“Doesn’t matter. We’ll get back to the cabin. Get you secured inside, and then I’ll go back to handle them.”
No one was giving chase, at least, not that she could see in the mirror. “I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Sounded pretty good to me.” He whipped the truck behind the cabin. Back to its hiding spot. “Not as good as your orgasm talk, obviously, but what could compete with that?”
So hehadheard that confession from her.
Remy killed the engine. “Inside, now.”
Well, someone was certainly barking out orders, but since she feared the men after her might spring and attack at any moment, she wasn’t in the mood to argue. Getting inside sounded like a brilliant plan to her. She scampered out of the truck, double-timed it to the cabin, and when the door locked behind her and Remy, Jacqueline finally let out the breath she’d been holding.
Only to lose it in the next instant when Remy headed to a tall cabinet, unlocked it, and pulled out a gun.
“Remy!”
“This one is for you,” he said. “I have another for me.”
He did? Where—
And his arm moved. He’d put on a light jacket before they left, and now she could see that he had a holster under one arm.Holy crap.He was wearing a gun right then! Remy caught her hand and pushed the gun he’d taken from the cabinet into her fingers. “I’m assuming you know how to use this.”
The weapon felt heavy and scary in her grip. “Your assumption would be very wrong.”
A furrow appeared between his brows. “Fingers Fabian didn’t teach you how to shoot?”
“He was a safecracker! Not a-a—” she floundered.
“Just because you know how to shoot, it doesn’t mean you’re a killer.” His voice came out flat. Hard. “You need to be able to protect yourself. The world is a dangerous place full of very dangerous people.”
Her lower lip trembled. “Do you know what happened to my parents?” The gun seemed too cold and heavy.
A shake of his head. “I’d heard about your grandfather, but not your parents.” His fingers still trapped hers around the weapon.
“That’s because they didn’t live long enough to make the FBI’s Most Wanted list.” A joke that just wasn’t. The gun felt so heavy in her hand. “My mom got pregnant with me when she was seventeen years old. By twenty, she and my dad thought that the best way to get fast cash was to rob a bank.” She blinked quickly so that she would not cry. Jacqueline hadn’t learned the truth about her parents’ death until her grandfather had passed away. He’d always told her that they’d been killed in a car accident. Why would she not have believed him?
He lied to protect me.“Even when you have the best of intentions, lies still hurt.”
Remy’s shoulders stiffened. “Where did that come from?” His fingers released her.
She was left holding the gun. “It’s the truth. Lies can be told to protect you, but they still rip you apart.” An exhale. “My grandfather lied about what really happened to my parents. Said they’d been in a car accident. I didn’t learn about the robbery until much, much later.” When she’d been all alone.
His head dipped toward her. “Tell me.”
“My dad took a gun into the bank. My mom had one, too.” She’d never told this story to anyone. Her shame. Not like you wanted to brag that your parents were would-be bank robbers. Would-be, because they hadn’t succeeded. “A guard shot them both.”
“Fuck.”
Yes. Fuck, indeed. “My mom’s gun wasn’t loaded. Neither was my dad’s. They were kids who didn’t understand that life wasn’t some game.” She put the gun down on the nearby table. Took a few steps away from Remy. “My grandfather wasn’t in mydad’s life. He’d thought that by staying away, he was protecting his son.” All those good intentions…for nothing.“With me, he said things would be different.”
“And he didn’t ever want you near a gun.”
No, he hadn’t.Yet here I am.“He didn’t want me near anything illegal. He raised me to follow the straight and narrow. Told me over and over not to make the mistakes he had.” He’d wanted her safe. And now…
I want to be safe again.
Remy’s body and warmth seemed to reach out to her as he slowly edged closer once more. “Your grandfather wanted you out of the crime game, yet he taught you how to crack safes. Not like that was the best hobby for a law-abiding citizen.”
Now she was the one to stiffen. “Cancer had weakened his body at the end. He wanted to spend time with me. I wanted to be with him. Teaching me about the safes kept him busy. It made him happy. Not like he expected me to start my own safecracking business on the side.”