Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

B raxton

Consequences. What would life be without them?

Now I was grinning, as if having the time of my life. Talk about being pompous. This man was one of the most arrogant sons of bitches I’d ever met. “Do you understand me?”

The second he hesitated, I did decide to wrap my hand around his scrawny throat. It took every ounce of control I had not to snap his neck.

Both of us heard commotion, Jade running into the room. “Justin. What is going on here?”

“We’re fine, Jade. Just a bit of a disagreement.” I answered the question, turning my head and giving her the kind of look indicating she didn’t want to be a part of this.

Fortunately, Justin threw up his hand, backing my suggestion.

She was befuddled, darting her eyes back and forth, a little anger showing. Perhaps she had more of a backbone than I’d originally believed. Five seconds later, she turned and rushed from the room.

I returned my attention to the man, holding a pretty nasty glare. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Do. You. Understand?”

“Fine. Yes. Okay. Yes.”

A part of me wasn’t eager to let go but I forced myself to, patting his face and backing away. This meeting wasn’t what I’d hoped but at this point, I needed to ruffle his feathers so whoever he was working with slithered into the open. If only it were that easy.

A few tense moments passed.

“What should I know about your daughter other than she has an innate ability to escape her bodyguards?”

Justin continued to remain stressed. I had a feeling he was thinking about everything I’d told him, troubled by the information I seemed to know. Was I winging part of it?

You bet, but I knew men like him. They followed a type of diagram that seemed almost identical. I suppose there were those who could shove me into the same category, but I still liked to think of myself as special.

“I don’t know what to tell you.”

“While I understand you’ve been a busy man over the years, there must be something. Perhaps at some point it will help me locate her if she could be stupid enough to vanish.” Which I had no doubt she would try again. It seemed escapism was in her nature but after meeting her father, I couldn’t say I blamed her.

I also had to admit I wanted to know if he cared about his daughter at all. Watching him intently was like opening a book for the first time. His features softened, his eyes glassing over. Maybe there was some hope for the cold asshole after all.

“My daughter has always been a little troublemaker but not in an evil way. She just wanted attention. Her mother and I were so busy all the time. She grew up with a nanny for several years, a couple years spent in private school, which she loathed. She even ran away from the campus. It was a huge deal. She managed to scale the roof of a building, using a gutter and downspout system to make her way to the ground just to attend some concert. She was lucky she wasn’t killed. The girl is fearless, full of the need for adventure. The strange thing is that I used to be exactly like her, not that I could ever mention that to her.” He took a few minutes to remember and laugh.

I remained quiet, allowing him to reminisce. It was funny in a family that it often took near tragedy before someone truly understood what their behavior had done.

“Anyway. My daughter is brilliant. She has several degrees, although she’ll only tell you about a couple of them. All by the time she was twenty-three.”

“Anything personal I should know or that others know about her?”

He lifted his head, staring at me intently. “You’re worried the near abduction is just the beginning.”

“Let’s just say the entire situation reeks of a book being written.”

“I don’t understand. What are you getting at?”

I’d been questioning why and how it was possible for Jasmine to find her way to my island. Now, either she was more devious than I’d originally believed, attempting to find the very black book that could destroy her father, or someone was hoping she’d manage to unravel me to the point I’d spill all my secrets. The odds otherwise were equal to being hit with an asteroid. However, if the second hypothesis was more to the point, there was a huge list of questions for which it would take time to get the answers to.

Either way, the laughable coincidence was enough to keep me on edge and glad I’d decided to keep her as mine.

At least for a little while.

“Your daughter suddenly appeared on my island. Or I should say one of two resorts owned by the Royal brothers. Now, while you can continue to act as if you have no clue about my family and our lives, I don’t buy it. My father was a prudent man, highly protective of his business and his family. That included keeping tabs on his enemies. I suspect he considered you one of those over the years.”

“What are you insinuating now?”

“I don’t insinuate. What I’m telling you is that either you convinced your daughter to seduce me for information gathering purposes or she’s doing this on her own, which I do find curious.”

My father would laugh at me, saying I was doing nothing more than tossing out spitballs, but it was a surefire way of unraveling mysteries.

And knowing when someone was lying to you. The mere thought of someone insulting his daughter and a man who’d acted his entire life as if he hadn’t cared immediately came to her defense. However, in the process of doing so, I caught a glimpse of something in his eyes, a look indicating he was indeed hiding something significant. Once we were safely in residence on the island, I’d find out all about his good friends.

My guess was he had a network of them.

After he snarled, I threw up my hands, conceding the point. “No offense but there are far too many oddities revolving around myself, your daughter, and the reason for her near abduction.”

He was furious with me but decided it was better not to antagonize me any further. Good choice. I didn’t hesitate to snap a man’s neck when he tried to push me into a corner.

“She’s a good girl. She’s not like that. She isn’t out to get people. Why would she care if I was in danger? She hates me. Hell, she hates her mother.”

He had no clue what his own daughter was looking for.

“She doesn’t hate you. She’s confused by the life she’s been forced to live. But she also refuses to accept you running her life.”

“Like you’re going to do?’

The man was pushing me. It was time to get out or have a murder on my hands.

Now he scratched his head, another sheepish look crossing his face. “Forced. Fine. Let her hate me. She’s allergic to peanuts and the secretions of some tropical plants. We found that out the hard way on one of very few vacations we took. She adores thriller movies and muscle cars.”

He was a mixture of incensed and frustrated.

As well as riddled with anxiety.

“Muscle cars?” Now that was a surprise.

He nodded, even giving me a sheepish look. “That girl could tell you about everything from a GTO to a nineteen-seventies Trans Am. I have no clue where that started but she is a walking encyclopedia.”

I was quite fascinated by how varied her tastes were. There was much more behind her cool fa?ade than people understood.

Including hurt from being ignored.

My entire body tensed. I pulled out the keys to her Mercedes. “Well, this might not be a muscle car but given its expense, I’m sure you’ll want it back. It’s parked just outside the hotel of the charity function.”

He caught them in one hand, nodding. There was an entirely different expression on the man than before. I’d broken through some solid rock barrier, not that I really gave a shit.

There was a series of mysteries and secrets that were all intertwined together and as ruthless of a man as I was, I had no intention of placing her life in the middle.

“You’ll take care of her?” he asked again, as if I’d changed my mind.

“With my life. In turn, I’ll wipe out your debt, which might buy a little time but I’m going to make a strong suggestion that you get your affairs in order. You made too many mistakes, Ambassador Sinclair. Now, they are coming back to bite you. Make no mistake, Mr. Sinclair. You have as many enemies as my family does, and not all of them will provide you with advance notice before they strike. I’d suggest hiring additional security guards if I were you.”

For a man I doubted took anyone’s advice, he seemed grateful. “I’ll do that.”

“Keep something in mind, Justin. If you fucking cross me in any way, betraying not only this conversation but your daughter, I won’t hesitate to return. And I will kill you myself.”

I didn’t need to offer another series of goodbyes. I wasn’t going to be friends with the man and I was pretty certain he didn’t like me in the least. As I headed to the front door, I pulled out my phone. There were many details to arrange, including ensuring the pilot would be ready to take off from the airport in a couple of hours. That should give me plenty of time to make a few phone calls and lay down a shield.

The pilot answered on the second ring. “Yes, sir.”

“Kevin. Are you able to get the plane ready in two hours?”

Kevin sighed. “Absolutely, sir. I’ve been on standby. I’ll call you if there are any issues.”

“Good.” I hung up the phone, taking a few seconds to gaze around the perimeter of the front lawn. The damn house was too manicured, as if plastic people lived here.

I had to wonder whether people thought that about me. A laugh bubbled to the surface and I noticed the guards were watching me a bit more intently. Good for Justin. He’d heard me.

The door behind me opened and for some reason, I bristled, turning slowly. If the asshole had changed his mind, I would need to ensure he fully understood his life was going to be crushed.

Instead, it was Jade, her face pinched. In her hands were two suitcases.

“Mr. Royal. These are Jasmine’s. She never unpacked. She truly hated living with us and I can’t say I blamed her.”

“Jasmine has a way of making do.”

She smiled, glancing over her shoulder. “My husband isn’t all bad no matter how the first impressions went or what my daughter told you. He simply… got lost along the way.”

I honestly wondered how much she knew about his gambling or mafia involvement. Even I wasn’t cruel enough to burst her bubble. Or maybe I simply didn’t give a shit. Either way, I was eager to get the fuck out of here. It was entirely possible Santini was behind the kidnapping attempt, which meant he would keep a close eye on her.

“People with ideals will always be challenged.” I shoved the phone into my jacket, grabbing the two cases.

“You’ll take care of my baby?” She reached out, gripping my arm, her voice imploring.

In her eyes were years of pain and worry, but I had no doubt she adored her daughter.

“I promise you that nothing is going to happen to her. You have my word.”

It was the first time that I could remember being truthful about the level of protection I’d give someone.

I would die doing so.