Page 42 of Unveiled

“Thank you.” She whispered the words.

He was silent for several beats. “You’re her daughter; why would she think it’s okay to talk to you like that?”

Adalyn hung her head, ashamed. “Because she can.”

He eyed her for a long moment. “What is she holding over you?”

Adalyn took a deep breath. “She loaned me the capital to open the salon. I didn’t want to lease the building, and I managed to negotiate a good deal to buy it right after the recession. But…” She blew out a breath. “I needed twenty percent down, and I didn’t have it. There was no way I could’ve afforded it otherwise, and…”

Jaxon spoke up as she trailed off. “She offered up the money.”

Adalyn nodded at the rhetorical statement. Evelyn never failed to throw that back at her anytime she wanted something. “You have to give to get,” her mother had remarked more than once. It gave her free rein to demand whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, and expect Adalyn to jump at her whim.

“I should have known,” Adalyn continued. “Maybe I did. I set up a payment schedule so I could pay her off a little bit at a time as I started making money.”

“What do you owe her?” His brows drew together.

Adalyn shifted on her feet. “A little over fifteen thousand.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Adalyn’s eyes widened. “No.” She held up her hands. “No way.”

There was no way she’d ever let him offer up money. That would be like jumping out of the frying pan and into a freaking volcano. She didn’t want to owe this man anything. There was already so much between them; she didn’t need to muddy the waters more than they already were.

Jaxon reached out and grasped her hands. “As long as you owe her, she’ll control you.”

She would always control Adalyn; that would never change. Adalyn had made a deal with the devil just by accepting the money from her in the first place. Now Evelyn would forever be able to tell Adalyn that she owed her because she’d funded her salon. Adalyn needed to break free, but she couldn’t. Not yet.

She shook her head and tried to pull away, but he held her firmly in his grasp. “I can’t take your money.”

Jaxon squeezed her hands. “You will.”

“Please don’t.” Adalyn’s gaze skittered away, focusing on the wall behind him. “I don’t want to fight.”

“Adalyn…” Jaxon trailed off, then drew in a deep breath. His thumb rubbed small circles over the inside of her wrist, right at the pulse point. “I’m not trying to fight with you. I want to do this for you.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

Blue eyes stared into hers, and Adalyn’s breath caught. His words from just a few moments ago rose up in front of her. You do something nice for someone because you care—not so you can manipulate them. Did that mean he cared about her? No, he couldn’t possibly. He was only offering because she was the mother of his child. Shaking the stupid thought from her head, she refocused on the situation at hand. “I won’t take money from you.”

“Then don’t. We’ll make it a business arrangement.” Adalyn barely refrained from rolling her eyes. Yeah, because that had worked out so well for her in the past. She was already shaking her head when he continued. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to give you the money to pay your mother back. I opened an account in Jaclyn’s name at the bank. Each month, I want two hundred dollars deposited into an account until you pay off the original amount.”

Adalyn felt her mouth fall open. Was he serious? He wasn’t even getting the money back. “But⁠—”

He placed one finger over her lips, silencing her protest. He shot a look toward the living room where Jaclyn played quietly. Cerulean eyes cut back to hers. “Let me do this. I missed so much with her, and I want to make sure she’s taken care of.”

Tears burned Adalyn’s eyes and clogged her throat. Unable to speak, she just nodded. How could she say no to that?

Sensing her unease, Jaxon dropped his hand away and changed the subject. “So. Why does she hate this place so much?”

Adalyn let out a soft, unladylike snort. “Probably because it’s not the half-million-dollar home that my ex had picked out.” That seemed like so long ago now. He lifted a brow, and she continued. “My ex—Shawn⁠—”

“The one who ended up with your best friend?”

Adalyn’s gaze jumped to him, startled. “You remember that?”