Chapter Two #2
“Your father is holding my little sister against her will. He has some false bullshit that ties her up in his shady business dealings, and I’m working for him to earn her freedom.
” Jagger’s admission surprised Justice. “He promised to release the information he has that ties her to him if I work for him and get my hands a little dirty. Picking you up was my first assignment, princess. As soon as I can free my sister, I’m out.
” Justice felt bad for him, she honestly did, and that only confused her more.
Her father was good at manipulating people to get what he wanted.
He seemed to want Jagger James, and there would be no way that her dad would let him go until he was finished with him.
If Jagger delivered her to her father, he would only prove his worth, but if he didn’t, her father wouldn’t hesitate to hurt Jagger’s sister.
Justice knew that once her father set his mind to what he wanted, he didn’t stop until he had it in his possession.
She was afraid a family reunion was inevitable unless she could convince Jagger to help her.
Jagger didn’t know how he got himself so involved in this giant clusterfuck.
All he wanted to do was rescue Jules, and once his little sister was free from Tony Hobbs, he’d work his way out.
He wasn’t a fool—he knew he was an asset to Hobbs’ organization.
He had the skills and knew how to help a powerful man like Hobbs and not get caught in the act.
But working for a man who treated women like Hobbs made him physically sick.
Listening to Justice tell him the few details about what he wanted to let Wolf do to his daughter made him want to fucking kill the man.
He knew Jordan Wolf, saw him sniffing around Hobbs’ home.
He worried he was going to try something with Jules, but he had his eyes set on a bigger prize.
He wanted the mayor’s daughter, and from the looks of Justice, he couldn’t blame Wolf.
“What is your sister’s name?” Jagger hesitated answering Justice’s question.
He didn’t know how much he could trust Hobbs’ daughter.
From everything he heard about her, she was a spoiled princess, but the security guards who worked for his boss were still sore that she gave them the slip two years ago.
He didn’t hear much about the night that Justice was held captive.
Her father made it sound as if she had a mental breakdown, and he was holding her for her own good.
He even told Jagger he was worried about Justice and that was why he was ordering him to go and bring her home.
Hobbs said that he wanted to get his daughter the help she needed before it was too late.
But the beautiful woman sitting next to him now didn’t seem to be in a state of mental breakdown at all.
In fact, she seemed quite competent, proving that trusting his boss was probably a mistake.
Hell, he wasn’t sure who to believe. All he knew was that Hobbs had his sister and was willing to trade her freedom for his daughter to be brought to him.
Would he be able to live with himself if what Justice was saying turned out to be true?
Could he turn her over only to be sold into a life she didn’t want for the sake of her father’s political career?
“Her name is Jules,” he offered. Jagger decided that he could give her some small truths, and maybe that would satisfy her curiosity and get her to stop asking questions.
“Why is my father holding her?” Jagger looked over to find Justice looking out her window as if trying to figure out where they were.
She seemed like a smart girl and probably worked out that they were getting close to Goose Creek.
He had orders not to bring her directly to the main house.
The plans changed once Justice’s friends realized she was missing for about two hours.
While she was passed out, he got a text from Hobbs telling him to drive and await further instructions.
He was probably going to have Jagger take Justice to another location and keep her there until further notice.
Jagger just needed that address, so for now, he was driving in circles and about to run out of gas.
“Let’s just say your father has some damning files on my sister that could put her away for a long time.
She was his assistant and accidentally stumbled across some information that she shouldn’t have.
” He told his sister that working for someone so powerful was a bad idea.
Hobbs was in the local news for various scandals more times than he could count.
But Jules had her ideas, and listening to her older brother cramped her style.
He wasn’t stupid; he knew how attractive his sister was, and he also knew she didn’t have the experience that would warrant a man in Hobbs’ position to hire her.
He tried to stay out of her affairs, but it rubbed him the wrong way that someone would try to take advantage of her like that.
She was only twenty-three years old—the same age as Justice, according to the folder of information he received about her.
“So, my father made some shady business deal and washed his hands of the whole mess by pinning it on your little sister?” Justice didn’t seem to ease up with her questions.
He nodded, not wanting to talk about his sister anymore.
He needed to turn the tables and ask her a few questions. If she wanted answers, then so did he.
“You said your father tried to sell you to Wolf two years ago. How did you escape?” Jag asked.
Justice smiled, and it practically lit up the almost dark cab of the truck.
“My grandmother is Norma Jeane Hobbs, and she owns the ranch that takes up most of Goose Creek. She had a few of her guys come over and bust me out of the room that my father had me locked up in. She held my father and his guards at gunpoint. Granny Norma has more nerve than any woman I’ve ever known.
” Justice’s smile faded. “She risked everything to rescue me and help me start over, and now it will have all been for nothing.” Jagger thought she might be playing the sympathy card, but when he chanced another look at her, he saw she was crying.
He fucking hated when women cried; it did weird things to his heart, and that was the last thing he needed to happen with Justice.
He needed to remember that she was just a job; otherwise, he would be leaving his sister in the hands of the devil, and he couldn’t let that happen.
“Listen, Justice, I’m sorry you’re going through this with your father.
He has my sister, and I can’t let anything happen to her.
We are all each other has, and I won’t let your father destroy her life, not even to save—” He stopped short of saying the word and sounding like an uncaring ass.
“Mine,” Justice finished for him, nodding her head as if understanding.
“He’ll never let either of you go, Jagger.
You know that, right? If you take me to him, he’ll be pleased and want to keep you around.
He’ll find a way to keep you on his payroll.
If that means using the one person you love in the world, he’ll do it.
” Jagger swallowed past the lump in his throat.
Fuck, he knew Justice was right. He was thinking about the very same thing while she was passed out. But he didn’t know what else to do.
“Right now, I have no choice. I have to stick to the plan and deliver you as promised. He said he’d kill my sister if I don’t show up. I’m sorry. You seem like a nice kid,” he said.
“Kid?” Justice whipped around in her seat and practically jumped at him.
“I’m not a kid. I’m twenty-three years old, and if you haven’t noticed, I’m a full-grown woman.
” Justice puffed out her already impressive chest, and Jagger smiled at her.
He noticed that she wasn’t a kid, and he noticed all her sweet curves when he hauled her body against his and loaded her into her pickup truck.
Justice Hobbs turned him on in ways that would only make this entire job go sideways, and he couldn’t allow that.
If he thought about her being the same age as his kid sister, that made the time they were going to spend together much more bearable.
He chuckled at her theatrics. “All I’m saying is that you’re about the same age as my little sister, and I think of her as a kid.
” He shrugged, trying for casual, but that only seemed to rev up her anger.
Justice crossed her arms over her chest, made a little “Humph” sound, and sat back in her seat.
He couldn’t help his laugh—she was adorable.
But he also knew she had quite the temper.
If he wanted to keep his balls intact, he needed to remember she could hold her own.
“Honestly, Jag, I don’t give a fuck how you see me.
Why don’t you just do us both a favor and get this nightmare over with and drop me off at my dear old dad’s house?
I’m sure he’ll be true to his word and hand over your sister and let you both walk away, just like you hope.
” Jagger could hear the sarcasm dripping from Justice’s words, and he didn’t find it a bit funny.
He knew that he and his sister were caught in the middle of a shit storm, and if he believed Justice, she was just as much a victim as they were.
The question was, would he be able to get the three of them out of the storm safely, or would he have to choose between his sister and a virtual stranger?
He felt bad for Justice, but he’d pick his sister every time.