Page 52 of Jealous God
I bit back a laugh. I was grown, but to Domino I would always be a kid and any male that looked at me would always be labelled a boy. Instead of laughing, I shrugged. “It is what it is. And it's over,” I added when I caught his look.
“You need me to go and have a quiet word?”
“No.” I tried to smile. The last thing I wanted was to have the Savage Sons fighting my battles for me. There wasn’t even a battle to fight. The madness I liked to call sleeping with Jax was over. “It wasn’t anything but a momentary lapse in judgement.” I smiled so he knew I was ok, even when in reality I was far from ok still.
“Not going to tell you I told you so.”
Turning so suddenly that I almost fell off of Domino's lap, I found Chance staring at me. The lines around his eyes deepened as he frowned. “People have been trying to get hold of you.”
“I haven’t had a chance to charge my phone much since getting back.” Which, of course, was a complete lie. My phone had full power. I had just left it on silent and in my room. It wasn’t like I had many friends who would be desperately trying to reach me, anyway. “Surprised to see you here, though.”
It was the wrong thing to say. Nomad or not, Chance was still a Son and that meant he was welcome at any time.
“I just meant, you know.” Slipping from Domino's lap, I took the seat next to him. Chance sat opposite me, and his eyes never left mine. He stared almost unblinkingly until I became uncomfortable. “You’re back then?” I gave him a watery smile. I couldn't hide how much pain I was in from Chance. Not like I could with Domino, because Chance had been there to witness first-hand what a fool I had been.
“Been back over a week now, El,” he finally said. And the way he said it, like it should mean something to me, made me even more uncomfortable. “Erik’s been trying to ring you.”
That got my attention. “Is Dion ok?”
Domino darted a look at the other man, his eyebrow raised. And Chance shook his head in a silent no. “He’s Dion.” Chance shrugged. “Jax has tried as well.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I ignored it. “How are the others? Did the tour end ok?”
He cut me off. “Did you hear me, El? Jax is trying to get hold of you.”
Squaring my shoulders, I met his eyes. “I heard you just fine, Chance.”
“And?”
“And what? I don’t care if Jax is trying to contact me. I have nothing to say to him.” Under the table, I crossed my fingers. Sending up a silent prayer that Chance would drop it. But I had more chance of hell freezing over than that happening.
“Nothing, huh?”
“Absolute sweet FA.” I smiled innocently.
“He knows, you know. He knows that Legacy is your brother.”
My heart skipped a beat. It was a shock, but not exactly surprising. Of course, someone would have told him. “Erik or you?” I shook my head. “Erik.” It had to be the band's manager. It couldn’t be anyone else. There was no way in hell Chance or any of the others would have betrayed my confidence like that. “I guess I’ll talk to him about it when I next see him.”
“You can talk to him about it in half an hour.” Chance chuckled. “That’s when you are scheduled to meet him.”
Next to me, Domino belted out a laugh.
“Did you only come here to ambush me?” I narrowed my eyes at Chance.
“You wouldn’t answer your phone.”
If I had been a fighting woman, I would have punched him. But I had never been one for using my fists. I had always been better with words. “Never took you as an errand boy, Chance.”
My little jibe had the desired effect; his grin slipped. “I’m no one’s errand boy, El. Now grab your coat.”
I didn’t move. It was a standoff of sorts.
“You need to face this, kid. If you don’t, then your dad will.” Domino’s voice was barely a whisper, and I glared at him. Hadn’t my brother said something similar? That I needed to face the pain of the past. Jax was my very recent past, but if I couldn’t deal with him, then what hope did I have of letting go of a much bigger pain? “You want me to come with?”
I knew he would offer, but what kind of impression would that make? Walking into a meeting with a bodyguard of my own? No one would bat an eyelid over Chance's presence because he worked with them, but Domino could inflame an already delicate situation.
“No, I’m a big girl. I can handle this.” At least I hoped I could. “Is this meeting Jax’s idea?”
