Rules of Entanglement

Day 6: Friday


Jackson strode through the lobby of the Mau Loa and out into the lavish pool area. It was just past noon on a typically beautiful Hawaiian day. Not a cloud in the powder blue sky, sun beating down to warm the white sandy beaches, and the aquamarine waves ebbed and flowed in perfect rhythm. And Jax noticed none of it.

All night he’d paced in his trailer, out of his trailer. Laid down to sleep and only tossed left before turning right, punching pillows and adjusting his sheets as if they were the reasons for his discomfort and not his guilty-as-f*ck conscience.

He should have never let her leave. Not alone. Not like she did. The hurt in her eyes and the tears on her cheeks had pierced him through the chest. He hadn’t been able to breathe, much less move, for several minutes. And when he finally snapped out of it enough to get his shit together, he fought with himself on whether or not to act on his instinct and go to her or respect her wish for space.

After grabbing the door handle and releasing it at least half a dozen times, he watched her cab pull up and whisk her away from him once again. Only this time he wouldn’t do anything to trick her into giving him another chance. He’d already learned that lesson the hard way. A lesson he knew damn well to begin with but was too much of a p-ssy to own up to, and look where that had gotten him. Hurting the only woman he’d ever loved other than his mother and sister.

His sandals sank into warm sand. He blinked and realized he’d somehow successfully navigated through the throng of guests without remembering a single step. He wondered if this was how prisoners on Death Row felt on the way to their sentence. Because when he reached his destination and told Lucie he was leaving, she was going to kill him. And if she didn’t, Reid would. Jax mentally shrugged in resignation—it didn’t matter who wanted him dead; nothing they could say would change his mind—and continued walking.

I just need one more chance. But honestly, did he even deserve one? That was the question that had plagued him all morning as he forced himself through a training session at the gym. Hitting the bags and running on the treadmill until puking had felt cathartic.

In the end, he made the decision he’d known he would all along. He was flying to Nashville to find Vanessa, help her help her sister, and take care of the money drop with the thugs. He just hoped to Christ he wasn’t too late.

“Maris!”

Jax turned his head in the direction of a familiar voice coming from the Moana Bar on the beach. Changing his direction, he walked over to embrace his best friend in a manly, no-more-than-three-seconds, back-thumping hug.

“Lookin’ a little soft in the middle there, Andrews. Is it retirement or my sister that’s turning you into a marshmallow?”

“You’re full of shit,” Reid said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m still in top physical condition. Besides, you and I both know all it would take is one right hook from me and you’d be on your ass.”

Jax scoffed. “You tried that once before and I caught you in a flying arm bar, if I remember correctly.” He gave his friend a wicked grin and poured a little salt on the old wound. “Had you tapping out like a little bitch.”

Reid narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at him. “That happened once and it was a lucky finish.”

Jax slapped his hand away and they both laughed, turning to the bar. “So why are you here and not with Lucie?”

“I’m playing the role of dutiful husband-to-be and getting her one of those blue drinks she saw everywhere. She said something about it officially kicking off her vacation.”

Jax stared past Reid’s shoulder to the azure water and grunted at the memory of Vanessa wanting the same thing.

“Hey, man, what’s up with you? You look like pure shit.”

Cutting his eyes back to his friend, he said, “Why did I want to see you again?”

“Cut the bullshit, Jax. What the hell happened between you and Vanessa?”

Jax nearly jumped Reid right then. “You talked to her? What did she say?”

“Whoa!” Reid placed a hand on Jax’s chest and firmly pressed until he was out of his personal space. “I don’t know anything, man. She called Lu just before I came out here. All I know is that she’s not here like she should be and you’re edgy as f*ck, which tells me something went down between you two.”

Jax leaned on the bar, ordered a beer, and picked out a swizzle straw from the jar to give his gnashing teeth a reason to gnash. He didn’t want to admit how badly he’d f*cked things up with V to his sister or his best friend. It was bad enough he had to admit it to himself.

“Shit, dude.” Reid blew out a heavy breath and leaned on the bar next to him. “You f*cked her, didn’t you?”

Jax pointed the thin red straw in Reid’s face. “Shut up, Andrews; you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The hell I don’t.” Where Reid’s voice had lost some of its volume, it gained in agitation. “I asked you to make sure everything was taken care of this week as my friend—as Lucie’s brother—and you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants long enough not to chase off the maid of honor.”

Straightening from the bar, Jax turned to face his best friend. Though they towered over everyone else around them, they met each other at eye level, and both pairs threw daggers across the space between.

“I’m warning you, Andrews. You don’t know the situation—”

“I don’t care if she was strutting around naked. You should’ve found yourself a piece of ass somewhere else.”

Growling, Jax fisted his hands in Reid’s expensive polo and spun him around until his back slammed against the trunk of a nearby palm tree. Reid grabbed Jax’s wrists but didn’t attempt to pull him off. “If you ever f*cking talk about her like that again, you’ll be walking down the aisle without a single goddamn tooth in your head.”

“Jackson Thomas Maris! What are you doing?”

Jax didn’t look away from Reid’s narrowed glare to address the woman bearing down on them. “Just saying hello to your fiancé, Lucie.” Releasing Reid, he finally turned to face his baby sister. “Hey there, shorty. You look thin. This joker feeding you?”

Lucie jammed her hands on her hips. “I just spent most of the week unable to eat, smartass. And don’t ‘hey shorty’ me. What’s your—” Her brows gathered with her frown. “Jesus, you look like hell.”

Smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt, Reid stepped to Lucie’s side and put his arm around her shoulders. “That’s what I said, sweetheart.”

Jax scowled. “F*ck you, Andrews.”

“That’s enough,” Lucie ordered. Her voice was stern, but those big gray eyes of hers softened. Suddenly, he felt stripped bare of all his defenses. A talent his sister had when it came to him. Sighing, she said, “Come here, you big jerk.”

The tightness in his chest loosened some as he enveloped his little sister in a bear hug. The feel of her arms around his waist grounded him, giving him a few moments of peace from the incessant anxiety threatening to tear him apart at his seams.

“It’s good to see you, girl,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “And you look as beautiful as ever.”

Leaning back to look into his eyes she said, “Mmm-hmm. Don’t start trying to sweet talk me. I want to know what’s going on with you.”

“I bet I can guess,” Reid interjected. “Our dearest Jax here is in love with your best friend, but he did something to f*ck it up.”

Jax wanted to lash out at the man, maybe throw a punch to knock that smirk off his face. But that wouldn’t do anything but give him a split second of satisfaction and a pissed-off sister when her groom had a shiner in their wedding photos.

Lucie looked up at him for confirmation. “Jackson?”

Releasing her, Jax took a step back and scrubbed a hand over his face. He hadn’t bothered grooming after his shower earlier, so his usual five o’clock shadow was now the start of a decent beard. Another couple of days and he could get a job as a model for lumberjack fashion wear.

He cleared his throat, glanced at Reid’s smug face, then met his sister’s inquisitive stare. “That pretty much sums it up, yeah.” A slow smile spread over her face. Oh, shit. “Shorty, don’t start getting all mushy on me, okay?”

“What?” she asked innocently. “A girl can’t be happy her big brother finally found love? And with my best friend, of all people?”

“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t get too excited if I were you. She doesn’t even want to see me, much less date me. But she’ll just have to deal with me today because I’m going to Nashville whether she wants me there or not.” Then he remembered Reid had said Lucie had been on the phone with V. “She’s not answering my calls. Call and tell her not to do anything until I get there. I don’t want her around those criminals, and I sure as hell don’t trust Kat’s boyfriend to—”

“Jackson!”

Hearing Lucie yell his name made him realize she’d tried interrupting him a couple of times before that. “What?”

“Vanessa isn’t in Nashville. She’s still on the island.”

Relief that she’d never left and concern for why she hadn’t flooded his system from opposite sides of his body, colliding somewhere in the center of his chest. “Tell me where she is.”

His sister’s eyes turned sad. “I can’t.”

He took a step forward and lowered his voice just above a growl. He must have looked pretty menacing if Reid felt the need to place himself half in front of his fiancée. As if Jax would ever lay a finger on his sister. The dude had gone all Tarzan over her. He would’ve respected Reid for that protective instinct if he wasn’t on the verge of losing his shit over Vanessa. “Lucie, I’m not playing. I want to know where she is.”

Lucie stepped around Reid while giving him her famous back off, Cujo look she used to use with Jax when he got too parental with her. And just as Jax had done years ago, Reid gave in. A little. “I mean, I can’t tell you because she won’t tell me. And when I asked why she switched hotels, she told me about Kat and said she didn’t want to bring me into her funk.”

That sounded exactly like something she’d say. That was his V. Always trying to save the ones she loved in one way or another. “She was supposed to go to Nashville to bail her sister out of a problem.”

“Yeah, I know.” Lucie tucked her long brown hair behind her ears and looked as though she debated on how much she should tell him. “Before she got on the plane last night, she found out Kat had taken off. Vanessa got a text from her this morning saying that she didn’t want Nessie getting mixed up in her problems.”

Jax snorted in disgust. “In other words, her boy Lenny told her they were better off doing another cut-and-run instead of facing the music that could very well be his death march.”

Lucie nodded. “More than likely. And if the future can be predicted by looking at the past, Kat will probably be off-grid for several months again. It’s nothing Nessie’s not used to. She’ll be fine; she just needs some time to herself.”

“F*ck that,” he growled. That’s not what she needed at all. Left by herself, she’d do what she’d always done: bury the hurt and the guilt until she couldn’t see it anymore. Feel that somehow, no matter how hard she tried, she wasn’t enough. And that was bullshit. She was more than enough. She was everything to him, and he needed to tell her. To show her.

But in order to do that, he needed to stop hiding.

Vanessa deserved a man who owned up to who he was in life. Not a fighter who pretended not to own part of an exclusive resort so he wouldn’t have to deal with the publicity and responsibilities that came along with it. And certainly not a brother who hid his true identity for fear of losing his place in his sister’s life.

“Lucie,” he rasped. “I need to talk to you.” He flicked a glance at his best friend, who gave him a nod of understanding. “Alone.”

The corners of her mouth lifted slightly as she held out her hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go for a walk, big brother.”

Lucie’s private bungalow sat on the outskirts of the resort property facing the crystal blue waters of the Pacific. Jackson sat on the wood steps that led to the porch, forearms resting on his knees, one hand clasping his other wrist in the middle. He closed his eyes and sucked the salty sea air deep into his lungs, then regulated his breaths with the sounds of the waves hitting the shore.

When Lucie had sat him down for their talk, he’d been prepared for the worst reaction possible. Not because he truly believed his sister would abandon him, but because he couldn’t let himself hope for something more if she wasn’t able to give him that much.

Now he was ashamed of himself for thinking she’d react any differently than with the compassion, understanding, and love she’d shown him. Lucie truly was one in a million. When he told her about finding his adoption papers after their parents’ deaths, he expected her to quietly process the information in that Lucie way he knew so well. Not only did she surprise him by responding without thinking, but the first thing out of her mouth completely leveled him.

“I won’t lie and say this isn’t the last thing I expected you to tell me. But Jackson,” she said, gazing at him with her dove gray eyes, “I don’t care who gave birth to you. It doesn’t make you any less of a Maris than I am. And it sure as hell doesn’t change the fact that you’re my big brother.”

More than fifteen years’ worth of keeping his secret crashed over him, and he’d been helpless to stop the tears from flooding to the surface. Lucie wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed for all her tiny frame was worth. He wasn’t sure how long they held each other like that, but when they finally separated he had himself back under control.

They spent the next hour talking about everything from the real reason he moved to Hawaii to learning to accept not knowing why their parents never told him the truth. They speculated some, but in the end they both agreed that it probably wasn’t something they meant to keep to themselves forever. Neither of their parents could have ever predicted being taken from their children so early. Not telling Jackson sooner in life may not have been the wisest course of action, but they must have had their reasons.

Either way, Lucie was right. Just because his DNA claimed differently didn’t mean he wasn’t still a Maris.

The door behind him swung open and shut just before Lucie handed him the cold beer she’d gone inside for. “Here you go.”

“Thanks, shorty.” He took several long swigs, letting the cold liquid soothe the tightness still gripping his throat.

“Now,” she said, descending the steps to stand in front of him. “Whaddaya say we stretch our legs on the beach, and you can fill me in on what happened between you and Ness.”

Jax took in the folded arms across her chest and the single eyebrow hitched up between a part in her bangs. “This is nonnegotiable, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

Sighing, he unfolded from the stairs and followed her lead down the beach. “How much do you want to know?”

“Might as well start from the beginning. I’ll let you know when I get bored.”

He smiled around the lip of his beer bottle and took a fortifying sip before launching into the whole story. She listened attentively as they strolled at the water’s edge, the warm water occasionally lapping over their bare feet. She didn’t even miss a step when he told her about being part owner of the Mau Loa, just told him she was proud of him for doing something to secure his future in case his career was cut short by an injury. He supposed that would be something in the forefront of her mind, since she was a physical therapist. The majority of her patients were injured athletes, including Reid. Or at least he had been one of her patients. Now that Reid had retired, he probably no longer needed PT unless he wanted to role play in the—

Gross! That was one of the downfalls of having your best friend hook up with your sister. All the “yeah buddy” thoughts of Reid getting some action were tainted by the fact that it was with his innocent baby sister.

“What?” Lucie asked when he gave her a sideways glance.

Yeah, right. No way was he opening up that conversation. “Nothing.”

She shrugged and let it go. “So what did she say when you told her the truth?”

“Exactly what she should have said. That I was the worst kind of liar and took advantage of the situation to get…close to her. And she’s right.”

“Yes, but it’s not like you were the one who made the first move, right?” She grabbed his beer and took a sip, then handed it back. “I mean, technically, she was the one who proposed the fling, not you.”

“Doesn’t matter, Lucie. I created the situation that instigated her proposal. She should’ve been free to have a fling with anyone she wanted. But she chose me because she thought she was stuck playing house with me all week.”

Lucie stared at her feet as she put one in front of the other, hands in her pockets and chewing on her lower lip. Jax knew she was turning the information over in her head like a rock tumbler. She wouldn’t say anything else now until she could pull out something shiny and worth showing.

“She said I was the only person to ever make her break Rule Number One, and then she walked away.” He shook his head in self-disgust. “I should’ve gone after her.”

Lucie stopped in her tracks and grabbed hold of his arm. Jax turned back to her with a questioning look.

“Why didn’t you go after her?”

“You mean besides not wanting my eyes clawed out?”

Lucie frowned, telling him she wasn’t amused.

“Because it doesn’t matter that I never meant to take advantage of her or the situation. The truth is that I did. I should have come clean about my involvement in the resort, but I didn’t. Vanessa felt used, and I can’t blame her for that. She had every right to hate me.”

“I think hate is a little strong, Jax. Especially when she just got done telling you she loved you.”

“What are you talking about? I never said she said that.”

“Yes you did,” she argued. “The thing about her breaking Rule Number One.”

His heart stalled in his chest. His lungs refused all air.

Understanding dawned on Lucie’s face. “Oh, Jackson. She never told you what Rule #1 is, did she?” He shook his head once. She stepped toward him and laid a hand on his chest. It took everything he had to hold firm. “Rule #1 is ‘Never fall in love,’ and I know for a fact that she never has…until now. She loves you, Jackson. So what are you going to do about it?”

The knowledge filled him with hope and fear. And determination. “I’m going to search every last inch of this island until I find her. Then I’m going to get in her face until she accepts my apology and gives us a chance.”

“I’m not entirely sure on the getting-in-her-face part, but who am I to judge? Reid had to buy me for a hundred grand before I gave him the time of day again.”

“I hope I get off that cheap.” Jackson kissed his sister on the forehead. “Gotta run. Thanks, shorty. I’ll see you at the rehearsal dinner later, hopefully with a gorgeous redhead on my arm.”

Jogging back to his Jeep, he started to formulate plans for finding Vanessa and making things right.