To look at him you wouldn’t necessarily think so. Not only was he a bit smaller than the rest of our group that had come out of the military, but he looked more like a Hollywood actor. But looks could be deceiving and size didn’t always matter. Not if you were trained well, determined, and as skilled as it sounded like he was.
Not needing to get in a pissing match, I changed the subject. “Braxton said you had some information to share with me.”
From the text, it sounded like they had already talked but Paxton wanted to speak to me so Braxton told him to fill me in and let him know where I was. He’d just been a little late texting because his son Hudson had spilled juice all over the floor and he was cleaning it up. On top of that I’d got distracted and hadn’t checked my phone right away.
“First, I want to say that I’d like to get to know my sister and I would never hurt her.” He paused for a minute. “Since you guys are together, I’d like to get to know you too.”
Knowing that Gemma would want that too, how could I disagree? Besides, Paxton seemed like a good guy. And what he said next proved that to me.
He let out a heavy sigh as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
“I promised I’d check in on my mom after my job was done. I kept my word, but what I found out wasn’t good.” Paxton scrubbed his hands down his face. “My mom has a mental illness and has taken meds for as long as I can remember. Well she wasn’t home, but all her meds were. And it looks like she hasn’t been there for some time.
“I think she may be behind the attack on Gemma.”
Fuck, we’d thought between the notes and after what we’d found out about their dad’s relationship with Paxton’s mom, that it was a possibility. But to hear him say it was still shocking.
I imagined even more so for him since it was his mother.
At that moment, I felt bad for the guy.
But he was going a long way in proving himself to me by talking to me and his loyalty to a sister he just met.
“My mom isn’t answering my calls and I don’t know where she is, but I won’t be leaving the area until we figure this out.”
“I appreciate that, man.” I turned in my seat and held out my hand to shake his.
Even in the darkness of the car, I could see his eyes were heavy with emotion. We may have found out some about Paxton, his dad, and his mom, but I don’t think we knew half of what his life was probably like growing up.
Now it was as if he had to choose between a family member he’d known his whole life and a sister he’d only spent hours with.
“I will do everything in my power to protect her,” he said.
I was liking this guy more and more.
We both wanted the same thing. Gemma,safe.
That was when I decided to let him in on my plan. I had a feeling he just might be here when it went down too.
But first things first. Just to lighten the mood and all.
Giving him a sly grin, I said, “What do you say we go crash the girls’ sleepover?”
Paxton let out a full belly laugh. “Let’s do it.”
Remembering he’d been holding something, I nodded my head to the bag that sat on his lap. “What’s in the bag?”
The guy grinned. “I figured you’d need donuts since you were stuck outside the house like you were on a stakeout.”
I chuckled. “Nice, I won’t pass one of those up.”
He seemed to have Gemma’s best interest at heart and he brought me donuts, I thought that we’d get along pretty damn well. Maybe we could convince him to even stick around. My lady would love that.
And since I loved her, I’d do anything to make her happy.
ChapterThirty-Three
GEMMA
