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“Just as Ian Richards is unexplainable?” she asked him. “A drug cartel’s son that you’re far too friendly with?”
“Ian’s a friend, Poppy. His father is the cartel, not Ian. And that’s all I’ll say on that,” he answered her, and she heard the regret in his voice.
He wouldn’t lie to her, he’d promised. Ian was a friend. His father was the cartel. But he didn’t say Ian wasn’t part of it or associated with it.
“Am I in danger, Jack? Is my family in danger?” To have her family in danger was unacceptable. She couldn’t bear that.
“Your life isn’t in danger as far as I know,” he told her. “And I’m certain your family’s aren’t.” And he believed that, she thought.
She licked her lips nervously and took a deep breath before continuing.
“I have to know about those men that were killed the other day.” She swallowed tightly, forcing herself to say the words, despite his warning.
“Poppy…” he whispered warningly, but before he could say more, she continued.
“Did they die because of me?” she asked hurriedly before she could chicken out.
He sighed heavily. “I killed them because they were a vicious mercenary group that would have begun kidnapping and killing young girls soon. That’s what they do wherever they have a job. When they approached you, I knew it was trouble. You were targeted. Rollins and his men had been hired to abduct you.”
She jerked away from him, turning back quickly as she held the sheet to her breasts and staring at him in shock.
Jack rolled to his back, one arm bent and resting beneath his head, the other reaching out to lay against the side of her thigh. His gaze was somber in the dim light, his eyes dark.
“Me?” she whispered, fear causing her breathing to escalate, her heart to pump wildly. “You said I wasn’t in danger.”
“I took out another two-man team yesterday, mercs as well, with the same intention,” he answered her next question, and she hadn’t even asked it. “Someone wants leverage against me, we believe, and they’ve targeted you. I left the message that it was a very bad idea. That simple.”
“‘That simple’?” she demanded in disbelief. “Where the hell do you see that as simple, Jack?”
His jaw clenched, and his expression hardened.
“Because I took care of it,” he informed her, staring up at her with such pure, hard determination that it simply amazed her.
“And if another team shows up?” she demanded.
“No one else is going to show up.” And he sounded as though he was certain of that. “But, if another does, it will be taken care of. They know that now.”
And she was sure he actually believed it.
Poppy stared back at him, not certain what to believe now or how to feel. She knew Jack would do everything in his power to protect her, and he was a powerful man. But eventually, he would have to blink.
“Jack…”
“It’s over, Poppy. No one will come after you again. Trust me. I believe the attempt to take you was to hold you in exchange for my agreement to do a job for them, or to stand down while someone else did it. I know who’s behind it, and they know I know. And they know I’ll kill them if another attempt is made. That simple.”
It was that simple? Nothing was that simple.
“And what was last night all about? Is Ian Richards part of this somehow?” She felt like pulling her hair out.
None of this made sense, and he was only confusing her more.
His lips quirked at the question. “No. He wasn’t behind it. He’s trying to help.”
Poppy paused, watching him carefully. His voice or expression didn’t change, his body didn’t tense, didn’t alter in any way, but something told her that Ian Richards was more involved than he was saying.
It was clear he wasn’t going to volunteer anything further as he stared back at her, waiting.
“Why did you come back, Jack?” she asked, suspecting the reason might have quite a bit to do with Ian Richards.
