Gray So here we go. The real truth behind this shit show. Jax has been fucking some guy this whole time, and now he’s found out, and he’s come here to kill me. Well, not if I kill him first. I storm through the door, waiting for them to follow me inside. It’s outrageous that he would come here and do this in front of my staff. Whatever personal circumstances she has, and however long they’ve been together, she’s fired, effective immediately. And fuck this asshole for touching what’s mine. “Would you stop!?” Jax is tugging at the guy's arm as he comes inside, his eyes flashing as he closes the door behind him. He’s good-looking. Spiky gray hair, sharp jaw, decent build. The lightning rod of pain that skitters through me at the knowledge that she’s seeing someone else is frightening in its intensity, and my rage only grows as I watch her touch him, trying to get him to pull back. “What the fuck is the meaning of this shit?” I snap, as she moves in front of the guy, holding him back. “You make me sick!” he barks, trying to push past her. “Don’t!” But Jax’s words fall on deaf ears, and one big muscular arm comes up to shove her aside. Too hard. She stumbles into the wall, and as he comes toward me, his arm swinging back and aiming at my face, I beat him to it and punch him hard in the face. It’s been a while since I punched a man, and the blunt pain against my knuckles is darkly familiar. I st ep back with some satisfaction, watching him reel into the table as Jax pushes off the wall, takes one st ep toward me, and jams her fist into my stomach. The wind is knocked out of me so fast I crumple forward, grabbing at my body where the blow landed as I stagger back and wind up falling into one of the chairs. I look up in disbelief to find Jax standing over me, angrier than I’ve ever seen her. She’s breathing heavily as she points a finger at me, something unknown and terrible in her gaze as she meets mine. “Don’t lay a hand on my brother, Gray. Do you understand me? Not ever.” I freeze, staring at the man whom I just knocked to the floor, and swallow as she goes to help him. You fucking idiot, Gray, of course it’s one of her brothers. Now that I look at him, he has similar features as Jax, and a steely gaze that she shares. Fuck, I am such an idiot. I can tell by the way the pain in my stomach is receding that she didn’t hit me that hard, just hard enough to make me stop and think. I lean forward, resting an arm against the table, trying to regain some dignity as Flynn’s hand comes up to his eye and winces. I say nothing. Maybe I should be the one to apologize, but he did just storm into my fucking office and make me look like an idiot in front of everyone who works for me.
God, this is gonna be all over the office before the end of the day. “Okay, are we done? Have you both managed to defend my honor now?” Jax demands, looking between us like we’re naughty eight-year-old boys. Flynn pulls himself up from the floor and collapses in the chair opposite me, staring with the same gut-wrenching hate in his eyes. I can’t even blame him. I’m paying his sister for sex; he has every right to want to hurt me. “Okay, first of all,” Jax whispers, her voice low. “Apologize to Mr. Jones for storming into his office like some kind of crazed lunatic and trying to kill him,” she says, and her voice has a dark note to it that even makes Flynn flinch. “Is it true?” her brother says, turning to her, his lip twisting. “Is it true that you work for that place?” Closing my eyes briefly, I struggle to watch as Jax stands at her full height, looking utterly untouchable as she stares down at him. “I work for you at the club,” she r eplies simply. “And I have a job on the side. What I do, outside of Jensons, is not your business, Flynn, and you do not have any say over what I choose to do with my body.” His twisted sneer doesn’t change as he turns his bruised eye to me. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” “Don’t speak to him,” Jax says sharply. “You’re the one who came in here and made a huge fucking scene. You don’t get to tell me what to do.” “Seriously?” Flynn says, staggering to his feet. “You think I’m gonna let you—” “What?” Jax's voice is dangerously quiet now. “Let me what? Are you in control of me? Do you tell me what I can and can’t do? No. You’re my big brother, and I love you. I know you want to protect me. But this isn’t any of your business, Fly.” “Why are you doing this anyway?” Flynn says, and finally, some of Jax’s bravado fades. “Scott’s acting like I’ve electrocuted him every time I walk into a room lately, and you’re working two jobs. And this is what you choose to do? I mean, the money must be fucking fantastic. What the fuck do you need this much money for, Jax? If you need help, you ask me.” Flynn’s voice breaks on the final word, and Jax’s shoulders lower as she st eps forward, her hands reaching out almost imploringly. Then, her gaze flickers to me. It’s a second, no more, but I see it. The fear. Whatever she’s in volved with, her oldest brother doesn’t know about it. A cold chill runs up my spine as I try to ke ep my face blank. “Flynn, I know you’re trying to help me. I know that. But this isn’t about you, or the club. This is my thing. It’s just something I have to do right now.” “With him?” Flynn says, gesturing at me like I’m an insect he’d like to crush under his shoe. “Can’t you find other women to fuck? Women you don’t have to pay?” he says, twisting around to face me. “Flynn!” Jax barks out. “Enough. You owe Gray an apology. If you ke ep this up, I will never forgive you for it. You do not have authority here.”
I can’t stop staring at them as Flynn composes himself. They’re so alike, every expression reminding me of the other. Flynn glances at his sister one final time before he tugs at his clothes self-consciously. He clears his throat and flexes his shoulders. “I’m sorry about what I said,” he mutters, his gaze moving over me almost appraisingly. “I guess...” he glances at Jax, grimacing. “I guess everyone’s entitled to do what they want.” Jax exhales slowly at those words, and Flynn runs a hand through his hair, wincing as the bottom of his palm brushes against the eye I just punched. “I didn’t expect to ever meet you at all, let alone under these circumstances,” he says ruefully, as Jax blinks at him in bewilderment. Like a switch being flipped, Flynn straightens his clothes again and holds out a hand to me. “I’ve actually always wanted to meet you. I’ve admired you for a long time.” Jax rolls her eyes, rubbing a hand over her forehead in despair, and I can barely hold back a laugh. This guy just tried to knock me out, I punched him in the face, and now he’s talking to me like we’re business acquaintances. “Flynn Jenson,” her brother says finally. I stand up, and he flinches as if I might be about to hit him again. I think I would be well within my rights to have him kicked out on the street. Jax too. I should call Sterling House and tell them her contract is terminated—just as I should have done weeks ago. I extend a hand. “Gray Jones,” I say, shaking it as Flynn glances at Jax. “You’re seriously with this guy?” he says, and Jax sighs loudly. “In a manner of speaking. Sure. He's nice, Flynn. If you hadn’t gone feral the second you walked in here, I would have explained that to you.” “So this Sterling House company placed you here with him?” “It’s none of your business,” Jax insists. “Now would you please leave?” “Wait a minute,” I say, holding up a hand as I look at Flynn. “You just walked in and tried to attack me. People will want to know what’s going on. You can’t just leave without giving my employees an explanation. We need to smooth things over, or my r eputation will be shot to shit. I can’t have people thinking I’m fighting with other club owners.” Flynn snorts. “Yeah, I’ll bet they all recognized me, I’m real famous.” “They’re going to know who you are by the end of the day. I need you to do this.” Flynn blinks at me, his eyebrows rising to his hairline. “Oh. Well, whatever you want, I guess. I kind of made a mess of things here.” “Yeah, no shit,” Jax mutters. “Seriously, though,” Flynn says, his eyes moving around the conference room as they brighten with interest. “Your new club, Syndicate? It’s phenomenal. I love the environmental angle you took to be carbon-neutral when you opened. I can’t believe you pulled it off. I even went there to check it out, and I was just blown away.” Jax scoffs. “This is how guys make friends, isn’t it? You punch each other and call each other names, compare business strategies, and become besties.”
“Hey, I’ve wanted to meet this guy for years. Little did I know my sister would be sle eping with him at some point.” “Jesus, Flynn,” Jax says, raising her eyes to the ceiling. “Syndicate is one of my proudest achievements. Carbon neutrality is something we’ve been working toward for a long time,” I concede. “It’s tough to do, I've been looking at ways to manage it for the new Ferry club.” “Which building have you leased?” “Temple Heart.” “Fuck, I viewed that one. How did you get signed off?” “I know a guy.” Flynn gives me a look so like his sister's that I can’t help but smile. They all have a very crooked quirk to their mouth when they’re being mischievous. Jax looks like that just before she goes down on me. Shit. “Let’s take a quick tour of the office,” I say. “I can introduce you to a few people as we go and explain that you’re not, in fact, insane.” Flynn shrugs a shoulder, “If you want.” “Is your eye okay?” “Yeah,” he says, touching it gingerly. “I’ve been hit before for stuff I deserved a lot less than this one.” Flynn is almost as enthusiastic about my business as I am. Plus, he has charm. I take him slowly around the office and introduce him to as many people as possible. I know the rumor mill will be in full swing already, but if I can mitigate as much damage as possible, I will. Flynn is good at networking, shaking hands with everyone, and apologizing unreservedly. I wish that Jax could be with us, but it would have been even more conspicuous if she had accompanied us on the tour, so I reluctantly left her at her desk. Flynn asks me a constant stream of questions, almost all of which are pertinent, well-informed, and unique. He obviously loves what he does and adores his sister. I haven’t been able to get him to shut up about her, not that I would want him to. “Plus, Jax has basically redesigned the whole club since she started,” Flynn is saying as we reach the roof terrace. New York is laid out beneath us, and Flynn leans against the railing, much more confident in its ability to hold him than I would be. Plus, I’m not a fan of heights. “She’d say it was a joint effort or whatever,” he continues. “But Jensons is completely revamped since she and Scott took over. We have this amazing space called The Blue Room, where women come to drink cocktails and chat. That was all her thing. She’s got DJs who are nothing like the ones I'd generally book. Some of them have become regulars, and it’s always busy in there, whatever the vibe.” “The design of your dance floor is great. A lot of clubs have multiple spaces, but that central stage is incredible.” “That was Jax’s idea too, we didn’t—” he stops, turning to me. “You’ve been to my club?” “I have.” Flynn leans back against the railing, grinning from ear to ear. “I can’t believe Gray Jones came into my club and I wasn’t even there!” “How’s the Ferry club coming along?” “Pretty good. We had some bumps in the road, but we’ll get there. I’ve been away too much.”
My shoulders tense as he turns to me, chewing his lip. “Scott said Jax has been wandering around with designer clothes and shit, I guess she has you to thank for that. I don’t really want to ask, but do you have any idea why she needs this money? I get that you’re her boss and I probably shouldn’t... Maybe you don’t care, but...” He doesn’t need to tell me how worried he is about her. I can see it in his face. I want to tell him about Nick Monroe, about the lingering threat of seeing him inside Jensons, of the way he touched Jax so possessively, as if he had a right to do it. “I’m sorry, I don’t,” I say flatly. “I guess that’s not surprising. She’s just a piece of ass, right?” “She isn’t a ‘piece of ass’, to me or anyone,” I say, hearing the hypocrisy of my words even as I say them. Flynn smirks at me. “You ke ep telling yourself that.” My jaw clenches, anger flaring through me. “Maybe if you want to know what’s going on with her, you should ask her yourself.” He turns to me, the wind stirring the gray strands on the top of his head as he frowns, his lips hardening. “What do you m—” The door behind us opens, and Jax walks out, hugging herself against the cold as she looks around. I’ve never brought her up here before, and suddenly I wish I had. Her hair whips behind her as she looks meaningfully at her brother. “Gray has a meeting, Fly, you need to fuck off.” “Is that how you talk to all your clients?” he says, as he looks back at me. “You outstayed whatever welcome you had, and there wasn’t much of that to begin with,” she insists. But even as she says it, her hands reach up and brush gently at his brow. “Your face okay? It’s red.” “I’ll be alright.” The affection between them is palpable as he gives her a little hug and walks out with a backward glance at me. She turns to follow him when I encircle her wrist with my fingers. “Wait a second.” “Gray, it is minus four up here. I’m freezing.” As Flynn exits the terrace behind us, I pull her into me, wrapping my coat around her. She is stiff for a moment and then laughs, snuggling into me. “That’s better,” she says, rubbing against me in a way that feels very deliberate. “I have a meeting in ten minutes,” I say. “This was your idea.” “Uh-huh,” I murmur, resting my chin on her head as her arms go around me. It’s an unconscious movement, but it makes my chest ache. It’s nice to stand here with her, as if we’re one unit, but I feel uneasy as I think back to what I said to Flynn. I hope I didn’t just make things more difficult for Jax, but I want her to be safe. If she won’t tell me what’s going on, Flynn feels like a capable alternative. It’s obvious he cares de eply about her. I pull back, looking down at her beautiful, upturned face, her hair swirling around her head, bringing out the hazel in her eyes. “How much money do you owe Monroe?” I ask, ke eping my tone as neutral as I can. The response from Jax is immediate. She flinches, loosening her arms and st epping away from me. The look she shoots me is hard, her eyes narrowing, but she says nothing in response.
“Monroe must want something,” I press. “Is it money? You took this job for a reason, Jax. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that you wouldn’t have done that, especially when you’re already working nights, unless you had to.” “This isn’t your problem, Gray.” “Whose problem is it then? Because Nick Monroe doesn’t fight fair. He’s not going to let you off the hook, you know that, right?” Jax looks out at the view, her arms crossing over her chest more tightly as she bites on her lower lip. “I’m sorry about my brother. He can be overbearing, but it seems you’ve won him over. Don’t get in volved in my family, Gray. You don’t need to worry about it.” “And if I want to help?” She turns to me, and the helplessness in her eyes spears through my heart. “You can’t help,” she says simply. “And I would never ask you to.” Turning away, she leaves the terrace, closing the door behind her as I turn back to the New York skyline. “But you don’t even have to ask,” I murmur softly into the wind. The words are snatched away into the wind, as if I never said them.