“What? No! Why would I do that? No!” I yelled.
I couldn’t believe what he had said. The first thing that had come to his mind when I said I did something was that I had called Stephano. Why on earth would I call Stephano?
Then it dawned on me. Jackson didn’t trust me. Maybe that was the real reason he didn’t want me involved. He didn’t think I was there to truly help him. He had doubts about my intentions.
It made me sick to think that I had almost slept with him – a man who thought I would risk Ana’s life and my own all to stay in the good graces of Stephano. Did he really think I was still on Stephano’s side? My mouth dropped open at the idea.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that,” Jackson said.
But then there was a knock at the door. It startled both of us, and for a second, I wondered if it was really Chase at the door or someone else. Maybe Stephano had followed us. Maybe it was one of his goons coming to try and hurt us.
I watched Jackson as he looked out the window and then back at me.
“Chase? You called Chase?” Jackson said as he opened the door more annoyed than ever at me. “She called you?”
Chase waved at me and gave me a little half grin before he answered Jackson. “She was worried you were going to get yourself killed with Stephano.”
“I’m a professional, Chase. You are paying me to help you with this job. You are not a professional. If anyone is more likely to get themselves killed here, it would be you.”
Jackson was really annoyed and I made a point to avoid eye contact with him and stayed on the bed. I saw a look in Chase’s eyes as he looked around the honeymoon suite we were in and realized there was only one big bed and a romantic bathtub in the corner.
“We need to talk alone. Come out here,” Chase said as he grabbed Jackson and they shut the door behind them.
“Are you kidding me, Chase? You seriously came all the way down here to babysit me? I can handle the job.”
“Are you fucking her?”
I stood up and kept my ear to the curtain near the window as I listened to their entire conversation.
“No! Why would you say that?” Jackson protested.
“Well, you’re in a romantic room with a king-size bed and hot tub in the corner. She’s acting all worried about you, and when I left, the two of you before you seemed to hate each other. But now she’s calling me worried that you’ll get hurt.”
Jackson was quiet for a minute and I could tell he was trying to decide just how much information he should admit to his brother.
“We’ve made out. That’s it. No sex. It really doesn’t matter, anyways. I’m a grown up and so is she – we can do whatever the hell we want to.”
“Jackson! Come on. I trusted you to get this job done. I’ve got Jordan at the hotel crying because she thinks her friend is being raped and tortured. I’ve got you here trying to get laid with our best inside informant. I don’t like this.”
“Listen here, Chase. I’m your older brother, let’s not forget that. I know what I’m doing. I know how to do this job. Now, if you want to do it yourself, you are more than welcome to. But I’ve got a friend from the CIA trafficking division coming down to help today and I was just about to call Nate in on the deal, as well.”
“You were going to call Nate?” Chase said as he calmed down.
“Yes, now do you want to come in and talk about this some more or should we stay out here and just throw some punches to get this over with?”
I ran back to the bed and sat down as I waited for the guys to come
back in. They seemed like typical brothers, yelling at each other one minute and then best friends the next.
“Did you boys make up?” I teased as they made their way back into the room.
Both Chase and Jackson were a couple of the best-looking men I had ever met. Of course, I was much fonder of Jackson than Chase, but they were both delicious hunks. I was secretly really excited to meet their other brother Nate. I could only hope that he was equally as delicious.
PART THREE
Chapter Thirteen
JACKSON