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He shrugs, taking the gun out of the holster. “That’s correct. Fortunately, other people see my worth.”
The cold voice on the other end of the phone speaks again. “Good. We’ll have a boat waiting for you at the dock to bring her back to the yacht.”
I should be feeling terrified right now, shouldn’t I? After all, I ran away rather than stand my ground, and now they’ve found me. But I feel nothing but calm and focus. A few days ago, I lost my balance over a harmless basking shark. Today, I’m watching a man I’ve known most of my life lift a gun and aim it at me, and I feel … nothing. As if that man belongs to a chapter in the last book I read, trying to elbow his way into the book I’m currently reading. He doesn’t belong here.
Brooks—my darling, daring, brave, and very stupid man—has placed himself in the middle. I wish I could signal to him not to worry. Damian is not going to shoot anyone if I don’t go with him. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
Damian chuckles. “But our girl is such a compliant little sweetheart. Sure she’ll come back. She just got a little spooked, but everything will be right as rain.”
I bristle. “Don’t call me that. I’m not your sweetheart. You’re nothing to me.”
Brooks reaches behind his back, and I instinctively grab his hand.
“I’ve been there for you, Jax,” Damian said. “I’ve always had your back. Your father trusted me always to know where you were. And then you pull this crap.”
Keep him talking, Jax. “When are you and my father going to realize I’m a grown woman? I don’t need your protection anymore.”
Damian isn’t finished letting me have it. “I always did everything I was asked to do. I kept you away from dangerous men. I kept you safe all these years, and this is how you thank me? Do you want me to lose everything?”
I spit out, “You say that, but you didn’t protect me from the real threat. You didn’t try to stop my father from marrying me off to that slug of a human being. If you cared about me at all, you would have helped me get away.”
Damian replies, “I don’t think you get it. I came here to make sure you were okay and to make sure your father doesn’t die as a result of your actions.”
“Die?” I’m confused. “They said they would take his business. That’s all.”
“Your father fired me on the spot when you flew the coop, Jax. Louie was so livid he’s now keeping your dad hostage until you come home. Yeah, these guys are not known for sticking to the terms of their agreements. So Louie hired me to track you down, and he’s waiting offshore, right now.”
Chapter Nineteen
Brooks
I don’t quite understand all the moving pieces here.
But I do understand two things. One, Jax belongs to me now, and no thug with a gun is taking her anywhere. Two, I have one strategy in my arsenal: I know this forest like the back of my hand.
Fortunately, the man with the gun doesn’t know where we are relative to the hotel; I can tell by the way he’s glancing around, looking for the trail. The untrained eye wouldn’t be able to see it.
So I make an offer and pray he takes it.
“Fine,” I say. “I’ll get you both back to the hotel.”
“What?” Jax squeaks.
My hand squeezes hers tightly, hoping she understands. I have a plan. Well, an idea. A nugget of an idea. All right, a half-assed shaving from a chunk of an idea.
After some negotiations and convincing, the three of us trudge through the jungle, but we’re not headed back to the hotel.
There are only two ways out of this jungle. Hiking is my preferred method. There’s only one other person on this rock who knows this terrain as well as I do and who knows how to get in and out quickly. Fortunately, that person also happens to be romantically attached to Jax’s partner in crime.
When Jax, Damian, and I arrive at a spot where I know we can get a signal, I make my move.
“I gotta go up there to get my bearings,” I say, pointing to a giant boulder jutting out of the earth, guessing that Damian won’t want to follow me based on his hiking prowess thus far.
“No funny business,” he orders.
Noticing Damian’s level of tiredness, I take a risk. “Just going to check my phone’s compass.” That’s my very flimsy cover story while firing off a text. But I don’t think this guy is a stone-cold killer. He looks like he would rather be home with his grandchildren than trudging through the jungle.
I stuff my phone back into my shorts and climb back down. Jax gives me a tight smile, and I have to fight every instinct in my body to scoop her up and carry her off. If there were no guns, we’d fight each other like men. Baker might be a douche, but when he agreed to arm-wrestle me for the boat, he had more honor than this man.
