Page 42 of Capturing Victory

“He’ll swim with you himself,” Keane’s amused voice answered what she thought had been an unspoken musing. “The men’ll stay close, but not too close.”

“Did I say that out loud?” she asked, shading her eyes to look over at him again.

“Indeed,” he chuckled. “How’re them pain meds treating you?”

“So good!” she said enthusiastically, grinning up at him. “Never been sick or hurt or anything before. Prescription drugs are pretty awesome.” She frowned and lifted her injured arm, wiggling her fingers. The pain was gradually diminishing each day. “But getting cut and having stitches sucks. I don’t think I’ll do that again.”

“Good plan, canary,” Keane agreed easily. He glanced around with interest. “Where’s your princess at?”

“Hiding,” Jaya said honestly.

Keane’s gaze sharpened, and he frowned. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “What from?”

“Not what,” Jaya answered, kicking her feet out and spraying water in a wide arc. “Who.”

Keane didn’t say anything for a moment. He studied the rooftops across from them, his practiced eyes taking in every detail with militaristic precision. Jaya tried to follow his gaze, tried to see what he saw, but her brain was slowed down by the pain meds and she wasn’t trained to take in every possible danger, every possible scenario. She looked at everything through innocent eyes, curious what he could be seeing that was different from what she was seeing.

“Who’s she hiding from?” he finally asked, as though the words took effort. Because he already suspected, but he wanted her to answer out loud, tell him why a relationship between himself and a woman like Ndari would be impossible.

Jaya blinked and glanced at the giant tattooed redhead out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t expected Keane to care about her off-the-wall companion, but he seemed to harbour a soft spot for the nutty princess. “She’s a free spirit,” Jaya said softly. “She’s spunky, fun and a bit wild. Ivan put a gun to her head and threatened her life because of me. She’s not going to get over that quickly. She doesn’t want to see men with guns right now.” Her eyes flickered down to the semi-automatic tucked under Keane’s arm. “Can you blame her?”

He grunted and shifted a little. “Guess not,” he sighed.

His facial features hardened a little. As though he was realizing he had no hope with someone like the princess. Too bad. Keane didn’t seem like such a bad guy. Then again, neither did Ivan when he was kissing her on the head, gifting her with kittens and saving her from drowning. It was all the other horrific things he did that made him a terrible person. She shifted on the patio tiles suddenly uncomfortable with her thoughts. She wanted to hate Ivan. She didn’t want to think about the things he did for her.

She cleared her throat and lifted her legs to the side as though about to get up. Keane surprised her by putting a broad hand on her knees and stopping her. His long, work-roughened fingers curved around her, holding her in place. She didn’t feel threatened exactly, but she didn’t feel at ease. She knew she couldn’t leave in that moment, even if she wanted to. Keane was too much like his master. She was sharply reminded of the time Ivan threatened to hand her over to Keane for questioning when she refused to tell them anything about Father. Her heartbeat picked up and she had to remind herself that she was safe, that Ivan would never allow any harm to befall her. She glanced quickly around to make sure they weren’t alone and was gratified to see other men patrolling the pool deck. Then she felt foolish. Keane had been nothing, but solicitous of her all week while she’d been healing, while his boss had been absent. She forced herself to relax and look up at him curiously. His own gaze was uncannily knowing, as though he knew every single thought that had flickered through her brain and was patiently waiting for her to sort through her emotions.

She nodded her head. “What’s up?” she asked a little breathlessly.

He moved his hand. Touching her was a definite no no, but he still did it. As though he believed it was worth Ivan’s wrath to make that connection with her. She respected him for the effort, though she wished he wouldn’t. He unsettled her almost as much as his boss.

He took a deep breath and looked around the patio area, then shifted to a more comfortable position. She frowned and stopped kicking her feet in the water. The rugged Irishman looked directly at her when he spoke, his accent was still strong, but his words more pronounced than usual. “You ever heard of brainwashing before? Like when a person has been taken by another person or group and spent years told something until they believe it?”

It was like being hit by a bucket of ice water. Jaya wasn’t stupid. She knew what he was getting at. She gritted her teeth and stared hard at the water between her feet, concentrating on the bright colours. But they no longer mattered, no longer seemed cheerful. The drugs that floated in her system no longer carried her on a happy cloud. She suddenly crashed back to reality.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said dully.

“Then your stupider then I thought,” he shot back.

Her head snapped to the side and she glared at him. “Fuck you!”

“Calm yerself, I’m trying to help,” he growled low, for her ears only. “I like you and I been around for awhile. I can make sure you survive the boss intact, canary. Now listen up, you need to hear what I have to say, cause I know all about this brainwashing bullshit.”

She yanked her feet out of the water and twisted her knees to the side trying to escape Ivan’s persistent second-in-command. “Stop!” she snapped. “I don’t have to hear this, Ivan would be pissed if he knew.”

Keane shrugged. “Maybe. But you’ll be alive.” He leaned back and casually placed one long, muscular arm behind her back, trapping her where she sat. The curve of the pool on the other side made it difficult for her to get up and leave unless she wanted to go for a swim. She tried to lean away from him but her injured arm wouldn’t take the weight. She had to settle for glaring. He smirked and continued speaking. “When I was a young man I used to compete in strongman competitions. Won ‘em all. Fame went to my head. I would drink and whore and gamble until I spent all the winnings.”

“No surprise there,” Ndari said haughtily, plopping down on Jaya’s other side. She tugged Jaya’s injured arm into her lap and scooted right up against her side. Jaya smiled in relief at seeing her friend out and about. “You are the biggest man-whore I’ve ever had the misfortune to share a rooftop with.”

Keane snorted and eyed Ndari with interest, taking in her bare legs in a pair of short shorts. She dropped her legs into the pool next to Jaya’s. “And how exactly would you know that?” he asked. “You’re the only two women up here besides a sixty-year-old house cleaner and I haven’t touched any of you.”

“Just look at you,” Ndari said accusingly, waving her hand toward him. “It’s pretty obvious that you like to stick your wick in anything that moves. There isn’t a discerning bone in your body, obviously.” The note of disdain in her tone was impossible to miss. Jaya thought Ndari was just asking for trouble, especially if the look on Keane’s face was anything to go by.

“Anyway…” Jaya interrupted, rolling her eyes, “you were saying.”

“Yes, as I was saying,” Keane murmured, eyeing Ndari as though she were his next meal. “When the money ran out and I was between competitions, I had to find work. Weren’t much I was good for. Just fighting and fucking.” They both ignored Ndari’s ‘ah ha!’ as he continued speaking. “Soon I was picking up mercenary contracts. They were high-paying and I enjoyed the travel. Eventually, after a few years, I picked up a contract with the wrong boss, a mean son-of-a-bitch that preferred his soldiers a little more docile.”

Jaya held her breath. She suspected she knew what was coming. She’s spent enough time on the dark web to know what sort of contracts he was talking about, what sort of terrible work was out there for men and women willing to do anything for money.

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