Page 15 of Dirty Gambit

“Who you have in your blood is all you have in life,hermosa,”her mother always used to say.

Jessie would never have known that if Lena hadn’t found her. She would have grown up in those stranger’s house, never learning about who she was or where she’d come from. Her past, her family would have been lost to her forever.

“Jay!”

Jessie’s delighted squeal startled Lena. She barely had time to react when the girl threw herself sideways, arms outstretched, trusting the other person to catch her. But there was no one there, except the guy chained to the bed across the room.

“Jessie!”

Lena barely caught her around the middle. Her frantic attempts knocked the cereal bowl over. It upended all over the bedspread, creating a new stain across the rough, felt blanket. Lena let the soggy mess seep into the foam as she fought with the bundle in her arms wiggling to be freed.

“Hey, pretty girl.” Jaxon shifted on the bed, his whole face transformed from its savage scowl to the soft, sweet smile Lena remembered from their first meeting. “Did you have a good sleep?”

Jessie didn’t stop thrashing until Lena had taken her to the man with his one arm extended. The girl threw herself at him and was caught effortlessly against his broad, naked chest.

“Hey,” he kissed the top of her head. “It’s all right. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The last part was said with a long, pointed look at Lena from over Jessie’s head.

She tried not to let it bug her. Of course, Jessie would want to go to him. The Westwicks were the only family she’d known since birth. It was natural for her to want him over Lena. But once they were together, Jessie would be fine. She’d love Lena, too.

Leaving the two, she went to scoop the soggy remains of Jessie’s breakfast back into its bowl. She dampened a towel from the bathroom and scrubbed the stain, certain no one would notice either way. She rinsed out the bowl and spoon before carting everything to the bedside table and starting over. To her surprise, Jaxon shifted over, making room for her to perch on the mattress next to his hip.

Cautiously, she sat, fresh bowl of cereal in one hand, a pink, plastic spoon in the other.

Jessie had ceased her struggling and sat quietly in Jaxon’s lap, gaze fixed on Lena. The look was so much like Lissa’s when she wasn’t sure about something that Lena momentarily faltered. A hard knot formed in her throat, choking her with tears she’d sworn to herself she wouldn’t shed until they were completely free.

But she forced a smile and scooped tiny flakes onto the spoon.

“Okay, open big.”

Jessie looked to Jaxon for confirmation, who nodded encouragingly. Only then did Jessie allow Lena to shovel the flakes into her mouth. She sat patiently, never fussing, but still studying Lena with wary distrust. She wasn’t sure which set of eyes was worse, the two-year-old, or the twenty-seven-year-old holding the two-year-old. Both seemed to be judging Lena in their own way.

When the cereal was finished, Jaxon wiped Jessie’s face with a Kleenex and gave her pudgy tummy a tickle that sent the girl shrieking. She wiggled free and scooted to the edge of the mattress. Lena tried to catch her, but her hands were pushed away with a vehement, “No!”

“She wants down,” Jaxon informed her.

Lena blinked but helped ease the girl down to the carpet.

Jessie teetered, unsteady on her feet. But once she got her bearings, she was off, waddling away to explore.

Lena bolted up, prepared to beat the girl to the bathroom and close the door, but a hand closed into the back of her top. It tugged hard and she went tumbling backwards.

Chapter Four

JAXON

Jaxon twisted her over and pinned her.

It hadn’t been the plan, but why waste the opportunity? Even with only one hand, he had her face down under him. His weight settled perfectly over hers, containing her between himself and the mattress.

Lena made a sound between a vicious snarl and a whimper of pain, but she could do nothing but glower up at him from over her shoulder.

“Let go of me!”

Jaxon raised an eyebrow. “I’ve been asking you the same thing all night.”

Her throat muscles worked rapidly. “The bathroom door is open. Jessie—”

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