Page 5 of Protected By the SEAL

“You worked hard to get me.” I pout sadly as I think about how fucking dumb I am for falling for it. Any of it. “You worked for a long time to get me, and you’re telling me you don’t really know why? That makes no sense. None of this makes sense.”

“I justtoldyou that I’m doing it for money. That’s literally the only reason. I don’t need any other reason than that. Why does anyone do anything? It’s always for money. Perhaps you don’t understand that because you were born into cash.” This time, hiseyes burn through my soul. I can feel his hatred burning through me. “You’re a rich bitch who doesn’t know that you’re born. Not until now, anyway. This is your first little hint at reality. See how real people live. Shame it’s your last.”

“So, I’m going to die?” I blink the tears away again. “They are going to get money from my father and kill me. I guessed as much because I saw your face. I knew I was going to die. Why don’t you just kill me now?”

“If I kill you now, then I won’t get any money. I have to give you to them alive. Then they can do what they want.”

Clearly, this asshole has no real attachments to this gang who want me for ransom money, so maybe I can work with that. If he’s only interested in money, then that’s something I can sort out for him. It’ll be a lot of money for him to risk his life for me, but I might actually be able to get my father to help me out with that one. To save my life, he would.

“Hey, you know that you don’t have to do this, right?” I tell him seriously. “Why not cut out the middle man? You’ll get more money if you just take me to my father and demand cash yourself. He will pay you whatever you want. He will give you whatever you want. He will make sure that you have the absolute best life ever. He can offer you the world.”

The guy smirks like I’m joking. “You have no idea who I’m messing with, Cassie. It isn’t worth this shit. He could pay me the earth and it wouldn’t be worth it. If I don’t do this, then I’ll be ripped to shreds. My life won’t be worth living, which is probably for the best because I won’t be alive for very long. You have no idea who these men are. They aren’t messing around.”

“Then why are you handing me to them?” I snap angrily. “Why would you send me to these people who youknoware like this? I haven’t done anything wrong. My father’s money has nothing to do with me. I can’t control it or anything?—”

“That’s irrelevant.” He shrugs his shoulders. This attitude is so frustrating. “Getting at you is how they’re going to get to your father. It is what it is now. There’s no turning back. We’re here at the meeting spot, so just accept it already.”

I could. It would probably do me a favor to start getting my head around the end of my life, but I can’t. There’s still so much fight in me and I have to let it out. I don’t have any choice. I won’t just go down. It seems like my survival instinct won’t allow it.

“The cops will find out,” I insist. “And you will end up locked away. You can’t spend your money in jail.” He shoots me a look like I have no idea what the hell I’m talking about. “The media will find out. Youknowhow famous my dad is. The press will be all over it. Your face will be all over the TV, and not in a good way. It isn’t going to be worth it.” I suck in a breath. “Your life will be ruined, absolutely destroyed. Whatever it is you want to do, you won’t be able to do anything. If you work with me?—”

“Bitch, the Cartel are smarter than the cops. They probably work with the cops. They outsmart the media all the fucking time. They know exactly what they’re doing. You think they don’t have a plan for all this shit? You don’t think they do things like this all the time? Honestly, don’t be so naive. You can’t offer me any kind of anything to talk me away from this.”

He turns onto his side and makes a point of going to sleep now, effectively ending the conversation for me. There’s nothing else that I can say, no more questions I can ask, no more offers I canshoot his way. I’m done here. Because of that, I can’t hold the tears back any longer. They come cascading down my cheeks. This is more real now, worse than before. I can’t hack it.

The men are coming for me, some Cartel gang guys, by the sound of it. Men who have been outwitting the cops and the media for decades. Some chick who’s the unknown daughter of a celebrity who will only be famous for as long as he wishes to be isn’t going to change that. I’m going to end up forgotten, just a victim no one will care about.

The world might not care about me. I’m just a dot on a giant planet, just a blip who has weaved in and out of certain people’s lives, but I care about the life that I haven’t lived yet, the one I’ve always wanted. There are so many places I haven’t visited, so many people I haven’t met yet, so many experiences I haven’t had… including love.

Sure, I’ve had the odd boyfriend, but it’s never been love. Lust, sure, but not full-on passion. I’ve never experienced the sort of things they write about in books or show in movies. I haven’t had butterflies and excitement. I’ve missed out on anticipation and need. Now, it seems that I’ve been stuck in a box for such a long time that I’m never going to have any of it. When I left the show, I should have run away. I should have done everything I want to and so much more.

The sad thing is if I had done all of those things, then I probably wouldn’t be here now. Then again, I suppose it’s better me than one of my siblings. I can’t imagine the pain of one of them being here. That would kill me more.

Now, I’m not just crying for myself but for that life as well. I slide my eyes closed and take myself away from here, over the world and into the arms of a man I can love. Some man I don’t evenknow, someone who can love me for who I am, who can make me feel special, make me feel all those things that a woman is supposed to feel. All those things I don’t know about.

God, I would love that. I suppose if everything is going to end for me here, then I should at least imagine it, think about what life would be like if I had all those things. I can’t have it in reality, but I can in my imagination. I need to take advantage of that. It’s much better than sitting here and panicking about things I can’t control in the depths of this jungle.

5

BENJI

There’s an uneasy feeling clinging to the air. I can’t put my finger on it, but walking around the motel, trying my hardest to calm myself down, I don’t feel right. Knowing that Cassie is out there somewhere and I’m just here is killing me. Iknowwhat Max told me to do, I have all of his instructions, but my gut says differently. My gut wants me out there searching now.

“Just wait,” I whisper to myself as the sun peeks upward, starting ever so slowly to make an appearance. “Be patient.”

Max told me where the meeting will be and what time the transaction is going to happen. My plan has always been to go a little beforehand to try and avoid a big confrontation, but not this quickly, not this early. I should really be patient and give the kidnapper a chance to get everything in position, but my gut is screaming differently. My gut wants me in the jungle now.

I stare at the sky, trying my hardest to focus on something,anythingelse, but I keep going back to Cassie. My nightmare hasn’t helped things. In the back of my brain, I can still hear thatsheer terror of her calling me. I mean, in reality, I don’t know what she sounds like. It’s all just a nightmare playing in my head, but I can feel it. It’s almost like I can feel her, sense her.

“I need to check everything again.” It won’t make me feel any better to read through the informationagain, but at the same time, I don’t feel good out here, either, and sitting here isn’t making any progress. At least if I’m reading then I’m working, right?

I storm through the motel, my feelings zig-zagging all over the place as I go. It’s because I’m ignoring my gut, I’m pushing through, trying to work on what Max has told me to do. But what if he isn’t exactly right? What if I’m risking Cassie Jones, the woman I now feel like I know pretty well from the information I have, because I’m trying to do what I was told to do?

Panic sets in as soon as I set foot in the room. I know with utter certainty that I need to go now, I need to get out of here. Even if it’s much earlier than Max has told me to, I’ll find a way to make it work. Somehow, I’ll sort this out. Even if I need to hide for a long time to wait for them to arrive… actually, that might be even better. I wouldn’t mind being there first, then I can work out what move will make sure that both Cassie and I get out of the jungle alive. Alive and unharmed, preferably.

I have the motel room booked for days. Max always does things like that to ensure we have somewhere to go. With this sort of mission, there’s no way to tell what way things are going to go, and he likes to be prepared. But that doesn’t mean I need to stay in it the entire time. I can come back to it, hopefully when I have Cassie with me. Safe and sound. Since she comes from a very wealthy family, I don’t suppose the motel will be within her usual standards of lodging, but it has to be better than being inthe middle of the jungle with goddamn criminals surrounding her. Anything has to be better than that hell.

I pack up quickly. Thankfully, I don’t have much stuff with me so it doesn’t take long. I pack up the file which I know by heart, so I don’t need to read it again, really, and I exit through the front door. Funnily enough, my gut shuts up now that I’m listening to it. That’s how I know I’m doing the right thing at long last. There might even be a little smile on my face as I go. For a while, anyway.

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