Broken Soul (Jackson Family 3)

“And that problem would be?” Adrik asked, his tone dropping an octave at the threat lingering in James’s words. Darren and I both shot James a warning look to cool his shit.

“Word on the street is that you just ordered a hit on my fucking family. I had a celebration tonight in honor of one of my men being promoted, and low and behold, a fucking sniper shows up.”

“Not my doing,” Adrik said immediately, and I believed him. James scrubbed a hand down his face. “In fact, I’m hearing the same thing on my end – that you’re targeting my family. I’ve chosen to ignore the threat until I see physical evidence.”

James looked at all of us. “Someone is setting us up against each other,” I said, voicing what everyone was already thinking.

“James,” Adrik said, “I believe it is time we tie our two families together. We need to strengthen each other in times like this instead of sitting like separate ducks.”

James clenched his jaw. “I do not have another brother, Adrik. Marriage is off the table.”

I narrowed my eyes at James. Apparently, this wasn’t a new topic of discussion for him and Adrik. What in the hell were these two playing at?

“Actually, I have someone else in mind for my granddaughter,” Adrik countered. “Your newly promoted consigliere.” I blanched. Marriage? Were they fucking kidding me?

James looked up at me. I gritted my teeth. I’d never planned to settle down. I wasn’t that kind of man. I liked pussy – liked a variety of pussy. Couldn’t do that bullshit when you were tied down by marriage vows, especially to someone like Adrik’s granddaughter.

But this family was my family. I’d do anything to protect them.

I gritted my teeth and nodded once. “I agree to the marriage,” I said before James could tell Adrik no again. If it meant making this family stronger and giving us a permanent ally, then I’d suffer.

Nothing mattered except family – not even my own happiness and comfort.

James studied me for a moment. I kept my face neutral, not letting him see anything I didn’t want him to. Finally, he heaved a sigh. “You want this marriage, Adrik, you set up the engagement announcement,” James finally told him. “I’ve got other shit to worry about.”

“Very well,” Adrik said. “And Jaxon, congratulations on your promotion,” the old man told me. “You’ll make a fine husband for my granddaughter.”

With that, the call ended. James looked up at me. “I hope you know what the fuck you’re getting yourself into. There’s no divorce, no other pussy, Jaxon,” James warned me. “You’re now tied to her forever.”

I held up my hand. “I’ve got this. Worst case scenario, I’ll buy a goddamn pocket pussy if I can’t stand her.”

That brought some amusement to the room. Darren barked out a laugh, Adrian just about spewed his drink, and even James’s lips twitched.

James scrubbed his hands down his face. “I need all hands on deck for this bullshit. We need to find out as much as we can as fast as possible.”

I nodded once. “On it,” I told him, striding from the room.

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment once I was downstairs. In the past twenty-four hours, a lot of shit had just changed. Not only had I been promoted, but someone tried to kill a member of the family, and on top of that, I was now fucking engaged to a woman I’d never met before – to a woman I didn’t even know the fucking name of.

Jesus Christ.