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brIDGET

H e was hurt, and all I wanted to do was run to him and lead him away to take care of his cuts and bruises.

Jaxon stood there with his family, an unbelievably cool bunch of people, who came out to have each other's backs.

Ivan and his band of brutish bullies looked broken beyond repair, both physically and in dignity.

They'd been outmatched and beaten, even though there were nearly two of them for every single Stone.

When I got to the beach, I planned to run straight to Jaxon and let him know I never wanted to be away from him again, from this day forward, but then I saw him—the man who I'd come to loathe and mistrust as much as any horrid stranger.

The man who raised me was just that—a complete stranger.

But I had to keep up the farce. Until everything was in place, I had to pretend as if I'd come over to his way of thinking.

I had to let him believe that I planned to marry Alex.

I could feel the anguish coming from Jaxon.

He was confused, hurt by my indifference, but I wasn't ready to break the act.

There were still things in the works that needed to be completed before I could tell my dad to fuck off. And what a fuck off it was going to be.

Stella and I had met at the top of the trail. We spoke as casual acquaintances, but I hoped that one day we'd become like sisters. I'd never had siblings, and watching the Stones together, it made me realize how much I'd missed without a real family.

I stood back and watched helplessly as my dad steamrolled over everyone on the beach with his imperialistic arrogance.

The locals had been told to leave, but they stood their ground, and it seemed that their main motive for staying was not just to keep their local beach but to show the Stones that they were behind them.

The officers looked wholly out of their depth standing there between a large group of unhappy citizens, their citizens, and my dad's team.

He'd brought along two of his harshest lawyers. They were insisting on arrests.

It seemed most of the small town of Trayton had made its way down to the beach. And their increasing numbers gave them more courage. They all moved closer to the action.

"Officer Prentiss, this is our beach, and we're not giving it up without a fight," a man with a thick beard and a Grateful Dead T-shirt yelled from the crowd.

"That's right," others said. "We've been surfing these waves for years, and we don't want a stupid high-end development at our back door."

"This development will bring prosperity to your town," Dad said.

"We've got all the prosperity we need," someone else yelled.

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing you people can do. This beach is private property, and you'll need to leave it right now or face arrest," one of the lawyers said.

"We break ground in a month, and we can't have people wandering near the building site," Dad said.

"Not so fast." A sweet, airy voice came from somewhere behind the crowd.

Everyone parted, and a petite woman with a picture-perfect face and long golden hair was standing in a pair of cutoffs and a pink tank top.

Two people, a man and woman, both dressed in some kind of uniform, stood next to her. The woman held a clipboard in her hand.

"Jules?" Griffin said.

"What are you up to, sweetie?" Jaxon's uncle asked.

Jules walked forward confidently. She was quite the contradiction with her porcelain doll looks and her sure steps.

She smiled at her dad and the rest of them.

"I told you I had a plan. You're always ignoring me.

Well, my plan just saved the beach." She looked at the pair who'd come with her.

The man looked a little taken aback, especially after seeing the number of bloodied lips and black eyes staring back at him, so the woman stepped forward.

"Marilyn North with County Wildlife Conservation. Who is the landowner?"

My dad rolled his eyes. "That's me, and don't give me any bullshit about this beach being protected."

"Well, the pigeon guillemot is a protected species, and see all those holes and crevices in the hillsides?

" She waved her hand toward the hills. "This is their breeding ground.

You can't cut down one tree or shrub on that hillside.

" Marilyn took some papers off the clipboard and tried to hand them to Dad.

He rudely refused to take them, so she handed them to a lawyer.

Laughter started as a small rumble in the crowd and grew louder and more rambunctious until it ended in cheering. Marilyn and her shy partner said a few things to Jules and then left the beach.

Dad's face was red, and he seemed to be speechless for the first time since I could remember.

My phone beeped. It was the text from Eve I'd been waiting for. "Everything has finished processing. All good on this end."

"Thanks so much. We'll talk again soon," I texted back. I looked up and found that through all the elation and celebration there was still one upset expression in the group other than my dad's. I walked toward Jaxon.

"Bridget, come here. We're leaving. This is still private property, Officer, so arrest every fucking one of them," Dad snapped. "Bridget," he said again harshly.

"Sorry, Dad, not going with you … ever again." I took hold of Jaxon's hand.

"Don't worry, Walsh," Jaxon's dad said, "the town will buy the beach back from you … for pennies on the dollar."

Dad's face looked redder than the blood on the sand.

The locals decided to run down to the water to splash and play and show that no one was going to kick them off their beach.

The older officer had looked unsure of what to do, but it seemed his town had given him some courage and confidence.

"Given that your security crew started this fight by beating up young men who'd just come here to surf, I'm not going to make any arrests.

If I did, I'd start with your security detail," he added plainly.

Dad was still reeling from the blow of learning he'd paid big money for a piece of land that could never be developed, so he didn't even respond to the officer.

He said something to his lawyers and pointed at the papers.

I was sure he was telling them to figure something out, but he'd come up against this kind of conservation regulation before, and it had always been a dead end for him business wise.

The lawyers walked away. Dad marched over to me. He scowled at Jaxon. "Thought I told you to stay away from her," he sneered. Jaxon's dad and family members had zeroed in on the conversation, but they held back, letting him handle my dad on his own.

"You've told me, but since you mean absolutely nothing to me, I found it very easy to just ignore your demands. And you can come at us as hard as you like. Just like your pretty muscle boys here. I think we've shown you who is going to end up losing."

Dad looked at me. "You'll be cut off completely." He pulled out his phone, and his finger pounded the screen as he walked away.

"Dad? If you're planning to retrieve the money you hid in my accounts—it's too late." I was extra glad to be standing next to Jaxon as I said it.

Dad froze in place and stared at his phone for a long moment. He looked back at me with daggers shooting from his eyes. He quickly punched his finger against his phone again and waited for my bank accounts to appear.

He marched back toward me but slowed when Jaxon stepped forward to meet him first. "Where's the money? It doesn't belong to you. I only placed it there temporarily while I—" His words fell off.

"You were hiding it because you cheated a bunch of investors out of money for a development on the Italian Riviera that, much like this project, fell through because not everyone thinks every piece of this earth should be covered by ugly posh developments."

"Where's the money, Bridget?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Hmm, let's see. A few children's hospitals are probably celebrating right now and then, of course, there are some of my favorite animal rescues, cancer research, homeless charities.

All good causes, I promise. Oh, and I made some investments, but since they're all in my own name I don't think I need to fill you in.

I did leave a few million in there so you can take that back and—I don't know—find another place to hide it, I guess.

Maybe under your mattress. A million is easier to hide than 80 million.

" As I said it everyone looked my direction.

I shrugged. "Lots of happy charities today. "

"You can't do that." Spittle was flying out of Dad's mouth. He looked positively rabid.

"It was in my account, so I found that it was all amazingly easy."

"You'll be hearing from my lawyers, and don't bother to come home."

"Bye bye, daddy dearest," I called to him.

Dad tried to march away with a great deal of self-importance, but it wasn't easy in fancy shoes and a suit and after such a devastating defeat.

"I think my dad just got the dose of bad karma that's been waiting to hit him when the timing was right." I looked up at Jaxon and winced. "You need some first aid." I reached up and tenderly touched his bruised face.

"I don't know exactly what just happened there between you and your dad, but I think I've underestimated just how fucking awesome you are, which is saying a lot because I already had you up on a hundred story pedestal." Jaxon pulled me into his arms. A few groans of pain followed.

His mom came up to us. "Well, I'm going to leave you in Bridget's care. I'm going home. Crusoe is there, waiting for the get-well cookies he's asked for. I guess I'll take your dad home, too, for some first aid ."

"No, Mom, I told you I don't want to hear about that kind of shit between you guys."

His mom laughed. "Relax, I was talking about actual first aid." She winked at me and walked away still laughing.

I lifted a brow at Jaxon.

He shook his head. "No, seriously, if you knew what I had to listen to all day. I'm gonna have to start looking for a therapist."

I reached up and wiped some blood off his chin. "Well, I'm not a therapist, but I'm a great listener. You can tell me all your woes as I clean up these cuts and bruises."

He tightened his arms around me. "To hell with the cuts and bruises. I'm talking real first aid and not the kind my mom was talking about."

"Hey, Jax!" It was his cousin Griffin. "We're all going out for pizza tonight and to celebrate the brainy brilliance of my baby sister. Can we count on you two?"

Jaxon looked at me. "Sounds fun," I said. "And I agree, she's brilliant."

"We'll be there, but first I'm gonna need some private time with my nurse." Jaxon lowered his mouth to kiss me but paused. "Fucking asshole with the big ring on his finger. I'm going to have to save my kisses for a few days, but after that, you better watch out cuz I'll be making up for lost time."

I kissed his jaw, about the only place that wasn't bruised or cut. "I'll be waiting for that."