Relentless (Relentless #1) (11 page)

I walked into the small coffee shop and looked around. The woman I was meeting sat in the corner booth reading a book. She looked up at me as I approached, but I couldn’t read her expression. I was nervous, but Jaxon assured me I would be fine without him. My hands shook as I introduced myself.

Jaxon’s mother was a beautiful woman and I instantly knew that beauty ran from the inside out. Tears pricked at my eyes as she whispered in my ear how happy she was to finally meet me and welcome me to the family. Alice Garrett is an amazing woman. Her eyes glittered the same emerald green as her son’s and she looked ten years younger than her age.

“I can see why Jax is so taken with you, Violet. You’re beautiful. I googled you, but you are so much prettier than the pictures on the internet.”

I flushed at the compliment and glanced down at the cup in my hands.

“Everyone tells me Jaxon is hard to get to know, but we connected from the first time we met. I feel like I’ve known him forever.”

“I’m glad that my son found someone to trust. After his last relationship, I wasn’t sure he would ever settle down. He’s only twenty-eight, but he’s been adamant he would never get married. I’m thankful that you could change his mind. Your friends are right though; he doesn’t open up to many people. He’s been shut off for the past few years.”

“I’m not sure he would have if circumstances were different,” I said looking away.

“Don’t doubt what you two have, Violet. Even if it happened quickly, it still exists. If you ever find yourself without it, you’ll regret not enjoying every second.”

Alice spoke gently, but she was firm with her words. Jaxon’s father passed away a few years before, but it was hard hearing her speak so candidly. I couldn’t begin to imagine the loss she felt, and I selfishly prayed I never had to. Alice took my hands in hers. The look she gave me told me she understood where my thoughts wandered off to.

“Now, I understand we need to be discreet, but I want to see the picture of my grandbaby.”

I pulled the sonogram pictures out of my purse and passed them to her. Alice was overjoyed staring at the amazing little thing in the pictures. She talked about how much Connor’s kids enjoyed coming over to her house, all while making it clear she expected the same from our child. The woman was a master of making her point with the raise of her eyebrow or quirk of her lip. Her sons had inherited their mother’s flair for the dramatic.

Taylor came over for yoga pants Sunday as often as she could. I missed seeing her every day, but it was still awesome having her near me. With both of our crazy schedules it had been a few days since we’d hung out.

When she walked in the door carrying a pie, I almost attacked her. My cravings for anything apple was out of control. I looked down at the label and saw what it was, I almost cried from excitement. She leaned in and I gave her a smacking kiss on her cheek.

She laughed and asked, “What’s that for?”

“You take care of your big sister, even when she’s a moody bitch.”

“I will not let my niece or nephew suffer just because your hormones make you insane. Plus, it’s leftover from Thanksgiving and I didn’t have to do anything.”

Reaching past her, I grabbed the box and opened it. I didn’t care that it was leftover, I just cared that it was apple pie. My mouth watered at the sweet, cinnamon scent. Taylor took two forks out of the drawer and handed me one. She stuck hers into the middle of the pie and took a huge bite. Jaxon walked into the kitchen and smirked at her as she chewed. He snorted a laugh and she shot him a dirty look.

“Just ignore me ladies; I’m going for a run. I’ll just stay down at Stephen’s when I’m done because I know I’m not invited to your girl party.”

Grinning, I took a bite just as big as Taylor’s, making them both laugh. Jax kissed me on the forehead as he walked out the door.

“You guys are so cute it’s disgusting,” Taylor said grimacing.

“I kinda like him.”

“I hope so, you are having his baby.”

I ached to tell her more, but now wasn’t the right time. We moved into the living room after we made a huge dent in the pie. I turned on the television, but it ended up just being background noise. Taylor told me how she had decorated the new house. It was weird thinking of Taylor being so domestic, but she seemed happy. She wasn’t one for making things cozy and homey mostly because she never stayed long enough to bother. Her intentions seemed good this time though.

I frowned, and she looked at me questioningly. “I’m grateful you’re still here, but aren’t you getting bored? This is the longest I’ve seen you stay anywhere in a long time.”

“I promised I wouldn’t leave, Vi. I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Really?” I asked, doubt filling my voice.

“I get that I have a past, but I don’t want to leave this time. I want to be here for you and the baby. Plus, I like living with Stephen.”

“Hmm…Stephen.”

“What?” she asked wearily.

“Nothing at all. Are you guys enjoying living together?”

“Yes, we are. If you want to know something, just ask.”

I paused, wondering how I should ask her if she was going to start dating my best friend. There wasn’t a way to sugar coat it, and that wasn’t my style anyway. I blurted out, “Are you screwing him?”

She narrowed her eyes. “We aren’t currently sleeping together.”

“Currently? What the damn hell, Taylor? Talk,” I demanded.

“I wish I had made Stephen tell you this. It’s not that big of a deal, on the night you married Aaron, Stephen and I slept together. We were both upset you had actually married the asshole, so we got drunk to drown our sorrow or something like that. We woke up next to each other wondering what the hell had happened. All I remember is that it was really fucking good. That man knows things.”

“Yuck. No more details please my gag reflex works way too well right now. I love you both, but yuck. I don’t want to think about it.”

Taylor smirked, but she didn’t elaborate. It wasn’t hard to imagine that they had slept together. Anyone that saw them together knew they had feelings for one another. For the first time in years they were both single at the same time and in the same city.

“So do you like him?”

“Of course I do, or I wouldn’t be living with him.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”

She sighed.

“I like him, but I’m not sure if we will go there.”

I tried to mask my surprise at the fact she admitted that she liked him. She paused like she wanted to say more, but nothing came. I didn’t want to push. Experience told me to hold off and when she was ready, she would tell me everything. My sister was the first to help out when you needed it, but she didn’t like to talk about her business. Turning back to the television, I saw the relief on her face out of the corner of my eye.

Stephen’s shoulders tensed as I walked up behind him. He turned around, and I saw his stormy face. I started to ask what was wrong, but I noticed the ring he held in his hand.

Oh no.

“Stephen, I was going to tell you.”

“Really, Vi? You fucking married him and didn’t tell me?” Disbelief covered his voice, and I reached for his arm. He took a step back. “I’m supposed to be your best friend. We tell each other everything and you kept this from me. What else have you lied about? You’ve been so distant lately I don’t know what to fucking believe anymore.”

“Stephen—“

“How long?” he demanded. “Tell me how long you’ve fucking been married.”

“Three months,” I whispered.

Stephen carefully sat the ring down on the dresser and walked out of the room without a word. The cold look in his eyes made me shudder. His gaze fixed on the floor and he had never looked so closed off. I hated that my lies had done this, and I was terrified things would never be the same.

Jax found me crying on our bed when he came in that night. My heart hurt from Stephen’s cold dismissal. He was hurt and frustrated and I didn’t blame him for that. I had never kept secrets from him or lied before and it was slowly poisoning everything between us.

Jaxon offered to talk to Stephen to try to explain, but I told him I would do it when I was ready. Stephen had already been so distant lately, which was ironic considering he said the same thing about me. I didn’t know what to do to get through to him.

I snuggled into Jaxon as he climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around me. Slowly, I drifted off to sleep against his shoulder thinking about how badly I had screwed up. My heart ached, and I just wanted for everything to go back to how it was before. Who thought that moving on with my life would be this hard?

Two weeks after the Stephen incident, I wasn’t any closer to figuring out what the hell to say to him. All I knew was that I felt horrible, and I missed him. After Stephen found my ring, we had sat all our friends down and confessed everything. Taylor was happy that I had chosen someone good for me this time. She was upset I hadn’t told her sooner though, even if she wouldn’t admit it, but Taylor wasn’t one to hold grudges. I listened to her bitch at me for being a shitty sister for a few minutes and it was over.

Gage wasn’t much help with Stephen either. All he would say was that Stephen had shut down and wouldn’t talk about it at all with him. He said he was happy for us too, but he admitted he already knew about our marriage; apparently he had overheard us talking and pieced it together a month before. Jax and I weren’t as smooth as we thought we were at keeping secrets.

I slipped my hand into Jaxon’s as we
walked towards the coffee shop.
He smiled and pulled me in closer to his side. It was nice being out of the house for the first time in a week other than being at work. On one of his rare weekend’s home, we were meeting up with his mom, Sophia and Connor. Jaxon and Connor planned to go surfing while we enjoyed a girl’s day. The paparazzi still hadn’t figured out I was pregnant and we were so thankful for that fact.

I had dressed carefully for the day. My black oversized sweater was comfortable and stylish as well as being concealing. I had on beautiful grey calfskin knee-high boots that completed my look. Even pregnant, I planned on bringing my A-game style wise. Our days of hiding my pregnancy were coming to an end.

After Stephen found my wedding ring, Jaxon and I quit bothering to take the rings off in public. The first time happened by accident and I freaked out when Jax didn’t take it off and it was mentioned by the media. We made it a point to make sure we weren’t photographed together often.

Jaxon paused before opening the door to the small cafe. Looking over at me he said, “I’ve been thinking, what do you think about planting the story of the marriage and pregnancy? We could use my mom’s visit as an excuse? They see the rings, family together, and a few good shots of me rubbing the bump,” he trailed off. A smiled covered his face as he stopped his hand from reaching out to touch my stomach. We continued into the shop, moving towards the back table where Sophia sat waiting for us.

“We won’t confirm or deny anything. It’ll make life interesting for our publicists,” I said smirking. “I like it.”

Sophia waved to us and I walked over to sit down while Jaxon ordered. We chatted for a few minutes before Alice, Jaxon, and Conner walked up to the table together. Standing up, I expected her to hug Jax or Sophia first; instead she pushed Connor out of the way and wrapped me up in a huge hug. He grumbled something about being replaced and I laughed. My arms wrapped around her. She covertly rubbed my bump, keeping her actions away from prying eyes. The woman was a natural at hiding things from the press.

Through the window I noticed a man on the sidewalk pulling out a camera. Connor walked back to the table from picking up our orders. The second he caught a glimpse of the man he turned away from the window.

“We make quite the cozy group. You two saw what’s going on outside?” he asked inclining his head towards the man outside.

“We did,” Jax said taking my hand in his.

“It’s about damn time,” Connor smirked.

“Quit pestering them. You and Sophia kept your little secret a lot longer than they did.”

Connor looked sheepish at his mother’s chiding. “I’m sorry for giving you shit.”

I laughed at his weak attempt at an apology. Jaxon smiled and shook his head at his brother. We talked for a few more minutes before the boys gathered their drinks and kissed us goodbye. Jaxon’s kiss lingered and he rubbed my bump as he got ready to leave. The camera clicked away, capturing every touch.

Alice and Sophia were great company. We lingered over our coffee for a long time. Sophia shared stories about her marriage to Connor that had me rolling. For years Sophia had been a lingerie model. She had been terrified that Alice wouldn’t like her, or approve of their relationship because of what she did for a living. To make matters worse, they flew to Vegas for a friend’s wedding and ended up married themselves.

Alice told me stories about the boys growing up. We laughed about Jaxon’s inability to carry a tune or find a beat while Connor was musically talented. I hadn’t heard Jax sing, but I planned on making him try soon. Their stories helped keep my mind off all the things going on and I was thankful for the distraction.

We gathered our things and said goodbye, talking about dinner at the beach house tomorrow evening. Alice kissed my cheek and wrapped me up in a huge hug. It was exactly what I needed. Being pregnant made me emotional, and I missed my mother. Not because she had ever been a good mom, but because I needed someone there for me to ask questions. Without a doubt, I knew Alice had become that person for me.

The rumor about our wedding and the baby were viral within an hour of me leaving the coffee shop. Neither Jaxon nor I said anything to confirm or deny the claims. For us, posting a picture of him kissing my bump on Instagram was a good enough announcement. Other than that, we planned to stay radio silent.