Chapter 31
JASMINE
Kai’s mouth was still on mine, and for a moment everything else fell away—the dock lights, the murmur of voices behind us, the weight of the last month.
It was just him. The solid press of his chest against mine, the salt-and-sun taste of his kiss, the way his hand anchored me like he had no intention of letting go.
I sank into the safety of his arms—the one thing that had kept me sane through weeks of turmoil and silent terror.
Relief poured through me, washing away the fear that had burrowed so deep I’d forgotten what it felt like to breathe without it.
We were alive. Together. And I wanted to lose myself in that feeling.
The crunch of footsteps in the pea gravel behind us snapped me back, quick shuffles carrying down the dock.
“Jasmine?” Jess’s voice floated closer, tight with worry. She’d been waiting in the car this whole time—she had no idea what I’d walked into or why I hadn’t come back.
I turned, my heart thudding against my ribs as she stepped into the glow of the dock light. Her eyes darted over my face, searching.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, her brow creased.
Her gaze shifted—and landed on Kai. His hand was still braced at my hip, the heat of his kiss stamped on my lips. The confusion on Jess’s face slid into dawning recognition. “I guess it wasn’t bad news then?”
My stomach dropped. I’d left her sitting in the car like an afterthought. She had no idea what had just happened, and I’d flat-out forgotten her.
“Oh god, Jess.” The words rushed out. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve come back, I should’ve explained—I didn’t mean to leave you hanging like that.”
Her brow softened, the crease of worry easing. “Hey. What matters is you’re okay. And by the looks of things…” Her gaze drifted between me and Kai, the corners of her mouth tipping upward. “…it can’t be too bad.”
I bobbed my head, too fast. “Yes. Everything’s okay.
Really. It’s just…” My mind spun in circles, not knowing what to say or how much to share.
Jess had never even met the rest of them—it would feel impossible, awkward, to try to unpack the whole story here on the dock.
The words tangled, useless on my tongue until I finally blurted, bumbling, “It’s a long story. ”
“No worries,” she said quietly, graciously not pressing.
Still, the tilt of her head told me she was tucking questions away for later.
A guilty twinge pricked at me for leaving her in the dark, but it was balanced by the simple fact that she cared.
Somehow, in such a short time, she’d become a true friend.
Trouble’s laugh broke the quiet. “Don’t feel bad,” he said, leaning one shoulder against a piling. “I didn’t know a damn thing either. Hell, neither did they.”
He jerked his chin toward Spencer and Waylan, standing a little apart, faces half in shadow. “And they’re the old timers from the OG smuggling days. You definitely should’ve told them, pumped ’em for intel.” He grinned at Kai, half-joking, half-not.
Jess blinked, clearly unsure who he was or why he was talking like she should know him.
He must’ve caught it, because he tipped his chin. “Name’s Trouble,” he said easily. “Kai’s kid brother.”
Mortification burned through me all over again.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” I caught Jess’s arm, fumbling.
“Where are my manners? Jess, this is Trouble—Kai’s youngest brother.
And this—” I gestured toward the tall man beside Waylan “—is Spencer, their dad. And that’s Waylan.
” My voice dipped with extra weight. “He’s the sheriff here. ”
Jess gave them all a quick nod, managing a polite, “Nice to meet you.”
I rushed on, running her through introductions of the rest of the Rodman clan, tripping over names like I’d suddenly forgotten how to talk.
My cheeks burned hotter with every word, the awkwardness magnified by Kai’s steady presence at my side.
When I got to Reef, Jess’s brows lifted and her mouth twitched with amusement.
“You must be the twin brother,” she said, giving me a look that carried every ounce of the oh my God, I slept with my boyfriend’s twin story I’d already confessed to her.
Heat flared up my neck. “Yeah. That’s Reef.”
Reef’s mouth tugged into a wry half-smile. “I’m the good-looking one.”
Jess snorted, and despite myself, a laugh escaped me too.
The sound felt strange in my throat, almost foreign.
It hit me then—I hadn’t even thought about that whole scandal with Kai and Reef, the drama that had consumed me just three days ago.
Three days. And yet it already felt like it belonged to another lifetime.
“Don’t encourage him,” Trouble cut in, rolling his eyes at Reef. “His ego’s already unbearable.”
That drew another ripple of chuckles, but when it faded, Waylan shifted, his voice low and rough.
“Yeah, we’re old timers. Been dealing with smugglers around here fifty years.
Back when we were kids, it wasn’t like this.
Not so much blood in it.” He spat into the water, eyes gone distant.
“The eighties changed all that. Cocaine made it savage. Different breed of men, different rules.”
His jaw tightened, words cutting sharper.
“I still remember when it changed. Not far from this dock, hearing the cigarette boats roar through at dawn, loaded with bricks of coke. Sometimes they dumped bodies with the cargo. That was a whole new era. Only got worse from there.” He shook his head, lamenting.
“That’s why we need to keep those scoundrels out of the Keys.
I’m damned glad that dirty DEA agent’s out of commission. One less snake in our backyard.”
The others took his words in with the gravity they deserved. Beside me, though, Jess’s face held the faintly puzzled look of someone who’d walked into the middle of a conversation without a clue what had come before.
The silence stretched until Trevor clapped his hands together. “Well,” he said, forcing a grin, “I could go raid Dad’s stash and get into the good whiskey. Anybody up for that?”
The suggestion loosened the tension. Reef perked up immediately, Coulter was already nodding, and Spencer gave a long-suffering sigh that said he’d allow it.
Before anyone could rope us in, Kai’s voice cut through. “We’re heading out.”
Just like that. Calm. Steady. Decisive. And God help me, I loved it.
We said our quick goodbyes, promises of catching up later tossed over shoulders as the others started toward the house and the lure of whiskey.
As Kai and I turned toward the car with Jess at my side, Faith’s voice carried after us across the dock. “You did the right thing. All along.”
Her words stopped me mid-step, a rush of gratitude catching in my chest. She was letting me off the hook—acknowledging without spelling it out that she understood why we’d kept the secret as long as we had, and that it was okay.
But there was more in it too, something layered, almost protective.
Not just a detective doing her job. A woman who knew what it meant to carry something heavy and live with the silence it demanded.
I glanced back, and for a brief second our eyes met. No more needed to be said.