Page 144 of Finding His Redemption

There would be time for that later, when they were alone.

“Jax!” Oliver raced across the room and grabbed his hand. “Look what I did!”

Jax released her with a smirk—he one hundred percent knew what she’s been thinking before the interruption—and let Oliver drag him away. He crouched down to Oliver’s level as the boy pointed out his handiwork with pride. It was something Nessie had noticed from the beginning, the way Jax always made himself smaller, less intimidating, when talking to her son. She loved him for that.

“See? I did this whole part. Jonah showed me how to go with the grain, which is like brushing a dog the right way, and I didn’t mess up even once!”

Jax ran his fingertips over the smooth wood, his focus absolute, as though Oliver’s work deserved the same attention as the rest of the men’s.

“Good job, buddy.” He reached out and ruffled Oliver’s hair. “You’re doing better than I would have at your age.”

Oliver beamed up at him, his entire face radiating joy. “Thanks, Dad!”

Dad.

The room went suddenly, completely silent.

Oliver froze, his smile faltering as he realized what he’d said. His eyes widened, darting first to Jax, then to Nessie, panic spreading across his small features.

Jax’s expression was stuck between shock and something so raw and unguarded that Nessie’s heart ached for him. For a long,suspended moment, no one moved. Even River, who could find a joke in a funeral, stood motionless on his ladder.

Then, slowly, the tension melted from Jax’s face, and he pulled Oliver into a quick, fierce hug, his large hand cradling the back of the boy’s head.

“It’s okay,” Jax murmured against Oliver’s hair. “It’s okay, buddy.”

Nessie’s heart hammered against her ribs as she watched them, father and son in everything but blood. The sight should have terrified her—Oliver getting attached to another man who carried darkness she didn’t fully understand. Instead, warmth flooded her chest, so intense it made her eyes burn.

Oliver pulled back first. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—I know you’re not?—”

“Hey.” Jax caught a tear that had escaped down Oliver’s dirty cheek and flicked it away. “You don’t apologize for saying what’s in your heart, okay? Ever.”

“But you’re not really my dad.”

Nessie held her breath, waiting for Jax to retreat behind those walls he’d built so carefully around himself. Instead, he cupped Oliver’s face in his hands, his scarred fingers gentle against her son’s skin.

“Biology doesn’t make someone a father,” Jax said quietly. “Being there does. Caring does. And I’m not going anywhere, Oliver. Not unless you or your mom wants me to.”

Oliver’s face crumpled with relief. “I don’t want you to go anywhere.”

“Then I won’t.”

Nessie had spent so long bracing for loss that the simple act of being chosen left her defenseless. She was so completely in love with Jaxon Thorne that she wasn’t sure what to do with all the emotion roiling in her chest. She pressed her hand to her mouth, tears spilling over despite her efforts to hold them back.

River let out a suspicious sniff and quickly wiped his face on his sleeve. “I swear to God, if y’all make me feel one more feeling, I’ll combust.”

“Please,” Ghost deadpanned. “Do us all a favor.”

River shot him a finger. “You’re crying too, Casper. Don’t think I don’t see that emotional leakage.”

Ghost grunted… but turned back to the electrical panel just a bit too fast.

chapter

forty-three

He wasn’t fucking crying.

He didn’t cry.