“UNCLE JACK.”
Instead of the bush pants and T-shirts from her memory, he wore a suit without a tie. He looked like someone who was used to pushing paper around on a desk instead of diving for oysters. She knew from experience, he was a hell of a lot stronger than someone who spent their days behind a desk. Oyster farming was grueling physical work and the man standing in front of her had been more than capable of handling all of it.
“You remember. The way you ran off without saying good-bye, I wasn’t sure...well, I wasn’t sure what to think. And then you surfaced halfway around the world—in North Carolina of all places.”
Sophie’s blood had gone to ice in her veins. She didn’t stand a chance at running. With the deadbolt on, she’d never get out of the door or into the elevator fast enough to escape. She might be able to lock herself in one of the bedrooms. She ran through possible scenarios in her head, grateful he seemed more interested in talking than shooting—for the time being at least. She didn’t have any illusions about how long that would last.
“I’m going to need you to come with me. You’ve got something I want.”
He said it as if her cooperation was a given. To him it probably was. He’d already proved he was willing to kill to get what he wanted. She swallowed hard past the lump in her throat at the image of Smithson—Daniel—slumped on the bench. She’d be pathetic resistance in comparison.
“If you’re talking about the farm, you can have it.”
A flicker of surprise flashed in his eyes, but he quickly shuttered it.
“How long have you known?”
“Not long. It doesn’t matter. I don’t want it.”
“Good girl, but I’m still going to need you to come back to Australia with me to sign the papers in front of a magistrate. It’s so much easier to transfer the deed if you’re alive. It’s something I learned after your brother died. Speaking of which...”
He went on but a ringing started in Sophie’s ears and she had to grab the back of the sofa to steady herself.
“You killed Noah.” She phrased it as a statement, not a question. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it was the truth. The accident had never made sense to her. Looking back over the years, she’d wondered if the police suspected something too—not that any of that would bring Noah back.
“Not me personally. You’ve got to understand; the men I’m in business with aren’t the most patient. Which is what I was trying to apologize for. My overzealous associate was not supposed to try to kill you. It’s a mistake he won’t make again.”
She should be grateful he needed her alive; otherwise, she’d be dead already. Gratitude wasn’t something she could feel at the moment.
“You’re working with the Darah. They sell people—women and children. Torture them.”
There were too many horrible things piled on top of each other for Sophie to begin to make sense of them, but the man standing in front of her had brought her treats as a child. He’d made her mother laugh. And he’d had her brother killed. It was too much to process.
“You’ve certainly found out a lot for a young woman a world away. That man of yours must be better than I gave him credit for.”
Her stomach tightened and her heart beat so loud, she was surprised the other man couldn’t hear it. The idea of him somehow connecting this mess to Emerson terrified her. More than fear for her own safety, she couldn’t stand the idea of him or anyone else he was close to being hurt because of her. Sarah, Amanda, Gabe. He had a family he loved. People who needed him.
“He’s not part of this.”
“Whatever you say, luv. You don’t need him anymore anyway. I’ll look out for you. I always have. It’s the reason the Darah kept their hands off you. You’re my family.” He said the words as if he were offering her a treasure instead of tearing apart her world.
“What?” she asked, as the meaning of his words penetrated her thoughts.
“I’m your uncle. Your father’s brother. You didn’t know? You always called me uncle.”
“I thought that was just a nickname.” Her lips were cold. She didn’t know that was even possible. She felt like she’d been swimming in ice-cold water and she was getting ready to go under again.
“I guess I’m not surprised your mother never told you. My brother didn’t treat her very well.”
What kind of man must her father have been if the monster in front of her thought he wasn’t good to her mother? It didn’t matter. None of that mattered. Not the past. Not the pearls. Nothing mattered but surviving if she could and keeping Emerson safe if she couldn’t.
“We’ve got a long flight ahead of us. We can talk about it on the way. Slip on your shoes.” He picked her handbag off the chair and emptied it on the counter, fishing through it until he found her wallet with her ID. He tucked that into the empty bag and handed it back to her. “You won’t need more than this. Let’s go.”
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EMERSON HAD COME soclose to telling Sophie he loved her. He still hadn’t been able to say the words but holding her in the dark, making love to her, he’d tried to show her how he felt. And then he’d snuck out of bed the next morning before she woke. He had to get a grip. He couldn’t think about anything but her. He couldn’t get his work done and he was no closer than he’d been to figuring out how to get the target off Sophie’s back.
The only thing he was becoming increasingly sure of was that he might have misunderstood what it meant to compromise for love. He’d assumed when his mom gave up her journalism career to take care of them that she’d lost more than she gained. It’s exactly what he’d been thinking about with Liam and his goat farmer too. The thing he hadn’t realized was that love didn’t take things from you or make you smaller. Love gave so much more. He’d do anything for Sophie and be glad to do it because loving her made him better at being who he was supposed to be. Just like loving Andy made Liam stronger and loving her family made his mother even better than she’d been before them.
