Fallen Heirs (Windsor Academy 3)

I kiss the top of her head. “It’s over.”

“Kingston?” My PI, John, calls out. “It’s clear, Bentley.”

“Yo, dawg, you in here?”

Jazz lifts her head. “Bent? In here!”

A moment later, Bentley and John appear in the doorway to the closet.

“Hey, baby girl,” Bentley says. “You okay?”

She sniffles. “Yeah.”

John nods to me in acknowledgment. “Everything good? I heard shots.”

“Yep,” I confirm. “Everything okay up top?”

“It’s clear. The only other person on the boat was the captain, and I took him down quickly. He’s cuffed to one of the railings on the upper deck. Your friend Reed is watching him.”

“How did you all get here so quickly?” Jazz questions.

I smooth some hair away from her face and finger the locket around her neck. “I was waiting at the driving school to pick you up. The second I saw your instructor returning without you, I checked the GPS. When I saw you were at the marina, I knew my father had gotten to you somehow. I called the guys right away and told them to meet me here.”

“Aren’t we offshore? Where’d you get a boat?”

I nod. “About two miles or so. I borrowed some guy’s speedboat. He was just getting ready to go out.”

Jazz raises her eyebrows. “And he willingly just let you have it, huh?”

I shrug. “I gave him the keys to my Agera as collateral.”

She smiles softly. “Thank God you’re such a stalkery stalker.”

“Don’t encourage him, Jazzy.” Bent laughs. “What do you want to do now, bro?” He jerks his head over his shoulder, adopting a more serious expression when he gestures to the two dead bodies behind him. “What do we do with them?”

“I’ll call it in. I need to check in anyway.” John holds up his cell. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I nod. “Thanks, man.”

I take a deep breath and help Jazz stand. Bentley averts his eyes when he notices she’s not wearing any pants.

“I... uh... I’ll meet you up top, yeah?”

Jazz blushes. “Yeah, Bent. Thanks.”

I wait while Jazz gets dressed, then we both exit the master cabin, carefully avoiding the two bodies. Jazz stops at the threshold and turns around to survey the room. She takes a deep breath as her eyes land on Charles, before she grabs my hand and we head up to the bridge together. Right before we get there to meet up with the guys, I pull her to a stop.

Her delicate brows crease. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I assure her. “Just needed to say something before we have to deal with the inevitable shitstorm of explaining what happened here.”

Jazz runs her finger along the length of my eyebrow, down the bridge of my nose. “What’s that?”

I press my lips against hers. “I love you. You know that’s never going to change, right?”

She smiles. “I know. Because I feel the same, even if you are an insufferable caveman at times.”

I grab her ass as I’m pulling her into me. “You bet this sweet ass I am. Don’t expect that to change where you’re concerned.”