He had another problem. It was easier to move around without her, but he couldn’t leave her behind, not when she’d been the one to help him cause so much destruction. As she told him, women in their line of work were seen, not heard, but that didn’t mean they didn’t hear anything.
She heard a great deal, and seeing as men didn’t care what women heard, she’d given him a lot of information. The only condition of her helping him was that he had to make sure she never returned to the Castillo home again. She didn’t want to get married. She wished to live a life of her own, and well, he didn’t see a reason not to piss off his family by fucking with them.
He smiled and watched as she started to eat, sitting opposite him.
All of her fingers were perfectly intact. In a strange way, he and his supposed future fiancée were friends.
“So, what’s your plan?” Jade asked.
“I don’t have a plan. I’m curious about the woman they dragged into the house. Uncle Rick isn’t the kind of guy to pull unwilling women off the street.”
“Maybe it’s a trap for you.”
“I’ll see it coming. Besides, they don’t have a clue where I am. I bet that’s pissing them off.”
“Probably. I bet my parents are going crazy. I wish I could see their faces.”
“I wish I could show you.” He laughed. “So, tell me, how was your day?”
“Fine. I didn’t leave the gates, though. I had hoped to go shopping. We’re running low on groceries and the veg garden I found out back isn’t going to last us much longer. I took the last of the tomatoes today.”
“I’ll head out tomorrow. You want to dress up? Go in plain sight?”
“Do you think it’s wise with whatever they’ve got cooking?”
“I know my brothers. They won’t hurt that girl and when it happens, whatever their plan is, I’ll be ready.”
“You always sound so confident,” she said. “You’re not afraid.”
“I don’t have the time or luxury to be afraid.”
“You never answer this, but I’m going to keep on asking. Are you wanting to kill your brothers? Is that why you’re always watching them?”
“Kill them? No. My father has a bounty out on my head. I killed him and until I can find that man, there’s no way I’m going home. You know this. Is there any other resource that can help me?”
“I gave you everything. I don’t know what else to suggest. You know, at times it feels like we’re in our own little world here, I get to talk and to do my own thing. It’s easy to forget about the old life. Being married off, and you having a death sentence hanging over your head. It doesn’t bother you?”
“No. I’ve got nothing left to live for, Jade. I told you.”
“What about your sister?”
“She’s safe and far away from any danger. I did what I had to do to keep us both alive. I’m not your savior, Jade. I was going to kill you, remember? I had every intention of slitting your throat. I’ve got nothing. The one person I cared about was taken from me.” What he didn’t like was how the pain had started to lessen over the past year. He didn’t get it. Sarah was his one and only and even now, thinking about her caused him a little pain but nothing it once did. There was no need to kill himself, to end what miserable existence he had.
He wouldn’t allow his change in feelings to stop him from doing what needed to be done, and that was to deal with the bounty hunter, wherever he was, and of course, keep Jade from being taken by her family.
****
Boredom sucked big time.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Tulip wanted a bath. She wanted to strip out of her clothes and wash the last day or however long she’d been locked up off her body. Only, she couldn’t do neither. Nope, she was fucking stuck here.
After sliding down the edge, she landed on the floor. Closing her eyes, she brought her palms together and then slumped forward. She slapped her hands to the ground and took several deep breaths, hoping to control her temper, but nothing was happening. Her anger was at an all-time high, and she was pissed off.
Finally, the door lock flicked open and in walked Rick with Gabriel. No Jacob this time.
Yay.
“I need a bath. I stink.”