Page 24 of Their Virgins Secret

Burke’s whole face tightened. “Fuck. ”

Fuck was right. Cole had to hope that Marco wouldn’t remember Jessa. He had to pray that he would write her off as another bimbo who’d fucked a couple of hot guys with too much money to blow. Marco hadn’t been listening in. For all he knew, he’d caught them indulging in a one-night stand. It was okay. It had to be.

Cole watched Jessa, resisting the urge to pull her into his lap and never let go, and prayed he was right.

CHAPTER FIVE

Present Day – Dallas, Texas

Burke put the nondescript sedan in park, well aware of just how tired he was. The neon lights of what had to be the skankiest motel he’d seen in a long time—and he’d seen a few—blinked off and on as though they couldn’t decide to just give up the ghost and die.

“We’re here,” he said, aware that his voice was gravelly, his tone bleak.

Jessa stirred in the backseat. She’d climbed in when they had left the airport, dragging the small suitcase Hannah had brought for her filled with clothes, a toothbrush, and shampoo. Then she’d curled up and cried a few silent tears after leaving Caleb. He’d seen the quiet shake of her shoulders in the rearview mirror—and it had nearly ripped his heart out. But she’d refused all comfort. She’d shut them out.

“I don’t know that we should stop,” Cole said, rubbing a hand across his eyes.

Burke shook his head. “We all need sleep. We have to figure out what we’re doing and where we’re going to stash Jessa while we do it. ”

Cole took a long breath, then got out of the car, his acquiescence plain.

Burke turned to look at Jessa. Her face was puffy from crying. God, she was making his heart twist and hurt. He wanted to hold her. It wasn’t going to happen. “We’re going to make sure you’re okay. Cole and I won’t allow anything to happen to you. And Caleb is safe. The James brothers will kill anyone who looks at him sideways. ”

She nodded without showing a hint of emotion on her face. It was as though she’d simply turned her feelings off after a river of tears. “I know. I liked them. I believed them. ”

He reached for her, catching her hand in his before she could pull away. “Then believe in us, Jessa. We would die before we let anything happen to you. ”

She tugged her hand free. “Unless, of course, you need to work. Can’t let a little thing like a girlfriend get between you and a paycheck, can you, Burke?”

“Jessa, we thought you were married,” Cole growled. “It’s not—”

“Important,” she cut in. “Just get this guy so I can have my son back and start rebuilding my home and my career. ”

She opened the door and slid out before he could say another word. Burke smacked the steering wheel, wishing it was Marco Delgado’s fucking head. They should have killed the fucker that morning at the Waldorf. He’d been a loose end that they should have taken out.

Fucking hindsight was twenty-twenty. He got out of the car and palmed the key he’d been given just moments before when he’d registered under the name Brian Palmer. Like the sedan, it was suitably bland and nondescript. He’d paid cash. It was one of the reasons he’d chosen this particular lodging. The Hilton would want a credit card on file. Given the fact that Delgado seemed to have been planning this for nearly a year, he would almost certainly be on the lookout for their credit card to ping.

Cole opened the trunk and pulled out their bags. Burke couldn’t help but notice an addition to the duffel bags he and Cole had carried with them from South America. When Dex James had seen them off, he’d handed over a couple of bags he’d packed from the condo Burke and Cole shared. No doubt, the small briefcase-like bag contained Burke’s computer and an untraceable Internet hotspot device that linked to a satellite. He was pretty sure Dex had also packed some heavy-duty guns and plenty of cartridges, along with the hard drives from Burke and Cole’s office.

But the beaten brown bag currently in Cole’s hand had another purpose entirely. Burke just knew that it contained ropes, handcuffs, lube, condoms, and other wonderful things needed to restrain and fuck pretty little submissives.

“You’re kidding?” Burke jibed as he made his way up the stairs.

Cole turned and glared at him over the top of Jessa’s head.

“That’s some awfully positive thinking, brother. ” Burke shook his head as he hit the landing and opened the door to room fourteen. He turned on the light—and wished that he hadn’t. It was clean but old and worn. There was a sadness to the room. Neglect.

It wasn’t at all what he’d envisioned when he’d fantasized about reuniting with Jessa.

Cole followed him in, toting his bag of tricks. “Dex is the positive thinker. He brought it. After a whole fucking year, it may be full of cobwebs. ”

Dex, true perv that he was, had picked up Cole’s BDSM bag when he’d gone to their place to get the essentials. Clearly, Dex considered the numerous devices with which to sensually torture and pleasure a woman really fucking vital.

As Burke went back outside to watch over Jessa, Cole set the bags aside and immediately searched the room.

“Can I go in?” Jessa asked. “It’s not as cold as it was in Virginia, but it’s still nippy. ”

He shrugged out of his coat and had it around her shoulders before she could protest. “Not until Cole says we’re secure. It’s not a big room. It won’t take more than a minute. ”

---