Chapter Thirteen #3
“Aw, no, baby. Not the waterworks again. You seem to cry at the drop of a hat now. Are you sure you’re all right?
” Justice nodded. She wasn’t about to ruin their evening together.
Her news could wait just a little longer, or at least until dinner was over.
That would give her time to regroup and get her crazy emotions under control.
“I’m fine, Jag.” She rolled her eyes for dramatic effect and smiled up at him, but she didn’t feel fine—quite the opposite.
At least he wanted kids. He could have said that he didn’t want any children, and then they would have had a whole different conversation.
She just needed to get herself together, enjoy their evening together, and figure out a way to break it to her new husband that he was going to be a father a little earlier than he hoped.
“How about we head to dinner and then bring dessert back here? We can eat it naked in bed while you tell me what has been bothering you lately. I want to leave all our demons up here so that when we get back to Dove Creek, we can have a new start—a clean slate. What do you say?” Jagger held out his hand, waiting for her to agree and take it.
She wanted that too, a clean slate to start their new lives together.
She just hoped Jagger still felt that way when she spilled all the details he so desperately seemed to want from her.
She nodded and took his offered hand, following him to the SUV that was parked just out front of their little cabin.
She watched as Jagger rounded the vehicle and slid into the driver’s seat.
“I’ve made our reservations while you were getting ready. Do you like Italian?” Jagger asked hopefully.
“Yes, I love any food, but Italian is my favorite,” Justice gushed.
“It’s mine too.” Jagger started the car and sat back to look at her.
“We have so much to learn about each other, Justice. I just hope you’ll give me a chance to make you truly happy.
I love you.” He didn’t give her a chance to say anything back.
It was as if he just needed to get his feelings out, but she had so much she needed to say back to him.
Justice swallowed past the lump in her throat and hoped she could get out the words. “Jag—”
“Shit,” he swore. “I forgot my wallet. Hold that thought, beautiful. I’m going to run in and grab it, and then we can pick up right here.
” Justice nodded, pasting on her best smile.
She was just afraid that if she didn’t blurt out everything she was feeling she wouldn’t be able to when he returned.
She was constantly second-guessing herself when it came to what she shared with Jagger, not wanting to come off as too gushy or needy.
But Justice wanted to tell him just what he had come to mean to her.
Jagger became her whole world, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to live without him now that she had a taste of how good her life was with him in it.
“Hurry back,” she whispered and watched as he ran back up to the cabin and unlocked the door, disappearing into the dark house.
The back door to the SUV opened, and someone got in behind her.
Before she could turn around or even try to get out of the vehicle, the person stuck something sharp into her neck, and a burning pain shot down her back.
What the hell just happened, and why was she suddenly so tired?
It was as if she couldn’t move; her whole body felt heavy, and her mind was foggy.
She wanted to get out of that fucking SUV and run into the house to find Jagger.
She wanted to scream and fight, telling whoever just put something into her body that she was pregnant, but the words didn’t come.
She was paralyzed, and when she heard his sadistic chuckle coming from the back seat, her blood ran cold.
Jordan Wolf had found her, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
He put something into her body, and she was at his mercy.
“Hi, honey. Long time, no see. Well, I’ve seen you, but you didn’t know I was watching, did you?
” He laughed. “It’s okay if you don’t answer, Justice.
I understand.” A second man slid into Jagger’s seat, and she watched the house, praying that Jagger didn’t come back out.
If Wolf was going to take her, she didn’t want Jagger involved.
If he came out of that house and found Wolf with her, they would kill Jagger, and she couldn’t handle that.
She already caused him enough pain and grief.
“We are going to take a little trip, Justice. I just have one more piece of the puzzle to fit together, and then we’ll be on our way.
Do it,” Wolf barked from the back seat, and his henchman, sitting next to Justice, pulled from his pocket what looked like a remote control for a toy car.
He pushed a button, and she watched helplessly as the cabin first shook and then exploded into a fiery inferno.
The heat and sound were so intense that she was sure that she could feel both through the vehicle.
She watched for any sign of Jagger wanting to open her door and scream for him to be okay, but she couldn’t.
She couldn’t do anything but silently watch as the cabin they spent so many happy nights in burned to the ground.
Justice felt a single tear roll down her cheek as her entire world turned dark.
She didn’t want to succumb to the darkness, but she had no choice.
Jagger was gone, her world collapsed, and she was in the hands of a madman—and there was nothing she could do about it.