Jax
"Ugh." Andre grunts, stumbling back against the ropes as he reels from the right hook I just landed. Blood starts to collect at his split lip and he looks up at me with a venomous stare.
"Fuck, man," I wipe at the sweat collecting on my brow, catching my breath. "I'm sorry."
This was just supposed to be a little sparring. Light hearted and a productive way to let off a little steam. But just like with most things, I don't know when to stop.
Andre unfastens his gloves and tosses them to the side with a chuckle. "I think I'm done for the day. You're too wound up."
"Can you blame me?" I lean forward, bracing myself against the ropes and letting my head drop. "Lizzie went to meet with Arias four days ago and I haven't heard so much as a peep from her."
"What's the informant saying?" Andre's always careful when the subject of Lizzie comes up because he knows how quickly that conversation can turn catastrophic. No one gets me quite like she does--for better or worse.
"Jack shit." I growl. It was a cake walk getting my hooks into Arias's cellmate, but I'm pretty sure that the guy fried every brain cell he had with all the meth he cooked up. A fucking airhead.
It's always good to have more men on the inside, but if he doesn't start to bring something to the table soon, I'm going to have to cut him loose. "Only that Arias hasn't had a single call or visitor since Lizzie."
Andre sits on the bench, unlacing his shoes and pulling them on. "Look, this shit is messy. I know you're anxious but it's not like the two of you can be sen together. It'll blow the entire operation. Just let her work I'm sure she'll come to you if she needs help."
The laugh that escapes me bounces off the exposed walls of the gym. Lizzie? Ask for help? Right. He's got to be speaking sarcastically because he knows as well as I do that the woman would hardly admit she needed help getting water if her hands were tied behind her back and she was on fucking fire.
She never let anyone take care of her--certainly not me--and I doubt that's changed all that much.
There's the smallest part of me that finds it endearing. As her husband, I found her determination stubbornness sexy. But today, when she's supposed to be working for me, all it is is annoying.
I walk with Andre to the parking lot, hopping into my truck. A few messages ping from my phone, and may be a little too optimistically, I expect to see her name on the screen. When it isn't, irritation blasts through me like an electric shock. What the fuck is her deal?
It takes me all of five seconds to hack into her calendar. When I do, I see she's got a massage appointment this morning and an idea strikes me. Andre is right. We can't be seen in public together, but this might be the perfect solution.
Elisabeth
I laid down, pulling the sheet over me and positioning myself just right on the bed. Nearly late for my appointment, I hurried the entire way here and I'm still jittery with adrenaline. The irony of being in a rush to relax isn't lost on me as I let out a deep sigh.
The lights are dim, soft flute music plays, and it smells like eucalyptus.
God, I need this.
After the week I've had, my mind and my body are both exhausted. My visit to the jail was only the beginning of the madness. Arais agreed to let me defend him, and so I spent the last several days doing the ground work. This isn't legit, but it still has to look that way. There can be nothing amiss, even more so than usual, because I don't have a single doubt that the Costas family will be checking in on me.
Turns out being a pretend lawyer is even more complicated than being a real one.
Still, I try to put all that out of my mind for now and sit in the quiet.
There's a knock at the door.
"Come in. "
The masseuse doesn't answer, but I hear her shuffle around the room. She pulls the sheets back, exposing my bare back as she took some underneath my hips. I hear the click of the lotion bottle and the bed shifts as she climbs on top of it, straddling me.
Woah. This is a little weird.
I've had dozens of massages before. Usually, she just stands next to the bed, but this is a new place and their five star reviews all boasted about a unique technique so I chalk it up to that.
But when I feel a pair of rough, strong hand side of my back, it hurts me that my masseuse isn't a female.
It's a man.
And not just any man. I'd recognize that touch anywhere.
"How's the pressure?" Jax purrs, digging his fingers into my muscles as he rubs up and down my spine, taking special care right above my ass, thumbs swirling.
For a second, I freeze, naked and pinned between his legs as he hovers above me, a flimsy white sheet the only thing between us. He handles me like he owns me, possessive and rough and expectant. My lungs sting with a smoky cider scent and I don't know how I missed it at the moment he walked in. What's worse is the way my body reacts to him. Have familiar his touch is. How I think about not stopping him. Just for a second, though.
This man has a lot fo nerve.
"Have you lost your fucking mind?" I scramble, twisting my way out from under him and clinging to the sheet as I sit up on the bed.
The grin on his face infuriates me. "What? You know I know all the places you like to be touched, Lizzie."
"You are unbelievable." A flush creeps its way up my neck, and behind the nearly see through sheet, I have no hope of hiding it. If there's anything I hate more than Jax's antics, it's showing him that they work.
"Almost as unbelievable as you not answering your goddamn phone for four days."
"Right." I press my lips together. "And chance the Costas' having my phone tapped? No thanks."
Jax chuckles and reaches into his pocket. "You always have been as smart as you are beautiful." He tosses a phone to me. "We'll communicate on this from now on."
Great. A burner phone that I communicate with my ex-husband on. Mike's going to love that one.
He's still on the bed, and just for me as I teeter toward the edge, trying to keep as much space between us as possible. His eyes settle on my chest, my boobs fairly masked with a thin sheet, and he makes no effort to hide it. "Now, what happened with Arias?"
"Do you think we can have this conversation somewhere else?" I ask. "And possibly when I have my clothes on?"
"We don't have many opportunities. Like I said, the Costas's are probably keeping close tabs until they can vet you." Jax looks tired. His hazel eyes are hazy and he hasn't shaved in days, that dark, peppered stumble across his jaw. "What did Arias say?"
"Absolutely nothing." I roll my eyes. "If he did, I would've told you. In fact, he only barely agreed to let me defend him a few hours ago."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Jax, you hired me to do a job, and I'm doing it, but you don't get to dictate how it goes. This is my thing, remember? You're going to have to be patient here and stay in your lane. Just trust me, OK?"
"Trust you." Jack's repeats. For the first time, his eyes fall away from my vulnerable body and it dawns on me that asking him to trust me after I ran out on him is a tall order. "Do you trust me?"
"Well, considering you broke into a spa room to confront me while I am completely naked..." I can't help but laugh. There are moments when Jax looks so young. So easy-going and relaxed and light. He looks like the man he used to be, and that shatters me, because that version of Jax was my favorite person in the entire world. "You know I do. With my life."
He nods. "I'm sorry. I just... It feels like all I've been doing is waiting and every second I left that bastard live, is another second I'm letting Emily down."
"You're not letting her down, Jax. Honestly, I think if she knew what you were up to, she tell you to stop. She'd want..."
"Don't." The sharpness in his tone makes my blood run cold. He's never been so harsh with me, and I recoil away. "You've been gone a long time, Elisabeth. You don't get to tell me what she'd want."
He's right. I know he is, so I don't press any further.
"I put in a request to get the case file sent over. I'll let you know as soon as they come."
Jax nods again. "Thanks. I'll talk to you soon."
He sweeps the kiss across my cheek before turning the door knob. Just before he opens it, he smirks over his shoulder. "You sure you don't want me to keep going? It's been a while since I've rubbed you down, but I'm pretty confident I could find my way around..."
I toss a towel at him. "Get out!"