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“I love you, baby boy,” she whispered against his cheek. “I love you. ”
She stood and followed Cole and Burke out of the plane, her heart aching, threatening to seize up. God, she’d give anything to return to a happier time.
* * * *
One year earlier – New York City
Cole looked around the richly furnished dining room of the Waldorf Astoria, an ornate echo of its grander past. “So, this is your idea of breakfast?”
Jessa’s bright smile lit up the fucking room. What the hell had she done to him? One night with the curvy redhead, and he was practically her lapdog.
“Well, after you insatiable men ravished me all night, I’m starved,” she said with a wink. “I’m ready for the whole ‘treat me like a princess’ thing. ”
Oh, he could do that. He slipped his hand into hers and leaned over, kissing her. His whole body still hummed from the hours of their lovemaking. He couldn’t fool himself. It hadn’t been simple fucking. Or even mere sex. He’d made love to her. He hadn’t even understood what the phrase meant until last night.
“Then that’s what you’ll get. ” He nodded toward the hostess.
“What is our sweet thing going to get?” Burke asked, looking happier than Cole had seen him in a long time. Burke’s arms wrapped around Jessa’s waist, and he buried his face in her hair. “Probably everything. Poor baby, we gave her all she could take. ”
Sweet Jessa had finally begged them to stop. They’d been relentless, easing into the snug heaven of her sweet pussy and loving her over and over. Cole had also introduced her to some ass play. He could still feel the way her virgin hole had clamped down on his finger as he’d worked to open her backside up. Soon, he’d take her there, and it would be a supreme pleasure.
But all their vigorous attention had worked up her appetite for food. And made their poor sweetheart more than a little sore.
The hostess’s eyes widened as she took in the three of them, but she showed them to a table without staring too much.
“Isn’t it beautiful? I love New York at holiday time. ” Jessa looked around the dining room, all decorated for the season, pleasure evident in her eyes. The haunted look he’d seen in her eyes when they’d first met was gone. A smile of contentment lingered. He and his brother had given that to her. Cole stared across the table at his brother and shared a single thought.
She’s the one.
He felt it, knew that Burke felt it, too.
“You’re having one of those silent conversations. ” Jessa shook her head as she gave them both pointed stares. “That is so not fair to me. I don’t have a telepathic link with anyone. ”
Burke snorted. It was something they did almost unconsciously. “It’s not telepathic, exactly. When you spend your whole damn life chained to someone as ugly as that, you just get to know what he’s thinking. Right now, he’s thinking about bacon. ”
Cole rolled his eyes. “No, but I am thinking about ham. You, brother. ”
Burke shrugged. “I’ve been called worse. By you mostly. ”
Jessa slapped lightly at Cole’s chest. “You boys behave. I’m going to run to the more than likely outrageously decadent bathroom, then grab some of that smoked salmon. It all looks so good. ”
She stood. Both he and his brother rose to their feet. She kissed them both lightly, then walked off, her sweet curves swaying.
“We’re in trouble,” Burke said, sitting back down.
Cole lost his smile. He’d had twenty-four hours to forget why he was in New York. Reality came crashing down, and she was a bitch. “I know. ”
“We have to meet with Delgado tomorrow. ”
“Yeah. ” Months of negotiating, and tomorrow they would finally meet the man. Up until now, they had dealt with lackeys. The day before they had met Marco, the big guy’s son, who apparently ran the legitimate side of the business. It had been a terribly civilized meeting with absolutely no mention of the business at hand. The super small recording device that Burke wore in the button of his suit coat hadn’t had anything to pick up. The recording would show nothing but three men talking about business interests and recent sporting events. Every time he or Burke would try to get the man to say something incriminating, he would simply smile and turn the conversation toward something less illegal.
But tomorrow there would be no avoiding it. Tomorrow they met with the man himself, and there would be no way around the fact that they were negotiating to buy another human being. The thought had bile rising in his throat. He wanted to keep Jessa far, far away from this shit.
“It won’t be over tomorrow. Finishing this up will take days, maybe even a week. We have to take custody of the girl to prove our case, let her tell her story, turn over the recordings and any other evidence we collect. We may have to help set up a sting…” Burke sighed and toyed with the perfectly placed silverware. “Fuck, the timing couldn’t be worse, but we can’t veer now. ”
Neither of them wanted to do this. Cole knew what his brother was thinking. He wanted to be with Jessa, in their bed, passing her between them. He wanted to be happy with the one woman who handled and completed them both.
“Look on the bright side,” Cole said. “Yes, we’re going to spend an enormous amount of Rafe and Kade’s money on a slave, but at least one woman will be safe and free very soon. ” But Burke was right; they couldn’t back away now. If they did, Cole knew he’d never be able to sleep at night. He would always wonder where Alea was, regret not trying harder to save her. She was only eighteen, for fuck’s sake.
From the moment he’d seen the snapshot of her young, vibrant face, he’d known that they had to save her. They were bigger and stronger than most men. And he was a predator. His life could have gone one of two ways. He was built to hunt, to kill. He could have taken advantage of those who were weaker. Instead, he chose to protect them.
It would take everything he had to walk into the fucker’s office tomorrow and not blow a hole through his skull. Delgado deserved it. He’d ruined so many lives. He lived in luxury while the families of the women he’d abducted lived victimized, without hope. He wanted nothing more than to take vengeance on the man. But they’d been hired to find a girl and collect evidence. He’d been hired to save a life.
“We could try the feds. ” Burke toyed with the fork in front of him.
Cole shook his head. “No. Everything we have right now is circumstantial. And you know this bastard has some men on the inside. They would squash the case, and Delgado would probably kill all the girls he still has in the States. Even if we got lucky and found the good guys, the feds won’t move overnight. If we fail to make that meeting tomorrow, Delgado will fold up his tent and disappear for who knows how long. We can’t risk either one happening. ”
Burke nodded miserably. “And we can’t risk Jessa, either. ”
The thought of Jessa in danger turned his stomach. All that amazing food had looked so tempting a moment before, and now he couldn’t stand the thought of it. “I pray he doesn’t know about Jessa, but this guy hasn’t risen to the top of a crime family without being ruthless and smart. I know he’s vetted us already. ”
“Our cover will hold. I put it in place myself. There’s zero chance he can figure out it’s all made up. I’m a damn good hacker. ”
“I know. ” Burke was the best in the business. If he hadn’t gone into the Navy, Burke might have been a fine criminal. Cole stared at the hall where Jessa had disappeared. “He can believe our cover and still have someone watching us. You know he had someone at the airport. He knows where we’re staying. He hasn’t stayed in business for so many years without playing it smart and getting to know his clients. I’m worried that if he has someone watching us who I haven’t made yet, he’s going to find out about Jessa. ”
“I don’t want that any more than you do, man,” Burke replied. “But it’s done now. We can’t go back and undo last night. I wouldn’t want to. All we can do
is lay low. If anyone asks, she’s just a nice piece of ass. ”
Cole clenched his fists. Fuck that. She was so much more. Smart and funny, she’d worked hard for her independence and scraped by, upholding a life and a passion she believed in. Despite her youth and inexperience, she’d done her best to tackle the big, bad world her way. She deserved more than a lie, but he couldn’t give her the truth right now. It would put her in too much danger.
Jessa bounced back to the table, her smile vibrant, a plate of food in her hand. “I caught our waitress. I ordered coffee for us all. There’s a juice bar, too. There’s just about everything. I love this place. ”
Her obvious joy brought out his own. He’d always felt like he was simply existing, moving from one job to the next, but Jessa made him want to stop and enjoy life for a change. The world had seemed like a shithole before, but that was because he went to all of its dark, terrible places. Jessa reminded him there was goodness, too. She shined her bright light on all of the reasons he had to fight. For her. For all the girls Delgado had manipulated and abused.
“Then we’ll definitely come back soon. ” Cole put a hand on hers.
God, he loved the way her fingers felt threaded through his. Burke reached for her other hand, and their circle was complete. Jessa accepted them. Her warmth was a balm for all the rejection of the past. His uncle had beaten into his head for years that no woman could ever want someone so guarded and angry. Females had used him before to get closer to Burke, then ditched him like trash once they thought they had his brother’s attention. Jessa simply held on to them both in the golden glow of her adoration.
She squeezed his hand. “If I eat here too often, I might end up weighing four hundred pounds. ”
And he would still love her. Fuck. He was in love with her. He loved her smile and her rich auburn hair and the curve of her hips. He loved her quirky view of the world. Seeing everything through her eyes was a startling revelation. Jessa had been through hell with her parents. They’d rejected her true soul and cut her off when she’d refused to conform. Still, she’d managed to move on without being bitter or vindictive—or letting their crappy games play with her head. When his uncle had died, Cole had spit on his grave and gleefully continued hating the bastard. Now, he winced. Definitely, he could take a lesson or two from Jessa.
He and Burke had been drifting emotionally. And they’d guarded their hearts. Jessa hadn’t. She’d been through hell, yet she had opened her heart and asked for love. Jessa was perfect.
He brought her hand to his mouth, Burke did the same thing, having the same instinct. “Go on, then. Weigh whatever you like. We’ll still want you. ”
She would always look like this to him. His eyes would be broken, lost in this moment. When she was eighty and frail and wrinkled, he would look at her and see her the way she was today. Vibrant. Beautiful. His heart thudded in his chest. He was in love for the first time. The last time. They would never love anyone the way they loved Jessa Wade. She was the end of their journey. His eyes met his brother’s. Not grim this time. Burke was happy and full of love.
A lifetime of joy spread out before Cole when he’d expected so much less. He’d never once thought that he’d have or deserve this sort of devotion. But it was his. Jessa was his.
“Well, I never expected to see the two of you here. ”
Cole looked up, a dark voice yanking him out of his thoughts. He felt his eyes flare as he caught sight of Marco Delgado standing at the end of their table in a perfectly tailored suit. Marco was the picture of a well-groomed businessman, right down to the bodyguard who hovered behind him.
Cole felt his stomach turn. He dropped Jessa’s hand, hating the fact that he had to do it. “Marco. It’s nice to see you. What are you doing in this part of the world?”
He should be in lower Manhattan. There were about a thousand restaurants in the city, but he chose this one?
Burke’s whole frame had stiffened, his hand dropping Jessa’s, too. “Marco. ”
Marco smiled, a reptilian expression. “I have brunch here all the time. ” His eyes went to Jessa. “I find it a good way to restore my energy after a busy night. ”
“We’re doing the same. ” He prayed Jessa would smile and go along with them.
“Hi,” Jessa said brightly, holding out her hand. “I’m Jessa Wade. They have no manners. Oh, well, they have to have some faults. ”
Marco smiled, satisfaction oozing from his pores, as if he’d found a chink he’d thought he’d never find. “I’m glad to hear that, dear Jessa Wade. Such a pretty name. Do you live around here? How did you meet the twins?”
Cole leaned forward, pulling Jessa back. “She’s just in town for the weekend. ”