Page 19 of Escape You

“Anything else you want to know about me?”

“Why are you back?”

I shifted my body to face her, glad for the long drive back to the city. After all this time, I finally had her close to me again, alone. “My grandfather wants a successor.”

“So he uprooted you to come learn the family business and you just came running like a puppy.”

“Yeah, exactly like that.” I stopped myself before I reached for her hand. She wanted nothing to do with me. That was painfully obvious.

“What does he want with me?”

I shook my head. Even if our conversation felt private, I was sure it wasn’t. Talking about Jac’s plans was a sure way to lose his trust. We rode in silence the rest of the way. The streetlights rushed past us, illuminating the side of her beautiful face. Her energy, her strength filled me with hope. If she was here, maybe our lives could have a shot at something at the end of all this mad assignment.

When the driver pulled into the Manhattan building where Jac lived in the penthouse, Mia sat up, her eyes alert as she canvassed the area around us. There was no way out of here. For her own good, I hoped she knew that.

The car dropped us off in front of Jac’s private elevator. I ushered Mia into it and hit the call button. The doors opened to Jac’s main living area with five of his bodyguards blocking the way. One of them moved in to frisk her, but I stopped him. “She’s clear.”

One of the perks of being up for succession? No one dared question me, just in case I was still here after Jac passed.

Jac greeted us as if we were invited guests, as if he hadn’t just uprooted Mia from her home. Why the theatrics? To mess with her head?

“Welcome. I’m so glad you could make it.” He had an understated elegance to him. He wasn’t a self-made man. He’d inherited the family business, though I doubted the task had come easy. Same as Mia, he had to wrestle his way through it. “Let’s have a drink first. We have plenty to discuss.” He gestured for Mia to sit across from him on the dark leather sofa.

Against all my instincts, I left her side to sit by him. “Mia’s been debriefed on our situation.”

Jac glanced at me with pride in his eyes. “It will make our discussion easier.”

“Get on with it, then. I don’t need a drink.” Mia sat at the edge of her seat.

I bit my lip to hide my smile. She wasn’t drinking. Jac took a long swig of his martini before he spoke. “All of your trucks are well on their way by now. We could’ve stopped them just because. But as proof of good faith, we let your shipment go through.”

Mia’s face turned bright red. “Got it. I’m boss because you say I’m boss. What do you want?”

Jac tightened his grip on his glass. He didn’t appreciate Mia’s temper or honesty. What the hell did he want from her that he was willing to put up with her irreverence? “It’s simple, dear. I’d like an alliance with the Rogue River crew.”

The ATF had feared that Mia’s crew’s vulnerability might lead to a gang war. This was the onset of it all. Jac wanted to offer Mia, not a choice, but an alliance. He wanted her crew, or rather he wanted the geographical presence in Jersey.

Mia shot to her feet. If she’d been afraid for her life, she was over it. The fire in her eyes made a few of Jac’s guys shuffle away from her, hands on their weapons.

“So you thought that you could kidnap me and then very nicely ask if I could hand over my family to you? The answer is no.”

“Kidnap is such a harsh word. You came of your own accord. Give me a chance to explain how your crew would benefit.”

“I don’t have to because we don’t need you. So how about you stay in your lane, and I’ll stay in mine? We have a big river between us. Let’s keep it that way.”

Jac furrowed his brows. I couldn’t tell if he was shocked or offended or both. All he had to do was nod to his men, and Mia would be shot to death. I forced myself to stay put and not aggravate either one of them.

“You asked your neighboring crew for an alliance. How is this different?”

“The difference is that I asked for their help, to avoid precisely this. We will not bow to you. Once you have our crew, what’s to stop you from going after everyone else until you control all of Jersey?” She stopped to inhale, then her gaze shot up to meet Jac’s. “You want the Big 5 to become the Big 6.”

Jac rose to his feet and walked over to the bar to pour himself another drink. He was pissed. No one refused Jac and lived to brag about it. I wished he’d trust me to let me in on his plan. But we barely knew each other, and in his mind, I hadn’t proven myself yet.

He glanced at me, then at Mia. “You are going to marry my grandson Chase. Once we’re family, the rest will sort itself out.”

“Fuck you.”

Fuck me. I shot to my feet. All the men had their hands on their weapons as I glanced around the room. The alliance with Rogue River? Not a big shock. The Big 5? Also, not a big shock. But marriage? We were not puppets here to do his bidding. I faced Jac. “We didn’t discuss this.”

---