The Rebel
Chapter 26

This is my adaptation of “Rebel With A Cause” by Kim Hansen.


“What happened to you, little brother?”

Jax glanced up from his desk as he sat in the chair behind it. It felt so good to be
back where he belonged. But a part of him was already missing Brenda, missing
working with her and knowing she was no longer just a few steps or a call away.

Jerry came closer, cocking his head as he examined his brother’s bruised face.
“Did Brenda Barrett find out who you really are and sic her father on you?”

Jax’s gaze narrowed, ominously on his brother. “No, She still doesn’t know who I
am. Corinthos and I had a fight.”

“You and Corinthos had a fight? About what?”

“He tried to kill both me and Brenda.”

“What!”

Jax filled Jerry in on everything that had happened since he had met Brenda
Barrett on the dark, deserted street to Sonny’s arrest.

“Wow, Jax, that’s some adventure you’ve been having. What are you going to do
about Brenda now that Sonny’s been exposed?”

Jax shook his head. “I don’t know, but enough about this subject. Do you have
the KLM file handy?”

Jerry knew from experience not to ask any more questions. Jax’s expression told
him he was done talking about Brenda and Sonny. “Yes, its in my office. I’ll be
back in a minute.”

Jax nodded, relieved that Jerry hadn’t persuaded things further. He didn’t want
to think about Brenda right now. Jerry returned with the file and Jax welcomed
the distraction. He didn’t want to think about the situation he’d boxed himself
into. Not yet. Not until he tried to sort it all out for himself first.

He was already dizzy from trying to discover just the right way to tell her the
truth. Only he was no closer to finding an easy way to make her understand and
accept who he was and how he’d come to be with her than when he’d first
realized he was going to have the problem of explaining. That was why he needed
a break. For a little while, he had to fill his mind with something else besides her
and defining a method to help her see who he was, why he had gotten involved
with her and that KLM was one account she would not win.

Yet, ignored, the problem of confession didn’t go away. It remained with him
through the hours as he worked beside Jerry, lingering in the back of his mind,
and so constantly served to remind him that if he was going to keep Brenda with
him...and he desperately wanted to...he had to find a way to soften the revelation
of his true identity and make her see that a harmless ruse had turned into
something more complex and complicated than he ever could have anticipated or
imagined.

When he began the drive to her beach house that night, he was still struggling to
find the right words to tell her what he had to say. Unfortunately, the hours of
reprieve and work hadn’t helped. Clearing his mind even for a little while hadn’t
enabled him to come up with a simple solution. He continued to search for an
easy way to give her what she wanted and needed to know about himself and his
work, but pulling to a stop beside the house, the hard way was the only one that
appeared to exist.

Straight out and direct. It was how he usually dealt with any crisis that
developed, and it remained for him to use the same approach with her.

The trouble was Brenda was more to him than a crisis. Much more. He was in
love with her and when she opened the door, he swept her into his arms and
kissed her.

“I see your feeling much better,” she teased when he lifted his head, but
continued to hold her against him. She reached up and touched his bruised
check. “Does it hurt?”

“Not if you kiss and make it better.”

She squealed as he abruptly swung her off the floor and against his chest and
headed with her towards the stairs, but she didn’t protest. She simply circled her
arms around his neck and fixed him with an inquiring look. “Just how much
better do you want me to make it?”

He grinned as he hit the first step. “As good as it can be.”

If his lovemaking was tinged with a desperation he didn’t want to give a name to,
she didn’t seem to notice. She merely accepted his embrace with an openness
that allowed her to give more than take, and it left him frustrated when they
collapsed to lie together.

Sensing his distress but not certain of it source, she snuggled against him to offer
what comfort she could and to enjoy the touch of his skin next to hers. She
suspected it was the mystery of who he was that was worrying him, but any
questions she had about his past, present or his future didn’t seem to matter
when they were together. She closed her eyes and listed to the steady rhythm of
his heartbeat beneath her ear. The feeling of safety and completeness he gave her
was overwhelming, and she sighed and let the wave of love she felt for the man he
was, even with the unknown still lying between them, wash over her. The
answers would come when he was ready to share them with her.

She opened her eyes again to prop her chin on his chest. “You look tired. Didn’t
you get any sleep today?”

“I thought I would sleep tonight.”

She saw his teeth flash in the darkness and she smiled, too. “What makes you
think I’ll let you get any?”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” He rolled to pin her beneath him. “Do we have to
go to work in the morning?”

She circled his neck and linked her fingers behind his head. “Of course. We have
a very important investment to work on.”

The joy inside of him died, and he rolled away to drop back down beside her.

“It will be really exciting, Jax, this KLM takeover. And scary, too,” she told him,
laughing at what she thought was mock disappointment, and leaned on her
elbow as she lay against him. “I’ve only been able to get through part of the file,
but it’s complicated. More so than anything else I’ve ever done.”

He didn’t answer, but she knew he was listening. He always did when she was
worried or excited or happy. It meant that he cared for her, too, even if his
feelings weren’t as strong as hers were.

“I’ve done straight purchases, buyouts, but never a takeover,” she went on.
“There’s so much to think about and consider. I’m really going to need your help
on this one.”

“Brenda,” he interrupted, lifting a hand up to cup her check. “We have to talk
about this.”

“I know,” she interrupted. “And this isn’t exactly the time, but I’m so nervous.
My father really wants me to come through on this.” She covered his hand with
her own. “He’s counting on me, and I’m counting on you.”

Jax moved against her, an objection on his lips. She couldn’t count on him. Not
this time. He couldn’t support her on this project. “Bren...”

“We can do this together. I know it.”

The hope was there. The need to do well, to prove herself worthy. She was
putting it all in his hands, but he couldn’t accept it.

“I need you, Jax.”

The terrified plea was his undoing and he cursed himself for his weakness. He
couldn’t refuse her. He couldn’t abandon her. Not when she was asking for his
help.

Cursing himself, his vanity, his cocky belief that he could wheel and deal and
always win, he pushed her back on the bed with a growl. “We’ll do it. Somehow.”

But it was hard. For him. For her as they worked together day and night on the
file. She tried to grasp all the subtleties, the possibilities, but KLM wasn’t a
simple transaction. A takeover was never easy, and this was one of the worst he’d
seen. It involved more than one company, thousands of employees, endless
complications, and she didn’t know half of them. Sonny hadn’t done a very good
research, and she was only working with half the facts.

Jax bit his tongue numerous times as she worked and struggled. He could tell
her so much, but it wasn’t information he could or should share. She would learn
nothing if it was given to her, but she did well on her own. She even found some
leads for more data without his assistance, but he knew it wasn’t enough. She’d
never win. And even though she was going to try, he couldn’t let her.

Thursday afternoon finally came and Jax went into Brenda’s office at quitting
time. She was straightening things up, preparing to leave for the day. With him.

“Ready?” she asked as he came in.

He had to stuff his hands in his pockets to keep himself from crossing the room
to touch her, to offer reassurance or to try to talk her out of even attempting to
make a bid at the meeting scheduled for the next morning. “No.”

She looked at him in surprise.

“I’m not coming home with you tonight. And I won’t be there with you in the
morning.”

“Jax...”

“Final lesson, Brenda. You’ve got to do this on your own.”

Stunned by the unexpected declaration, all too clearly she recognized his direct
gaze, his tense stance and the grim set to his jaw. He meant what he said. It
would do no good to argue with him, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to or
preventing her stomach from churning. Something was wrong. Was she about to
lose him? Swallowing, she looked away briefly before returning her gaze to his.
“This isn’t about KLM, is it?”

“No. It’s about me and who I am.”

Slowly, struggling to remain calm in the face of disaster, she moved around her
desk to walk toward him. “And who you are won’t let you stay with me any
longer?”

“Not here. Not as your associate.”

She stopped before him, her expression calm, but she was trembling. She linked
her fingers together in front or her so that he wouldn’t see. “You’re quitting?”

“Effective today.”

Nodding, she searched his face. The bruises were fading. But she was more
concerned with his eyes. They were cold and lifeless. She couldn’t read what was
behind them and, at this moment more than at any other since she’d known him,
she wished she could. “New job?”

“An old one I have to finish.”

“I see,” she murmured, but she didn’t. She didn’t understand his sudden
withdrawal and there was more she wanted to know, but she didn’t think he
would tell her. He was still holding her at arms length. She accepted her pain
and clenched her fingers more tightly together to stop from reaching out to touch
him, to pull him back when he was trying to pull away. “Does your leaving here
mean I won’t see you again at all?”

“Only if you don’t want to,” he told her, lifting a hand to brush her cheek with
tender fingers and wishing he could take away the doubt and the fear she was
trying to hide behind the cool composure she was draping herself in again.

Her hand covered his. “Do you honestly think I’d willingly let a man that cooks
get away?”

A smile formed, and he pulled her into the circle of his arms. “You like my
cooking, do you?”

She nodded and held on tight, keeping her head down to stop him from seeing
the tears of relief in her eyes. He wasn’t leaving her for good. “I’d starve without
it.” Blinking back the moisture, she tipped her head back to look up at him. “You
can’t come over tonight? We don’t have to work...”

But he shook his head and pushed her away from him. “We both have work to
do.”

She nodded, determined to let him have the room he seemed to need, but the fear
of finality loomed near. He wasn’t saying good-bye, yet she couldn’t shake the
feeling of finality behind his announced departure, and her worry shone in her
eyes. Jax had to put his hands in his pockets to stop himself from crushing her to
him.

“We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” she agreed, and smiled acceptance, her composure secure behind a
practiced face, but she hated the pretense more than she had ever before. She
wanted to show her feelings, to tell him she didn’t want him to go...not now or
ever...but uncertain of how he’d react if she tried to share them with him, she
remained silent.

He turned away and, crossing her arms in front of her, she watched him go, but it
was the hardest thing she’d ever had to do. And out of sight wasn’t out of mind.

She thought and worried and wondered about him through the night. His
sudden resignation was frightening, his withdrawal terrifying, but she kept
reminding herself as she tried in vain to again review the KLM papers that if he
had left in her office, he hadn’t left her. He promised they’d talk again. She held
on to that and to the confidence he’d promoted in her as the sun dawned and the
time for the showdown came.

Without Jax, she took Lilly to the meeting with her, and as a team, they stepped
off the elevator and moved towards the ring where not only the KLM board
members were waiting in a conference room set aside of the wanting company’s
building but her competition, as well.

J and J Jacks Inc. was a firm experienced at negotiations, takeover and
investments, and its strategy was always simple. Win. But Brenda wasn’t going
to let that happen this time. She was going to prove that they could be beaten.

Stepping into the conference room, carrying her briefcase and her poise with
equal calm, she glanced around the room where men and woman were gathered
and was quickly greeted by a KLM officer, who introduced himself and the other
board members before presenting her to someone outside KLM’s employ.

“Jerry Jacks of J and J Jacks Enterprises, Inc.,” the KLM president, Justin Reed,
said and motioned for a tall, dark headed man to come forward. “He’s part of
your competition.”

Brenda nodded and extended her hand to receive a firm shake and to meet
intelligent brown eyes. Jerry Jacks was younger then she expected. She’d
thought J and J Jacks would have a more sound leader. “Part?” she asked,
cocking an inquisitive eyebrow at Jerry.

“Half.”

She recognized the voice before she saw the man, and her smile was
instantaneous. But the face she confronted wasn’t the one she knew. It was
deeply set and his eyes were without the usual sparkle. They were cool and calm.
Glancing quickly from him to Jerry, she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m Jerry’s partner and the other J in J and J Jacks,” he told her, reaching out to
take her hand. “Jasper Maximillan Jacks, but my friends call me Jax.”

The information and the betrayal hit with incredible force. He wasn’t at the
meeting for or because of her. He’d come for himself and his own company.

To be continued...