Damaged Love - Jaxson Kidman Page 0,22

the cash, darling. I’ll do anything for money. That’s just who I am. What the fuck do I care what you’re doing around here. Right?”

“That’s comforting.”

“For me,” he said. “Your house is empty. The outside is clear. Okay? There’s no cars waiting. Nobody is hiding out.”

“You’re sure?” I asked.

“Believe me, I know how to do this. Do you want me to explain how I know?”

“No,” I said.

“You’re fine. Just get some sleep and let it go. My guess is they’re fucking with you. Or maybe they’re watching you. Have you slipped up at all with your big secret?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” I said.

Talon didn’t need to know about Gia.

“Then maybe we need to step things up,” he said. “There’s a lot of other fun stuff we can do here, darling. Just depends on how far you want to take it. They’re definitely worried. So tell me what you want next.”

I looked at my bed.

I was tired.

Very tired.

I took a deep breath and shut my eyes. “Talon… will you stay here until I fall asleep?”

I opened my eyes and knew he was smiling at me.

I hated that he was smiling at me.

“Don’t make this weird,” I said.

“It won’t be weird,” he said. “But… it is considered overtime.”

“You fucking prick,” I whispered.

“Business, Winter.”

I wasn’t in the mood to fight with him.

I got more money and threw it on the bed.

Then I turned out the lights and climbed into my bed.

I got under the covers and curled myself up.

But I felt watched.

Because I was being watched.

Talon was watching me.

I rolled over. “Come here.”

“You sure about this?”

“Keep it in your pants, Talon,” I said. “I just want to feel safe.”

Talon joined me in my bed.

I made sure to stay under the covers.

He was on top of the covers.

I inched closer to him and he put his arm around me.

He sighed and groaned.

“What?” I asked.

“This is not what I want to do in your bed, Winter.”

I swallowed hard.

No. No. No. No.

NO.

“I paid you,” I said. “So shut the fuck up and do what I say.”

“Which is what?”

“Play with my hair until I fall asleep,” I said. “And when I wake up, be gone.”

Talon laughed. “Want me to tell you a bedtime story too?”

“No.”

“Not even the one about the Troc with the really big-”

“No,” I said again. “Shut up.”

Talon laughed again.

I smiled and shut my eyes.

This was not a good way to live.

This could not last forever.

But it was all I had for now.

I left the beach house and saw three vehicles in the driveway.

My morning went from normal and quiet to…

This.

Noah, Easton, and Xavier.

They parked side by side by side, blocking the entire driveway.

The first person to get out of their vehicle was Xavier.

He wore a sleeveless shirt with a sweat stain that went from his chest down to the bottom of the shirt. His arms were thick and glistening, veins that were always visible were now full and I swore they were throbbing.

Easton stepped out of his vehicle, leaving the door open, looking at the car, shaking his head.

He missed his other ride.

The one that was blown up.

He had a lit cigarette between his lips.

He looked tired.

So did Xavier.

Finally, there was Noah.

He opened the door to his car and when he climbed out, I saw his white shirt…

With blood on it.

My heart dropped down and bounced back up.

I had to approach the guys like normal. As always. There was no way I could give any hint that something was off.

Then again, Noah had blood on his shirt.

I pointed. “Jelly?”

He looked down at himself and smiled. “You like to be innocent, Winter, don’t you?”

“Sure,” I said. “What is this? Did you bring me breakfast?”

“I’ve got your breakfast right here,” Easton said.

He grabbed between his legs.

I had to laugh at that one.

“Seriously, Easton?” Noah asked.

“I don’t mind,” I said.

“See?” Easton asked. “She’s getting her memory back. She remembers how she felt about me all along.”

“I wish,” I said.

“Yeah?” Easton asked. “You wish you were with me?”

“No. I wish I was getting my memory back.” I looked at Xavier. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

“Just checking on you,” he said. “We had a busy day and night.”

“I can tell,” I said. I pointed to Noah’s shirt. “Did you get what you needed?”

“Not quite,” he said. He unbuttoned his shirt. “See, we ran into a problem. A big one.”

“Meaning what?” I asked.

“There’s a lot of lies floating around here,” Noah said.

He took the shirt off.

His body was cut, toned, ripped, everything… whew.

He balled up the shirt and