Mine to Crave (Mine 4)

They were friends, of a sort.

“If it weren’t for Jazz, the Arrow would be nothing more than a pile of rubble in Vegas.” Anna Jean would’ve liked that. She would’ve laughed as the flames hit the sky. “She turned on me. She must have hacked my computer, and she told Archer everything she knew.”

Saxon was sweating. “But…”

Maxwell waved his hand in the air. “Don’t worry, I’ll handle Jazz.”

“She’s going to suffer?”

It was such a shame. Saxon seemed almost concerned for Jazz. But then, Jasmine had a talent for getting to people. For slipping right past their guards before they even realized it.

Maybe it was those eyes of hers. So deep and dark. Or it could’ve been her dimples. The woman had a beautiful smile.

He’d caught himself watching her smile once or twice. Waiting for those dimples to flash. Perhaps in another time…another place…

He shook his head. He only had this time. “Jasmine isn’t who you think she is.”

He’d recently uncovered more intel on her.

Saxon backed up a step.

“So the hell, yes,” Maxwell narrowed his eyes on the guard. “I will make her suffer.” He would make her beg, bleed, and burn. “And if you have a problem with that, then—”

“N-no problem,” Saxon managed.

Good. Because if it had been a problem, then Saxon would’ve been dead.

In his organization, people either followed Maxwell’s orders completely—or those people were eliminated.

***

She watched the sun rise over the city. Sleep hadn’t exactly been an option for Jasmine, not after Drake’s big reveal during the hours of darkness.

And not with his endless questions.

Where is his money—all of it, Jasmine. Off-shore accounts, properties…

I want his business associates. Every name that you know.

Why did he pick you? Why you?

He’d seemed enraged when he asked that question.

Her answer hadn’t exactly thrilled him. Because I was convenient.

She’d worked with one of Maxwell’s bodyguards before. Saxon had been the one to tell Maxwell about her particular skill set.

“He’s out there.” Drake’s arm brushed against hers as he came to stand with her on the balcony.

A dull headache pounded behind her eyes. “Yes, he is.” Waiting. Planning to strike. How would he attack first?

He’ll come after me.

Jasmine figured that Maxwell would save his big game for last.

“I answered all of your questions.” She’d given Drake as much information as she—safely—could. “Now, I need you to answer mine.” Squaring her shoulders, she turned to face him. “Who was the woman?”

He was staring at the rising sun. She knew just how that sunrise looked—like blood flashing across the sky. “Anna Jean. Beautiful Anna Jean.”

The name meant nothing to her. That would be changing as soon as she got near a computer. “Did the beautiful Anna Jean have a last name?”

His gaze slanted toward her. “That doesn’t matter.”

It did. Everything in this vendetta mattered.

“How did you meet her?” Jasmine pressed.

“We worked…covert operations together. After I got out of the military.” His lips twisted. “She was my friend’s girl.”

Hold up, wait, that didn’t make—

“But I had sex with her. One drunken night.” He ran a hand over his face. “Because that’s what a good friend I was to Tucker.”

She backed up a step. Her hips hit the balcony’s railing. “Did you…did you love her?” Jasmine held her breath as she waited for his answer.

He kept staring at the sun. “Maybe.”

That wasn’t really an answer.

His head turned. “But that didn’t stop me from killing her.”

Those words were supposed to terrify her. Okay, they did terrify her. And after dropping that big bombshell, the guy just turned around and started to head toward the bathroom.

“No!” So she’d yelled. That yell had stopped him in his tracks.

She ran around and faced him. Jasmine jabbed her index finger into his chest. “I deserve more than that. I talked until I was hoarse for you.” That would be why her voice sounded so husky. Not because she was scared and sad and close to breaking on the inside. “So don’t just spout a line about killing her. Tell me what happened. Everything that happened.”

“Why?”

Seriously? He made her want to yell, again. “Because I want to know! I want to see past this cold mask you’re giving me! You didn’t kill her in cold blood. You couldn’t have.”

“How would you know that?”

“I think you’re more than that.”

“You want me to be more.” His lips twisted. “You need to accept that I’m not.”

Her heart shook her chest. “What happened?”

“She betrayed me. I killed her.”

She grabbed him and she shook him. Okay, she tried to shake him, but the guy was an unmovable object of stone. “Stop it!”

He blinked at her. Then his gaze lowered to her clutching hands. A furrow appeared between his eyes. “Why are you drawn to the danger?”

She didn’t let him go.

“I tell you that I killed the last woman who told me that she loved me, and you…you hold on to me as tightly as you can.” He looked back up at her. “Something is wrong there, princess.”

Something has been wrong with me for a long time. “There’s more to the story,” she said stubbornly even though his words had hurt. “You’re trying to scare me, but you don’t have to do that. Don’t you get it? I was scared of you before we even met.”

His head cocked to the right as he seemed to study her. “Yet you came to my bed.”

“I’m scared every single day of my life.” If he lived her life, he would be, too. “Fear can’t stop me.” If it could, she’d be hiding in a closet some place, with her eyes squeezed tightly shut against the darkness. “Now drop the bullshit, and tell me what really happened.”

“You’re so sure I’m not a monster?”

“Yes.”

“You’re wrong.”

She wanted to slug him. “Tell me.”