Chapter 57
She couldn’t help but feel hurt.
And maybe jealous?
Who were these people? Family members? Or something more? Was it a girlfriend?
You’re being ridiculous.
Right. But she realized that he hadn’t fully explained why Beltran was a threat.
And you didn’t ask.
No, but now she should have.
Jared nodded. “I’ll tell you what happened. But first I need to call and check in with North and get some more security in the hospital.”
“You don’t need more security,” she said. “The Fox isn’t a threat to me.”
“No, but Beltran is. And two guards isn’t enough. I’m going to flood this hospital with me. Not that I’m leaving your side again.”
“I’m sure I’m going home soon.”
“And until you do, you will be just as protected here as there.”
He made a couple of calls before sitting on the bed, facing her.
“Baby girl, you haven’t eaten,” he said, checking the food on her tray.
“I’m not hungry. I want to know what’s going on.”
He frowned. “Well, North isn’t happy. In fact, he nearly yelled.”
“North? Yell?”
“Yeah, which means he’s really not happy.”
“About the Fox? Was he worried about you?” she asked.
“Me? Why would he worry about me? No, he was enraged that the Fox got that close to you. He thinks it’s best that we get you out of the hospital and back home. Which I agree with. But you won’t heal without eating.”
“Food isn’t important.”
“It is when you were already underweight.” He lifted the lid of the tray. “But not this crap. I’ll get North to bring you some food.”
She frowned. She wasn’t going to eat it. Although she wasn’t silly enough to say that.
“Tell me what’s going on,” she urged.
“Right.” With a sigh, he sat on the bed, facing her.
He ran his hand over his face, looking exhausted.
She felt a pang of regret for pushing him, but she had to know.
“So, growing up with my father wasn’t easy, as you can well imagine.
I was the heir, groomed to take over the family when he died.
But he also saw me as competition. He both hated me and needed me.
My mother killed herself when I was ten.
But before then she’d checked out of life.
I couldn’t blame her. My father hired tutors to take care of me.
Staff to feed me and keep me clothed. I had to be careful not to get attached to any of them, though.
Because my father didn’t like it if I had too much care and attention. ”
“What . . . what would happen if you did get attached?” she asked nervously.
“Then those people would disappear.”
God. What a way to grow up.
“You must have been so lonely,” she said.
“I was supposed to only play with my cousins. Who would become my seconds, my advisors. Only problem is that all of my cousins are psychopathic assholes. Antony was the best of the lot. So when I was old enough, I suggested to my father that we branch out. That I should go down to South America and build relationships with our drug suppliers. That if I was there, I could keep an eye on things better.”
“Is that where you met North?” she asked.
“Yeah, it was. I was walking down this alleyway in Cali with two of my men. Some assholes who were working for a drug lord that didn’t like my family attacked us.
North saved me. He killed all of those men, then he dragged me out of that alley, patched me up, gave me antibiotics so I didn’t die of infection.
So when I was feeling better, I hired him to be my assistant.
It was a bit of a front, even though he does help me. He’s also deadly, smart, and loyal.”
“Wow, that’s crazy.”
“I know. It was like we were meant to meet. Anyway, I had my own reasons for moving to Colombia. I knew that if I ever wanted to get out from underneath my father’s thumb, that I had to build up my own fortune and power.
So I started to amass my own contacts, and my own people.
I started gathering people. Only my people didn’t work for me because they feared me, but because I took care of them.
North kept calling me soft because I didn’t just take in those that could help me, but their families.
Elderly. Children. Soon, I had a small village of people living in my compound. ”
Oh God.
She had a feeling that she didn’t want to know what had happened to them. But on the other hand, she had to know.
“What happened to them all?”
“North and I were away for business. Rex had come with us as I didn’t trust anyone else to cook our food. Along with six of my men. While we were gone . . . while we were gone, the compound was invaded. Everyone was killed.”
“Even the children?” she whispered as tears filled her eyes.
“Yes, even the children. Everyone. When we got word, we rushed home. Two of the guards with me had families they’d left behind. They were all killed.”
“I’m so sorry.” She tried to reach for him, to hug him, but the pain in her side stopped her from moving.
He glanced up, then stood. “Easy, baby girl. Stop moving around so much.”
“I just wanted to hug you. Because I’m so damn sorry that happened to you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t deserve your sympathy. I failed them. I was supposed to keep them safe.”
“Oh, Jared. I’m sure you did try. You couldn’t have known what would happen.”
“It doesn’t make it easier to take. I should have protected them.” His hands were clenched into fists. His face could have been carved from granite.
It explained why he was so over-the-top with his protection of her now. And why he was horrified that the Fox had gotten through to her.
Shit. He must have been so scared when he came in to find the Fox here.
“And Beltran had something to do with that? He was the one who killed them all?”
“Yeah. I had recently stolen away some of his suppliers and he wasn’t happy. Beltran always left his victims with a symbol burned into their chest. Several of my people had that symbol.”
God.
“I cleaned everything up, buried my dead, and tried to find Beltran. But he and his men went underground. I couldn’t find any trace of them. So I came home. That’s the last time I saw you . . . before my father died, that is.”
That time she’d thought he’d changed. That he’d grown cold.
Okay, that explained a lot.
“And you’ve never been able to find him?” she asked.
“No. I didn’t have the manpower left to take him down.
And I had to clean up back here. My father left a fucking mess.
But that didn’t mean I didn’t use my connections to search for him.
And a few of my guards that survived also wanted revenge.
They started a security and investigation company with my backing.
They’ve been searching for him too. And like all snakes, he eventually slithered back.
He started operating again under an alias, so we didn’t realize at first. Once we did, though, we started hitting his businesses hard.
We believe he’s figured out that I’ve been bankrolling them.
That’s why either he or someone he’s hired is killing my people here. ”
“In revenge?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
“God, what a mess. I’m so sorry about what happened to your people.”
“And I’m sorry I treated you so coldly that last time we spoke before Fergus’s death. I’ve always felt terrible that I never did more for you.”
“I wasn’t your responsibility.”
Jared just grunted. “I was going to free you, you know. Once things died down after Fergus’s death. But you ran. You were safe while away from me, but now we’ve put you at risk. However, I won’t let anyone harm you, baby. I will die before that happens.”
“I don’t want you to die,” she said. “Either of you.”
The door to her room opened and North stepped inside.
His face looked as impassive as always, but he was tense as he stormed to her side. He leaned over her, and to her shock, cupped the side of her face gently.
“Are you all right? Are you sure he didn’t hurt you?” North asked and it took her a moment to realize he was talking about the Fox.
“He didn’t. I promise. He’s a friend.”
His gaze narrowed.
“A renowned assassin is your friend?” he murmured.
“Yes. I promise he won't harm me.”
“He didn’t seem like he would, but that doesn’t mean that if the price wasn’t high enough he wouldn’t turn on you,” Jared said.
She understood his mistrust. Like her, he’d had little reason growing up to trust anyone, to let anyone close. But she just knew, deep inside, that the Fox wouldn’t harm her.
“I know I’ve got no concrete reason to trust him, but I do.”
“Fuck,” North said. “We should move. Take on new identities and leave the country.”
“Yeah, right.” She let out a small laugh. “I didn’t know you joked like that. If we go anywhere, can it be warm, and have a beach where I can swim in the water with turtles?”
That had always been her dream.
Then she realized that neither of them were smiling. In fact, they looked very serious as they stared at each other.
“Turtles?” North asked.
“Yeah, I love whales but I don’t want to swim with them. However I once watched this travel show where they swum with turtles and it looked magical.”
“I wish we could,” Jared said. “But if I leave, who will take over? Antony is dead, there would be a power vacuum and it could be someone far worse than him.”
“She has an assassin for a friend,” North said. “She’s not safe.”
“And I have a mafia kingpin and his assistant for boyfriends,” she said hotly. “The Fox isn’t a bad person. I’m safe from him.”
“She’s right, North. We don’t have any reason to suspect he’s a danger to her.”
North started to pace. He really didn’t like this, did he?
At all.
“North? Are you all right?” she asked.
“He got close to you. I knew there weren’t enough guards on the doors. I should have stayed here. I should have protected you both.”
She sent Jared a look, but he seemed as worried as she felt.
“It’s not your job to keep me safe,” she said.
“But it is!” he yelled.
Oh God.
North definitely wasn’t all right. She took in a breath and let it out slowly.
“North,” Jared said quietly, walking over to him. “North. Everything is fine.”
“It is not. I failed. He could have killed her.”
“But he didn’t.” Jared wrapped his hand around the back of North’s head.
Quicker than she could even see what had happened, North had a knife pointed at Jared’s throat.
She whimpered.
What was going on here?
“It’s all right, baby,” Jared said soothingly. “North just needs a bit of a reset.”
“Don’t be fucking condescending to me.”
North’s cheeks were flushed. He was trembling. What was going on? Whatever it was, it was freaking her out.
“I didn’t mean to be,” Jared told him. “But you need to calm down.”
“Fuck. You.”
She kind of agreed with North. She hated when people told her to just calm down. If she could do that, she would have.
“On your knees.”
“Fuck. You.”
“On. Your. Knees. Or I will put you there.” Jared moved his other hand to wrap his it around North’s wrist. Then he started drawing the knife away from his throat. “You are mine, boy. You belong to me. You do what I say. And you’re being very naughty right now.”
She winced at those words. She didn’t think North would take them well. And he didn’t. He lunged. But Jared managed to spin him, knocking the knife from his hand as he turned him so North’s back was against Jared’s front and Jared had his arm across his neck.
North was heaving for breath, his face twisted.
“This was not on you. I’m at fault here,” Jared told him. “It’s my job to take care of you both.”
“Nothing happened,” she said. “No one is at fault.”
Both men stared over at her and she swallowed heavily.
Sheesh.
“Someone got into your room without our permission,” Jared told her. “Friend or enemy, it doesn’t matter. Security failed you. But it is on me, not you, North.”
“I should have stayed,” North said.
“And I told you to go. This isn’t on you and I expect you to listen to me.”
North wriggled in Jared’s hold. “Let me go.”
“Not until you tell me that you know this isn’t your fault,” Jared replied.
North seemed to grit his teeth. But Jared didn’t appear willing to let up.
Jared wrapped his hand around North’s neck.
Shit.
Was he going to strangle him? North’s face started to grow red.
“Jared,” she said worriedly.
Both men moved their gazes to her.
“You’re scaring Angie,” Jared told North.
Um. She disagreed. He was the one scaring her. But Jared let go of North’s neck and the other man took in several breaths.
“Don’t worry, baby girl,” Jared reassured her. “I know it looks bad, but North actually enjoys having his breathing restricted. Don’t you, boy?”
North nodded as Jared reached down and cupped his crotch.
Holy Moly.
Was he turned on?
Jared let him go and backed away so he could lock the door. Angie swallowed heavily.
This was not the way she expected that her day might go.