Chapter Nine #2
“Yes, yes, yes!” she chanted. He couldn’t help his laugh; she was excited enough for both of them, and her enthusiasm was contagious.
She stopped mid-spin to face him. “Is it safe to leave?” He wanted to go back to her laughing and spinning with happiness, but she was right to worry.
He didn’t have a clear-cut answer. They were still in Colorado, and although hours from her father by plane, they were within reach.
Dean told him that Wolf was pooling his resources with Hobbs, and between the two of them, they had quite the network.
He worried that there was no safe place to hide, no matter how far they ran.
He hesitantly nodded. “I won’t lie to you, baby, I don’t think we will ever be one hundred percent in the clear as long as your father and Wolf are still out there looking for us.
” Justice frowned, and he wished there was some way to turn back time to just a few seconds prior, when she was smiling and happy.
He refused to lie to her, though— a promise he made to her their first night together as husband and wife.
She wanted to be kept in the loop, and honesty was the only way to do that.
Jagger wished their lives together could have started on a happier note, but then he would have never met Justice, and he couldn’t imagine his life without her.
“Listen,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “We just need to be careful, and if something comes up, you’ll need to do as I say,” Justice smirked up at him, and he bent to give her a quick kiss.
“We both know how much you love to follow orders, baby,” he teased.
“If you can promise me that you will try to follow my directions, then I see no reason for us not to have a little fun and pick you up some new things in the process.” Justice’s smile was back in place, and he knew she was trying to decide if obeying him was worth a trip out for some fun.
He almost wanted to laugh at the way her wheels were turning; he could read her every facial expression.
“Deal.” She held out her hand, and he immediately took it into his and pulled it up to his mouth to kiss her knuckles.
“Deal,” he agreed. “Now go get dressed and be ready to head out in an hour.” He watched as she danced away to their bedroom, and then he pulled out the cell phone that Dean had given him. He needed to tell his friend about their little trip and check in to see how things were going in Goose Creek.
Dean set up camp at Justice’s grandmother’s ranch to be closer to Hobbs and ultimately, Jules.
He gave Jagger an earful about Norma Jeane Hobbs, mostly involving how pissed off she was that she wasn’t invited to their little makeshift wedding.
Norma Jeane even made Dean promise to convince both Jagger and Justice to have a “re-do” wedding at the ranch once this whole mess was over.
Jagger smiled, knowing that he was going to get another chance at telling the world just how much he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Justice.
He’d marry her every damn day if that would make her happy.
Dean picked up on the second ring. “Hey man, everything good?” Dean sounded a bit agitated, sending alarms off in Jagger’s mind that something wasn’t quite right.
“Everything here is good. What’s going on with you?” Dean didn’t answer at first, and Jagger worried that he was keeping something from him about Jules. “Dean,” Jagger growled, growing more impatient by the second.
Dean sighed into the phone. “My guy on the inside said they’ve moved Jules, and we can’t get any intel on where they are holding her now.
Wolf’s men went in yesterday and moved her.
I have both of my guys working behind the scenes to find her, and I’m doing everything I can on my end.
” Jagger ran his hand through his unruly hair, making it stand on end.
He felt completely helpless, trapped in the middle of nowhere with Justice.
“I’m coming back,” he barked. He knew Dean would tell him to stay put, but this was his little sister they were talking about.
“Jag, you can’t do that. I think that Hobbs is betting you will run back here with Justice in tow. You’ll be playing right into his hands.” Dean seemed just as frustrated as Jagger felt.
“If Wolf lays one fucking finger on Jules, I’ll—” Dean’s voice broke mid-sentence, and Jagger could hear all the raw emotions that his best friend had pent up for Jules.
Dean wasn’t going to let anyone just take Jules, and Jagger knew that running back to Goose Creek with Justice was a bad idea.
He hated being so helpless, but he also trusted Dean with his sister’s life.
“Fine,” Jagger growled. “I will stay up here with Justice, but we are going to get a little air. There is a ski resort about an hour north of here in Wyoming. I’m taking Justice there for a few days.
We need some more provisions, and she needs some clothes.
” Dean barked a laugh into his end of the phone, and Jagger knew he was going to give him some shit.
“You’re telling me that you want to put clothes on your girl? Dude, I think you are doing the whole honeymoon thing all wrong if you think she needs more clothes,” Dean teased.
Jagger laughed at Dean’s comment. “Very funny, man. But yeah, we need to get out of this cabin. As much as I loved the whole naked in bed thing, we are both ready for a change of scenery.” Dean was quiet for a moment, and Jagger knew his friend was weighing the pros and cons of the two of them leaving the cabin.
“Just be careful, Jag. Wolf and Hobbs have pooled all their resources to look for the two of you. I can’t lose you.
You and Jules are all that I have left.” Jagger could hear the raw emotion in Dean’s voice again, and he wanted to be more helpful to his friend.
His keeping Justice safe and staying out of Dean’s way was probably the best way he could help at this point.
“Will do and Dean—go get my sister back and kill that fucker for putting her through this. If he hurts her—” Jag couldn’t finish his sentence, he was too raw from the news about his sister.
“I know, man,” Dean barked into the phone.
The idea of anyone hurting Jules gutted him, and he had a feeling Dean felt the same way.
“I love her too, Jag. I won’t let anything happen to her.
” Jagger nodded, knowing that Dean couldn’t see his response, and ended the call.
He turned to find Justice standing in the hallway.
“How much did you hear, honey?” he asked. Judging from the tears that now ran freely down her face, she heard most of their conversation.
“All of it,” she admitted. “I’m so sorry, Jag.
I came in to ask if I could pack for you and heard Dean say they’ve moved Jules,” she sobbed.
He crossed the kitchen to pull her into his arms, needing comfort from her as much as she seemed to need his.
“I’m so sorry, Jag,” she whispered against his neck.
“This is all my fault. I thought that you and I leaving might make things better. You know—out of sight, out of mind.” She shook her head as if disgusted with herself.
Jagger hated that she blamed herself for this whole mess.
If anyone was at fault, it was he and Jules for pulling her into their trouble with her father.
“Look at me, Justice,” he ordered. He stroked his hand over her soft face, wiping away her tears.
“None of this is your fault. You did nothing to deserve this, and I won’t stand here and let you take the blame for this mess.
” Jagger bent to gently kiss her soft lips, tasting her salty tears. It nearly undid him.
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.
“I hid away, hoping that my father would have a change of heart and leave me alone. I was a coward. Instead of facing him head-on and dealing with him as an adult, I allowed myself to live in a dream world, hoping that if I ignored my problems, they would just disappear. I was wrong, and it allowed you and your sister to be pulled into my father’s evil world.
I’m at fault for not standing up to him when I had the chance, and for that, I am sorry.
” Jagger pulled her into his bare chest, loving the way she wrapped her arms around him.
“Listen, Dean will get Jules back, and you and I need to focus on staying out of plain sight. We have the green light to get out of here for a few days, but we will still need to lay low.”
Justice looked hesitant. “I don’t know, Jag. Maybe we should go back and try to help find Jules. They want me, and if I just—” Jagger put his hand over her mouth before she could say the rest.
“No fucking way, Justice,” Jagger growled, cutting her off.
“There is no fucking way I will allow you to hand yourself over to Wolf or your father to save my sister. I made you a promise our first night together that I wouldn’t hand you over, and I plan on keeping it.
” Justice stepped around Jagger to go into the kitchen.
He could tell she hated being told what she could and couldn’t do.
Honestly, from everything that she told him about growing up as Tony Hobbs’ daughter, he couldn’t blame her.
She never had a voice and was never asked how she felt about anything.
She was expected to do as she was told, no questions asked.
He loved her fighting spirit and couldn’t imagine ever taking away her voice, but he wouldn’t let her just walk back into the lion’s den.
It would be playing right into their hands.
“If you go back there, Justice, you know as well as I do that they won’t let Jules just walk away.
They will have the two women I love most in this world, and I won’t be able to do a damn thing about it,” he growled.
The thought of losing both Jules and Justice gutted him.
Justice gasped and covered her mouth with her trembling hands.
He retraced his words in his mind, trying to figure out what he said that would upset her.
“You said you love me,” she whispered behind her hands. He didn’t plan on just blurting that out, but he wouldn’t deny it. He was in love with her.
“Yeah.” He stared at Justice from across the room, afraid that he would spook her if he went to her. She looked like she needed to process everything. “I do,” he whispered. “I don’t know how it happened or even when, but I’ve fallen in love with you, Justice.” She shook her head as if in disbelief.
“You can’t love me, Jagger. This was all just pretend.
” Justice waved her arms around, and Jagger could see the panic in her eyes.
She wasn’t ready to hear how he felt, and he knew he probably fucked things up with her.
He held out his hands as if trying to talk down a jumper from the ledge of a skyscraper.
“It’s all right, Justice. Let’s just forget I said anything and get ready to go.
We could both use some fresh air.” She eyed him suspiciously, and he hated that he opened his big mouth and allowed her to throw up another wall between them.
He would have to work like hell to rip this one down because, from the look on her face, Justice wasn’t going to accept the way that he felt without one hell of a fight.
That was fine with him—he loved a challenge, and he was quickly learning that Justice was worth the fight.