Irreplaceable (Underneath it All Series: Book Three) (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) by Ava Claire Page A
Authors: Ava Claire
Tags: alpha male, Billionaire, billionaire romance, billionaire erotic romance, alpha billionaire, alpha billionaire romance
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was a man of little to no words," I snorted. My attempt at seeming casual, like I was just shooting the breeze fell flat because Sadie reached for my knee, stroking it gently. We were cut from the same cloth, childhoods that weren't filled with tenderness and family cookouts and home videos. Even my story with Mr. Roberson didn't have a happy ending. "I came home after school and I could hear Monster barking from the road. I knew something was wrong because Mr. Roberson ran a tight ship. Monster didn't let out a peep without his permission." The rock that had been forming the moment I started talking about the one bright spot in my childhood, the one place that felt like home, became a boulder that I couldn't swallow. "I found him face down on the living room floor. Stroke."
"Oh my God," Sadie said hoarsely. "Jackson...I'm so sorry."
The memory of finding him, wishing we had more time, wishing I wasn't so hard that I didn't open up to Mr. Roberson; let him know me, get to know him....I was bent all out of shape. "I had my ass kicked all through puberty until I learned how to defend myself. I took some beatings, and I didn't shed a tear. When Mr. Roberson's lawyer read me the note in his will, where Mr. Roberson told me to never forget that I chose to live, I sobbed like a damn baby." I focused on looking for Sadie's childhood home to distract from the fact that I was dangerously close to crying again. "Mr. Roberson is the reason I'm Jackson Colt, and that name isn't just another ex-con or deadbeat. He left me a chunk of his estate and I used part of if for the college and the rest was seed money to start my first company."
"That's so beautiful, Jax," Sadie stroked the inside of my arm and goosebumps, hope, flared at her touch. "I'm so glad that you two had each other. I bet you touched his life as deeply as he touched yours."
I flashed her a strained smile, too overcome to stay in the memories. "That's why you're lucky. You have Rose. And as long as you have Rose, you have a home."
"I am lucky," she admitted, her tone registering a twinge of surprise. That was the thing with us poor schmucks with pasts filled with more downs than ups. It was way too easy to focus on all the things we missed out on instead of being grateful for all the things we had. "Next house on the left," she finished, pointing it out.
It wasn't necessary, the neighborhood instantly went from manicured lawns and glossy shutters with minivans out front, to a carbon copy of many of the foster homes I'd been dumped into.
"Home sweet home, amirite?" Sadie attempted a joke, including a nudge with her elbow. As we were jostled to the left and the right as I pulled into the broken driveway, I didn't say a word. The foster homes I'd frequented were as foreboding as any haunted house. The terrors that occurred in her home were still fresh. Her mother was proof of that.
I put the car in park and scanned her face. "I can go in and grab some things for your mother if you'd like-"
"No," she interjected quickly. She forced a smile, the ends of it trembling from the effort. "Let's go together."
Before I could insist that she didn't have to be brave for me, she'd already rounded the car and was opening my door.
"I am lucky. I have Rose-" She held out her hand, her cheeks flushed. "And I have you.”
~
"I s that everything on the list?"
I could tell that even though she had a breakthrough in her relationship with her mother, being in this house was stirring up some ghosts that were better left buried. It didn't help that her list was a mental one and she had aimlessly wandered through even room, going back to some a handful of times. We'd filled up two recyclable bags with clothes, toiletries, and Harlequin romance novels. Neither one of us discussed the fact that we were clearly disturbing a crime scene. Sadie marched right past a coffee table that was fractured into a million pieces and the stains on the carpet that I knew were blood.
I waited in the
"Oh my God," Sadie said hoarsely. "Jackson...I'm so sorry."
The memory of finding him, wishing we had more time, wishing I wasn't so hard that I didn't open up to Mr. Roberson; let him know me, get to know him....I was bent all out of shape. "I had my ass kicked all through puberty until I learned how to defend myself. I took some beatings, and I didn't shed a tear. When Mr. Roberson's lawyer read me the note in his will, where Mr. Roberson told me to never forget that I chose to live, I sobbed like a damn baby." I focused on looking for Sadie's childhood home to distract from the fact that I was dangerously close to crying again. "Mr. Roberson is the reason I'm Jackson Colt, and that name isn't just another ex-con or deadbeat. He left me a chunk of his estate and I used part of if for the college and the rest was seed money to start my first company."
"That's so beautiful, Jax," Sadie stroked the inside of my arm and goosebumps, hope, flared at her touch. "I'm so glad that you two had each other. I bet you touched his life as deeply as he touched yours."
I flashed her a strained smile, too overcome to stay in the memories. "That's why you're lucky. You have Rose. And as long as you have Rose, you have a home."
"I am lucky," she admitted, her tone registering a twinge of surprise. That was the thing with us poor schmucks with pasts filled with more downs than ups. It was way too easy to focus on all the things we missed out on instead of being grateful for all the things we had. "Next house on the left," she finished, pointing it out.
It wasn't necessary, the neighborhood instantly went from manicured lawns and glossy shutters with minivans out front, to a carbon copy of many of the foster homes I'd been dumped into.
"Home sweet home, amirite?" Sadie attempted a joke, including a nudge with her elbow. As we were jostled to the left and the right as I pulled into the broken driveway, I didn't say a word. The foster homes I'd frequented were as foreboding as any haunted house. The terrors that occurred in her home were still fresh. Her mother was proof of that.
I put the car in park and scanned her face. "I can go in and grab some things for your mother if you'd like-"
"No," she interjected quickly. She forced a smile, the ends of it trembling from the effort. "Let's go together."
Before I could insist that she didn't have to be brave for me, she'd already rounded the car and was opening my door.
"I am lucky. I have Rose-" She held out her hand, her cheeks flushed. "And I have you.”
~
"I s that everything on the list?"
I could tell that even though she had a breakthrough in her relationship with her mother, being in this house was stirring up some ghosts that were better left buried. It didn't help that her list was a mental one and she had aimlessly wandered through even room, going back to some a handful of times. We'd filled up two recyclable bags with clothes, toiletries, and Harlequin romance novels. Neither one of us discussed the fact that we were clearly disturbing a crime scene. Sadie marched right past a coffee table that was fractured into a million pieces and the stains on the carpet that I knew were blood.
I waited in the
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