Page 46 of Redeeming Violet

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this to you. And serious as shit you better keep your mouth closed or after I pop these babies out I’ll hunt your ass down.” Yep. There she was, bitch Jasmin was back. “I’m scared as shit. And I gotta tell you, I don’t get scared. So, it pisses me right the fuck off that the thought of two little babies scares me. I’ve been in combat for Christ sakes. I’ve been shot, stabbed, tortured and two tiny little people make me want to crawl in a corner and have a come apart.”

I didn’t say anything. For someone like Jasmin to admit how scared she was, was huge. And I couldn’t believe she’d confided in me.

“What if I fuck this up? I didn’t have a mother growing up. You might not have noticed but I’m not the most feminine woman out there. What if I suck at being a mom and Linc hates me because of it?”

“You won’t fuck it up,” I told her.

“How the fuck do you know that?”

“Because you’re Jasmin Parker, badass extraordinaire. As you said, you’ve been shot, stabbed, and tortured, yet you lived through it. You’re strong. Besides, do you really think Linc or any of the guys would let you fail? They’ll all be right beside you. Millions of women have babies, millions of women that are not half as strong as you. You’re gonna be a great mom.”

“You think?” Her tone had softened, and the tough-guy mask fell away.

“I don’t think it. I know it. Everything is going to be perfect.”

“Thanks. I guess I’m just in shock.”

“I would be too. Twins. Holy shit. And please don’t take this the wrong way but I hope you’re having girls. Two more boys running around looking like your husband. Holy shit woman, good thing you’re a badass because you’d have to beat the girls away.”

“You’re not wrong,” she laughed.

We fell silent, both of us going back to what we were doing before the pregnancy talk. This time it was a comfortable silence and I smiled to myself. Maybe she didn’t hate me as much as I thought she did.

A few more hours passed, and I was going to ask her who was coming for the overnight babysitting shift when the basement rocked. It felt like there was an earthquake. Jasmin shot up from the table and checked the monitors, the perimeter alarm hadn’t sounded, and I couldn’t see any cars coming up the drive. She switched camera views and I had to blink a few times to understand what I was seeing.

The Barn was gone. As in, gone, no longer there! The structure had been blown to pieces. Jasmin switched views again and the new angle showed wood in all directions scattered about on fire. Three helicopters were landing, and when the first one touched down men dressed in black jumped out.

“Fuck. Get in the closet,” Jasmin said.

I had one second to make my decision. In a matter of minutes, the basement was going to be over run. There was no time for back up to arrive, even if they’d seen what happened back at the office there would be no time for the team to get there.

“Okay. But I forgot how the door lock works.”

“Christ. Come on.”

I followed Jasmin into the bedroom. When she pushed the door to the closet open I’d made my decision. I pushed Jasmin in, slammed the door shut, and on the exterior keyless electronic keypad I pushed in 9-1-1. Jaxon explained the door would lock from the outside and could not be reopened until someone with the code unlocked it. I prayed to God I hadn’t just locked Jasmin into a tomb.

“Take care of those babies,” I whispered even though I knew she couldn’t hear me.

It was a good thing she couldn’t unlock the door from the inside because I knew pregnant or not she’d beat my ass. I ran for the door and slipped out, making sure it was shut behind me. I jogged up the stairs the best I could through the thick smoke, the sun rays casting an eerie orange light for me to follow. When I reached the top of the stairs and the smoke had semi cleared, I was surrounded by men in black.

I threw my hands in the air and made my way to the nearest person. I sent a silent prayer of protection for Jasmin and her babies and willing was led to an awaiting helicopter. The vibrations of the copter lifting off matched the thundering in my chest. The higher the aircraft got, the closer to death I came. There was no way I was going to allow Ortega to sell me. The side door was still open, and we were almost high enough that the fall would kill me instantly.

Almost there.

I closed my eyes and prepared to jump.

Please forgive me Jaxon. I’m sorry.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Jaxon

“The fuck you say?”

We had only landed in Brazil twenty minutes ago when Zane called with the news that Violet was MIA.

“Who the fuck was watching her?”