Jardin's Gamble (Haven, Texas 9)

He grunted.

Possessive bastard.

“Dad had fallen asleep. By the time I got there, I remembered I’d forgotten to text you, Carrick, but my phone was dead. Unfortunately, Dad wasn’t there when I arrived. A couple of assholes had gone into the bar and dragged him out.”

“Who?” Jardin asked.

“Derrick Silvers’ guys,” she admitted

Carrick sucked in a breath. “Fuck. Then what happened?”

“My friend convinced me not to get involved. And I decided to go home, charge my phone and text you. But when I left the bar, this guy grabbed me. He had a gun and forced me into the back of this car. They drove me to a wrecking yard and forced me into a shipping container. My dad was in there; he’d been beaten unconscious.” She paused to calm her racing heart. “Derrick Silvers was there too.”

“What the fuck? He threatened you?” Jardin asked.

“Told me my dad owed him fifty thousand dollars and that I was liable for his debt. Then he said he’d . . . he’d take me as payment.”

“Fuck!” Jardin got up to pace again. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because he said he would hurt the boys if I told anyone. I believed him. He gave me a week to come up with the money. He started leaving me roses and notes. One was under my car’s window wiper. Another appeared on my desk at work. Thursday night I came home to find him in my house. I knew I had to leave. The boys weren’t safe. I wasn’t safe. So, we pretended to go to school, got an Uber to pick us up at the back entrance and take us to the mall. I left my phone there, and we changed clothes then caught a bus into the main terminal, then got on one headed to Lafayette. There, I . . . I pawned my mom’s gold and diamond necklace to buy a car, and we came here.”

“Why here?” Carrick asked.

“Maddox told me a bit about Haven. About how women here were protected. It sounded like an amazing place. And I guess, I think it made me feel closer to you,” she said to Jardin.

“We’re going to take care of this, rocket,” Carrick told her.

“How?” she asked. “He’s been arrested several times, nothing sticks. He likely has cops and judges in his pocket. How will you stop him?”

Jardin stopped in front of her with a smile. “We won’t. We’ll set Regent on him.”

“Regent? Your brother? How will he get him to leave me alone? I don’t want him paying the fifty grand for me.”

“Oh, he won’t give Silvers a dime. And don’t worry about Regent. He and Victor have been dying to take Silvers down. No excuse as good as him making a move against our family.”

“But I’m not family.”

“You are now.”

Her heart fluttered. God, did he know how much she longed to have a family? A place to belong? Someone to share her burdens?

“There are bigger monsters in the world than Derrick Silvers,” Jardin told her, pulling out his phone. “My brother is one of them. Stay here.”

He stepped out of the room, his phone already to his ear.

“Is he . . . does he really mean that?” she asked.

“Nobody goes up against Regent and wins,” Carrick told her seriously. “Jardin’s oldest brother can be terrifying. But he’s all about family. Derrick Silvers is toast. He’s no longer on your list of worries.”

She couldn’t dare to believe it.

Jardin walked back in, an intense look on his face as he stared at her. “Regent said to consider it done.”

“Really?” How could it possibly be that easy?

“Really. But he also suggested we stay here until it is.” Jardin looked around the motel with disgust.

Carrick turned her so she was straddling his lap. He grabbed her chin, raising it. “You sure you want to live here? We’ll do it if you want to. If you can’t go back to New Orleans. But you need to be sure.”