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Lance tenses up at Junior’s side. Junior tries to laugh it off, but he can’t mask the flicker across his features.
“What?” he snaps.
“You’re going to allow Kelly to record a video every day. She’ll hold that day’s newspaper, and you’ll let her talk to whoever she wants. Me, her sister, anybody.”
“What’s the matter?” Junior grins shakily. “You don’t trust me?”
“Send the video to Matt’s email address.”
“While it’s still operational.” Junior’s grin widens as though he’s trying to convince himself he’s comfortable with all this new power, the idiot.
“Sure, Jamie. But if you try anything, cause any issues, or take too long getting your ass out of the goddamn city…you know what happens to her. And you have a week, not two. That’s the price for the videos. Now get your shit together and get the fuck out of my city.”
The call to violence roars at me, gunshots cracking in my mind.
Lowering my rifle, I back up to the door, kick it open, then turn and quickly stalk across the street.
CHAPTER
NINE
Jennifer
I sit on the porch of Peggy’s house. She lives at the end of a one-way street, walls surrounding her property, with security cameras dotted here and there.
Three men are stationed throughout the large front and back yards, though calling them grounds might be more appropriate.
I’m clutching an ignored not-so-hot-anymore cocoa, trying to make the events of the last few hours fit into my head.
The tattoo, the kissing, and everything else.
Going home, the mayhem, Kelly is now gone.
Peggy walks out onto the porch, her hands on her hips.
“Anything?” I ask, my voice catching.
“Jamie’s on his way,” she says. “But he wants you to know Kelly’s safe and mostly unharmed.”
“Mostly?” My voice catches again. “What does that mean?”
“She was roughed around a little when they broke into the apartment. But she hasn’t been tortured, seriously hurt, anything like that.”
I place the hot cocoa down, groaning as I rub my hands up and down my face.
“I never thought I’d have to be grateful my big sister wasn’t being tortured. But at least she’s alive. She’s safe?”
“She’s being held in a clean room with a bed, Jamie said.”
“What does the kidnapper want? Money?”
“He wants Jamie to leave the city,” Peggy says.
“And taking Kelly’s a good way to make that happen,” I murmur. “Considering how close they are.”
Peggy looks at me for a long moment, frowning, then asks, “Do you want something else to drink?”
“No, thank you. What happens next? Is Jamie going to do what he says?”
“I don’t know,” Peggy says. “He’s on his way here now.”
I’m still not sure why Jaime kissed me, touched me, why he wanted me so badly.
But surely it’s over now, with Kelly missing, a reminder of how wrong it was.
Her kidnapping is the most painful reminder that we can’t do that again.
“How does the tattoo feel?” Jamie asks.
He stands on the other side of the dining room, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He’s wearing a black shirt with black cargo pants, his hair messy, and his eyes focused and hard.
It’s difficult not to think of his muscles bursting from the shirt, revealing his lust, his need, and how he touched me….
Think of Kelly.
I shouldn’t have to remind myself, but I do. It’s easy to forget my sister when Jamie stares at me with his intense eyes.
“It stings a little,” I murmur. “But it’s okay. It seems like a weird thing to worry about now.”
“I can finish it for you later,” Jamie says. “Or tomorrow. If you like?”
My body shivers as I think about the last time he tattooed me… earlier today. It’s evening now, but it’s still difficult to accept it’s only been a day.
The kiss, the touching, the tattoo…
And Kelly.
“So she’s going to send a video,” Peggy says, redirecting the conversation back to the matter at hand.
Jamie and I turn to her, where she sits near the window on the edge of the table. The lights are on, showing our reflection in the glass. The sun has set, and solar lights twinkle here and there from Peggy’s yard.
“Yeah.” Jamie nods. “I’ve got seven days to leave the city, or the videos stop.”
I gasp, biting down, thinking about how Kelly held me after what happened to mom and dad. I’m thinking of her hands on my cheeks, cradling me softly, looking at me with all the love in the world.
It was a freak accident, Jennifer. It happens. But I’m here for you. I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.
“You mean they’ll hurt Kelly,” I say softly.
“Yes,” Jamie says, his voice flat.
He pins me in place with his gaze, but I find it difficult to return it. It makes me think too vividly, too physically about what we did.
His mouth between my legs, his deep moaning, and his demand that I let him taste me.
“Jesus,” I murmur. “This is just…so what happens next?”
