“If I agree to your terms?” she repeated with a bitter laugh and pushed herself up into a sitting position on the bed. He reached out to help her. She wanted to shove him away but held herself stiffly in the circle of his arms while he fluffed the pillows against her back and settled her once more. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy the strength in his arms and the clean, masculine scent that lingered in the air around him. “You haven’t given me any choice. Of course I agree that you shouldn’t kill any of the people I love.”
He nodded and gestured toward the door. “Then you’ll have the freedom to move around at will.”
She stared up at him angrily, chewing on her lips for a moment, before finally snapping, “I always fucking knew you were going to use Haty against me. I wish you’d never given her to me, you bastard!”
He lifted a shoulder in response, his gaze never leaving her. “That was never my intention when I made her a gift. But your safety is more important than anything else and I will use any and every method at my disposal to get you to settle down and accept your situation. If that means using your cat against you, then so be it.”
Jaya opened her mouth to shoot back another furious response, but a short knock cut her off. Ivan strode to the door and allowed Ndari entrance. Keane stood at Ndari’s back, his gaze unfocused and unfriendly. He didn’t step into the room with the princess. Ndari glanced hesitantly at her boss, who stood tall and imposing by the door, before walking to Jaya’s beside with Haty clutched in her arms. She dropped the kitten on the bed and sat gingerly beside Jaya. She refused to look at Jaya though, tears filling her eyes. Jaya understood. She’d used Ndari to escape and nearly gotten her killed in the process. She probably wouldn’t be so forgiving either. Still, Jaya wrapped her good arm around her friend and finally allowed the tears to fall freely. It was with a great deal of relief that Jaya heard the door close and saw, when she glanced up, that Ivan had left the women alone in the room.
After a moment, Ndari loosened up and hugged Jaya back. They cried together for a few minutes, the intensity of their shared experience making words difficult to find. When they finally separated and made eye contact Jaya was the first to speak, bursting into an anguished apology, “I’m so sorry, Ndari, so fucking sorry. You nearly died, and it was all my fault!”
“No, I’m sorry!” Ndari exclaimed, choking on the words. “I should’ve been a better friend. I should’ve been more serious, should’ve found a way to help you leave. I r-really thought he was going to kill me. Then when he got hold of you I thought he was going to kill you too. Jaya, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
Haty, who had been sniffing the sterilized bandage on Jaya’s arm became disturbed by the intense emotion swirling around her. She meowed loudly, ran up Jaya’s chest and burrowed under her hair. Both women laughed, releasing some of the tension. The kitten had grown bigger. Now her grey and white striped butt poked out from beneath Jaya’s chin when she tried to hide.
“You don’t have to worry that Ivan’ll hurt either one of us again,” Jaya said sadly, reaching up to stroke Haty soothingly. “I’m not going anywhere. He’s convinced me never to try another escape attempt again.”
Ndari’s face, already drawn and serious, became even more so. She nodded slightly, staring down at the bed for a long time, a faraway look in her eyes. Finally, she said, “I have always fought for the concept of free will and when I couldn’t have free will, I insisted on free thought. The man that professes to love you, my friend Jaya, nearly took my free will, my free thought and my life from me today.” Angry tears filled her eyes. The dark orbs focused and moved to Jaya’s face. “My brother is a powerful man. If and when we decide we want to leave, there is not a soul on this planet that will stop us.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
How did they get the pool such a deep, lovely strangely unnatural shade of blue, Jaya wondered? She tilted forward a little more and squinted at the bottom, marvelling at, not only the colour, but the gorgeous brightly patterned orange, red and purple underwater tiles. It was like a lovely sunset built into the bottom of the swimming pool. She leaned over so far on her crossed legs, trying to trace the pattern with her eyes to see if there was an actual picture that the tips of her dark hair touched the water, turning from dark brown to black.
“Chemicals.” A hand came down on her shoulder, stopping her forward momentum. “Watch yourself. Boss doesn’t want you in the pool yet, canary.”
Jaya twisted her head to look up at the towering redhead and then winced when she looked directly into the intensely bright sunlight. She lifted her good hand to shade her eyes and pulled an exaggerated face. “Boss doesn’t like much, Keane.”
He grinned at her, then had a quick look around to make sure no one saw him touching Ivan’s woman. He wisely took his hands off her immediately after she was safe from taking an unauthorized swim, then squatted next to her, settling on his haunches. “No, I don’t s’pose he does. But at least he cares enough to keep you safe.”
She shrugged and leaned back on her arms, making sure to put most of her weight on her good arm. She uncurled her legs and dipped them in the water ignoring the fluttering hem of her skirt as it soaked up the water. It had been nearly a week since her escape attempt and true to his word, Ivan had given her free run of his Jakarta home. Though she did not have free access to technology, she had found the week oddly relaxing. She’d seen very little of Ivan, except for at night, when he’d insisted they share a bed. He hadn’t made any sexual advances while she’d been recovering from her injury. He had simply held her, his chest to her back, while they slept, then slipped out in the morning before she woke, though she’d felt the ghost of his kiss against her temple before he left.
She giggled as she watched the hem of her skirt swirl in the water and thought maybe it looked a little like a fish swimming around her ankles, especially in the lovely unnatural chemically induced cerulean water. She couldn’t wait until her arm was healed enough that she could go swimming. Though she wondered how that would work. First of all, she would have to learn how to actually swim, and second, she couldn’t imagine Ivan being okay with his men seeing her in a bathing suit. Yet he wouldn’t want her to swim unguarded. Then again, he wouldn’t want her to swim without a bathing suit.
“He’ll swim with you himself,” Keane’s amused voice answered what she thought had been an unspoken musing. “The men’ll stay close, but not too close.”
“Did I say that out loud?” she asked, shading her eyes to look over at him again.
“Indeed,” he chuckled. “How’re them pain meds treating you?”
“So good!” she said enthusiastically, grinning up at him. “Never been sick or hurt or anything before. Prescription drugs are pretty awesome.” She frowned and lifted her injured arm, wiggling her fingers. The pain was gradually diminishing each day. “But getting cut and having stitches sucks. I don’t think I’ll do that again.”
“Good plan, canary,” Keane agreed easily. He glanced around with interest. “Where’s your princess at?”
“Hiding,” Jaya said honestly.
Keane’s gaze sharpened, and he frowned. “Yeah,” he said gruffly. “What from?”
“Not what,” Jaya answered, kicking her feet out and spraying water in a wide arc. “Who.”
Keane didn’t say anything for a moment. He studied the rooftops across from them, his practiced eyes taking in every detail with militaristic precision. Jaya tried to follow his gaze, tried to see what he saw, but her brain was slowed down by the pain meds and she wasn’t trained to take in every possible danger, every possible scenario. She looked at everything through innocent eyes, curious what he could be seeing that was different from what she was seeing.
“Who’s she hiding from?” he finally asked, as though the words took effort. Because he already suspected, but he wanted her to answer out loud, tell him why a relationship between himself and a woman like Ndari would be impossible.
Jaya blinked and gl
anced at the giant tattooed redhead out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t expected Keane to care about her off-the-wall companion, but he seemed to harbour a soft spot for the nutty princess. “She’s a free spirit,” Jaya said softly. “She’s spunky, fun and a bit wild. Ivan put a gun to her head and threatened her life because of me. She’s not going to get over that quickly. She doesn’t want to see men with guns right now.” Her eyes flickered down to the semi-automatic tucked under Keane’s arm. “Can you blame her?”
He grunted and shifted a little. “Guess not,” he sighed.
His facial features hardened a little. As though he was realizing he had no hope with someone like the princess. Too bad. Keane didn’t seem like such a bad guy. Then again, neither did Ivan when he was kissing her on the head, gifting her with kittens and saving her from drowning. It was all the other horrific things he did that made him a terrible person. She shifted on the patio tiles suddenly uncomfortable with her thoughts. She wanted to hate Ivan. She didn’t want to think about the things he did for her.
She cleared her throat and lifted her legs to the side as though about to get up. Keane surprised her by putting a broad hand on her knees and stopping her. His long, work-roughened fingers curved around her, holding her in place. She didn’t feel threatened exactly, but she didn’t feel at ease. She knew she couldn’t leave in that moment, even if she wanted to. Keane was too much like his master. She was sharply reminded of the time Ivan threatened to hand her over to Keane for questioning when she refused to tell them anything about Father. Her heartbeat picked up and she had to remind herself that she was safe, that Ivan would never allow any harm to befall her. She glanced quickly around to make sure they weren’t alone and was gratified to see other men patrolling the pool deck. Then she felt foolish. Keane had been nothing, but solicitous of her all week while she’d been healing, while his boss had been absent. She forced herself to relax and look up at him curiously. His own gaze was uncannily knowing, as though he knew every single thought that had flickered through her brain and was patiently waiting for her to sort through her emotions.
She nodded her head. “What’s up?” she asked a little breathlessly.
He moved his hand. Touching her was a definite no no, but he still did it. As though he believed it was worth Ivan’s wrath to make that connection with her. She respected him for the effort, though she wished he wouldn’t. He unsettled her almost as much as his boss.
He took a deep breath and looked around the patio area, then shifted to a more comfortable position. She frowned and stopped kicking her feet in the water. The rugged Irishman looked directly at her when he spoke, his accent was still strong, but his words more pronounced than usual. “You ever heard of brainwashing before? Like when a person has been taken by another person or group and spent years told something until they believe it?”
It was like being hit by a bucket of ice water. Jaya wasn’t stupid. She knew what he was getting at. She gritted her teeth and stared hard at the water between her feet, concentrating on the bright colours. But they no longer mattered, no longer seemed cheerful. The drugs that floated in her system no longer carried her on a happy cloud. She suddenly crashed back to reality.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said dully.
“Then your stupider then I thought,” he shot back.
Her head snapped to the side and she glared at him. “Fuck you!”
“Calm yerself, I’m trying to help,” he growled low, for her ears only. “I like you and I been around for awhile. I can make sure you survive the boss intact, canary. Now listen up, you need to hear what I have to say, cause I know all about this brainwashing bullshit.”
She yanked her feet out of the water and twisted her knees to the side trying to escape Ivan’s persistent second-in-command. “Stop!” she snapped. “I don’t have to hear this, Ivan would be pissed if he knew.”
Keane shrugged. “Maybe. But you’ll be alive.” He leaned back and casually placed one long, muscular arm behind her back, trapping her where she sat. The curve of the pool on the other side made it difficult for her to get up and leave unless she wanted to go for a swim. She tried to lean away from him but her injured arm wouldn’t take the weight. She had to settle for glaring. He smirked and continued speaking. “When I was a young man I used to compete in strongman competitions. Won ‘em all. Fame went to my head. I would drink and whore and gamble until I spent all the winnings.”
“No surprise there,” Ndari said haughtily, plopping down on Jaya’s other side. She tugged Jaya’s injured arm into her lap and scooted right up against her side. Jaya smiled in relief at seeing her friend out and about. “You are the biggest man-whore I’ve ever had the misfortune to share a rooftop with.”
Keane snorted and eyed Ndari with interest, taking in her bare legs in a pair of short shorts. She dropped her legs into the pool next to Jaya’s. “And how exactly would you know that?” he asked. “You’re the only two women up here besides a sixty-year-old house cleaner and I haven’t touched any of you.”
“Just look at you,” Ndari said accusingly, waving her hand toward him. “It’s pretty obvious that you like to stick your wick in anything that moves. There isn’t a discerning bone in your body, obviously.” The note of disdain in her tone was impossible to miss. Jaya thought Ndari was just asking for trouble, especially if the look on Keane’s face was anything to go by.
“Anyway…” Jaya interrupted, rolling her eyes, “you were saying.”
“Yes, as I was saying,” Keane murmured, eyeing Ndari as though she were his next meal. “When the money ran out and I was between competitions, I had to find work. Weren’t much I was good for. Just fighting and fucking.” They both ignored Ndari’s ‘ah ha!’ as he continued speaking. “Soon I was picking up mercenary contracts. They were high-paying and I enjoyed the travel. Eventually, after a few years, I picked up a contract with the wrong boss, a mean son-of-a-bitch that preferred his soldiers a little more docile.”
Jaya held her breath. She suspected she knew what was coming. She’s spent enough time on the dark web to know what sort of contracts he was talking about, what sort of terrible work was out there for men and women willing to do anything for money.
“He drugged you,” she whispered.
“Some of the guys were willing when he offered up enough money. Those of us that tried to leave were dragged back by his soldiers and drugged forcibly.” His teeth clenched so hard Jaya could hear them creak. She wanted to reach out and touch him now, despite her earlier fear. No one deserved his fate, despite his youthful arrogance. “He drugged us, used mind control and detonator chips in our necks to keep us in line. I worked for him for seven years. He thought he had my loyalty. Like a beaten dog, forced to eat from his master’s hand.”
Jaya held her breath, tears burning behind her eyelids. She could feel Ndari’s hand clenched around hers. It was Ndari that spoke in a hushed, choked voice. “What happened, Linton?”
For a moment Jaya had no idea who Ndari was talking to and then she realized that Keane’s first name must be Linton. She hadn’t known. He looked up, his sharp aqua blue eyes resting on the princess. After a long, thoughtful moment he answered. “The moment that chip was out of my neck I tracked the fucker down, wrapped my hands around his neck and choked the life out of him.”
Both Ndari and Jaya held their breath for a few seconds. Ndari’s hand jerked against Jaya’s and then she said quickly, with conviction, “Good.”
Jaya was reminded sharply of the times Ndari had talked of free will, free speech, free… everything. Ndari had never really thought herself free. She was a princess, trapped by a country, trapped by philosophy, trapped by law, trapped by family and a brother. She’d envied Jaya her supposed freedom before her capture. But she hadn’t known that Jaya had never been free. The image of Father flashed through her brain; his frowning visage, his anger at her every failure to find and destroy his one single enemy.
Jaya jerked her hand away
from Ndari’s, pulled her legs from the pool and stood. She looked up across the rooftops, lit up in the bright hues of another gorgeous sunset. She closed her eyes against the beautiful serenity, turned on her heel and stalked away.
“Jaya…” Ndari called to her.
“Let her go.” Jaya heard Keane say. “Her cage is getting bigger and she doesn’t know how to fly yet.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Instead of going back to her room, Jaya stormed toward Ivan’s office. One of the guards gave her an alarmed look and jumped in front of the door. She stopped abruptly and stepped back with a frown. “What exactly are you doing?” she demanded, hands on her hips.
“We have orders not to touch you, Miss Jaya,” he said quickly and with authority.
“Uh huh,” she said, quirking a brow and taking a step forward. “Sounds good. Get out of my way.”
“I-I’m also under orders not to let anyone in to see the boss,” he stammered, pressing himself into the door so he wasn’t at risk of touching her.
“Riiight,” she drawled. “Well….” She quirked her head to the side and thought about it. “Not to come across as immature and all… but…” she reached out and placed her hand on his chest, splaying her fingers wide, “get the fuck out of my way.”
He jumped to the side breaking contact with her. The second he cleared the door, she wrenched it open and hurried inside, slamming it shut behind her. She sort of instantly regretted her impulsiveness when she was met with the barrel of a gun pointed directly at her forehead and Ivan’s furious grey gaze. He reholstered the gun when he saw who had entered his private sanctuary, lifted a thick eyebrow and pointed imperiously at a chair as if to tell her she’d better sit or he would bring the gun back out. Jaya took her time sitting, as though it had always been her decision.
Turning back to his desk, Ivan spoke as if Jaya hadn’t just entered the room and interrupted his work. “Is Valdez aware of your interest in the Carlo Cignani?” Ivan asked coolly, though there was an edge of warmth to his voice. “I won’t move on the transaction without his final approval.”
Capturing Victory (Driven Hearts Book 3) Page 20