Han wasn’t worried. Phantom was the big guy they sent in for intimidation work, but Victor was even more lethal than his brutal cousin. He’d know how to track down their enemies, and he’d know even better how to make them suffer.
But… “Jasmine. How bad was she hurt?”
“I’m guessing not that bad,” Phantom answered. “According to that Ant guy, they found her hiding with you behind a bunch of bags of grain after all the shooting was done. I guess you’d passed out, and that was as far as she could drag you by herself, so she built up, like a grain fort around the two of you to protect you from the gunfire. They said she refused to let you go, even in the car, even while his sister was working on you. And that was over twelve hours ago, so I’m thinking if she had any real injuries other than cuts, they would have made her pass out by now.”
Han wasn’t ready for the volcano of emotions that erupted inside of him at Phantom’s words. His heart raced even though he was lying in bed and hopped up on calm-inducing pain meds.
“So no need for you to worry about getting revenge,” Phantom said, mistaking the reason for his silence. “That sister of the Ant’s is pretty legit. And she says she’d ‘prefer you see a real doctor to double-check,’ but her call is that if you take it easy, you’ll be all healed up in a couple of months. And the guys have already got the Delaware house all set up for you.
A couple of months. So they’d be staying here for longer than he originally intended.
He wondered what Jasmine would be mad about the most. Having to spend the fall in Delaware, or what he was about to do next.
“Thank you for coming out here to see about me,” Han told Phantom.
“No problem, honorary cuz,” Phantom answered, reverting to the American label he slapped on Han when he visited Hong Kong for the summer, and Han was introduced to him as Victor’s new “honorary brother.”
Han smiled, blissed out for reasons that had nothing to do with the pain meds. Then he told his honorary cousin, “I need you to arrange a few things for me.”
A few hours later, Han had switched out his basement recovery space for the master of a four-bedroom house. He’d bought the home overlooking Rehoboth Beach after he’d come up with the plan to use Delaware as the place to receive and dispense all the product they were getting from their cooks in Europe.
Jasmine had been reluctant to leave his side after tucking him into his bed. Phantom was correct; she’d sustained minimum injuries, just a few stitches on the back of the arms she’d thrown up when the Mercury Cougar’s glass shattered.
But Amira, the nurse who turned out to be Ant’s Black foster sister, not his sister by blood, had advised against them sleeping in the same bed until his ribs had time to heal.
“Why don’t you try to get some sleep in your room while I take a nap?” Han advised.
Her chin lifted in that stubborn, defiant way. “I could sit in the chair,” she counter-offered. “Maybe just hold your hand while you fall asleep?”
That she was so reluctant to leave him touched his heart, but Phantom would be here with Han’s request anytime now, so he needed her gone. “If you’re in the same room, I’m not going to be able to sleep. And Amira said no rigorous activity for at least six weeks.”
Jasmine’s chin dipped, and she pushed the hair she still hadn’t tied back up out of her face. “Okay, in that case, I’ll leave you to it. Can I at least kiss you before I go? I know you don’t do intimacy just for intimacy’s sake—but I was really scared for you. Like, terrified.”
This sweet side of her was new and unexpected. He liked it.
Han squeezed her hand and pulled her closer, uncaring of the pain the action caused in his ribs. He kissed her on the lips, soft with no tongue, and marveled at the fact that he was now capable of doing such a thing without the expectation of sex. All because of her.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” he said, pressing his forehead into hers. “And I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
She gently rubbed one of his shoulder blades. “It’s okay. We’re okay right now. It’s over. And that’s all that counts, right?”
“Right,” he parroted, though what she’d gone through, what she’d done for him, it mattered. So much more than she knew. And as for it being over.
Not quite yet.
But she’d find that out soon enough.
So he just kissed her one more time, then sent her off to her room.
A couple of hours later, after everything was set up, he sent one of his men to get her since they’d both lost their phones in the accident.
She came barreling through the door a laughably short time later.
“Good, you’re up. This place is great. Two floors—looks like a regular house, other than the ocean view. It’s like, almost normal compared to that mansion in Rhode Island and the penthouse—”
She stopped short when she saw Phantom on one side of the bed…and the man he’d brought with him at Han’s request on the other.
And perhaps she had some sixth sense of what would happen next. Her voice turned wary as she asked, “What’s all this?”
28
JAZZ
Three months later, and I still wasn’t talking to him.
So I groaned when Ti-an and I pulled up to the house to find an Audi RS Q8 parked in our usual drop-off spot. I’d been on the East Coast long enough to know by now that when it came to fleet assignments, the Dragons drove RS’s while everybody else just had to make do with the regular Q8 versions of the luxury SUVs.
“Want me to run inside, get the keys from Phantom?” Ti-an asked, mistaking the reason for my groan. “You still probably so cold with your crazy freeze water surfing!”
“No, I’m fine,” I grumbled. Then I climbed out of the car before he could insist on it.
I was all bundled up in a sweater, long johns, and sweatpants after this morning’s private lesson with one of my many wealthy middle-aged lawyer clients. But even though he’d replaced Wang as my driver/guard a few weeks ago, Ti-an just refused to believe that I was really okay after what he always called “your crazy freeze water surfing!” with a thick Chinese accent and a grandma-level exclamation mark.
Also, I didn’t want to explain that I’d groaned because if Phantom was here, that meant I might have to interact with Han. Han, who I’d hated with the inferno of a thousand suns since that fateful day he called me to his room back in September. Han, who, unfortunately, refused to let me go home even though I’d made my hate very clear and hadn’t let him so much as touch my elbow after what he did.
Actually, I refused to engage with him in any shape or form after what he did. No more hot sex, challenging conversations, or wicked teasing. I did everything in my power to avoid him.
Which was probably why I was actually thriving money-wise in Delaware after throwing myself fully into setting up and marketing the East Coast version of my business. The only good thing I could say about the situation was that I hadn’t lied to my parents and Mika about taking a lucrative job on the mainland for a season or two—well, I didn’t completely lie anyway.
No, I wasn’t in California, like I’d told them. But as it turned out, people were willing to surf here in Delaware too no matter the weather—especially wealthy middle-aged lawyers looking for a second lease on life, which seemed to be, like, half the state. So not only did I finally learn how to winter surf like the best of them, I could charge top dollar for my classes. Unlike in Hawaii, you couldn’t throw a rock without hitting a former pro turned surf instructor here. So, I’d concentrated all my anger and energy on the goal of paying Han back, which would be sometime before the end of the year if my calculations were correct.
But that didn’t mean I was going to forgive Han. Like, ever. To think I’d been so worried about him after his near-death experience, so grateful he’d made it out alive. And then he—
The memory of the last time I saw Phantom slammed into me like that F-150 truck.
“You’ll do as I
say,” Han had told me that day after Phantom introduced the man in the suit. “That’s an order.”
He’d known. Known I’d be too honorable to refuse the order and therefore break the terms of our deal that I had to do whatever he said until I paid him back.
I’d thought I’d been figuring him out during our months of cohabitation, but the joke was on me. He’d been doing the same thing. Turned out that between all that hot sex, he’d broken down my personal code of ethics. And he’d used that knowledge against me the last time Phantom was here.
So now, my number one goal for the rest of our hopefully short time together was to never be in his vicinity for long enough that I had to do anything he said.
With that in mind, I deposited my hooded Patagonia surf suit, gloves, and booties in the wet room right next to the front door and hoped to God that Han and Phantom were meeting in the second-floor bedroom he’d transformed into an office.
But no such luck.
“There she is!” Phantom’s voice boomed out from the front room just as I passed by in a mad dash toward the stairs. “I was wondering if I’d see you before I left.”
I paused at the living room doorway and found the two of them drinking tea like old friends. Why was Phantom here anyway? Was he just checking up on Han? Had there been another huge gasp reveal in the ongoing saga that was Victor and Dawn? If so, I actually did want to hear about that. I still couldn’t believe the story Wang told me before he returned to Rhode Island.
But hell if I was willing to interact with them to get the latest update. Instead, I decided to keep right on going toward the stairs, like I heard him, but you know—had decided not to give Han’s dirty, down-low enabler the basic courtesy of a hello.
“Jasmine, stop,” Han said before I could make it two more steps towards the stairs. “That’s an order.”
Crap. Over the last few hostile months, Han had learned to tack the order part on all of his commands after finding out that I’d keep on walking without it.
I sighed and turned around for another conversation where Han would do all the talking while I just stared at him until he stopped and let me go without ordering me to come back.
“So she’s still not talking to you, huh?” Phantom asked, in English—probably because he wanted me to understand.
“She’s very stubborn,” Han answered, standing up. I didn’t want to notice, but I couldn’t help but note that he could do that without wincing now. Also, unlike that terrible day when he called me into his room, his face was all healed up, and he was back to his former Fae King level of beauty.
Not that it matters, I reminded myself while fixing my face with a scowl. I’m so, so over Fae Kings now.
“Wang told me she is thriving before he left,” Han answered Phantom, despite my hostile silence. “Still teaching several surf classes, even as the temperatures go down. It is very impressive. And her birthday is in two days.”
I almost showed my surprise at him knowing that my birthday was going down in a couple more days. But why was I surprised? Hadn’t Phantom waved my stolen passport in the air when I questioned the legality of what Han was making me do that day.
“No shit?” Phantom asked, looking directly at me. “Happy Birthday, Jazz.”
“Thank you,” I muttered, only because I wanted to make sure Han knew that I was willing to talk to anyone and everyone save him for the rest of my life. Hell, if K Diamond walked in, I’d probably say hello and offer him coffee. I was that pissed off at Han.
Phantom stood up as well. “I just came over here to check on Han. Also, Victor’s arranging a surprise baby shower for Dawn in a few weeks, and he wanted me to make sure you knew you were invited too. He’s dying to meet you after you saved Han’s life, and now that…you know.”
I simply stared at Phantom. And eventually, Han said, “Actually, we’re about to go back to Hawaii for Jasmine’s birthday and to check up on Chen. I’ll let you know closer to the date if we can make it.”
It took every hostile fiber of my being not to show my shock. He was taking me home? For how long? How about my classes here?
But asking any of this would mean talking to Han. So I clamped my lips, refusing to let out the questions piling up inside of me.
And Han gave me a disappointed look before dismissing me with a “Go pack whatever you want for the trip.”
Not an order, but at least it meant I could go. I escaped up the stairs without another word and started packing as soon as I got to my room.
I could leave my hooded surf-suit and all my first-time fall and winter stuff, like jeans and sweaters, here. But I opened the one drawer where I stored all of the Hawaii clothes I hadn’t worn since early September and transferred them to the suitcase.
Then I eyed the dresses which the ST’s general assistant, Yolanda, bought for me back in August—back when I liked Han and was actually willing to give up my classes in Hawaii for a time to provide him with emotional support. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! And look how he’d paid me back.
I hadn’t gotten much use out of any of the dresses since Han discovered the hard way that I would most certainly spend an entire dinner out with him, not saying a freaking word to him no matter how good the food and wine was. But they were light and summery and would technically work for Hawaii.
Better not to bring them. I wanted to make it as hard as possible for him to order me out to dinner again.
Just as I made that decision entirely out of spite, a knock sounded on the door.
But by the time I turned around to answer it, Phantom was already walking into the room.
“Figured I wouldn’t wait, just in case you thought I was Han,” he said without any apology in his voice whatsoever.
“What do you want?” I demanded, folding my arms defensively.
“Han’s left out. He thinks I’m using the bathroom before I go too,” Phantom explained, even though I didn’t ask him. “So maybe we can keep this conversation to ourselves?”
I just stared at him, too curious to tell him no, and still too angry to tell him yes.
Phantom took my silence as an invitation to walk further into my room and close the door behind him.
Unlike the suites at the Rhode Island mansion, the rooms in this house were normal sized. So it felt a lot like getting closed in with a bull.
A very uncomfortable bull. Phantom awkwardly scraped a hand over the back of his head. “Han tell you I got engaged? No, probably not. Judging by the ice-cold temperature down there, you two haven’t been doing much talking.”
Anger and long pent-up frustration made me point out, “I don’t know how either of you expected me to act after what he did.”
Now Phantom folded his own arms over his ogre's chest. “I guess he was using the Victor and Dawn example. But obviously, you’re not Dawn. I mean, she’s pretty quick to forgive. It took ten years for her to tell Victor to go to hell and look at them now.”
Comparing me to Dawn was the last straw. The lid I’d barely been keeping on my temper popped right off.
“What is there to understand?” I shouted at Phantom. “That psycho forced me to marry him.”
I thrust my left hand into the air, which now sported a ring of black onyx encircled by two raised bars of steel on my wedding ring finger. Apparently, this was the ring given to all the wives of The Silent Triad. And it galled me that Han wore a matching band on his left hand—like we’d been in any sort of agreement whatsoever about our nuptials.
“I saved his life, and this—this!—is how he paid me back. By forcing me to become his wife.”
“Hey, that rhymes kind of,” Phantom pointed out with a weak chuckle.
But all his levity died under my withering glare.
“Can you go now?” I asked. “Apparently, I’ve got to pack for another surprise trip he didn’t tell me about until the last minute.”
“Yeah, I just….” Phantom unfolded his arms. “Did I mention I was engaged?”
Again with that annoying cu
riosity. Staying pissed off would be a heck of a lot easier if I didn’t secretly really want to know how one of the most off-putting men I’d ever met came to be engaged over the last three months.
“I keep bringing it up because she’s been helping me, you know….” Phantom expelled a long breath as if this was the hardest thing he’d ever had to explain before finishing with “Talk and shit.”
“Okay, good for her….” I said with no idea of where this was leading.
“Han, Victor, and me, we’re good at empire running—but talking? Not so much, so I’m just saying maybe you want to try talking with him?”
“First of all, no, I don’t want to ever talk to him again. Second of all, fuck Han. If he wanted to talk, he should have done that instead of this.” I once again held up the unwanted wedding ring on my left hand.
“Yeah, I hear you.” Phantom expelled another breath, and he turned to go.
Good. I refused to feel guilty, even if I could tell having this conversation with me had been really uncomfortable for Phantom.
But just as I was about to turn back to finish packing the suitcase I’d set out on the bed, he asked me a quiet question. “Did he tell you about his mom?”
It was the one question….the one…I couldn’t bring myself to ignore.
“Yeah, I guess. A little bit,” I answered reluctantly, pretending to be totally focused on folding the clothes I’d haphazardly thrown in the suitcase.
“He tell you about Victor too? And what happened with his mom after?”
Okay, fine, I guess I’m in this conversation. I set down a half-folded pair of surf shorts and answered, “He told me about saving Victor, yeah. But he didn’t say what happened to his mom.”
“Han told people that she died too—that he didn’t have anybody left to take care of him after that. But Victor’s father told us the truth.”
HAN: Her Ruthless Mistake: 50 Loving States, Delaware (Ruthless Triad Book 4) Page 20