Page 53 of Dirty Gambit

“Who says I’m being nice?”

She shot him an exasperated frown that he met with raised eyebrows.

“This is only going to end one of two ways and you can’t make the wrong choice when the time comes because you suddenly feel sorry for me.”

Lines creased the skin between his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Having to repeat herself, Lena folded her arms and slumped sideways against the door. The window rattled against her resting skull. She shut her eyes.

“I told you, you have to turn me in. It’s the only way.”

“I disagree,” he said with zero doubt in the statement.

Lena snorted. “Don’t tell me I’m starting to grow on you, Westwick.”

“Growing? No.”

He didn’t elaborate and she was glad for it. She had no desire to know his true feelings towards her. Whichever way he was leaning would only break her heart and she needed to keep a clear head for what needed to be done next.

Chapter Ten

JAXON

Jaxon let Lena doze against the car door, keeping one eye on her the entire time in case the thing popped open inexplicably. She slept with the weight of someone who hadn’t slept properly in days, someone who spent two hours hiking in the blistering heat. He knew she needed it, needed to get her head on straight, needed to wake up with the full function of her wits.

The very idea that she might turn herself in either to the cops or this Travis guy was the talk of someone not thinking rationally. Even he knew the odds wouldn’t be in her favor no matter which way she decided to go. Canada didn’t have the death penalty, but they wouldn’t look fondly on a cop killer, and Travis … he didn’t know much about the man, except he needed to keep Lena and Jessie away from him.

In the backseat, Jessie had settled down. Her chattering to herself had stopped, but her arms continued to wave, her fingers trying to catch the fading sunbeams breaking through the window. It always amazed him how tiny her fingers were, little joints attached to little palms and knuckles with frail little bones. She was as close to perfect as any kid could get. Why anyone would even consider harming her was beyond him, and yet, that was exactly what this Travis guy was planning, according to Lena’s letter.

Well, that wasn’t going to happen. Not if Jaxon had anything to say about it. He didn’t care who this guy was, didn’t care how tough he thought he was. Everyone had a price, and if that didn’t work, everyone had a weakness. It wasn’t above him to exploit either if he needed to. If that didn’t work, well, there were other ways to deal with a pest. That course of action wasn’t beneath him either.

Jaxon slid a glance in Lena’s direction, at her, unbound locks twisting around her shoulders and curling against the soft curves of her cheeks the way his fingers itched to. He had to tighten his grip around the wheel to keep from sweeping the strands back behind her ear. He wasn’t sure he’d stop there when the line of her jaw begged to be traced, to be followed to the full bow of her bottom lip. From there, the possibilities were endless.

“Fuck me,” he breathed into the silence, wondering not for the first time if he was losing his damn mind. It was the only rational explanation as to why he couldn’t shake the gnawing hunger eating at the pit of his stomach at the very thought of losing the tiny she-demon in the seat next to him.

Lena had proven to be a worthy opponent. She had proven to be smart and agile, and dangerous. All the things that drove him crazy, and not in a bad way. He thrived on her quick wits and stubborn pigheadedness. He loved that she was quick on her feet and had one of the most twisted minds he’d ever encountered. She challenged him, kept him on his toes and that was a weird kind of high he hadn’t realized he’d been missing. Was it reason enough to keep her in his life? Probably not, but he wanted it, wanted more of it, more of her. Maybe that made him some kind of closet masochist, but he knew that wasn’t it either. He felt connected to her somehow. He just couldn’t figure out how.

He slanted her another glance, hoping to catch a glimpse of what it was about her that made him feel so protective over her. He guessed her being Jessie’s family had something to do with it, but that wasn’t entirely it. Whatever it was, it didn’t change the fact that he knew he couldn’t trust her. Not after her little disappearing act. That stunt of hers had scared ten years off his life and he didn’t like that feeling one bit.

Returning to the car and finding the front seat empty, except for her abandoned handcuffs had hit him in a way he hadn’t been anticipating. The blow had left him winded and disorientated. He couldn’t believe she’d looked him right in the eye and lied about staying put. The betrayal was slight compared to the blow to his ego; Lena would never have been so stupid. Yet, his stupidity wasn’t the reason he’d had to reign in his panic. It was the duffle bag of money and the letter that chilled him to the bone.

It hadn’t been a very long letter or a neat one. The writing was done by someone clearly in a hurry. It was sloppy and messy, and all the letters bled into each other, but he’d deciphered enough to realize what Lena was planning. The idiocy behind her decision had him stomping on the gas and driving around like a madman.

“Don’t look for me,”it had said in the way of greeting.“I mean it, Jaxon. Take Jessie home and tell your parents I’m sorry. I never wanted any of this, but the plan has changed. Jessie’s no longer safe with me. I’m not sure she’s safe with you either, but you have a better chance at hiding her than I do.

A man is looking for her. His name is Travis and he’s the worst kind of monster. He’ll stop at nothing until Jessie is with him. You need to keep her safe. I will do my best to distract him, but I know that won’t work forever.

Lena

PS — The money belongs to Jessie. Call it her inheritance from her mom.

PPS — Her mom’s name was Lissa Ramos, and Jessie looks just like her. Tell her that, please.

PPPS — Jaxon, I’m serious, do not follow me.”

It was insulting that she actually thought he would listen, that he would let her just hand herself over as sacrifice. She clearly didn’t know him as well as she claimed because in no world was he going to let Travis anywhere near her. But he needed the rest of the story from her. He needed to know what he was up against. He couldn’t fight something he didn’t know. He needed to get her somewhere safe, somewhere they could talk. That wasn’t at his parent’s house. He knew the minute he walked in with Lena, his mom would call the police. He couldn’t allow that. Plus, time was running out. Lena’s photo was spreading far and wide. If they kept driving around, eventually, someone would recognize her. He needed a place they could lie low until he’d had a chance to talk to his parents.

The idea popped into his head with a severity that nearly made him hit the brakes. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it sooner, but it was enough to have him twisting the wheel and driving them off course in a whole other direction.

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