Pros & Cons (22 page)

“So you’re afraid of guns? That’s why I was left behind?”

“I’m afraid of guns when they’re pointed at you, yes.”

“Oh, but it’s okay if you get shot?”

 “I can take care of myself.”

“And I can’t?”

Ethan sighs loudly. “Do you want to hear what he had to say or not?”

“Am I allowed? Can my innocent ears handle it?”

“There’s nothing innocent about you,” he says, chuckling. I’m sure he’s grinning, too. I don’t know, because I’m stubbornly staring out the window.

“Seriously, Jenna, you need to hear this.”

“Fine.”

When Ethan tells me what Stavros revealed about Coop’s involvement with the heist, I become even more enraged.

“Stavros is a liar. Coop never would have sold us out.”

“It’s his word against a dead man’s. We both know how much Coop and Abby wanted out. Maybe they didn’t see the harm in accepting a little bribe to make sure we participated. On paper, it was a simple operation with a huge payout.”

“I still don’t buy it.”

“I don’t know if I do, either. But Stavros knew you and I didn’t trust him, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he used Coop and Abby to get to us. With them gone, he thinks we should come work for him.”

 I snort. “Over my dead body.”

“That’s what I told him. He wanted to offer the same deal to you, and that’s why I had to get you out of Greece.”

“Why? Were you actually afraid I’d say yes?”

“No, I was afraid he wouldn’t give you a choice. I couldn’t take the chance he’d find you alone and unprotected.”

I glance over at Sebastian who’s playing a game on his phone.

“No chance of that,” I mutter.

“And that’s how it’s going to stay.”

“But I can lose him when we get home, right?” I ask hopefully, but Ethan’s already shaking his head.

“Don’t be difficult about this, Jenna.”

I’m still suspicious. “Why do I feel like there’s more to this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been taking care of myself for a long time, Ethan, and I’ve done it all without a security detail.”

“That was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before you became the most important thing in my life.”

Ethan takes advantage of my speechlessness to cup my cheek and kiss me sweetly.

“I’ve never cared about anyone this much. You’ll have to forgive me if I come on a little strong.”

“A little strong? This level of security puts the Queen of England’s to shame.”

Ethan smiles. “Please don’t give Sebastian a hard time. He’s very good at his job.”

“I’m not sure I can make that promise. Especially if he follows me to the bathroom.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” he says, lifting my hand toward his lips. I tremble when his mouth brushes across my knuckles. “If you promise to play nice, I promise I’ll be the only person who follows you into the bathroom.”

Despite my annoyance, a thrill of excitement shoots through me. I glance around. Sebastian’s concentrating on his game and Jason and Cara are huddled around a laptop. The rest of our entourage seem to be napping.

“Don’t flirt with me. I’m still not happy with you.”

He grins and nods toward the back of the plane. I’m mad at him, but I head to the bathroom anyway. When we land, he and I are going to have a very long discussion about his overbearing security measures. But I’m willing to set my aggravation aside for now, because I love him, and a tiny part of me wonders if he might love me, too.

It’s not that long of a walk to the tiny bathroom, but before I can even reach for the door, Ethan’s there, pressing against my back and breathing heavily against my ear as he slams the door behind us.

“Will I always want you like this?” he whispers roughly, reaching around and tearing at the buttons of my blouse.

I spin around in his arms and reach for the hem of his T-shirt, lifting it over his head.

He doesn’t wait for my answer before crashing his mouth to mine.

I’m able to breathe a little easier once we’re back in Tennessee. I don’t like having so many people in my house, but when it comes to Jenna’s safety, I refuse to take any chances.

Jenna’s asleep upstairs, but I’m too wired to get any rest. I keep replaying my conversation with Stavros over and over in my mind, trying to figure out if I’d totally shown my hand where Jenna’s concerned.

“I want you, Ethan.”

“Well, you can’t have me.”

“That’s a shame. As you can imagine, it’s very important I have the very best on my team.”

“You have Marcello and Maria.”

Stavros chuckles. “The twins are young and ambitious, but they aren’t skilled. Given time, they may become two excellent criminal minds, but they will never be the best—not while you and Jenna are still in the game. Not to mention, the fact that they are twins isn’t the ideal situation. It makes them very in tune with each other, to the point of distraction. Their first priority is, and will always be, each other. Their first priority should be the mission.”

“Then I have something in common with Marcello and Maria. I also believe the first priority should always be my partner.”

“And yet, in New York, you left him behind.”

My entire body begins to shake.

“There was nothing I could do.”

Stavros nods. “That must have been difficult for you.”

I try desperately to keep my poker face.

“Coop knew the risks,” I reply coldly, trying to disguise the shame in my voice. I can’t let Stavros see how much his words affected me.

“Wouldn’t it be fair to say Jenna knows the risks, as well? Perhaps we should give her the chance to consider my offer before you decide for her.”

“No.”

“No? I wasn’t aware you speak for her.”

“Well, I do. Neither of us will ever work for you.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Go to hell.”

The sound of his laughter still resonates in my head.

I join the guys in the kitchen. Jason is checking something on the internet while Gabe eats some leftover pizza.

“I screwed up.”

Jason looks up from his laptop. “With Stavros? Yeah. The fact that you were so quick to defend her shows him how important she is to you.”

Gabe nods in agreement. “If he gets the chance, he’ll use her to get to you.”

“He won’t get the chance. We have twenty-four hour surveillance around the house—a house he doesn’t even know exists.”

“So that’s your plan?” Gabe asks. “Just keep her prisoner for the rest of her life?”

“Until I can kill him, yes.”

The two men give each other pointed looks.

“What?”

Jason clears his throat. “Ethan, the security surrounding Stavros is far more sophisticated than we anticipated.”

“We aren’t sure we can even get to him,” Gabe says. “Cara was able to hack into his system for exactly five seconds before she was kicked out. We can’t risk people’s lives by sending them into his house without some kind of surveillance.”

“Then I’ll go by myself.”

Gabe smirks. “I’m pretty sure Jenna would have something to say about that.”

“So we don’t tell her.”

“I’m afraid I can’t go along with that.”

Jason shakes his head. “Neither can I.”

“I’m not asking for permission here.”

They both sigh.

“Look, Ethan, I get it,” Jason says sympathetically. “I want the asshole dead, too. But sending anyone into that house unprotected isn’t something I can be part of. I’ve already picked out two coffins this year.”

“And if I might remind you,” Gabe adds, “there’s a beautiful woman asleep upstairs who wouldn’t survive it if something happened to you. We’re sitting here, making decisions that directly affect her, and you’re choosing to keep her in the dark.”

“I told her enough. She doesn’t need to know how monumentally I screwed up with Stavros. She’ll just worry.”

“But it may help her understand the need for constant protection, and it may convince her to be more cooperative when it comes to Sebastian,” Gabe says. “She’s like you. She’s a free spirit. She’s not going to like being stuck in this house for too long, and she’s certainly not going to like being left behind . . . again.”

“I have to protect her, Gabe.”

“I know. But you can’t do that if you’re dead.”

They’re right. I know they are.

“So what do you propose we do? You know he’s going to try to find her.”

“Just lay low,” Gabe says.

Jason nods. “We’ll keep an eye on the news, and we’ll track his movements outside the house. If he leaves the country, we’ll know it.”

“And we’ll watch Marcello and Maria,” Gabe replies. “Stavros didn’t seem too concerned with their well-being and would more than likely send them to do his dirty work. To him, they are completely expendable, especially if it means he’ll have you and Jenna when the smoke clears.”

I’m not happy with these options, but I know I have to trust their judgment because I’m not thinking clearly at all. My only focus—the only thing I can think about—is protecting her.

And that’s exactly what Stavros is counting on.

We follow Gabe and Jason’s advice and lay low for the rest of the week. Jenna seems relaxed, despite the fact we haven’t ventured off the property. She smiles all the time, which gives me hope that she’s content in spite of being trapped in the house with a bunch of bodyguards. Neither of us is very happy when we stay in one place too long, but that rule doesn’t seem to apply when we’re in the mountains.

During one of our daily walks, Jenna fell in love with a little clearing behind the house. When I bought the property, the realtor told me the place had been in high demand because it was difficult to find this much flatland in the Smokies, which made the area perfect for farming. Minnie and Joe assumed I’d eventually buy horses, but I’d decided to leave the land untouched. I’m glad I did, because in the spring and summer, wildflowers invade, and Jenna loves sitting among the daisies.

They were Abby’s favorite flower, after all.

Today, Jenna had brought a blanket and a book of poems. I didn’t really understand them, but I hung on to every single word as she read to me. I’d listen to her recite the phone book if it meant she was here, with her head in my lap, lying in a field of daisies.

With me.

She finishes reading a passage and gently closes the book. Looking up at me, she smiles. I grin and continue playing with the natural curls in her hair.

“Ethan, do you believe in soul mates?”

If she’d asked me that question six months ago, I would have laughed out loud. But things are different now.
I’m
different.

“Yes, I do.”

She smiles. “Me, too.”

We walk hand-in-hand back to the house, but once we’re on the porch, our peaceful contentment is quickly shot to hell. Loud voices can be heard coming from inside, and Jenna and I rush up the steps and through the door. We find everyone, including our extra security guards, huddled around their laptops and phones.

“What’s going on?” I shout over the noise.

Every head jerks up, but it’s Gabe who answers.

“Your parents were on the freeway when their car was forced off the road and over an embankment. Your dad is stable.”