Page 133 of Wrecked (Dirty Air 3)

s.

And with relief comes the tiniest flame of hope that I will get through this.

I’ve made it my personal mission to make sure my mistake doesn’t cause Elena any more harm. After fixing her finances with Connor, I need to make connections for her. I start with the team I know best and plan to work my way from there.

Liam set me up to meet with James Mitchell, Bandini’s team principal, and the man who basically runs the show there. He may have graying hair and a few wrinkles, but the man is an absolute beast. I reckon he can out bench press me any day of the week.

James looks at me with stern green eyes before they drop to the paper in front of him. He crosses his legs and leans back in his office chair, hitting me with a scowl. “Why her?”

“Noah told me he doesn’t like the Bandini PR reps. I thought I might as well solve your problem while fixing mine.”

Okay, more like Noah gave in after I explained Elena’s situation because of my mistake, but James doesn’t need to know that.

He raises a dark brow. “Let me get this straight: you fucked up and got her fired, yet you want another company to hire her. I wonder why that is.”

On the outside, I’m the usual Jax, cold and uncaring. But on the inside, I cringe at how far my mess up went that even James knows about it. “She’s a hard worker and knows her shit. My actions don’t reflect her work ethic. Quite the opposite seeing as she lasted almost a whole season around me.”

“Yet you’re the one with a high-paying job while she’s out of one. Funny how the world works.”

“It’s not funny. If you don’t want to hire her, fine. I’ll take her references to Sauvage.”

“I didn’t say that. But tell me, why do you care if I hire her?” He remains stoic except for the smallest twitch in his lips.

“Do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Please and say it slowly to make sure I hear it all. I’m getting old.”

I’m tempted to flip him off but refrain because Elena being hired is more important than my twitchy middle finger. “Liam told me about you.”

“Anything he says is probably a watered-down version of the truth. You best remember that.” James hits me with a full-blown grin this time.

I tap my knee with my shaky hand. “I want her to be taken care of. She doesn’t deserve to lose everything she worked for because of me. I made mistakes—big ones—but it wasn’t my intention for her to lose what she cares about most.”

“From what I’m gathering during this conversation, I don’t know if that’s what she cares about most.”

I frown. “How do you know?”

“If you being here is any inclination of how much you care about her, I have a feeling she feels similarly. Not that I’m out here offering free advice, but if I were you, I’d consider fixing things. I can take a look at her resume and consider her for a job, but it doesn’t change the damage you’ve caused.”

“Consider?”

“Don’t push your luck. Tell her that you love her. Grand gestures like this are sweet and all, but—”

“She can’t know,” I blurt out.

James tilts his head at me. “Now that’s interesting. Why?”

“I don’t want her to know I recommended her for the job—if you decide to hire her, that is.” And I fucking hope he does.

“I’m going to cut it to you straight, similar to how I did with Liam.”

“Fuck,” I whisper under my breath.

“Ah, you’re familiar with my unsolicited advice. Well, allow me to be your surrogate parent for ten minutes, seeing as you’re my daughter’s friend and all. Consider this situation carefully. People are lucky to find someone they love—I mean truly love—once in their life.” He taps Elena’s resume for emphasis. “If Elena is that person for you, put your shit aside and fix it. Shelve the pride, pull out your best apology, and win her back. Mistakes can be forgotten but wasted time can never be earned back.”

His statement hits me hard, and not because of his original intention.

Elena can’t waste her time on someone like me.