A Kiss Good-Bye Series

Chapter 5

Jax

I have no idea why we’re here. All I know was that Em has a hunch about the roses. Four kids are smiling happily until a man stepped out. He looked dangerous and mean-looking.

“Keep your gun in the car,” Em said.

“Seriously?”

She smiled slightly and realized it’s the first time she smiled since I met her. It suited her well. When we first made eye contact at the clubhouse, I was thrown back. She was utterly beautiful, and I was lost in her eyes. For a moment, I forgot where I was and forgot about Sara.

“They’re friends,” she said. “We’ll be safe here. Trust me if you want.”

She got out of the car and I followed. Strangely I did trust her. All four kids ran to her shouting her name. “Em! Em! You came back!” They basically tackled her to the ground and Em giggled as she tickled some of them while the other one hugged her.

“Of course, I came back,” she said, still laughing. “I told you I would.”

She’s good with kids. She’s so at ease with them, and they seem to love her. I always wanted kids, two at least. I even have names picked out. For a girl, Amelia…

“Emilia!”

The man on the porch came down the steps, arms wide open and embraced her. Did he call her Emilia? “Hi, Morris.” Em hugged him back. “It’s good to see you.”

“Emilia, it has been a while.” Emilia really was her name. “Who is that?” the guy asked, pointing at me.

“Someone who needs my help and I need yours,” she said.

It kind of hurts that she didn’t call us friends, but then again, we aren’t. We’re just connected to Sara, but I was also intrigued by Em. There’s some sort of darkness surrounding her and the way she spoke in the car about silence made me want to know more about her. Her voice was low when she talked about it. Something happened to her. It’s strange that I want to know and even stranger that I want to comfort her.

“This is Jax,” she said to Morris. I nodded to him and he nodded back.

“Come inside. We’ll talk in there,” Morris said.

We followed him inside and it was nice. Suede sofas, hardwood floors, high ceilings, and decorative walls. It’s a nice house, a house I used to live in. I do miss my old life and the silence. I was happy that Em didn’t want to talk, but it was irritating that I didn’t know where we were going. At least she gave me a hint.

We walked inside an office and Morris closed the door behind us, then walked to his desk and sat down. “So, what’s going on?”

“Ramona,” Em said right off the bat. Morris’s eyebrows scrunched in question.

“What about her?”

“Is she back in?”

“Not that I know of,” he replied. “Why?”

“She left dead roses at his woman’s door,” she said, nodding at me. “Isn’t that Ramona’s M.O.?”

I see now. This Ramona sends dead roses to her victims to let them know she’s coming or taunts them. Huh. Creative was what I would have thought as a hitman, but now that it’s Sara that’s in jeopardy, I’m not happy. Sara means everything to me and I will keep her safe. She’s the only good thing that has happened to me, although we have been drifting apart lately. We no longer have the connection we had when we started dating. I have noticed that she spends more time with Carlo when I’m around or not.

“Yeah, it is, unless she was hired by someone,” Morris said.

“That’s what I thought,” she said.

“What is it, Emilia?”

Emilia. I’m still shocked that’s her name. I was off about her real name. I really didn’t expect that to be her name, but now that I look at her, Emilia fits her.

“It’s Jones,” Em says. “He’s after the girl.”

Not once has she mentioned Sara’s name. Why was that? She hasn’t even mentioned that it’s her sister that’s in danger. What was it with this girl? She sounds like she doesn’t care at all about Sara, which pisses me off.

“Jones?” Morris asked, eyes wide. “Are you sure?”

Em turned to me and said, “Tell him.”

I told Morris about my phone conversation with Jones and that I was the one who killed Vanessa. That memory still tears at me. I felt like a monster when I killed her. It’s why I became an outlaw. It’s why I joined the Devil Saints and became a brother. Brothers who shove the memory away with other jobs that don’t involve women. Brothers who don’t care about the past. Your past means nothing. Your life starts over when you’re patched in.

“So, you’re the one who pissed him off. Emilia, you can’t get involved and go against Jones.”

“I know,” she says, her voice wavering. “Jax will pull the trigger and I won’t be there.”

What does she mean by that? Doesn’t she want to be in the room where Jones will die? Was there a connection between them? “You and Jones have been friends for a long time, Emilia. Don’t ruin a great friendship for a guy who killed Vanessa.”

They’re friends?! Em remained quiet, staring at Morris. Her face was hard and calculating, like she was thinking of telling him about Sara. That it’s her sister that Jones wants to kill. I held my breath waiting to see what she will say.

“That’s my business,” Em says. Why won’t she say it? Unless Morris doesn’t know and wants to keep it that way. Was this her way of protecting Sara? To keep her hidden away from this life?

“Contact Angel,” Morris said. “He’ll know where Ramona lives, and you can ask her for sure.”

“Thanks Morris.”

“Say goodbye to the kids before you go and Emilia, be careful. You know how dangerous Jones is,” Morris said with worry.

“I will, and I know,” she replies with a sigh. "Goodbye Morris. Until the next time.”

We walked out of the office and back to the car. I waited while Em said goodbye to the kids. They really love her, and they all get along so easily. It’s hard for Sara to get along with kids. It takes time for her to get comfortable with them and usually she’s nervous. Seeing Em with the kids makes me smile a little. Maybe there’s more to her than meets the eye, but first I want to know why she lied about Jones. They’re friends, and she said that she met him once. Why would she lie?

Em finally made her way to the car, and we drove away from the ranch. “Where are we going now?”

“Shh,” she shushed.

I forgot. She doesn’t talk when driving. That’s odd. I wonder why. I mean I like silence too, but not when driving. Usually, when Sara rides on my bike, she would talk the entire ride or when I’m driving my truck, the radio was on. This girl just likes silence period. She was definitely different than Sara.

We drove into the city and came upon a tall glass building of condos. We parked in the underground parking garage and got out.

“Where are we?” I asked, following her to the elevators.

“My place,” she said as we got in. She pressed a button that said P3.

“P3?”

Instead of a slight smile, she gave me a little grin that showed some of her white teeth and said, “You’ll see.”

The door opened and my mouth dropped. We walked into a huge living room. I stood there gaping at the marble floors that covered every inch of the room. Leather couches sat in front of a big flat screen T.V. with high ceilings and clean white walls with a few decorative artworks.

I see Em going in one direction and I followed her. Whoa. A nice kitchen with a nice marble countertop that matched the kitchen island. All the appliances were brand new-still having the shine- and a few feet from the kitchen were big windows overlooking the city. It was an amazing view and I can picture myself standing here every day…naked.

“The fridge is full of food if you’re hungry,” Em said behind me. “I’m going to make a call.”

I nodded and went to the fridge. I’m famished, and she wasn’t kidding about the full fridge. I took out cold cuts to make me a sandwich. Em stood on the other side with the phone to her ear, watching me and I watched her.

She looks nothing like Sara. Sara has red hair and green eyes, creamy skin and a slim body. Em is different, with dark hair and eyes, and tan skin. Her body was strong and curvy with full lips whereas Sara has thin lips. There’s something unique about Em that makes me wonder about her. Even when she stares at me, goosebumps spreads across my arms. Those dark eyes of hers was a mystery.

“Angel,” she said on the phone. “It’s Sawyer.”

Sawyer?

“Listen, I need you to tell me where Ramona lives.”

She opened a drawer and retrieved a pad and pen and started to write. “Good. Do you know if she’s been hired recently?”

She listened as I watched.

“You sure? Okay, thanks Angel. Bye.”

“Who was that?” I asked, biting into my sandwich.

“Angel,” she replied. “He’s a hitman like Morris, but not retired. He’s also a computer genius, so he was able to tell me about Ramona.”

“When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Where does she live?”

“Tennessee.”