Page 87 of Faith

“So, tell me,” Carino said. “Who wants you dead?”

chapterseventeen

For a long moment, neither he nor Nicola responded to the absurd question.

“Kill me?” Nicola asked, her voice sounded so small. Jensen slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

“Yes. We found a tiny hole in the brake line. It tells us that either the person didn’t know what they were doing, or they were very crafty.”

“Why would that make them crafty?” Jensen asked.

“It means they knew it would be a slow leak, so they would be safely out of the area. Seeing where you had your accident tells me you were very lucky.”

She nodded. “I drove to my friend Serenity’s house that morning in the opposite direction.”

Her voice shook, and he pulled her closer. Jensen hated this. He hated the entire situation.

“I hear that you’re here for some business.”

He nodded. “We’re negotiating a deal with the Johnson family on Maui.”

“You’re buying them out?”

“No, they are making us minority partners, which allows us to invest some money and then have the possibility to make money later.”

“Was anyone protesting? The Hawaiians take their land very seriously, especially these last few years.”

“No.”

“Oh, but what about Michael?” Nicola asked.

“Who?”

“Michael Johnson. He is Robert’s son. He was definitely opposed to the deal.”

Before they could continue, the doorbell rang.

“Bloody Grand Central in here today,” he said as he went to the front door. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but he refused to believe anyone would want to hurt Nicola.

When he looked through the peephole, he saw Alfie. He opened the door.

“What the bloody hell are you doing here?”

“Sorry, I stopped by because I heard what happened with Nicola. Is she okay?”

“Yes, although I’m not sure for how long. How did you get in?”

“The gate was open. I made sure it closed when I came through.”

Dillon had given Carino the code, so Jensen assumed he left the gate open. “Come on in. How did you find out?”

“I came over this morning from Maui, but I checked in with the Johnsons. They told me.”

He led Alfie back to the living room, but there was a part of him who didn’t want Alfie there. He felt guilty for it. Not because of their friendship, but because he knew Alfie was harmless. He’d lost most of his friends when his father had lost their money, so Jensen had gone out of his way to stay on friendly terms with him.

“Nicola, I just found out and came over,” he said, taking Jensen’s seat next to Nicola. Jensen did everything he could to control the growl vibrating in his throat. Nicola had made it clear in the past that Alfie was not to her taste, but Jensen still didn’t like him sitting next to Nicola.

He got a look from Carino that told Jensen he knew of his interest in Nicola. He made a motion with his head.

---