Page 13 of Traitorous Lies
Four
October 31st
10:26 P.M.
Giving Monique his real name was stupid.
Granted, Jax wasn't all that far off from Jaxon, which was exactly why he’d chosen it for this short undercover gig, but it was still wrong giving her his real name when he was deceiving her, and the reason she was currently injured and curled up in his lap in the back of a van.
But that was exactly why he’d had to tell her.
She might not know it, but she’d been kidnapped because of him, and she’d gone and put herself between him and death.
He wasn't sure if the men had planned on killing him then and there. Likely they weren't once they realized he wasn't in the car. No doubt their orders had been to make his death look like an accident, and if Monique wound up collateral damage, then so be it.
His not being in the car when they got there changed things.
Shooting him and Monique, or even just him and leaving her alive, would then make it obvious that someone was the cause of his death, and that would bring in the cops. Given that her father was doingeverything he could to remain off law enforcement’s radar, that would be the last thing he wanted.
Monique didn't know any of that though. She believed that she was the cause of the abduction, that she’d been kidnapped for ransom, and he had been taken solely because he was unfortunate enough to be with her when they came after her.
But that wasn't what left him feeling sick.
Sicker than the head injury had left him.
After telling him in no uncertain terms that she was absolutely prepared to bargain with her body, she’d said that she could handle it, that she’d survived once and could do it again.
What the hell did that mean?
And why wasn't whatever she was talking about in the dossier that Prey had put together on her?
The van bumped over something, and Jax braced them against the corner of the van so they didn't get bounced about too badly. In his arms, Monique whimpered, and he knew she was in pain, pain he could do nothing about because he was the one who had dragged her into this.
Maybe he should just tell her everything.
He was still holding out hope that her father’s orders had included not harming his daughter. Surely the man wasn't sick enough to allow his only claimed child to go through hell just so he could try to desperately hold onto his secrets.
If he died and she somehow survived, if she knew the truth, knew how dangerous her father was, knew what he’d done years ago and more recently, then she could go straight to his family. They’d keep her safe, and if she gave them her father’s location, this whole mess would be over, all his family would be free to live their lives, and make their dreams realities.
Including Monique.
Because she deserved the world. He’d already thought that before when he met her, saw how sweetly shy she could be, realized she was nothing like the media made her out to be, that she wasn't into typical rich guys, and loved her animal rescue above all else. But now that she’d quite literally put her body on the line for him, how could he not think she deserved only good things?
“Jax?”
The sound of his real name on her lips made him feel a whole hell of a lot better than it should, given everything he was lying to her about. Tightening his hold on her, he looked down to see she’d tilted her head back a little so she would be meeting his gaze if they could see one another.
“Yeah, princess?”
“It feels like we left the road.”
Not only beautiful, compassionate, and brave, but smart too. Monique was right, they were no longer driving on a road, and he had to assume that was because these men were winding their way through the forest looking for a secluded location where they could kill him, possibly both of them, and their bodies would likely never be found.
It would be easy enough to spin that after the car accident, disoriented, the two of them had wandered off into the forest, gotten lost, and perished. There would be a search for their bodies, but both their blood was inside that car, and everyone would assume that because they were injured, they hadn't made it back to the road, eventually succumbing to their injuries or being taken by wild animals.
“Yeah, it does,” he agreed, still trying to decide if he should spill all. If he told her everything now he would lose her trust. Once she realized it had been a setup, that he’d been there for her, that asking her to leave with him wasn't innocent, that he’d intended to use her from the very beginning, then there was no way she would trust him ever again, and he might need that trust.
He wasn't giving up.
