Salvaging His Soul

by Samantha A. Cole

  Jordyn and Carter were somewhere on the south side, also hidden among the thick flora, gathering as much info about the place as possible. From what Jase had counted, there were six armed guards roaming the interior and exterior of the six thousand-square foot, three-story house. That alone told him something valuable was inside—so far, their intel seemed to be on the mark.

  The three-acre estate sat on the east end of the island, away from the main traffic areas, overlooking the beach. It was from there, Jase guessed, that the human “products” were brought in and taken away by boat. Transporting them via the airports, even the smaller ones, was too risky. Where they were taken from there depended on the size of the boats being used. They were probably smuggled into Venezuela, which was just over 220 nautical miles to the southwest of St. Lucia. A decent yacht could do that distance in about four hours, cruising at a maximum speed of fifty knots. And it was a given those bastards could afford a boat that could do that easily.

  In the pocket of his pants, Jase’s satellite phone vibrated once. He shifted back behind the cover of a large tree, pulled out the phone, and quietly answered. “Go.”

  Ian’s voice came over the line. “Head back to the extraction site. Cowboy and Skipper will take over the watch for the next few hours.”

  “Copy.” After making sure he was far enough into the foliage to prevent being spotted, Jase rolled to his feet and trekked the quarter mile to where his Jeep was hidden among the dense trees. Ian and another man, dressed in full camo, stood next to his brown Jeep, and the former made the introductions. “Jase Atwood, Logan “Cowboy” Reese.” As the two men shook hands, Ian continued. “Kip Morrison is taking over the south side for Carter and Jordyn. Anything going on?”

  Jase shook his head. “Pretty quiet—just the guards walking around with semi MP5s and small arms.” He hadn’t been thrilled to see the HK semi-automatic submachine guns they’d been carrying along with holstered sidearms. While they were legal on the island, it was very hard to receive a license and then only for private possession. In other words, they couldn’t leave the property with them. Handguns were a little easier to gain a license for, but still regulated. “Six of them patrolling, inside and out. No signs of the women or anyone other than the guards. Three SUVs in the driveway, but there could be more in the garage.” He handed Ian’s employee a crude map he’d made. “Here’s the location of the cameras and alarm sensors I could spot, but with the glare of the sun, I’m sure I missed a few.”

  Cowboy pocketed the piece of paper and then hoisted a large deployment bag onto his back. In it, surely, was all the high-tech and military-grade equipment and weapons he’d need. “Sounds good. I’ll note any others I spot and also see if I can pick up any conversations with the amplifier.” The device looked like a small, hand-held satellite dish and could pick up sound the length of a football field away.

  As the operative disappeared into the trees, Ian opened the passenger door to Jase’s Jeep. “Skipper’s got their ride hidden on the other side. I’ll catch a lift with you. The rest of the team will meet us at the hotel in about an hour after they finish getting settled in.”

  Rounding the front of the vehicle, he answered, “Works for me.”

  A half hour later, they were pulling into the resort parking lot. Jase was hot and dirty, and was looking forward to a shower . . . preferably with Brie. Climbing from the Jeep, he grabbed his knapsack and followed Ian into the lobby where they ran into Carter and Jordyn, who’d beaten them back and were heading toward the elevators. The guy was grinning at both men as they approached, and his eyes danced with amusement. “If you’re looking for your brats, they’re out by the pool . . .” He hitched his thumb over his shoulder. “. . . catching some rays and lots of attention. Have fun. We’ll meet up with you later.” His laughter rang out as he followed Jordyn into an elevator.

  “Shit,” spat Ian. “She’ll be the death of me yet.” He turned on his heel and headed across the lobby to the doors leading out to the pool, beach, and outside bars.

  Jase hurried after him, uncertain what was going on. Well, he got his answer when he stepped out onto the lanai and spotted Brie, Amy, and Angie lounging on chaises at the far side of the pool, with daiquiris in hand, and surrounded by three twenty-something-year-old assholes. All of them were laughing . . . laughing for Christ’s sake. And holy shit! What the hell is Brie wearing? Or not wearing, to be more precise?

  Jase stopped short as a combination of intense lust and jealous rage assaulted him. Some blond dickhead was sitting on the foot of Brie’s chaise, while she had her knees pulled up to give him some room. A white bikini did nothing to hide her luscious, tanned body from the drooling bastard.

  While Jase stayed frozen where he was, Ian continued to his wife’s side. Brie saw him approaching and her gaze quickly sought out Jase. Spotting him, she handed her fruity drink to her new boyfriend, jumped up, grabbed a black garment from the back of her chair, and rushed over to him, pulling on the cover-up. Concern had replaced her laughter, but that didn’t register in Jase’s mind. He was pissed those jerks, and every other man out there, had gotten to see her in that incredible bikini she was covering up in his presence.

  “What happened? Did you see Nadine? Is she there?”

  “Who the fuck is that?” he demanded. A part of him wanted to beat his chest, pull her hard against him, and fuck her mouth with his tongue, claiming her for all to see. Unfortunately, his green-eyed, inner monster took over.

  Brie came to an abrupt halt in front of him, her eyes narrowing in confusion. “What?”

  Gesturing toward where blondie was now watching them, he barked, “Him . . . who the fuck is he? You’re sitting here getting drunk and hit on while I’m out trying to find your sister?”

  “What? No! We were just talking, Jase. Angie thought it was a good idea to come down here and take our minds off everything instead of pacing back and forth in the room waiting for you.” She brushed it off as if it were nothing, and changed the subject back to her original questions. “Did you see Nadine?”

  “No, but don’t worry. We’ll find her. In the meantime, you can take that off and go on back to modeling for your new boyfriend,” he finished with a scowl before turning around, intent on going back to their room—alone.

  Brie grabbed his arm and stopped him. “Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you?” she hissed, clearly trying to keep her voice low. “We were just talking. And when the hell did you start getting all jealous about me talking to someone?”

  “Jealous? You think I’m jealous?” Yeah, he was, but she didn’t need to know that. “Get real, Brie. We both know we’ve been fucking like rabbits these past few months to scratch an itch. If you’re ready to move on, go right ahead, sweetheart—I’m not going to stop you—I just would’ve preferred a little warning. There’s plenty of fish out in the sea, and even though you were a great lay, I’m sure I won’t have any problem replacing you.” The hurt that filled her eyes almost gutted him. They’d been moronic, spiteful words . . . flat out lies, in fact. But he was too angry to take them back. If she was done with him, so be it. Maybe blondie, who was now stalking over, would be able to give her what Jase couldn’t. Fuck.

  “Brie, is there a problem?” The guy was about an inch taller than him and muscular, but Jase knew he wouldn’t have any problem taking him down if the opportunity presented itself.

  Please give me a reason to kick your ass. Please, do it.

  “No, there isn’t, asshole,” Jase said with a growl before Brie could answer. “She’s all yours.”

  The loud gasp he heard wasn’t from her, but from Angie who’d approached with Ian. The shock and disappointment he saw in her eyes was almost as bad as the hurt in Brie’s. Ian, on the other hand was just shaking his head and rolling his eyes as if he couldn’t believe how stupid Jase was being. Yeah, well fuck them all.

  He stormed back into the lobby and bypassed the elevators. He didn’t have the patience to wait, instead, taking
the stairs two at a time. Once he’d showered, he’d figure out how to get Nadine back, and then he’d walk out of Brie’s life, just like he’d walked out of Angie’s. But for some reason, it hurt worse this time. His heart was already shredding, and he couldn’t help but feel he’d just made the biggest mistake of his life, and that was saying a lot, since there had been far too many of them to count.

  C

  HAPTER 14

  H er feet felt like they were encased in cement, Brie could only gape at Jase’s retreating back. She had no idea what had gotten into him, but whatever it was it had just torn her heart to pieces. She barely heard the conversation going on behind her as she tried to pull herself together before she burst out crying in front of a bunch of strangers. As it was, her eyes were watering, threatening to spill over at any moment.

  “Kid, I know you want to beat the living shit out of him right now,” Ian was saying to Greg. “But I’d advise against it. The problem is he’s head over heels in love with her and hasn’t figured it out for himself yet. Believe me, I know. Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.”

  Angie snorted. “Oh, yeah, he definitely has the T-shirt. Matter of fact, he still wears it every once in a while, when he forgets what an ass he’s been in the past.”

  The only words that penetrated Brie’s mind were “head over heels in love with her,” and she couldn’t open up her mouth to disagree with the man. There was no way Jase was in love with her. He’d told her flat out that was never going to happen before they’d first slept together—with her or any other woman. And Brie had been happy to hear that because between Daddy-O’s, her sister, and a small social life with longtime friends, she didn’t have time to devote to a full-blown relationship. However, somewhere along the line her feelings had changed, and now she was madly in love . . . with a man who would never give her his heart.

  As Greg and Ian continued to chat, Angie stepped toward Brie and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Brie, but don’t give up on him yet just because he picked today to be a fucking twatwaffle, as my husband likes to say. I can’t vouch for the past two years, but since we were fourteen, I’ve never seen him act so jealous over a woman, and that tells me you’re something special to him.

  “Men are stupid animals, who have a harder time controlling their emotions than women do. They have no idea what to do with them except act like an ass. That’s why God made women strong enough to bear children, because the men would never be able to deal with it.” She grinned. “Can you imagine all that testosterone PMSing every month? They might be able to handle drug dealers, criminals, and terrorists, but make them shoot a watermelon out their dicks, and I guarantee they’d be crying their eyes out.”

  Brie couldn’t stop the chuckle that spilled forth at that image, as Angie squeezed her shoulder. “Just don’t give up on him, but don’t let him walk all over you like that either. One of the biggest rules of the lifestyle is to be open and honest with each other. But every couple struggles at times. Ian lied to me about Jase, but I honestly believed him when he said it was because he was protecting me from the alternative. Just don’t tell him that. Yes, I was mad, but as each hour passes, my love for him is taking its rightful place in my heart again. Give Jase a little time to cool off, then negotiate a scene with him. One that requires you both to talk about what you’re feeling. Trust me, it’ll work.”

  Brie finally found her voice again, and turned to meet Angie’s gaze. “N-Negotiate? We never did that before. Not really. I mean, we went through a list of hard and soft limits, but we never really went much further than that. I did read up on a lot of it after he told me he was into the lifestyle, but we always kept things simple. Last night at the club was the first time things had ever gotten that . . . intense.”

  “Did you enjoy it?”

  A blush stole across her face as she made sure no one, including Ian and Greg, could hear their conversation. “Yeah, I did. I don’t know why, but that was . . . God, I don’t even know how to describe it.”

  “Good,” her new friend said with a wink. “Now, hold that thought. You, Amy, and I are going to grab Jordyn for some drinks, munchies, and girl talk in my suite. Jordyn and I will tell you all about the finer points of negotiating with a Dom . . . especially a jealous one. Then Jase isn’t going to know what hit him.”

  For the first time since she’d spotted Jase glaring at her from across the pool, Brie smiled and stood taller. “If he’s lucky, it won’t be my fist.”

  “Atta-girl. I’m liking you more every minute. He needs a kick-ass woman.”

  “But first I want to know if they found out anything.”

  Brie began to turn to ask Ian if there was any news on Nadine, but Angie stopped her and whispered, “Not here. Remember? Mixed company?”

  Ah. Right. Angie had warned her earlier not to discuss the real reason she was in St. Lucia with anyone not approved by Jase or Ian. The other woman had filled her in about her husband’s security company that employed retired members of the military and law enforcement. Brie got the impression there was a lot more to the business than just installing home alarms and bodyguard work.

  “Hey, Angie. Sorry we’re barging in on your vacation.”

  Brie stared at the man who’d spoken as he approached from the lobby doors. Actually, she was staring at the other two men with him, as well. Holy hell! Talk about yummy, alpha males dripping in testosterone. All around them, women, young and old, were eyeing the trio who looked like they’d just walked out of a Magic Mike movie. Yet if anyone thought to look closer, they’d see something else—the same thing Brie had noticed in Jase, Ian, and Carter’s eyes—that they’d do anything and everything to save the world. They may not have crew cuts like those currently in the military, but these men had an aura about them that told Brie that if a terrorist jumped out from behind a bush right now, he’d be dead before he knew happened. And these men wouldn’t have broken a sweat either.

  The youngest-looking one, who’d greeted Angie before kissing her on the cheek, had to be Ian’s brother because he had the same ebony hair and blue eyes topping off his fine physique. Brie estimated he was in his mid-to-late twenties and just over six feet in height.

  “That’s all right, Nick. But you better believe I’m getting another one out of this. An uninterrupted one.”

  The tallest man, who was around Brie’s age, stood about six foot six. His lean muscles had a fluid grace about them as he moved, and his green eyes were almost cat-like as the Caribbean sun glistened off of them. “Hey, Ang. If you’re still kicking asses, I’m throwing Polo in front of me.”

  The other woman smirked. “Just sleep with one eye open from now on, Jake. Same goes for you, Marco. I’m still pissed at you all.”

  Grinning, the third man stepped forward. He also had dark hair, but not as pitch black as Ian’s and his brother’s. He was shorter than Jake and taller than Nick by an inch or two, but his sculpted arms and torso, under his navy T-shirt, was just as solid as the other men’s. “As long as you wait until we’re home to extract your revenge so I can throw Egghead under the bus first.”

  Angie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, Brody and Boomer are at the top of that list. They still have other stuff they never got an ass-kicking for.” She gestured to each of the men. “Brie, this is Marco DeAngelis, aka ‘Polo,’ Jake ‘Reverend’ Donovan, and his fiancé and my brother-in-law, Nick Sawyer, otherwise known as Junior. Guys, this is Brie Hanson.”

  The three men greeted her warmly and shook her hand as Ian joined the group. Angie had already filled Brie and Amy in about the men coming from Florida to help them. But Brie couldn’t help but think about all the women around the pool, currently staring and drooling in their direction, who’d be disappointed to find out two of the hunks were gay and the other was very happily married.

  Brie glanced over her shoulder to see Greg shrug his shoulders at her in an “oh, well” fashion before giving her a wink and then strolling back to where his friends
were saying goodbye to Amy. The younger woman was pulling on her cover-up as she approached Brie and the others. Although Greg, Scott, and Brandon had taken their minds off Nadine for a short while, it was clear the worry was back in Amy’s eyes as reality hit home once more. Brie knew just how she felt. There was a rock sitting in her stomach, and she just hoped everyone helping to find her sister was as good as she thought they were.

  As Amy joined them, introductions were done again. Then taking charge once more, Ian swept his hand in the direction of the doors leading into the back of the lobby. “Let’s head on upstairs and start breaking things down. It’s time to get this party started.”

  Standing in the shower, Jase let the water beat down on his shoulders. His hands were flat against the tiled wall, and his head hung down between his arms. He was an ass. A flat-out jackass. What the hell had he just done? Stupid question. He knew exactly what he’d done. He’d let his jealousy and anger rule his mouth causing him to fuck up the best thing that had ever happened to him. But the vision of Brie in that sexy-as-hell bikini, with all the men in the pool area drooling over her, had his blood boiling again. After what they’d experienced last night in the club, he’d thought she was his. Hell, he’d claimed her in front of a roomful of strangers and the very next day she was sitting there flirting with a blond douchebag.

  She’s mine, damn it. “Well, she would be if you hadn’t just fucked everything up, jackass.” And, yes, he was talking aloud to himself, and what was even worse was he was starting to sound like Ian. At least he wasn’t calling himself a twatwaffle.

  He had to fix what he’d just broken. He just hoped like hell it wasn’t beyond repair. But first things first, they had to get Nadine back. If they failed to do that, Jase didn’t think Brie would ever recover from the loss. In fact, she might hate him more than she did at this very moment.