Jason hit the cement first, his body cushioning her fall, but in the next moment, he spun and had her positioned beneath him. His body surrounded her, protected her. Cat stared up at him as her heart thundered in her chest. Jason’s head was turned as he stared after the fleeing motorcycle.
“Bastard,” he snarled.
That bastard was roaring away from them.
Jason’s head jerked toward her. “Are you hurt?”
Cat shook her head. A few bruises didn’t matter.
His hands slid over her body, as if he didn’t quite believe her, and he checked her carefully for injuries.
“Jason, no, I’m all right.” Shaking, terrified, but alive. Thanks to him. “Th-thank you.”
He stopped his pat down. His gaze held hers. “He aimed for you, love.” Jason rose, pulling her along with him and holding tightly to her arm. “He aimed for you.”
She shivered at the menace in his voice—and because he was right. That motorcycle had followed her onto the sidewalk.
“He must’ve been drunk,” Jason’s driver, Tim, said as he edged closer to them. “Fool. You see them drunk idiots all the time in Vegas—”
“A drunken bastard wouldn’t have swerved to hit her…and sped up the whole time.” Jason maneuvered her toward the back of the limo and, right then, Cat was only too eager to escape inside that vehicle. “Get us home, now.”
“Sir.” The driver slammed the door.
Cat realized that her breaths were coming in sharp pants. “Nothing like that…has ever happened to me.”
“Someone trying to kill you?” His fingers were still wrapped around her inner wrist. “I’m glad to know it doesn’t happen often.”
“Does it happen a lot to you?” Cat blurted.
He shrugged.
Shrugged? A shrug wasn’t an answer.
“More than you might expect,” Jason finally told her.
Cat’s jaw almost dropped. He was a restaurant magnate, for goodness sake! Not—
“I’ve told you before, we all have secrets,” Jason added as the limo pulled away from the curb.
Cat wasn’t so sure she wanted to know Jason’s secrets. “We should…we should call the cops.” Wasn’t that what happened in situations like this one? “He could hurt someone else.”
Jason shifted beside her, moving slightly on the leather. “You were his target. I don’t need the cops. I’ll find him, and I’ll stop the bastard. No one comes after what’s mine.”
This was wrong. Everything was spinning out of control. She didn’t belong there, with him, with his…ring on her hand. With his body pressed to hers. With some crazy jerk nearly mowing her down with a motorcycle.
“T-take me to my brother’s place.” That had been her destination BM. Before Motorcycle.
Jason had told the driver to take them home. She couldn’t go to Jason’s place. She—
“Someone blackmails you and then a dumb fool on a motorcycle comes at you…and you really think I’m just going to turn away from you? Drop you off on Cameron’s doorstep and not look back?”
Her heartbeat still hadn’t slowed down. “I have to call him.” She had to explain, before pictures of her and Jason started appearing in the local media.
“You give your brother more credit than he deserves.” But he released her hand and gave Cat his phone to use.
She quickly dialed her brother’s number. Sure, it was heading past 2 a.m. right then, but he’d answer. He hardly ever slept and…
He didn’t answer.
His voicemail picked up. So much for going to his place. She didn’t have a key to his home and she sure wasn’t going to camp out on his doorstep. Not when she was still shaking. Cat fumbled a bit then managed to say, “Cameron, it’s me. I, um, you’re going to see some things—maybe in the paper, maybe online—about me and J-Jason August. I can explain everything, okay?” Well, not really, she couldn’t. She’d try. “Call me. On my cell, not at the hotel. I’ve checked out. I-I’ll be with Jason—”
Jason took the phone from her. Hung up before she could finish. “He doesn’t deserve the loyalty you give him. The guy’s a prick who—”
She stiffened. “Don’t talk about him like that.” He wasn’t a prick. Cameron was the only person in the world who’d ever really given a damn about her.
“Cat—”
“When I was ten years old, my parents were having a big party at their house in the Keys.” They’d always loved their parties. Entertaining is part of the lifestyle. How many times had she heard her father say those words? Party after party…homes filled with strangers. Bursting at the seams.
Only she didn’t like crowds. Never had. “All of the people made me nervous.” They always did. So many faces. Adults who hadn’t wanted to be bothered with a little girl. “I slipped away. Went down to the beach.” She could still smell that crisp ocean air. She’d loved the water back then.
Jason had gone quiet beside her.
“I thought I saw a dolphin in the moonlight.” She could still see it in her mind, breaking through the waves underneath the full moon. “He seemed so close, and I just wanted to touch him.”
Beside her, Cat felt Jason stiffen.
“I didn’t realize I’d gone out so deep, not until I heard Cameron screaming my name.” She’d turned back to look at him. He’d been
on the beach, and the same moonlight that had let her see the dolphin had shown Cat her brother’s terror-filled face. “He was the last thing I saw before the waves hit me.”
“Fuck.”
“He got me out of the water. I woke up, choking, crying, on that beach and he was the only one there.” Her parents had still been at their party.
She’d been alone…with Cameron.
She shoved back the memories. “So don’t call him a prick! He’s my brother.” He might not be perfect, but neither was she. Not by a long shot.
When she needed him most, Cameron had been right there. For most of her life, he’d been the only one there for her.
Except…tonight, when a motorcycle had come crashing toward her, Jason had been there, shielding her. The knowledge unsettled Cat. “What are we going to do?” Cat heard herself whisper. “You…you really think someone is out to get me?”
His silence was her answer.
After that incident with the motorcycle, how could there be any doubt? Fear grew within her. “Why?”
“Because you’re important…very important to two powerful men.”
To Cameron.
To…Jason? Impossible. A man didn’t let someone who was important to him vanish for a whole year.
“Nothing is going to happen to you,” Jason growled out the words. “I swear it.”
In the darkness, she wanted to believe him.
But she knew he was very, very good at telling lies…
***
Rage churned within Jason’s blood as he hurried inside his penthouse. The glow of the Vegas lights poured through the giant windows that gave him a million-damn-dollar view of the city. He ignored that view and focused on the only thing that mattered.
Catherine.
She stood just inside his doorway. Her arms curled nervously around her stomach. That motorcycle had come too close to her. Its growl had drowned out Jason’s shocked roar. He’d been afraid. Desperate.
I got to her. She’s safe. She’s here.
Finally, in his home.
But not in his bed. Not yet.
It’s where she’ll be soon.
He yanked off his suit jacket. Tore at the buttons that seemed too tight on his shirt and tossed his bowtie.