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“Don’t you say that when you’re leaving me. ”
He took her face in his hands and fused his stare with hers. “I love you. ”
“We love you, Jessa. You’re the one for us,” Burke said, caressing her arm. “We’re going to finish our mission and come back for you. You better be ready to move since our business is in Dallas. ”
“We want to marry you, Jessa. We want a life with you. Please don’t think we’re leaving you lightly. ” Cole pulled her between them and kissed her.
But they did leave. Two hours later, Jessa showered. She dressed and walked out of the hotel room where she’d lost her virginity and her heart. She went back to work and prayed they would come back to her.
CHAPTER SIX
Present Day – Dallas, Texas
Burke woke to the sound of the door slamming. A blast of chilly air smacked him. He sat straight up in bed, shaking off the dream. He’d been back in New York, making love to Jessa, her silken body moving against his. She’d told him she loved him. She’d looked at Cole and whispered those sweet words to his brother, too. Then she took every kiss, touch, and thrust they had to give. He’d replayed that night over and over again in his mind. That last night with her had been the best of his life. The next morning had been one of the worst. Every night since, he’d dreamed about her face as he and Cole had walked away.
“Sorry,” Cole said gruffly, his hands full as he walked into the tiny room. His face was red. He’d obviously been standing in the cold for a while. “I didn’t mean to wake you. The wind is pretty bad out there. It looks like a storm is coming in tonight. I made a couple of calls. ”
Jessa was still beside Burke, stretching and rubbing her eyes. Her hair was slightly rumpled from sleep, and she looked perfect to Burke. Despite the danger, all he wanted to do was haul her into his arms, kiss those sensual lips, and sink into her until they were both warm and satisfied. His cock didn’t give a shit that she no longer wanted him.
“Did you call to check on Caleb?” Jessa asked, her voice a little hoarse.
“He’s fine, Jessa,” Cole assured her. “Dex said he slept late, and now he’s having a ball playing with their kids. He’s eating fine, had some cereal and a bottle. He pooped, too. I thought that was weird. Dex just tossed that out there. Was he supposed to tell me that?”
A smile pulled at Jessa’s lips. “He’s obviously a well-trained dad. We moms like to keep up with stuff like that. Babies have touchy digestive systems. He’s in a new place, and his schedule is all messed up. It’s a good sign that he’s eating and playing and pooping. ”
“Oh. All right, then. Good information. ” Cole put some bags on the table. “I got some breakfast. Just biscuit sandwiches. There’s a fast food place next door. Sorry it’s not—” The Waldorf—“anything better, but I didn’t want to be gone long. ”
Burke winced at his brother’s mental stutter and got up to grab some coffee. He would need it. There was no doubt in Burke’s mind what his brother had been thinking.
After he’d set up the computers the night before, he’d started downloading everything he had on Delgado. He’d read late into the night, looking for clues, any weakness, before Cole had awakened and made room for him beside Jessa’s soft body, demanding he get some sleep.
She mumbled her thanks. “How long do we have before Marco’s timeline kicks in?”
Burke was brutally aware that the bastard had given them twenty-four hours before this little game began. If they could trust him to wait.
“Seven hours at best. We have some decisions to make. ” Cole opened the bag and pulled out a sandwich.
“Can we make decisions with our pants on, please?” Jessa asked, frowning Burke’s way.
Burke shrugged. She hadn’t minded when they were sleeping. Despite her warnings, after she’d dropped off, she’d rolled into Cole’s arms. They’d slept entwined until it was Cole’s watch. Then she’d merely cuddled back against Burke. She might not trust them when she was awake, but when she was vulnerable, she sought out comfort and the security of their embrace.
“It would have been too hot with my pants on. ” He declined to mention that it would have been too hot because her body had been pressed to his. He could be a gentleman.
“Burke, those tight little boxer briefs don’t do much to hide the fact that you have an enormous erection. Am I the only one this bothers?”
Cole grunted out a laugh, but Burke simply turned to her, giving her a full view of what sleeping next to her had wrought. She wasn’t going to let him be a gentleman. “Well, sweetheart, that’s what happens when I sleep with my cock nestled against your beautiful ass. ”
She gasped, sounding a little like the virgin she’d been before she met them.
Cole smiled her way. It was the smile that always let Burke know his brother was about to throw him under a bus. “Don’t let him fool you, baby. He wakes up like that every morning. ”
“Fucker. Like you don’t. We both have the same dreams. ” He pinned Jessa to the bed with his intent stare. “We dream about you, sweetheart, and we wake up hard. ”
Her gaze slipped back and forth between the two of them, then dropped. “Could I have some coffee please? From someone wearing pants. ”
Damn it, he should have kept his fucking mouth shut.
Cole brought her a cup and a sandwich. “Cream and sugar. Two spoons. And please eat, Jessa. You didn’t eat on the plane last night. ”
Burke knew that Cole wanted to demand, order her to eat, but they didn’t have the right to command anything of her that didn’t pertain to her immediate safety. Curbing himself, holding back from Jessa, hurt Cole like hell. Burke didn’t like it any better.
She accepted the coffee but put the sandwich down. “I don’t feel much like eating. ”
Burke didn’t either. He wanted to work through their problems with Jessa somehow. But now wasn’t the time. And he wanted to see Caleb. God, a single day as a dad, and he was already freaking out about his kid. He shook it off. Their son was safe with the James family. They were insanely wealthy and very powerfully connected. They would take care of Caleb. But the James brothers weren’t the only powerful people they knew. “Did you get Rafe or Kade on the phone? I tried last night, but no one answered. ”
Cole nodded, finally looking away from Jessa. Thankfully, the question directed his brother’s attention elsewhere. “They were…busy last night. ”
Burke took a long sip of the fast food coffee. Swill, but still better than some he’d had in the past. He could bet how Rafe and Kade had been occupied. They had business interests in the States, but they loved American women. Lots of them. And they loved to share. It was just one reason they had all bonded as friends. “What did they say?”
“They’re in town. They have some meeting with Black Oak about the new refineries in Bezakistan. They’re going to come out here and bring some equipment with them. Sat phone, better computer equipment, new car, and a whole lot of cash. And cell phones. I don’t want Hilary to know our number after we get out of town. It’s better for all of us. They’re bringing some credit cards, too, and passports in case we want to leave the country. I know we can’t stay in one place too long, but I think it’s worth the wait to meet with them before we move. ”
Jessa turned, her eyes wide. “I can’t leave the country without my baby. ”
“Jessa, we’ll do what we have to do to keep you alive. ” Burke didn’t want to leave her again. He was sick at the thought, but she stood the best chance of staying alive somewhere far away.
She shook her head frantically. “No, I can’t leave the country. ”
Cole frowned. “You’ll be surprised what you can do when I tie you up and shove you on a private jet. ”
Burke looked at Jessa for a moment. She was still tired, despite her sleep. It was written in the circles under her eyes. She was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him, but she looked fragile, haunted. An
d very afraid. She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “What haven’t you told us, sweetheart?”
“How did you know?” Jessa asked.
Because he’d made a careful study of her. He had a brilliant mind and a very good memory. Every exchange they’d ever had, he’d kept vibrant and alive in his brain. “You wring your hands when you’re upset or unsure. ”
She also did it when she didn’t want to admit things. Like she had that night she’d admitted she was a virgin.
Jessa unclasped her hands. “Damn observant men. Someone texted my phone last night. I had my purse in Caleb’s diaper bag, and when we had to leave him, I grabbed it. The phone has pictures of Caleb, and I thought keeping it was harmless. I wasn’t planning to call anyone. I thought if you knew he’d contacted me, you’d take the phone away, so I didn’t say anything. But then you started talking about what sounded like leaving the country…” She sighed, then reached into the small bag Hannah had given her and pulled out her phone. Jessa held it out, her eyes full of tears. “I knew I needed to say something. I just want my pictures. ”
Cole grabbed the phone.
Burke sat beside Jessa. He would let Cole do the investigative work while he handled their woman. Even if she refused to be, he still thought of her that way. This was one of the joys of sharing. There was always one of them to handle the necessary business, which freed the other to comfort or protect the female.
“Sweetheart, no one’s going to take your pictures, but we’re going to turn off anything that sends or receives a signal. You’ll still be able to look at the pictures and use a few apps. ”
“Motherfucker!” Cole’s curse reverberated through the room. “Goddamn it. I’m going to kill that dog-fucking son of a bitch. I’m going rip him into little fucking pieces with my bare hands and shove them down his shit-sucking throat. ”
“Wow, he knows a lot of bad words,” Jessa said, eyes wide.
“And he’s not afraid to use them,” Burke drawled. “What does the message say?”
Cole put the phone down and picked up his own—the disposable, untraceable phone Dex had given him. He dialed a number and continued cursing.
Jessa watched Cole, but spoke to Burke. “It said that he knew you two would try to get me out of the country, but that if you called in favors to have me taken abroad, he would have no choice but to go after Caleb. ”
Burke closed his eyes, cursing mentally, using all the same words his brother had. “Marco knew we’d eventually come up with this plan. ”
“You were really going to send me away?”
He hated the way her lips trembled, the hurt in her voice. He hated the fact that she was so scared. “Yes. We talked about it while you were sleeping. We were going to send you with some friends who could have kept you safe. Once you were in their country, Gavin James was going to fly Caleb to Bezakistan himself. We didn’t have enough time to pull it off at the onset, and the fucker knew it. That’s why he only gave us twenty-four hours. But it still might be the best plan. ”
She shook her head. “No. I believe him. He’ll come after us. ”
Burke raised an arrogant brow. “He couldn’t get to you in Bezakistan. ”
“I can’t stay there the rest of my life,” Jessa said, frustration evident in her tone. “He wants to kill me. I don’t get why, but I have to fight this. I can’t risk letting him come after my son, not even for a second. Unless you manage to kill this asshole, we’ll be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives, worried that he’s gunning for us. ”
“I will kill him, Jessa. I won’t let anything happen to you or our son,” Cole vowed, hanging up the phone.
She was quiet for a moment. “Exactly who is this man?”
“Fucking dead,” Cole said, his face still red.
Jessa turned to Burke. “Could you please tell me? Without the gorilla chest thumping. ”
He didn’t want to. It would have been so much easier if he’d just been able to pack her off with Rafe and Kade, then pick her up when it was over. Then he wouldn’t have to admit just how much they’d screwed up.
“Tell me! I have the right to know why this man wants me dead. ”
“We usually handle security problems for corporations,” Cole explained. “But in this case, we were helping our friends from Bezakistan find their cousin, like we explained. ”
“Alea, yes. ” She waved him off, hugging the blanket to her chest. “Now give me the rest of the story. ”
Burke took a long breath and plunged in. “Marco believes we’re responsible for his father’s death. ”
“That’s bullshit. I wish I had been. I would have fucking enjoyed pulling the trigger,” Cole growled. “But no, I was a good boy and sent the asshole off to prison. If I had known he’d be dead so soon, I would have put a bullet in him myself—and Marco right after him—and ended everyone’s goddamn misery. ”