Chapter 39
“What?”
“The woman came in all aggressive, saying I was interfering with her family. Then she reached into her bag. I backed up. Thought it was a gun.”
“And what would you have done if it was?”
“Fought to the death. I was raised by a criminal, Lucifer. My father taught us to die fighting, but never, under any circumstances, to let ourselves be taken.”
“Good advice.”
“Yes. Anyway, it wasn’t a gun. At least not at first. It was photographs. Doctored ones, of you holding a boy, with the woman talking to me standing next to you.”
“What did you think?”
“I knew it was a lie.”
“Why?”
“She told me you’d abandoned your son because of me. If you had a kid, you’d have told me. We talked about it that day, I asked you. Besides, I knew you’d never abandon him.”
“You’ve got a lot of faith in me, Jackie. It’s stupid to trust a monster.”
She’s straddling me, facing me, fiddling with the collar of my T-shirt as she talks. But after I say that, she lifts her eyes to meet mine.
“Not just any monster. My monster. The one I spent years obsessed with.”
Her words hit me hard, and I yank her into a brutal kiss. When we break apart, we’re both breathing hard.
“There’s something else that set off alarms in my head right away,” she says after a few seconds.
“What?”
“The fact she knew about us. All these years, I’ve been alone. You or your men followed me in the shadows. How could she possibly know we were together?”
“I don’t have the answer yet, but you can be sure I’ll find whoever came after you.”
“I shoved her.”
“What?”
“I pretended to believe her story, then shoved her and ran. I told her she might’ve fooled me if she hadn’t thrown a kid into it.”
“Would she have fooled you?”
“No. Not for a second. I’m good at connecting the dots, and everything was out of place.”
I nod in agreement.
“Were you scared?”
“No.”
I brush both thumbs under her eyes.
“Then why did you cry?”
“For you. Whoever came after me today went to the trouble of staging an entire performance. They were almost perfect.”
“They wanted you to come willingly. They’d never get close to you under normal circumstances because of the bodyguards. They took the chance they had.”
“If I were some jealous lunatic, I would’ve fallen for it.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask, curious.
“I refuse to answer that.”
“You don’t have to. I already know,” I say, and she bristles.
“You’re so damn arrogant! Who was it that dragged me off the dance floor when you saw me sandwiched between those two guys?”
I run my middle finger along her cheek.
“Careful. I’m going easy on you today because of what happened, but don’t push me, Jackie. Almost losing you had me off-balance. I’m keeping the beast inside me on a leash.”
Still holding my gaze, she reaches for the hem of her own shirt and starts to lift it.
“I’ve never been afraid of the beast inside you. I’ll always welcome him, Lucifer.”
Hours later
“Where is she now?” Beau asks.
“Asleep upstairs.”
“Come to New Orleans. I don’t like the idea of just the two of you there.”
If I weren’t so worried about her safety, I might laugh.
I’ve spent days hiding in jungles in Africa and South America, hunting my targets.
I’ve been shot, stabbed, survived three poisoning attempts, five kidnapping attempts, and one explosion.
I’m hardly an altar boy. I know how to take care of my own ass, but I also know he’s got a point.
Because now, it’s not just about me. Whoever went after Jackie has been watching us.
He, or maybe they, knew where my woman worked and also knew we were in a relationship.
“I assume whoever tried to take her didn’t know about her before?”
“I don’t think so. We’ll never know, but I’ve never left anything to chance, always keeping her under close watch. They could’ve been watching her too, just never finding the right moment to strike.”
“I don’t buy that. More likely, they really didn’t know about her,” he says. “And by the way, your guy was an idiot today.”
“Yeah, I know. Jackie tried to cover for him, saying she was the one who told him to stay outside the association building. I actually believe her, because she can be convincing when she wants to be.”
“But he’s supposed to report to you. And only you.”
“Exactly.”
“If you want my advice, talk to Jackie. Maybe your woman still doesn’t fully grasp what she’s gotten herself into. Amber was the same way at first.”
“Jackie was born into a family like mine.”
“Not like yours, you’ve far surpassed them. Compared to you, her relatives, father and brother, were petty thieves. What Jackie needs to understand is that by putting herself at risk, she’s risking your life too. Because we both know that if they take her, you won’t stop looking until you’re dead.”
“Maybe not even then.”