Aftershock

“Love you, too.” I killed the call and stood for a moment, lightly tapping my chin with the end of my phone.

I loved Jax enough that it was impossible to just walk away, even for my own self-preservation. Jax loved me enough that walking away was the only end he’d consider. Maybe Denise was onto something. Maybe instead of pushing back all the time, I had to love him with everything I had. Really make him feel it, so he’d miss it when it was gone, enough to bring him back to me.

Problem with that, though, was that he’d screwed me businesswise. And I couldn’t let it go. That was a cut that ran deep.

* * *

Chad and Rick, the hotel manager, hit it off right away. I enjoyed listening to the two talk with their Southern drawls, charmed by both men and entertained to boot. But when Rick extended an invitation to dinner, I declined after Chad accepted, not wanting to cramp his style. I figured it was important for him to feel connected on his own, without me hovering all the time. I wasn’t his babysitter, and I didn’t want him to feel as if I didn’t trust him to handle his business on his own.

When I got back to my room, I called Lei.

“Gianna,” she said when she picked up, knowing it was me from the office’s caller ID. “How are things going in Atlanta?”

“Chad’s feeling good,” I said. “He’s been comfortable and relaxed, and really excited. The visit did what we’d hoped.”

Perceptive as she was, she asked, “And you? Are you feeling good, too?”

“Jackson followed me down here.” I didn’t share that personal detail with my boss, or dish like I would with Denise or one of my girlfriends. I would with Denise or one of my girlfriends. I told her because there was no way around a possible conflict of interest. I wasn’t going to let Jax jeopardize my job any further.

“Did he?” Her tone was thoughtful. “Well... How do you feel about that?”

“I’m not sure. No,” I amended, “that’s not true. I’m pissed off that he’s made an already complicated relationship more complicated by investing in Pembry Ventures. Not just that, but he called Isabelle directly to solidify her defecting. I can’t trust him, Lei.”

Every time I thought about what he’d done, I got angry all over again.

“That’s a fatal flaw.”

“I know it.” The thing was, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Jax had deliberately moved to put a wedge between us. But I couldn’t decide if that motivation made him less dangerous or more so. “I need you to tell me if I’m risking my job.”

“You know you are. I’m not going to fire you over who you date, Gianna. That’s your business. But if he happens to make another move that looks like he got a tip from you—whether it was done deliberately or not—I’ll have to let you go, because then we’re talking about my business. Got it?”

My stomach knotted. “Got it.”

“All right.” Her voice softened. “What’s on the agenda tomorrow?”

I told her. While I spoke calmly and steadily, I couldn’t shake the fear that had taken root. I’d planned my whole future around my job and I didn’t have a Plan B.

“Let me know what Chad thinks of the architect’s renderings when he sees them. And take care of yourself, Gianna. You’re not just an employee to me. I think you know that.”

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “I do. Thanks, Lei.”

We hung up and I threw my phone on the bed. A headache was building and I loosened the clip that rolled my hair into a neat chignon at my nape. I really hated Jax at that moment. I didn’t know how to deal with all the emotions he’d been stirring up in me since he had walked back into my life. I kept shifting from wanting to heal whatever was wounding him to wanting to hurt him myself.

Ping. Incoming text.

When I saw Going crazy waiting 4 u from Jax, I let it all explode.

I called him. Everything that was wrong in my life was his fault and he needed to know that.

“Tell me you’re in the lobby,” he said in greeting, his voice husky.

I didn’t screw around. “I love my job. It’s the most important thing in my life, and I’m in danger of losing it because of you.”

It took him a second to switch gears. “Fuck. Gia—”

“If you love me at all, you’ll tell me right now if this is going to end with me jobless. You can get easy pussy, Jax. You don’t need mine.”

“Jesus.” He exhaled roughly. “I’ve done what business I intend to do with Ian Pembry.”

It was another non-answer. I was sick of them. He gave them for damn near everything.

I hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed. I started undressing, wanting to take a shower and scrub the day off.

My phone started ringing. Click. Time to shut that sucker down for the night.

I took my room phone off the hook, too, before he could start in on me that way. I’d come to Atlanta for some time away from Jax, and I needed it, despite how my body protested the idea of being denied him.

“I don’t need him to have an orgasm,” I scolded myself aloud. Of course that didn’t address what I really loved about sex with Jax—the man himself.

Twenty minutes later, my hair was wrapped up in a towel on my head and I was on the phone with room service. An impatient, angry rap on the door startled me enough to make me jump.

I knew who it was before Jax said, “Open the damned door, Gia.”

My jaw clenched. There was no way in hell the hotel had given out my room number. It irritated me to no end that Jax had the connections to circumvent the rules everyone else lived by.

I returned my attention to my call. “You know what? Make that a bottle of Ste. Michelle instead of a glass, please. Thank you.”

Jax knocked with even more impatience.

I hung up and glared at the door. “Fuck you,” I snapped.

“You’re acting like a child.” Even muffled through the door, his voice resonated with fury.

“Get a clue, Jax. I don’t want to see you.”

“That’s too damn bad. You can’t stay in there forever, Gia, but I can put a guard on your door who’ll make sure that when you come out, you come straight to me. It’s your choice how you want this to go.”

Narrow-eyed, I slapped the security bar back and yanked the door open. Jax immediately crowded me, forcing me back into the room. I caught barely a glimpse of a guy in a suit behind Jax’s big frame, then Jax kicked the door shut behind him.

I backed up quickly, my gaze darting down the length of his body. He was dressed in black slacks and a matching vest, his gray shirt and tie not softening the dark vibe. His hair looked as if he’d been running his fingers through it, the longer strands falling over his forehead in sexy disarray. His brown eyes were hot as they catalogued my appearance, his irritation evident in the scowl that furrowed his brow.

He’d said I was sexy as hell when I was mad at him and I understood what he meant when confronted by over six feet of angry, bristling masculinity. The angles of his gorgeous face were tight, his jaw rigid, the sensual curve of his lips firmed into an unyielding line. He looked dangerous and fiercely sexual.

“I’m getting real tired of you cutting things off,” he said, clenching his teeth.

“Boy do I know that feeling.”

He glanced at the ceiling as if he were praying for patience. “Is Yeung giving you a hard time?”