He turns slowly, his eyes locked with mine, his expression serious and stern. “I’m not in the business of babysitting fugitives, especially those who belong to the Morettis.” His words are laced with venom, making me flinch away from him and bump into the dresser.
He’s so cold toward me it’s unnerving, but why should he be anything different? I’m nothing to him. Just a thorn in his side. A witness who saw too much and ended up being someone he knows he can’t just kill to get rid of with my high-profile name.
Pain radiates through my chest, a lump forming in my throat as I try to stop the impending tears. But it’s too late; my eyes well, and wetness coats my cheeks. I turn away from him, not wanting him to see me fall apart. I suck in ragged breaths, trying to get my emotions under control, but it’s no use. “They will force me to marry some other asshole,” I whimper, but it’s mostly to myself. I know he doesn’t care. “That’s what they said. If Valentine doesn’t come back, they will find some other man to take care of me.” I don’t know why I’m bothering to tell him the reality of my shitty life. I’m sure he doesn’t care what my fate is, but I can’t help the words from tumbling out either. Guessthe good inside of me hopes there is a sliver of decency in him and he won’t send me back.
“You can’t make her go back, Jagger,” I hear Cruz’s sleepy voice from behind me.
I wipe away the tears and slowly turn back to find him leaning into the frame of the doorway in just a pair of low-slung sleep shorts, his chiseled chest on full display, more ink than skin.
I blink back at him, not able to help it. He’s some sort of evil god. I want to run from him and run to him at the same time. And the truth is, if he’s willing to help me, I’m ready to forget how we met.
Jagger’s face hardens. “Eat and shower, we leave in forty minutes,” he grumbles, like he didn’t even hear why I can’t go back. Or he didn’t care, that’s probably more like it. “Stay out of this.” He digs his finger into Cruz’s bare chest as he walks past him.
My sad, defeated eyes meet Cruz’s. His lips quirk up at the sides as he cocks his head to one side, his eyes running down the length of me. “Morning, little darlin'. How did you sleep?” This bastard thinks my situation is funny! Is that what that look is? He seems not to understand social cues at all or how upset I clearly am.
Rage suddenly courses through me. Screw him, screw both of them. I stride through the room and into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me to block out the cheeky asshole. My new life is about to be over before it’s had time to begin. I have to work out a way to escape these thugs before I’m forced onto that plane. Because I’m not going back.
I can’t.
I won’t.
Anhourlater,thethree of us arrive at the airport. I have ignored all of Cruz’s attempts at conversation and so has Jagger, even though he keeps his voice light and playful and has chatted nonstop the whole way here, animatedly telling me about the sights of his town like he’s our tour guide.
I sat still, glaring out the window, with my arms crossed and eyes focused on the streets as they whooshed past me. I wish one of them hadn’t confiscated my phone so I could have been tuning out to my playlist. Adrenaline surges through me, a constant pulse that fills me with hate for the two men in the front, my dream of living in America slipping through my fingers. I have never been so on edge before. All I know is I need to run; I need to escape.
Jagger, the grumpy jerk, seems just as on edge, and I wonder what’s crawled up his ass. Is it just that I’m such a major inconvenience in his life or is there more going on?
“I’ll walk her in,” Cruz offers, his voice snapping me out of my depressed daze.
I glare toward the front of the car. “Going to need my phone and passport,” I snap at Jagger. I know he’s the one who has my stuff. I can just tell he’s controlling like that.
Jagger pops open the glove box, but instead of handing it to me, he passes it to Cruz. “Don’t be long,” he tells him, his tone deadly as his eyes meet mine one last time. The only good thing about being shipped off back home is I will never have to see him again.
Cruz hops out of the car and opens my child-locked door for me. What, did they think I was going to jump from a moving vehicle to escape them? I can’t say I didn’t consider it a few times. Death has to be better than being married off to someone else, my life dictated for me as I go through the motions of being someone else’s arm candy. Myfirst arranged marriage was a literal nightmare; I don’t want to consider what the second will look like and who my papa will deem suitable.
Cruz raises a brow when I haven’t moved, leaning into the car. “You’re going to miss your flight,” he says with a cheeky grin. Why is my pain fun for him?
With a heavy sigh, I grip my duffle bag tighter and step out of their car, pushing past him and onto the sidewalk, tossing my long, jet-black hair over my shoulder as I cast a quick glance back at Jagger. He’s staring out the front of the car, not even paying me an inch of attention. I guess he figures his job is done. No “nice to meet you” or “have a fun life.” I slam the door as hard as I can because it’s all I have against him and helps to ease the anger just a smidge. Then, I follow Cruz into the bustling airport.
“You’re awful grouchy for a girl whose life has just been saved,” he comments, looking at me over his shoulder. His lips twist up, and he flashes me his teeth. I think he’s trying to be charming, but it’s like he’s not used to it and doesn’t quite know how.
“You didn’t save my life; you’re sending me back to hell. I would prefer to be dead,” I mutter under my breath as we walk further into the airport. I can’t believe I was here just yesterday with so much hope in my heart, the thrill of the life I was about to have drumming through me. I didn’t even make it inside The Raven’s Nest or get to see Sloane. I failed so damn quickly it’s jarring. It’s like my papa and brother are right and I can’t survive on my own and I need a man to take care of me. And that thought is depressing.
Gently, Cruz’s hand lands on my shoulder, stopping me before I reach the check-in desk, its warmth such a contrast to the cool air pumping through the room. He glances over his shoulder, quickly scanning, then shoves me behind a barricade wall with him where it’s quieter.
I glare up at him, unimpressed. Can’t we just get this over and done with? “What are you doing?” I snip, all bitchy.
He cages me in, towering over me, his presence overwhelming my senses in a way I don’t understand. “You don’t want to go home?” he asks.
I shake my head.
He smiles; it’s softer this time, less demonic and more caring, if he even has that emotion within him. “Give me one kiss and I will grant you any wish you want.”
My eyes widen. That is the last thing I expected him to say. I blink up at him, so lost. Is he joking? But I can see in the depths of his stormy eyes that he’s serious. “What? Are you crazy?” I whisper.
“A little bit.” He grins like the psychotic bastard he clearly is. Then, he tilts his head, his eyes roaming over every inch of my face much like they did last night when he was holding me captive. “See, unlike most in this town, I don’t give two fucks what my big brother wants me to do. I do whatever the fuck I want, little darlin'. And today, I feel like doing a good deed. You want to be it?”
A flutter of excitement dances through me. Is he really saying what I think he is? “So, I just give you one little kiss, and you will let me go free?”
