Gabriel’s face flashes up in my mind, his joy when Leah gave birth to Callum, how excited he is about the twins. Caleb’s face when he married April. I’ve never seen my brothers look so content. Now there’s Elijah with my best friend. The way he looks at Pen and vice versa.
My heart thuds slowly in my chest, and my head spins.
This was supposed to be a break to help me make sense of the past.
Now I’m starting to question everything. Feel things I thought were long dead.
I get up and grab my laptop.
I log in, open messages from Michael and some of the other board members, then revisit the reports and make notes.
CHAPTER 30
JAX
Ienter a silent villa. The hair on the back of my neck is prickling. Something feels off.
The cot bed has been removed. Everything has been freshened up, there’s even a fresh bowl of fruit on the sideboard. Kat has been erased, as if she were never here.
I glance at my watch. It’s nearly seven.
It was a full-day trip, island hopping, and just what the doctor ordered.
The last five days with Kathryn Frazer have been an emotional rollercoaster, exhilarating yet terrifying. The woman ties me up in knots. All the years I’ve spent desensitising myself to her have disappeared almost overnight. Yet I haven’t felt this alive in sixteen years.
I’m treading on dangerous ground.
I wander out onto the terrace and sit down on one of the sun loungers.
Leaning down, I pick up the paperback Kat was reading.
I smirk when I see the semi-naked man on the cover.
Flicking through the pages, I skim read the story as I go.
Well, well. Kat Frazer, romance reader. Who would’ve known?
The thought of Kat reading these words and imagining this story makes me instantly hard. I close the book and lean back, inhaling the sea air, trying to get a grip on my emotions.
The sun has setby the time I make my way across the island. I reach Kat’s villa and press the bell next to the gate. It rings, but there’s no answer.
Shit, she’s probably still at dinner.
I glance down at the book in my hand.
I’d hate to deprive her of her reading material.
I follow the path around the side of the villa and head towards the beach, where a small gate leads into the garden.
Continuing along the path, I reach the main entrance, where I place the book in front of the door.
Behind me, the gate opens and shuts with a bang. I turn in time to see Kat jump at the sight of me, her hand going to her chest.
“Shit, Jax. What the hell? You scared the life out of me.”
“Sorry, I came to return this.”
I pick up the book.
