Chapter Five
Justice tried to listen in as the guys discussed how to get Jules back, but she found herself daydreaming about the kiss she and Jagger shared.
Every time Jagger looked at her, she could feel her cheeks heat like she was a teen girl being noticed by the popular boy for the first time.
She knew she was acting like a fool, but she just couldn’t help herself.
This was all so new for her; she felt completely out of her element.
“So, let me get this straight. You kidnapped Justice and dragged her out here?” Dean almost shouted. Jagger sighed and dramatically hung his head.
“Yes,” he groaned. “But, in my defense, I did it to save Jules, and I’ve let Justice go.” Dean looked over to where Justice was flipping pancakes in the kitchen and barked out his laugh.
“Yeah, yet she’s still here making pancakes in your kitchen, and your sister is still being held captive by Justice’s asshole father,” Dean growled. Justice stopped mid-flip to shoot Dean a look, not sure how she felt about his assessment.
He held up his hands as if in defense. “Sorry, sweetheart, I’m just calling it as I see it.”
Justice shrugged. “I get it, my father is an asshole, but I’m not here because Jagger is holding me against my will.
I’m here to help him get his sister back.
” Dean smirked at her as if he knew the other reason she was sticking around.
But saying out loud that she was attracted to Jagger wasn’t something Justice was ready to do.
Maybe a small part of her was sticking around because of her unexplainable draw to Jagger’s bad-boy image.
Hell, maybe she had Stockholm Syndrome, and she was just one step closer to robbing a bank with him.
She laughed and returned her attention to flipping pancakes.
“So, let’s go over what we know here. Hobbs has Jules and some bogus proof that she was involved in illegal dealings, and all he wants in exchange is his daughter back so he can marry her off to some other asshole,” Dean said.
He and Jagger looked over to where Justice was setting the plates on his kitchen table.
She didn’t miss the flare of anger in Jagger’s eyes when Dean mentioned handing her over to marry Wolf.
“He’s not fucking getting his hands on Justice,” Jagger growled.
Dean chuckled, “Yeah, I got that from the little display you two put on out front. You’re not willing to give up the girl, and honestly, who could blame you?
But I know you, Jag—you won’t just leave Jules in the hands of a crazy man.
What’s the plan?” Jagger sat down at the table next to Justice and piled pancakes on his plate and then hers.
“I don’t have a fucking plan, man. If I did, we wouldn’t be here with you trying to figure this shit out.
I’d be at Hobbs’ front door getting my sister back.
” Jagger drowned his pancakes in maple syrup, and Justice wondered how he could look the way he did and eat like that.
She handed the plate of pancakes that Jagger piled high for her to Dean.
Honestly, she was too anxious to eat, settling for a glass of orange juice instead.
“Justice, you need to eat,” Jagger growled, shoving an empty plate at her.
Since leaving her father’s house, she didn’t have men in her life telling her what to do, and she wasn’t about to start that up again now.
She liked being an independent woman, and while she appreciated Jagger wanting to watch out for her well-being, she wasn’t ready to take orders being barked at her.
She pasted the sweetest smile on her face and shoved the plate back to Jagger.
“I’m fine, thank you,” she said. He just shook his head and shoved another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.
“Yeah, you two are going to be fun to watch,” Dean laughed to himself. Jagger pointed his empty fork across the table at his friend.
“What the fuck does that mean?” he asked around a mouthful of food.
“Never mind,” Dean grunted. Justice was fascinated by their dynamics.
The two seemed to be almost as close as brothers, and for a moment, she missed her friends back in Harvest Ridge.
She always admired the way their wayward group seemed so close-knit.
They all seemed to have each other’s backs, and she sometimes wondered if that included her.
Sure, Sunny and Aaron’s little family adopted her as their own and made her feel like part of the family.
But the rest of the group treated her like a kid sister they allowed to tag along.
She wondered what it would be like to have a group of friends who were there through thick and thin, always having her back.
Justice never had that growing up—her father made sure her friends weren’t allowed to get too close.
A part of her now knew that was his way of keeping her under his thumb.
If she didn’t have any friends to help her out, she would have nowhere to run to when she wanted to escape from him.
Maybe that was what had her father so frazzled now.
His plans were ruined by her friends back in Harvest Ridge, and knowing they were concerned for her safety gave her a new fire to fight for herself, even if she had to go it alone.
Dean finished off his breakfast and washed his dishes.
“What happens if you refuse to marry this clown, Wolf?” He asked.
Justice thought about it for a minute. She never considered she had a choice in the matter—or any matter that concerned her father’s business decisions.
A part of her knew exactly what would happen, though, and she couldn’t let her father hurt the people she came to call her family.
“My father doesn’t take no for an answer,” Justice whispered, drying the clean dishes and stacking them back into the cabinet where she found them.
“There would be no refusing to marry Jordan. My father would go after my friends in Harvest Ridge, and whoever he couldn’t get to, Jordan would.
They are both powerful men with awful tempers.
They don’t get told no, ever.” Justice shivered at the thought of just what they would do to her and her friends.
Jagger set his plate on the counter and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
She wasn’t sure what to do with his silently offered comfort, but knew she didn’t want to fight him.
Justice leaned back against his body, letting him wrap her in his arms, and for the first time since leaving the bakery yesterday, she felt safe.
Dean eyed them. “So, you are supposed to turn her over to marry Wolf, and Hobbs will just hand you Jules?” Jagger nodded, and Justice almost wanted to laugh.
“Sure, except we both know he won’t give her back to you and let the two of you just walk away,” Justice said.
She turned in Jagger’s arms to face him.
“You said it yourself, Jag. You have certain skills that my father can’t live without.
He won’t let you or Jules go. My father is smart enough to know that if he has her, he has you.
” Jagger reached up and cupped her face, gently rubbing her cheek with his thumb, and she couldn’t help but lean into his big body.
When he touched her that way, it felt like they were the only two people on the planet.
Dean cleared his throat, reminding her that wasn’t the case.
“Why don’t you two get married?” he asked.
Jagger’s body went rigid at Dean’s question, and Justice wanted to laugh at the panic she saw in his eyes. She pulled free from Jagger’s arms and crossed back over to the table to finish clearing the dishes.
“Don’t worry, Jag. I’m pretty sure he was just kidding. You can breathe again,” she teased.
“No, I’m not kidding. Just hear me out.” Dean paced the small kitchen as he thought through his plan. “Your father wants to marry you off to the highest bidder—which is Wolf, to further his political career.” He paused and looked at Justice as if expecting her to answer.
She shrugged, “Okay, yes,” she agreed.
“Well, he can’t marry you off to Wolf if you are already married to someone else.
It’s illegal. He’d have to wait for you to be a free woman again, and by then the election will be over.
Wolf will probably pull his funding and back another candidate.
He’ll have no choice but to leave you alone—you won’t be an asset to him anymore.
” Justice nodded her head. On paper, it sounded good, but it still didn’t help Jules.
Evoking her father and Wolf’s anger might end badly for Jagger’s sister, and she couldn’t live with herself if that happened.
“He’ll still have Jules,” she whispered.
Jagger nodded. “Hobbs will still have Jules, but maybe this plan could buy us some time.” Justice looked at Jagger as if he had lost his mind. Was he seriously thinking about marrying her just so another man couldn’t?
“Wow, Jag. I’m flattered you want to marry me and all, but I always thought that I’d marry for love,” she teased.
Really, she didn’t feel like joking; she felt more like crying.
The past twenty-four hours left her on edge, and she was feeling these bizarre feelings for a virtual stranger who, by his admission, originally wanted to cause her harm.
When she imagined being proposed to, she never thought it would be like this.
Like every young girl, she imagined her knight showing up with flowers and a ring and maybe even getting down on one knee.
Jagger was none of those fantasies, and from the terrified look on his face when Dean mentioned marriage, he never would be.