Chapter 3The Ex I Hid Away

Jax was rarely home during the day.

Nana was worried. "Harper, keep an eye on him. Don't let him do anything stupid."

I became his shadow. Wherever Jax went, I went.

He hated it. "Go home. This isn't a place for kids."

"Are you sleeping around?" I asked angrily.

He glared at me. "Where did you learn those words?"

"You're doing bad things."

TV taught me that nightclubs were dens of sin.

He worked security at a club. I sat in the corner doing my homework. If a girl tried to flirt with him, I stared her down.

Jax eventually grabbed me by the collar and dragged me to the exit.

"Go home."

"Nana said to watch you."

"Watch me what? Watch me fight? Watch me bounce drunks? Watch me smoke?"

I bit my lip. "Don't be bad."

He froze, then laughed bitterly.

"Harper, I've been bad for a long time."

"Do you like that lady?" I asked, pointing at a woman with wavy hair who kept eyeing him.

He pulled my ponytail. "Harper, you're a little gossip machine."

Riding home on his motorcycle, the wind roaring in my ears, I grabbed his shirt tight.

"Jax, do you have someone you like?"

He was silent for a long time.

"I did."

"Where is she?"

"She ran off with someone else."

Her name was Vanessa.

I met her once. Tall, beautiful, driving a red convertible parked at the end of our alley.

She came to find Jax. Jax wasn't home.

Nana, usually so kind, slammed the door in her face.

Nana told me the story. They were high school sweethearts. But Vanessa's dad was a gambler who owed money to sharks. The sharks came for Vanessa. Jax stepped in, fought them, and one of them died.

Jax went to prison. Everyone thought Vanessa would wait.

In his third year inside, she married a wealthy business owner.

"Jax wanted to join the Marines," Nana said, wiping her eyes. "Instead he got a record and lost everything. He never says a word, but I know it kills him."

Vanessa wouldn't leave.

I grabbed the gift basket she brought and threw it into the street.

"You think money fixes this? Jax has a record for life because of you! Who pays for that?"

Vanessa looked pale. "I didn't have a choice..."

"You're married! Have some dignity and leave!"

Jax was standing behind me, arms crossed. He chuckled.

"Alright, Harper. You got a temper."

I sniffled, eyes red. "Rich people think they're so great."

He rubbed my head. "It's fine."

I still felt awful. He was a good man. He didn't deserve to be thrown away.

Who was going to pay for his ruined life?