Jax
"WHY IS HE TRYING TO KILL YOU?" Veronica and I were talking about her husband.
"I found out some things I shouldn't have. He has an underground trafficking ring, Jaxon. H-he sells young ladies to rich old men. All this while I thought it was just drugs and guns, I was okay with that you know. I-i mean that's the usual business. I didn't expect there to be women and young girls being deprived of their freedom" She wiped her eyes slowly not allowing them to drop
Same old Veronica, still seeing crying as a weakness.
"Do you know the location of the underground ring?"
"He has more than one, i-i was going through his files in the office because I suspected he was cheating on me, and that's when I saw the files of all the girls he has in his custody and even the ones he had sold. They're a lot, Jaxon. Nobody deserves that life" this time she could not hold back the tears as she starts to sob uncontrollably. "He hit me when he found out that I knew and since then he never stopped"
Before I'd have done different things not to see her cry, right now all I do is stare and rub my hand up and down her back in an awkward motion.
"I'll find him, I promise, and I'll make him pay for everything he has done to you and every other person" I assure her. I may not be able to stop her tears but at least I can assure her that I'll find her dumbass husband
One thing that still wasn't sitting right with me was how Veronica let a man beat her up, she's one of the strongest women I know. Not just mentally, or whatever, physically too. I've seen her take on men that are twice her size and still won. The Veronica I knew, would never let a man berate her not to talk of abuse, she's always been good with guns and knives and she never failed to make her victims know that.
"Why did you let him?" though the question is subtle, there's no way in hell she'd say she doesn't understand what I'm referring to
"He threatened to kill our kids if I fought back"
Okay, I was not expecting that
I turn to face her properly " You have kids?"
"I did, he killed them. My babies Aiden and Gianna, and that's when I ran" she starts crying again at the memory
"He killed his kids!" Why am I even surprised, I've seen things like this. I guess I'm surprised because they were innocent little kids and they didn't deserve to die
"Hey, hey, look at me, I promise I'll find that son of a bitch and you can end his life however you want, Okay?"
She nods slowly "Thank you, Jaxon. Thank you so much you have no idea how much this means to me"
"I'm just glad I can help, don't cry anymore, please" I hand her a handkerchief to clean up her face
she cleans it and gazes up at me "I missed you. every day while I was stuck in that house with Daniel receiving all those beatings, the only thing that pulled me through was you and my kids. I don't want him to go free for what he did, he can't."
I ignore the last part involving me "He won't Veronica, I promise you"
She sniffs and cleans her face with her hands as if trying to hide the evidence of her crying "Enough about me. How are you?"
I'm fine, I'm in front of you.
"I'm good thank you," I say instead
"You know what I mean Jaxon, the nightmares and voices, do you still get them"
"Funny how even in the grave he stills haunts me" I chuckled dryly.
"He's dead Jaxon, he can't hurt you anymore, I made sure of that"
I ignore the obvious in that statement.
The same man she cheated on me with is the same man she killed for me.
"Why did you do it?"
"H-He was hurting someone I love, I couldn't stand around and do nothing"
love?
"But you fucked him. her eyes widen as she looks at me "Yeah I know, I've always known."
"And you never said anything?"
"What was I supposed to say? Oh Veronica I found out you slept with Christopher so we need to break up"
"It's not like that Jax" she replied lowly
"Oh really, 'cause I damn well know sex is not complicated unless you have another meaning for it?"
"Don't yell at me, please. He made me believe you were cheating on me when you were travelling on all those business trips"
"Oh Fuck that shit! Fuck you and fuck, fucking Christopher! You knew how fucking dependent I was on you mentally and you still fucking went ahead and did that shit to me! for fucks sake you were everything to me! every fucking thing! And you dared to fuck him and then stand here and tell me you believed the lies he fed you? Fuck you!" I walked off to the bar and grabbed a cup to pour my drink.
"I was young stupid and angry, I believed him and I felt the best way to get back at you was by sleeping with him. I'm sorry, Jaxon, please"
"And you knew everything he did to me, you knew damn well what I went through in his hands, the daily beatings, the degrading. You knew damn well he was never a father to me just my abuser and you still went ahead and fucked him! I scoff and run my hands through my hair "To be honest I was never mad about the sex, I was mad about the fact that I trusted you with everything! Veronica you fucking owned me, you were the only person that had the power to break me completely and you did it either way" I turn around with my cup in hand and head to my office
I'm done with this shit, I didn't sign up to go down memory lane today
I exhale slowly as my fingers massage my forehead.
The office door opens wide and she steps in, her make-up is all smudged and tears are running down her face.
"You owned me too, you still do-" I scoff, cutting her off "I won't try to make excuses for my mistake, I slept with Christopher, yes, and I also killed him. I did that for you... for us"
"Stop it! So what? just because you killed him, I should suddenly do what?"
She's quiet, and then she chuckles menacingly as she takes slow steps towards me "This is not you Jaxon, you're not someone that goes to an office, that suddenly works out when he's angry" The Jax I knew was never afraid to accept the darkest parts of him" For fucks sake, you kill for sport. And now you're what? working out to suppress those dark thoughts. You know deep down that sooner or later you're going to have to tell her everything and poor little Imaani's heart will be broken because she can't handle this lifestyle" she walks up close to me our faces merely inches apart. she moves her lips to my ears " But I'm here, baby I've always been here, it's always been You and I" she breathes against my ear
"Step back, Veronica, before I make you. And whatever this is, that you're doing, I don't want any part of it! Move on" I move away from her
"Move on? You think I can just move on from everything we had! I got married to try and forget you but it lacked love, it-it lacked the thrill we had, our love was toxic but it was damn right amazing! we are fucking perfect for each other, Jaxon!"
I pick up my phone and send a text "I just booked a room at my hotel for you to stay, you can't stay here anymore. But I'm keeping my promise to you, I'll find your husband."
"You're not even listening to me-" she places her hands on my chest halting me
"There's fucking nothing to listen to!" I yelled throwing the glass cup to the wall.
"Fuck!" I groaned, before grabbing a napkin to clean my blood-stained palm
Veronica walks over to me, her eyes glazed and her breathing shaky "There he is, let it out, love. Just like old times." she whispers while running her fingers up my torso
I push her hands off me as I hold them together and push her against the wall "Don't you ever lay your filthy hands on me ever again! Am I fucking clear?"
"Crystal" she replied with a sly smile
I let go of her hands and walked off to get my phone, I wanted her out of my house as soon as possible. An uber could take time and every minute with her here is every minute I'm disgusted.
I call Tiago informing him to get here immediately and take her out of here.
"Your car is here" No he's not, but she needs to leave
"What?" She gasped out
"I'm very sure your ears function properly"
"Wh-why are you ignoring what you truly want? WHY!" She yelled pulling at her hair "It's fucking maddening!"
I was about to talk when I heard Tiagos horn signifying his presence
I walked to her and watched as her eyes widened and her lips parted before I moved my mouth to her ear and whispered "Whatever you think we have, it's in the past, You and I are done, Get the fuck out of my house!"
The door opened revealing Tiago, he walked into the house and immediately went to her room to get her things "Thank you Tiago" I murmur to him
"No problem boss"
"You can't keep pretending, Jaxon. Sooner or later you'll see that I'm right"
"Don't count on it"
"You remember what you told me when we met months ago?"
"Don't Veronica!"
"You remember, don't you? Good" she says and turns her back to me
I watch as she and Tiago walk out of the house.
I walk over to the mini bar to get another drink as I mull over what I told Veronica the last time we met.
"It's always been you, Veronica. No matter what happens, it's always going to be you."
I didn't mean it. I did then, but not anymore.
I pick up my phone and dial Micheal's number.
No matter how stubborn or angry we both acted towards each other before, Now I need my best friend.