Chapter 12
Twelve
J akob looked at his mobile for the third time in the last ten minutes.
“You should call her.”
“I did when I landed.”
“But it had gone to voicemail.”
He looked at his sister. Other than looking a little tired, she was fine. She’d had false labor, and usually, they would have sent her home. Unfortunately, her blood pressure was too high, so her doctor insisted she stay at the hospital.
“How did you know?”
She offered him a tired smile. “Come tell me what happened yesterday. How was the wedding? I saw some pics online. None of you, besides the one she posted of the wedding party.”
He knew who the she was. Royal. There was no doubt his sister hadn’t changed her mind about the other woman. But there were more important things than his love life.
“I don’t want to bother you.”
She shook her head. “I need some kind of distraction.”
He sat in the chair beside the bed and took her offered hand. “I slipped out early.”
“Oh, yeah. And what did you do? Please tell me you did something other than go to bed.”
He smiled. “I took Lani out to eat.”
“Wait, didn’t she have a full three-course meal at the reception? I saw the Instagram pics from Royal’s maid of honor.”
“No. Too many relatives brought in extras, and there wasn’t enough. So, I took her out to eat at Zippy’s.”
“Oh…you had a date. Tell me you were both dressed up when you went in.”
“We were. It’s that prom experience all the Americans talk about, you know. Going out to eat at a fast-food place in formal wear. It was odd, but no one bothered us. I mean, she’s a celebrity of sorts, but…it was nice.”
“Yes. It’s one of the things I love about Hawai’i. Locals pay attention, but they often don’t intrude. It’s nice. Please tell me you closed the deal.”
He opened his mouth to answer, but Jules was in a mood for obvious reasons. “Did you have problems closing the deal? I can have Alek talk to you. Or better yet, I’ll get Jensen on the line too and they can explain just how to satisfy a woman.”
His sister. It was his damned fault that she could be so plain-spoken. “I didn’t have problems closing the deal.”
“Oh, my. That sounds promising.”
He rolled his eyes. “She left this morning to have brunch with Royal and her brother.”
“You weren’t invited?”
“No, and I didn’t want to chance Ben realizing what had happened.”
“Jakob, what the hell? You don’t want to shout from the rooftops that she’s your woman?”
With every fiber of his being.
“Yes, I do. But I promised Ben I wouldn’t mess with her.”
“Recently?”
“When I first met her.”
She studied him for a long moment. As he’d always thought, she was the youngest but probably the smartest. Jules thought things through. It made her dangerous when she was younger. The youngest Wulf liked exacting revenge, but usually days or weeks after an altercation.
“She was underaged, Jake. He didn’t want you bugging his sister then. Was she always pretty?”
He nodded.
“And there were probably a lot of surfers they sponsored who were hitting on her. You were more well-known than any of those idiots. Add in your accent…Americans love a British accent. They find it hard to resist.”
“I concur,” Alek said from behind Jakob. He turned and found his brother-in-law leaning against the doorjamb. Alek wasn’t looking at him, though. His gaze was taking in Jules.
“Love, come tell Jake he’s being an idiot.”
“I will not,” he said, but he still walked into the room and around to the other side of the bed. He sat on the mattress. “Guys have a code.”
“It’s an idiot code. She is a grown woman. It’s not like she’s sixteen anymore.”
He shared a look with Alek. Jakob had threatened his brother-in-law the first time he’d met him. That was until he saw the way Alek gazed at Jules. There was no doubt Alek was in love with her.
“Good God, you just have to admit you love her. Then everything will be okay.”
His gaze narrowed. “Excuse me?”
She looked at her husband. “When he gets prissy, he’s been found out. He already knows he loves her but is afraid to admit it to her.”
Like he said, the smartest of the family.
“I have a feeling if I professed my love to her after one night, she wouldn’t take it seriously.”
“This isn’t a one-night stand you picked up. This is a woman you have known for a decade.”
“Calm down, love,” Alek said in his deep, calm voice. “I think your brother has a plan, and you don’t need to get all riled up about it.”
She sighed and muttered something that sounded like idiot under her breath.
“Fine. You should go back to Oahu.”
“No. I’m on orders to stay here. Besides, I’m sending the jet back to England.”
“Why?”
“Mother is coming. You know she couldn’t fly commercial. I could, but I promised her I would stay with you until she arrived.”
For a second, she looked irritated, then…relieved. When he talked to Nic, she told him Jules would want her mother there. As usual, Nic was right.
“I’m going to let you get some rest.” He stood and kissed her forehead. “Take it easy, Jules. You and that little one are more important than any work.”
“Love you.”
“Love you.”
“I’ll see you out,” Alek said, giving Jules a pat on the hand. Once they were in the hallway and the door closed, Alek blew out a sigh of relief. “Thanks for coming. She insisted on going home, and I would rather she stay here, as her doctor said. And for getting your mom ready because that is one thing I knew she needed, but she didn’t want to bother your mother.”
They both shook their heads. They were a close family, and there was no way that his mother wouldn’t hop on a plane.
“I didn’t tell her that the entire family is coming over. I thought she would freak out a little.”
“Everyone?”
He nodded. “When there’s an important event like this, we like to gather.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”
“Where is my grandson!” A voice bellowed down the hall.
“Damn, I should have called him later.”
A tall Hawaiian turned the corner the next instant, and his gaze zeroed in on Alek.
“Aleka,” he said.
Alek’s grandfather looked so much like him. His hair was salt and pepper and longer than Alek’s. His brother-in-law tended to keep his shorter. All those years in the military probably made it hard to want longer hair. But the eyes…those were the same shape and color.
“Tutu, everything is fine. False labor.”
“Then why is she still here?”
“Her blood pressure is too high. They want to keep an eye on her.”
“You should let her rest. Why are you not treating her better?”
Jakob chuckled, which earned a frown from Alek’s grandfather. “Sorry, but you and I know he would do anything for my sister. She’s hardheaded.”
His expression lightened slightly. “True. It’s one of the things I like best about her.”
“Go on in. She will be happy to see you. I need to give Jake the security codes for the house.”
“Got it. Good to see you, Jake.”
“Tutu!” Jules exclaimed. Once the door shut behind his grandfather, Alek sighed again.
“I figured it would be better to have him here to fight her. I can to a point, but they are both hardheaded and, well, he’ll guilt her.”
Jakob nodded.
He gave Jakob the codes. “It’s the day I met your sister for the first time.”
“Who would have thought such a tough Army Ranger would go all soft and romantic.”
“I think you’re about to find out. Mark my words. Once you realize how important a woman is to you, you will burn down the whole world if it means keeping her safe.”
Alek slapped him on the back, then returned to the room. Jakob made his way down the hall. He heard a few whispers but wasn’t sure anyone recognized him. Instead, he assumed it had more to do with being a hospital.
Once outside, he tried calling Lani again but only got her voicemail.
“Love, you’re worrying me. Please let me know if everything is okay. I’m sending the jet back for Mother, and I promised I would stay here until she landed, but she would understand if you needed me.”
He headed to his rental car with a hollow pit in his stomach. He knew everything was probably okay, but something didn’t sit right with him.
Jakob drove down the hallway to Conner Dillon’s office four days later. He ignored the young woman at the desk in the outer office and burst into Conner’s office. He was sitting behind his desk, not looking at all surprised about the intrusion.
“Come on in, Wulf. Good of you to visit.”
“Fuck off. Where is she?”
“I had no idea he was so hot-headed,” a cultured British voice said.
That’s when Jakob noticed a tall, dark-haired man standing by the windows. He wore dress pants, shiny shoes, and a tie with his dress shirt. Jakob would still know he wasn’t local just by the outfit if he hadn’t spoken. He said nothing to the man and turned his attention back to Conner. He was still sitting behind his desk, studying him.
“Mr. Dillon, I’m sorry,” his admin said from behind him.
“Don’t worry, Clarice. I was expecting him. Close the door behind you.”
He said nothing until the door closed. “You were expecting me?”
“Yes. We’ve been keeping an eye on your movements.”
“Where. Is. Lani?” He bit out each word.
“She’s safe.”
He opened his mouth to say something else, but then the words registered. “What do you mean she’s safe?”
“He means that the person who tried to run her down didn’t succeed.” That came from the Brit.
That one sentence had his heart almost stopping.
“Jesus, Mix, don’t be so blunt. He looks like he’s going to pass out.”
“Don’t call me Mix. My name’s?—”
“Ian.”
He glanced at Jakob, then back to his boss. “Someone has been leaking information.”
“Your sister says hi.”
He blinked. “Autumn sent you? How do you know her?”
“He’s going to lead the new show and met with TFH today.” Jakob looked at Dillon, who shrugged. “I told you we were keeping track of your movements. And I let Autumn know she could tell you. You checked out.”
Jakob had wanted to skip the meeting, but the production company had been adamant. Once the TFH team member told him to talk to Dillon, he finished up as fast as possible and headed to Dillon Security.
“Go back to the fact that she was almost run over. When the fuck did that happen, and why didn’t anyone contact me?”
“We had to check you out. Lani insisted that you would never do anything like that, but I don’t know you personally.”
Their family had hired them for security a time or two, but they did not know each other.
“You’ve only been on the island for twelve hours, so I’m impressed.”
“My sister’s in the hospital, but you know that.”
He nodded.
“I was going to hire a PI until Autumn told me about you.”
“Well, Ian will take you to her safe house, but I want to discuss what has happened since you left. You might want to take a seat.”
Lani sipped her tea as she gazed out at the trees below, feeling trapped. When they first arrived at the safe house, she had been elated. It was off the beaten path, tucked away in the forest. Each morning, Birds singing just outside her window woke her. She spent her days in the gardens down below. It was on the third day that she started to get antsy.
Now that she was on the fourth day of confinement, she was ready to scream. She didn’t have her phone. They had taken it from her when she’d started getting nasty texts and DMs. They all seemed to come from the same person—they could not track.
She wanted to talk to Jakob. She needed to hear his voice. How had she gone from being annoyed by him to needing him after one night in his bed?
“Stop looking so depressed,” Emily said as she stepped out on the lanai.
Lani glanced at her protector. Emily was just as quirky as she remembered, with an irreverent sense of humor and a colorful vocabulary.
“I’m not depressed. I’m annoyed.”
“Not at me, because I’m your bestie.”
Lani’s mouth curved. Yeah, it had only been a few days, but they had clicked. Maybe it was the yin and yang of their personalities.
“Just at the situation. Also, at the person pulling this crap.”
Emily nodded. “I get it. I totally do. I would hate to be confined.”
“You’ve been stuck here with me.”
“It’s my job, plus that last job was a pain. The number of tourists who think they can grab ass with the help is astounding. Getting a break from men is kind of nice.”
She took the seat next to Lani at the little table.
“You act like Aaron isn’t a man.”
“Aaron is my brother, so he doesn’t count. We aren’t from Arkansas.”
Lani snorted just as Aaron—known as Mad Dog from his days as an MMA fighter—stepped out on the lanai.
“He’s here. And Mix is with him, so be nice.”
Then he was gone. If Emily was loud and hilarious, Aaron was quiet and stoic.
“Is Conner coming?”
“Naw. It’s someone you want to see.”
“Who?”
“ Hollywood is on his way up the drive.”
Her heart leaped, then plummeted down into her stomach.
“Don’t look like that. I have it on good authority that Hollywood stormed into Conner Dillon’s office and read him the Riot Act. That man is hot to see you.”
She heard the front doorbell chime.
“And he’s here. Let’s go see him.”
Emily popped out of her chair. It took a second for Lani to react. He was finally here. Her world was tilting back another way, and she didn’t know how to feel about it.
“Are you coming?” Emily called out.
“Yes,” she said, practically jumping out of her chair and hurrying to the door. No matter what, she wanted to see Jakob, even if it was to say goodbye if he didn’t want the baggage that came with her.