. As I pass by her, I say, “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Jax, wait,” Page says before she’s suddenly throwing her arms around my neck. I’m so grateful for the chance to touch her that I quickly hold her around her waist and inhale her scent, soak up her warmth…
“I miss you,” I whisper in her ear before I can stop myself from showing that vulnerability.
“I miss you too,” she replies softly before I feel her damp lips on my neck, causing my entire body to shiver in response. I’m so damn thankful to have some sign from her that she still loves me and wants me that I can’t prevent what happens next.
Bringing my hands up to the sides of her face, I stare into her watery blue eyes as I press my lips to hers, silently asking permission for more. She agrees with the parting of her lips, the stroke of her tongue to mine. Both of us moan into each other’s mouth before the frenzy begins. One where Page is in the process of lifting my shirt while I’m struggling to get off her coat so our actions are counterproductive.
“Me first,” I tell her against her lips while walking her backward until she’s pressed against the wall. From there I push her coat down her shoulders where it puddles on the floor. Once it’s out of the way, I shed her suit jacket the same way before starting on the row of buttons down her blouse. My thick fingers shake with both nervousness and urgency. I need to be inside my wife so bad I can’t stand it. But first…
Kneeling down in front of Page, I undo her pants while I kiss the soft skin around her belly button, heading lower as I jerk her pants and panties down her legs to get to her sweet spot. Flattening my tongue, I lick her pussy like it’s my favorite flavor of lollipop before applying pressure to her clit.
“God, Jax,” Page moans above me when she stabs her fingers through my hair to direct my mouth where she needs it. Glancing up, I find her head thrown back as she squirms against the wall. Her tits still held captive by her bra are overflowing from the cups, making me want to abandon my current position to kiss them. First, I need to give my woman what she needs.
I feast on her pussy while slipping two fingers inside of her. Her arousal floods my face at the same time as she comes, slapping her free hand over her mouth to contain her sounds of pleasure.
Getting back to my feet, I pick Page up and carry her over to the sofa that’s, thankfully, clear of toys. Once I lay her down, I go to work getting her boots and bottoms all the way off.
“Yours too,” she pants as she watches me undress her.
“Get your bra off,” I tell her, yanking my shirt over my head and then shucking my pants, shoes and everything else in the way of me getting inside of my wife.
Page’s tits are free by the time I climb on top of her, so I cup one of them and fill my mouth with her nipple.
“Oh God,” she cries out while arching her back. “Need you…need you now,” she pleads, so I oblige, fisting my length to line up and sink into her tight, wet heat.
I’m still trying to adjust to the ecstasy of being home again when Page pulls my mouth down to hers, kissing me hard, desperately as I start to roll my hips.
Sadly, though, our first time in weeks ends way too soon, but I don’t have any plans to leave yet.
So that I don’t crush Page, I roll us both to our sides as we hold on to each other and kiss while coming down from our blissful high.
“Where have you been, princess?” I ask her, needing to know what caused the great divide between us. “What happened to us? Me and my anger?”
“That’s a big part of it,” Page agrees with a nod before lowering her eyes. “There’s something else I need to tell you, Jax…”
“Me too, p
rincess. I think I know what I need to do to calm down, to get rid of the rage,” I start to tell her, hoping she’ll understand. “Can you draft up a release waiver for me?”
“Ah, sure. For what?”
“I’m setting up a fight a few days before Christmas,” I reply.
“A fight?” she asks through gritted teeth.
“Yeah. I need this, Page. It’ll help with the anger…”
“You’ve been spending your time planning a fight?” She doesn’t sound happy.
“It’ll be good for my anger to get back in the cage…”
“If you wanted to fight, then you should’ve fought for us, your family! Not give up and walk away like a coward!” she yells.
“I didn’t give up and walk away. You told me to leave, remember?” I remind her.
“Stop yelling at me,” Page whispers. “And I didn’t tell you to leave. I said to stop acting like a jerk!”
“I am a jerk!” I declare. “You knew that when we met, when you married me. I don’t know how to stop being one, princess.”
“Not yelling and swearing all the time would be a good start,” she says.
“I can’t help it. That’s the effect you have on me,” I tell her.
“No, I’m pretty sure that’s all you, Jax. Did you go to anger management yet? Or make an appointment to see a counselor?” Page asks.
I blow out a breath before I answer. “No. I haven’t had time.”
“Dammit Jax! I need you to get your shit figured out! Xavier needs his father!” Her palms push against my chest, so I sit back and let her up.
I appreciate her curves as she runs around the living room and kitchen naked, picking up…my clothes before throwing them in my face. “Get out!” she orders, pointing a finger to the garage door.
Confused as fuck at this sudden turn we’ve taken into Pissed Off Land, I say, “But I thought we were good. We just…"
“Sex has never been our problem, and one round isn’t going to fix the problems we do have either.”
Even though the PI didn’t see her having an affair, that doesn’t mean I can just let it completely go. Page never gave me a straight answer. That’s why words I know I shouldn’t say creep up my throat and force their way out before I can stop them. “Have you slept with anyone else? Did you sleep with him? Yes or no, Page? I just…I need to hear you say it.”
“Oh. My. God. I can’t believe you’ve asked me that not once but twice now! How would you feel if I accused you of cheating on me?” she exclaims.
“Ask me, princess,” I reply while getting to my feet. “Because the answer is a big fat hell no. See how easy that was to answer?”
Hands propped on her still naked hips, Page looks me straight in the eye and says, “No, Jax. I haven’t slept with anyone else or even thought about it. And I can’t believe you don’t trust me! Why would you even think that?”
“Because that asshole was running his mouth! He started talking about how he thought your tits looked bigger, and I told him to shut the fuck up. Then he said he was an expert on yours and that you were with him that Friday night you came home late! I knew he was lying, but he just wouldn’t shut up!"
“Ah, Jax?” Page starts.
“What?”
“You’ve been so angry that I was scared of telling you…"
“Telling me what?” I snap through clenched teeth.
“Okay. So, I was with Preston –”
“Jesus fucking Christ!” I yell, causing Boo to scurry through the doggy door and into the garage.
“But we were just having dinner with his agent and manager. They’re contacts I need to be on good terms with. I couldn’t decline.”
“You could’ve told me the fucking truth,” I point out.
“Why? So I could have you yelling in my face like you are now?”
“I’m only yelling because you lied to me!”
“Because you blow everything out of proportion, and I can’t handle it right now.”
“You can’t handle me is that what you’re saying?” I ask.
“I don’t need this stress right now, so I think you should leave.”
“Fine,” I huff before quickly getting redressed and walking out the door without another word, wondering how the night went from perfect to hell so damn fast?
…
Page
Why?
Why does Jax always go ballistic every time we try to have a conversation?
Jesus. He’s worse than Xavier having tantrums!
And I was so hopeful when I came home and we kissed…
For a few minutes, everything seemed like it was before. Before what I’m not sure. Just before Jax was constantly in a foul mood.
The only other time he was like this was when we were preparing for his court trial. God, he was incorrigible during those stressful weeks. Yet, that’s when I fell in love with him.
Despite his gruff exterior and the way his mouth always tries to ruin things, I saw the gentle soul he was deep down. The one who loved me and would do anything for me and our son.
Now he doesn’t trust me and doesn’t go out of his way to show he loves me. There’s nothing but the anger left behind where a caring man used to be.
Something has to change before I lose him for good.
Getting up and dressing in my pajamas, I grab the phone and call a number in my speed dial.
“Hello?” Jax’s dad answers.
“Hey, Martin, it’s Page. I need your help.”
“Name it, sweetheart.”
“I need you and Jude to get Jax help with his anger. Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t, but we need to try, and he won’t listen to me.”
“I’m on it! Give me a few days and I’ll call with an update.”
“Thanks, Martin.”
“Give my grandson a kiss for me.”
“I will, and he’s coming to stay with Jax tomorrow night.”
“While I love seeing my grandson, I would prefer that he not be shuffled around like a deck of cards.”
“I know. Me too,” I say on a sigh.
Chapter Fourteen
Jax
“You ready to go to Havoc?” I ask my brother after I take Xavier to daycare, too restless to sit still for even breakfast.
“No, maybe later. Dad wants us to go Christmas shopping with him,” Jude replies.
“Yeah, okay,” I agree, needing to get Page and Xavier a few more things anyway.
As soon as my dad insists on driving, though, I start to get suspicious.
When we pull up to a strip mall instead of a big retail store, warning bells are going off.
“What are we doing here?” I ask from the passenger seat.
“You’ve got an appointment,” Dad says.
“No, I don’t.”
“Yes, son, you do,” he declares.
“Jax, pull your head out of your ass already and talk to the shrink,” Jude sits up between the seats and says. “Do it for Page and Xavier, if not for yourself.”
Great, he’s guilting me into it.
“Fine,” I grumble in defeat. When I go to reach for the door handle to get out of the car, Dad turns it off, and then him and Jude start climbing out. “Where are you two going?” I ask.
“Inside, to make sure you don’t just sit around the lobby twiddling your thumbs for an hour,” Dad says, pointing a finger to the closest office. “Now start marching.”
With a roll of my eyes, I do as he wants, yanking open the door and stepping inside the office that’s silent other than the sound of water flowing in a fountain. You’ve got to be kidding me!
“Hi, can I help you?” a white-haired lady on the other side of the window asks.
“Hi. Jackson Malone here to see Dr. Tanner,” Jude informs her for me.
“Great, I’ll let him know he’s here.” Handing him a clipboard, she says, “He’ll need to fill these out and give them to Dr. Tanner when he goes back.”
“Awesome, thanks,” Jude says before
he takes the clipboard and then smacks it against my chest. “Get to it, bro.”
My dad and brother sit down with a chair in between them, apparently for me. But I’m still pissed at them for tricking me into coming here, so I sit by myself across the room.
Ten minutes later and my hand is cramping from writing about my stupid medical history and shit when a bald man wearing a red sweater vest and glasses appears in the lobby.
“Jackson?” he asks, glancing around the mostly empty waiting room until his eyes land on me and remain there.
“Why do you think I’m the one with problems?” I ask defensively.
“Because you’re holding the clipboard,” he answers simply, making me feel like the idiot that I am. “Come on back.”
I glare at my brother and father before I get to my feet and follow the guy down the hallway and into an office with a desk, sofa and chair. He shuts the door, and then comes over to offer me his palm.
“Hi, Jackson. I’m Allen Tanner. Please call me Allen.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I mutter. When he takes the clipboard from me, I sit in the chair, requiring the shrink to have to sit on the sofa that I assume people usually stretch out on to unburden themselves.
“So, what brings you in today?” he asks as he looks down at the forms.
“My brother and dad,” I reply.
“They dragged you in kicking and screaming, huh?” he asks with a grin.
“Something like that.”
“And you don’t think you need to be here.”
“I don’t know. My wife thinks I should.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because apparently I have a problem with controlling my anger,” I reply.
“Is that what other people in your life tell you or what you think about yourself?”
“Both I guess.”
“So your family thinks you get angry often, and you agree?”
“Sure.”
“Tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you do for a living?”
“Nothing,” I say.
“Nothing?” the doc repeats, peering at me over the top of his glasses.
“I used to be an MMA fighter, but I retired.”
