Mine to Crave (Mine 4)

Silence. Then, voice breaking a bit, the hunter confessed, “She flew away with him…to New Orleans.”

Maxwell nearly smashed the phone. Jasmine wasn’t supposed to leave town. She should’ve returned to him.

“I-I’m boarding a flight now,” Hardin stammered out. “I’ll be right on her tail.”

So will I.

Jasmine…beautiful bitch. She’d switched allegiances. Told Archer about the bombs. Even when she shouldn’t have known about them.

And now…now she’d suffer.

He had a special way of paying back those who betrayed him.

Jasmine, baby, you’re going to burn.

Chapter Six

“They found three explosives.”

Jasmine’s eyes squeezed closed at this news. She was out on Drake’s balcony, clad now in jeans and a t-shirt. The rain had stopped, but she knew the storm was far from over.

“They were all right in the exact spots you said.” His hand closed around her shoulder as he turned her to face him.

She forced herself to hold his furious stare.

“You knew what he was doing.”

The rage on his face terrified her. “I didn’t!”

“You knew every spot—”

“N-no one was hurt?”

Grimly, he shook his head and she was finally able to draw in a deep breath. “Thank God.” She’d been terrified that someone would get hurt before the bombs could be deactivated.

“You’re working for a sadistic asshole who plants bombs.” His hold was almost painful. “So you’ve done this before…just stood by while innocent people suffered. While they were hurt, you—”

“No!” The scream broke from her because it was too much. “I haven’t. I wouldn’t.” So he really thought that of her, huh? Not surprising. Most people had been sure she was just trash all her life. Just like dear old mom. “He gave me the specs to get in to the casino. I told you, he had the blueprints.” Blueprints that she’d discovered when she did a bit of snooping on his computer. “I knew about his demolitions past, okay? And I just put two and two together when you told me that someone was back at your casino. I wanted to make sure everyone was safe.”

He had no clue what she’d just done. Maxwell would discover that his devices had been found. He’d also soon connect the dots and realize that she was the person who’d seen the blueprints. She’d been the one in his office. He would know that. She’d had access to his computer, and getting past his computer’s security system had been all too easy for her.

When he realized what she’d done, Maxwell would come after her.

I’m a dead woman. None of her connections would be able to save her this time.

“It’s not like he rose to power easily in Vegas.” She’d read the newspaper stories. Had done her own research. “He told me once that he had to fight his way to the top of the pack.”

“You’re working with him.”

She shook her head. “I took one job for him. I was supposed to get that business intel on your computer. Nothing more. I swear, I swear, I would never do anything to hurt anyone.”

“You crawled into bed with the wrong man.”

She flinched at that. The memory of being in Drake’s bed was too strong. I can still feel him on my skin. In me.

“I’m going to destroy him,” Drake told her flatly. “No one comes after me like this. No one.”

He pushed her away. As if he didn’t want to touch her anymore. Then he turned his back on her. Left her out there on that balcony.

“Drake?” She took a quick step forward.

He didn’t turn at her call.

Jasmine hurried after him. “Drake, please, it’s not what you think—”

He didn’t answer her. Didn’t talk to her. Didn’t even stop in the den. He left the big, cavernous house. Left her standing there, with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

He said he’d protect me.

But he was leaving her. He’d fucked her, just like he’d said he would.

More like fucked me over.

Jasmine felt as if she were about to shatter into a million pieces.

Maxwell planted bombs in the casino. People could’ve died. He wouldn’t be done, not yet. His attack hadn’t worked, so he’d make a new plan. That was how he operated. Why he was so very dangerous.

He didn’t stop, not until his enemies were eliminated.

She hurried toward the phone in the den, her whole body shaking. Picking up the phone on the nearby table—Jasmine’s phone was some place back in Vegas—she called him blindly.

Maxwell answered on the second ring.

“What have you done?” Jasmine whispered.

“Jasmine…”

“Bombs, Max? Dear God, there were people in there!”

“You found my plans…naughty girl.”

She’d found blueprints. She hadn’t realized just how important they were, not until that moment in Drake’s bedroom. A robbery was one thing. A bombing was another. “I’m going to the cops.” She’d tell them everything she knew about Max.

“The cops won’t save you.”

Goosebumps rose on her arms.

“You know how I deal with betrayal, Jazz.” Jazz…a nickname that had followed her for so long that it had become her codename in the business.

You wanted information retrieved from a rival…call Jazz.

You needed a computer hacked…call Jazz.

You need a life destroyed…

A sob rose in her throat. “I’m telling them everything. You’re done. You should just…you should get on a plane and get the hell out of the country. Run, while you still can.”

His low laughter slipped over the line. “My, but you must be upset…because you didn’t even try to block this number when you called me. Such an amateur mistake. But then, I already knew you were with him in New Orleans.”

The sob choked her. No, she hadn’t tried to block the call. What would have been the point? When she’d been on Maxwell’s computer, she’d seen the file he had on Drake…a file that had contained the addresses and telephone numbers for all of Drake’s homes. This place in the Quarter, the estate in Vegas, the—

“I know where you are, Jazz, and I’m coming for you.”