“Jake?” Lexi softly spoke his name. “What’s he talking about?”
He kept his gaze trained on her father and Faustus. “Have I lied to you?”
“No. I don’t think so.”
“Then I need you to trust me and get in the car.”
Mr. Maheras cleared his throat. “Lexi, I need you to go ahead and come with me, please.”
“Why, Papa?”
“I can explain after we’re safely back inside,” her father said.
Faustus smiled. “Kill him, or I’ll kill her.”
Lexi whimpered. “No.”
Jake didn’t have any more time. He shoved Lexi into the car and jumped in after. He fished out the keys he’d had made, started the car, and gunned it just as the back window shattered. “Get down, Lexi.”
He plowed through the garage door and kept his foot on the gas as he sped toward the front gate. Bullets pelted the car as he passed a group of black SUVs. In the dark, it was hard to tell how many men were being shielded by the them, but based on the hail of bullets, it was enough to keep Jake’s foot on the pedal.
As he reached the gate, it began to close, and he didn’t slow down. The slight relief he experienced from getting free of the property was short-lived. In the rearview mirror, he could see men climbing into vehicles, and the gates were opening wide to let them pass.
He had to get Lexi to Texas. That was his only chance of keeping her alive. He hit his fist against the steering wheel as he remembered telling her father his plan. It was likely that Faustus already knew where Jake was taking her, especially since her father had pointed a gun at him. Suddenly, the stretch of road leading from San Jose to Houston got a lot more dangerous. He’d need a new plan, and, hopefully, with Lexi’s cooperation, they’d make it there alive.
Chapter 7
Folded into the floorboard of the SUV, Lexi tried to piece together everything that had transpired. All of it happened so fast that she reeled as she replayed the events. Faustus brought men with guns to her papa’s estate. Had his intent been to force her to marry him that night?
That was impossible. She was already married. Unless…she looked up at Jake. “He was going to kill you.”
“That seemed to be part of the plan,” he replied as he kept his attention on the road. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”
“No, I’m fine. Well, not fine, but not hysterical.”
He chuckled. “I didn’t think you would be, but it’s okay to be scared.”
“Oh, I’ve got a healthy dose of that.” She moved to sit in her seat, but Jake stopped her.
“No, you stay down. I’m certain this car is being traced. I’ve got another car waiting for us just outside San Jose.”
Lexi studied him. “You knew this was going to happen?”
“No, not exactly, but being prepared is part of what I do.”
She took her gaze from him and spotted a black bag in the back seat. “My medical kit?”
“This may make you angry, but I packed us both a bag in case we needed to leave in a hurry. I thought you’d want the bag because it belonged to your mother.”
She should be angry, but she wasn’t. He’d invaded her privacy, but if he hadn’t, she’d be stuck wearing a ball gown and heels. “When did you have the opportunity to pack my clothes?” Then her cheeks heated as she realized he’d packed delicate things as well.
“The day before we were married.”
“Oh.” She leaned her face against the seat cushion, feeling drained. “I think I’m going into shock.”
Jake’s large hand reached out and covered hers. “I know. Try to get some rest until we get to the other car.”
“Okay,” she said as her eyes closed.
What felt like seconds later, she heard her name being called, and she jerked awake. “What?”
“We need to change cars.” Jake took her by the hands, helping her off the floorboard.
She looked down at her tattered gown. “And I need to change clothes.”
“You can change clothes in the backseat as we drive. If I’m right, we don’t have long before they’ll catch up to us.” She could feel the urgency in his voice. “We’re going to stay off major highways and hopefully stay under the radar.”
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked as he helped her into the new car.
Before he shut the door, he said, “Because you’re a grown woman, and you need to know what’s going on. I tried to tell your father that six months ago, but he wouldn’t listen.”
She’d overheard him talking with her papa about their disagreement. She’d also heard Jake telling him that he was only keeping her safe. That he didn’t have feelings for her. Which was a good thing. She had plans, and they didn’t include a man. Any man. “He can be hard-headed.”
Jake shut her door, ran around the front of the vehicle, and jumped in. “I’m going to drive as far as I can tonight to put distance between us and them.”
“Where are we going?”
“I have some friends not far from Houston. If I can get us there, you’ll be safe.” He paused and pulled out his phone. The screen was shattered. He hit the power button, and nothing happened. “My phone’s dead.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I haven’t called my friends. If they don’t know I’m coming, it’ll make getting where we need to go a little trickier.”
“Why?”
“My friend is employed by someone with a secure home south of Houston. Once I get us to Houston, they’d make sure we weren’t being followed until we made it to the location. Kind of like a motorcade.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll try to contact him on the way.”
She groaned. “Oh, I should have brought mine.”
He started the car and pulled onto a stretch of dark road unfamiliar to her. Of course, she’d never gone exploring while she was in school. She was too focused on her grades to do much of anything but study.
“No, your phone was most likely bugged. It’s probably better that we don’t have any electronics.”
Lexi nodded. “Right. Um, I’m going to jump in the back and change clothes, okay?”
“Absolutely,” he said and adjusted the rearview mirror.
She smiled at the gesture as she squeezed between the seats into the back. While she pulled out her clothes, she wondered what Faustus meant when he said Jake had been dishonorably discharged. Part of her desperately wanted to ask him, but she wasn’t sure she cared. He’d saved her life, and didn’t that mean more than some past infraction?
When she was finished changing, she returned to the passenger seat and pulled her hair into a ponytail. While she couldn’t say she felt great, she did feel better after getting out of the high heels and grungy dress.
“Do you think my papa would have killed you?” she asked, breaking the silence.
Jake glanced at her and shook his head. “No, I don’t. I believe he’s a good man who’s been put in an impossible situation that he can’t see a way out of. In his mind, he was doing the only reasonable thing. Getting me out of the picture so he could protect you. It’s nothing I wouldn’t have done.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m not lying to you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I won’t lie to you when it comes to your safety. I believe you should have an active role in keeping yourself safe.”
“Did my papa agree to that?” she asked as she twisted in the seat to face him.
Jake smiled. “No, but that was the only way I’d take the assignment.”
She laughed and looked down at her hands in her lap. “You know, I wondered about that. None of the other bodyguards taught me self-defense or how to shoot. It seemed very uncharacteristic of my papa.”
“I explained to him that no matter how many men were guarding you, if you didn’t know how to take care of yourself, you’d always be in danger. The first person taken out would be the individual providing the protection, leaving the target defenseless.”<
br />
Lifting her gaze to Jake, she said, “It almost seemed like Faustus had the whole thing planned, including you. It was as though he knew I was married.”
He nodded. “I think he did. He was too nonchalant about the whole thing, and seeing that he was so adamant about marrying you before he arrived, that didn’t line up.” Pausing, he adjusted the rearview mirror again and glanced behind them. “What I don’t understand is why he needs to marry you.”
Lexi sighed and faced forward. “The orchard has been in my family for centuries. According to stories passed down, there was a huge scandal at one point. One of the men in the family married a woman, and unbeknownst to him, her family wanted the land. Luckily, he was able to dissolve the marriage, and after that, the deed to the land was changed.”
“Changed? How?”
“The land can’t be bought or sold. The only way to truly have ownership is to marry into the family, but most don’t know that marrying into the family doesn’t guarantee that.”
Jake shot her a glance. “What do you mean?”
“When I was a little girl in school, there was an assignment to study our genealogy. At first, I thought it was a horrible thing, all that boring stuff. But as I dug deeper, the history of my family became vividly alive.” She paused, recalling with fondness her time pouring over all the information. It consumed her as a little girl until she found her love of medicine. Well, her mother’s love of medicine. “The deed requires that anyone marrying into the family must work at the orchard for no less than five years before having any claim to it.”
“And Faustus doesn’t know that?”
“No, that’s a family secret we usually don’t tell anyone until we’re serious about them. That’s when you learn whether you’re truly loved or not.”
“I take it that relationships have soured in the past?”
Lexi nodded. “Oh, yes. My great-great-grandfather in fact. I’m told she was the love of his life, at least at the time. When she found out she’d have to work at the orchard, she left him.”
“Wow.”
“From what I understand, she broke his heart. My grandmother said it was fate helping him find the real love of his life.” She smiled.
Jake nodded. “That was smart on your ancestor’s part, but how do you enforce it?”
“When someone joins the Maheras family, and after the five years is fulfilled, they’re added as an owner to the deed at the Land Registry. Beyond their word that they’ve worked the orchard, they’re required to have witnesses to the fact. Once it’s proven, there are a few more steps, including the signing of the Deed of Acceptance and filing a Notarial Deed with the Registry.”
“Interesting.” A few minutes ticked by, and then Jake asked, “Were you ever planning to return to Greece?”
“Once I did my residency, I was going to give it consideration. And believe me, I’ve given it a lot of thought. With my papa getting older, the burden will eventually fall to me.” She chuckled. “Burden. It’s not a burden, just a change in life direction.”
“Would you still practice medicine?”
She nodded. “Oh, I’d have to. It’s what I love. I can’t imagine spending so much time working for something just to let it slip from my fingers.”
Silence filled the car again until Jake broke it. “I bet it’s amazing. I visited Greece once after I joined the army. There was something about the pace of life and the way the people embraced strangers that appealed to me.”
What was funny was that she thought the same thing about Jake. He’d definitely taken on an appealing quality. “Maybe if this ends soon enough before my residency starts, we could travel to my family’s orchard and you could see it.”
“Once this ends, you won’t have any need for me. I believe our contract states just that.”
And just like that, the reality shoe dropped. He was right. This was a stressful situation, and he’d saved her life. She’d even studied this type of situation when she took psychology. “That’s true. It’ll be strange to have the freedom to leave my home without having a bodyguard.”
“I guess that’s true, but it’ll be a good strange. You’ll be able to come and go as you please, and you won’t have to worry if someone is going to hurt you.”
“Plus, I’ll have all those moves you taught me if I run across anyone who does.” She covered her mouth with her hand as she yawned. “Wow, I’m tired.”
“We’ll be on the road a while longer. Go ahead and get some sleep.”
Lexi leaned her head back and trained her gaze on the passing moonlit scenery. She wasn’t sure how she was processing everything so calmly. Was it her medical training that helped? Knowing that panicking was never the answer? That was one of the first things she’d learned as a medical student. Assess the situation, pinpoint the problem, and work to fix it.
So far, what she knew was that Faustus wanted to marry her for her family’s orchard, except he didn’t know about the clause in the deed. What would he do when he found out? Would he pay someone at the Registry to look the other way? With the way her papa spoke of Faustus’s influence, it was entirely possible. What could she do about that from the States? Would it take a trip home to take care of it? How would that affect her ability to complete her schooling?
Maybe once Jake got her to Houston, she could figure out what her next move was and keep Faustus from stealing her family’s home.
Chapter 8
Just as they reached Bakersfield, Jake pulled into a gas station, taking note of the three cars already present. After five hours of driving, he needed to stretch his legs, and Lexi needed a bathroom break.
So far, he’d seen nothing that would indicate they were followed, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be found. With the way Faustus talked, he’d done his research on Jake. He thought about that most of the trip. How did Faustus even know Jake was guarding Lexi? It wasn’t a logical leap to place the blame squarely on her father’s shoulders, but like he told her, he believed her father felt trapped and was doing what he thought best.
As he parked the car, he touched Lexi’s arm. “We need to make this quick. We don’t know how far behind us they are.”
“Okay,” she said and got out of the car.
As Jake caught up to her, he twined his fingers in hers. “I want to make sure people know we’re together.”
They entered the store together, and Jake noticed two clerks at the front. One was counting cigarettes while the other was cashing out a lottery ticket. From what he could tell, they were the only two people in the store.
Before he took his own break, he watched as Lexi disappeared into the single-stall women’s restroom. It was nice that she threw him a thumbs-up to let him know she’d checked it before entering.
He quickly used the restroom and waited for her. Once she was finished, they picked up a few snacks and a couple of drinks. When they reached the counter, Jake caught the clerk who’d been counting cigarettes pulling out his phone.
The man spoke on the phone a few minutes and then put it down and sauntered over. “That’s a nice SUV. I don’t think I’ve seen one like that yet.”
Jake pulled out a twenty, knowing it would cover their bill and tossed it on the counter, grabbed their stuff, took Lexi by the arm, and hurried out of the store.
“What just happened?” she asked as he yanked open her door and helped her in.
“In a minute.” He jogged around the front and hopped in the car just as two dark sedans pulled into the gas station. “We’ve been spotted. I don’t know how they got here so fast, though.”
Lexi turned in the seat. “What?”
“Those sedans that just pulled in? They’re here for us. Well, you.”
He threw the car in reverse and hit the gas, plowing into the front end of one of the cars, and then he slammed it into drive. The tires squealed as he peeled out of the parking lot with one of the sedans giving chase.
“How did you know?”
“He was a little too
obvious with his phone usage.”
Lexi turned and faced forward. “How are we going to lose them?”
“Hold on.” Jake jerked the wheel to the left, taking the car down an alleyway, and continued to wind his way through the city until he lost sight of the sedan. He pulled into a closed used car lot and cut the engine. “We’re going to be taking an even longer way to Houston.”
“I’m so sorry. This is such a mess. I had no idea when I asked you to marry me that we’d end up fleeing the city and running for our lives.”
Jake laughed. “You act like this is the first time I’ve been in this situation.”
“It’s not?” she asked, turning to him.
“No, and you don’t need to feel sorry. This is my job.”
She nodded and folded her hands in her lap. “How long do we need to wait to make sure they aren’t following us?”
“Just until I’m sure we’ve lost them.” He scrubbed his face and rolled his neck. “Hopefully, not long.”
“You’re tired. We should stop so you can rest.”
He kept his gaze on the street. “I am. I think it’ll be better if we travel at night. I’m going to get us out of Bakersfield and then find us something to eat and then a motel. We can both take a break and rest.”
Lexi covered his hand with hers, and a jolt went through him. As exhausted as he was, that little touch had him suddenly wide awake. She leaned in. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me until I get you to Houston. A lot can happen between now and then.” He smiled.
When he was sure they were clear, he pulled the SUV out of the lot, and instead of heading southeast, he went north. They reached a small town about two hours away, and he turned into a small single-story motel. After paying cash for a room on the back side of the motel, making sure he got one with two separate beds, he dropped off their luggage, and they headed to the diner across the street.
They took the table near the front window so he could keep an eye on the motel. “You think they’ll find us here? I’m not even sure I know where we are,” Lexi said as she peeked over the menu.
The Bodyguard's Fake Marriage (Sweet Fake Marriage Romance Book 3) Page 5