Page 80 of Kiss Marry Kill
“Oh, thanks.” She took the bottle. “Wow, look at all these. You three have made it so big.”
“Yep,” Megan said just as Rambo ran into the room and started to pull on the laces of Tamara’s sneakers. “No, Rambo! Bad dog.”
“You have a puppy.”
“Yes. It’s from Taylor.”
“She always was an animal lover.”
“Yes. He was supposed to be a guard dog,” Megan said, swooping up the dog, which tried to lick her face. “Aren’t ya, Rambo? A big cuddly guard dog.”
“I love dogs,” Tamara said, reaching down and playing with the pup.
“Me too. Isn’t he the cutest?”
“Sure is.” She stood up and fidgeted with the strap of her purse again. “So, tell me, are you okay? That was an intense scene.”
“Yes, I’m fine. A little shaken up, but all’s well that ends well, right?” She motioned for Tamara to sit, and Megan sat on the opposite love seat.
“Sure is,” Tamara said, sweetly. “And the guy? He’s in jail?”
“Yeah. Thank God.”
“And you’re still going on tour?”
“Yes, of course. I’m not going to let him stop me. Plus, he’s in jail, so . . . it’s all good now,” she said, knowing that her life felt as if it was falling apart with Jax seemingly out of the picture. She had a lump in her throat the size of a watermelon and a Jackson-size hole in her heart.
“You’re made from stronger stuff than me, that’s for sure.”
“I have fans and people depending on me,” Megan hedged. She wasn’t strong. . . . She wanted to drop to the floor and cry her eyes out. But instead she sucked it up and made an effort to move forward even if she was dying a little at a time.
“Yes, of course. You’re pretty brave, Megan.” Tamara’s eyes roamed the expanse of the house.
“Thank you.” Megan didn’t know what else to say. She was tired, heartbroken, and achy, and she didn’t really want to make small talk with Tamara, and that thought made Megan feel like a bitch for thinking it when the woman had come to apologize.
The silence stretched out. “Oh, well, I have to run to work.” Tamara abruptly stood. “I’m glad you’re okay, Megan. And I hope that we can be friends one day. I grew up with Nell and Taylor, it was very hard being disconnected with them for so long.” Her eyes got watery and Megan’s heart hurt for her. “And now that I have my life together, I’m trying really hard to mend fences and if you and Nell can be forgiving, maybe Taylor will too, eventually.”
“Nothing to forgive.” Megan said. “It was a long time ago.”
Tamara leaned in and gave Megan a big hug. “Thanks and I’m glad you came out all right. I just wanted to come by and extend an olive branch. It was long overdue. I hope I didn’t intrude.”
“No. It was no intrusion at all. I’m glad you did it. It was long overdue.”
* * *
Jax sat back on a chair in the Situation Room at ICS. It felt like months since he’d been there watching two of his men being ambushed. An hour ago, he’d seen an unfamiliar car pull up at Megan’s house through his cell phone app. Maybe he needed to get someone else to monitor the feed. Or, maybe he just needed to delete it entirely. She wasn’t their client anymore.
But he still cared about her. Well, care was an understatement, but he needed to figure his shit out and get his head together. And since talking with her caused him so much pain, like the pussy that he was, he’d tasked Santino with checking in on Megan.
He should be there, he knew that, but every time he looked at her tired face, he saw his own failure. He saw blood dripping down her throat. He saw the fear in her eyes. He saw the burning wreckage of the bombed military base in the desert.
His fault.
By the end of the day, Jax hadn’t done a single useful thing at ICS and he knew it. His mind wasn’t in the game, but at the same time he didn’t want to go back to his cold home. “Dinner?” Jax asked as he left the room.
“With me?” Joey put a hand dramatically over his chest. “My oh my, you want to have dinner with me?” he fluttered his eyelashes.
“Fuck you very much.” Jax went to his office to grab his wallet.
