I was also very wary of Jasmine. Ever since she’d apologised for the slap, she’d been sweet as pie, but I could feel the undercurrent of her distaste towards me in every interaction we had. I didn’t know if it was me she didn’t like, or the effect I had on Nate—he had, after all, threatened them all when he’d found out she hit me. That alone could be enough for her. It was hard to stay angry at family, and much easier to blame an outsider for any newfound problems. Either way, I wasn’t sure I was interested in getting along with her at all. In my eyes, she was the reason for my problems. Because of the life she’d created for her sons, Nate would never walk away, and my best friend wasn’t my best friend anymore. I didn’t like how far her claws had dug into my life. Jasmine Cartwright was my greatest obstacle—my nemesis. I didn’t know if we could ever get along.

“Perhaps you and I can spend the day together tomorrow,” Jasmine suggested when we were tidying up after dinner that night. “Nate mentioned you’re singing at a wedding on Sunday. Maybe we can find you a nice dress to wear? We can make a day of it, have lunch at this great bistro I know of, get massages and have facials at the day spa. It’ll be great, just the two of us.”

I looked behind me because I really wasn’t sure if she was talking to me. But seeing that we were alone, I had to take a moment to think about what she said. “Uh… sure?” What the hell is going on?

Jasmine laughed. “Don’t look so frightened, Holland. I don’t bite. And I think it’s high time that you and I got to know each other. Don’t you agree?”

“Uh… sure?”

Again, she laughed. “Great. We’ll leave right after breakfast. Eight OK with you?”

“Sure,” I replied again, my surprise at her olive branch outing messing with my vocabulary.

When I’d gone to bed that night, I’d thought about calling or texting Nate to tell him about her offer. I wanted to know if it was her idea or his, or if he thought this was a normal, or even a wise thing to do. But when I’d held my phone up to bring up his number, I decided against it. He hadn’t called me all day. He hadn’t even taken my own desire to stay in the apartment this weekend into consideration. He’d just steamrolled all over the top of my plans, done what he wanted, and forced me to do what he wanted too. No, I did not want to speak to my husband. I was still pissed at him.

Switching my phone to silent, I set it on the bedside table, then rolled over and attempted to go to sleep, something that wasn’t easy to do when you’d grown accustomed to drifting off naked and in the arms of a giant man listening to the sea.

After spending the morning browsing stores and making small talk, Jasmine and I finished our day of bonding with spa treatments. It had been odd trying on dresses and receiving compliments. I was still trying to understand her motives, so it was impossible to relax around her.

“What made you choose the profession you’re in?” I asked her when we were alone in the spa room with mud drying on our skin. They’d put cucumbers on our eyes too, but I’d removed mine to keep an eye on Jasmine, just in case this whole day was an excuse to get me alone so she could smother me with one of the plush towels. Where Nate’s family was concerned, I had terrible trust issues. I may have been in love with her son, but my Stockholm Syndrome had never kicked in enough to make me feel an empathy towards my captors. Maybe that’s what happened with Alesha?

“You really want that sad and sorry tale?” Jasmine laughed, pulling my attention back as she removed the cucumber from her eyes.

“I do, actually. I’m trying to understand this life. I’m trying to understand you.”

“I’m honestly not that complicated, sweetheart, but OK,” she said, rolling to her side and propping herself up on an elbow. “I’ll play this game. The short and simple version is like this: I grew up mostly on the streets. My mother was a heroin addict and would turn tricks whenever she couldn’t pay for a hit—which was more often than not. Stealing was how I survived for the most part, so I got real good at it real fast. Growing up with her for a mother taught me two things.” She held up her fingers and counted them off. “Drugs are a waste of a life, and sex can get you anything you want. And I’m not talking prostitution. I’m talking control, manipulation. I saw how those dealers used their power to make her do whatever they wanted her to do. It wasn’t long before I realised that I had power too. I was young, I was beautiful, and there is a certain type of man out there who will do anything to have that. At first I used them for survival, but then I did it just because I could. And I found myself living a pretty comfortable existence. All that changed when I set my sights on a man called Derek Cartwright. He looked like money, you know? Plus, he was beautiful. I thought, if I could just land that guy, he could make all of my dreams come true. And in a way, he did. It turned out he was an even bigger thief than I was. He ran with a group—the family, they called it—who pulled big enough jobs so everyone lived well. They took me in, taught me everything I know. And the rest, as they say, is history.” There was a wistfulness in her eyes as she pressed her lips together.

“Cartwright. You married him?”

She nodded. “I did. All five boys have the same father.”

“Where is he now?”

“Prison,” she stated simply, rolling so she was again flat on her back. “Tried to do a job he wasn’t ready for and got caught with the rest of them.”

“I thought Cartwrights didn’t do time.”

She laughed at that. A great big mocking laugh that told me she thought I was incredibly naïve. “Is that what Nate told you? Oh, honey. We do time. Nate did time. Got caught stealing cars when he was fourteen. Did six months. Sam, he wasn’t so lucky. He was an adult when he got caught. An alarm tripped when he was stealing the overnight safe from a post office. Stupid boy was trying to do a job on his own.” She shook her head. “He did eighteen months in medium security.”

“What about the others?”

“Clean as a whistle. Nate and Toby took over planning. No one does a job without the others’ involvement. Family sticks together.”

“And what about you? Have you ever done time?”

She shook her head. “I was questioned over the robbery that got the rest of them. But they couldn’t make anything stick.”

“It must’ve been a big robbery if they’re all still in there.”

She smiled, but it wasn’t happy. “Two security guards died. Derek took the fall and is serving two life sentences. The rest got out years ago.”

“Where are they now?”

She shrugged. “They’re around. Some went straight, some retired, others went their own way or got caught again.” Some went straight, some retired. It seemed getting out was simple for some….

“Did you consider getting out yourself?”

“I had children, bills, a lifestyle. I didn’t have the luxury of a career change.”

“So you just kept stealing and passed your skillset on to your sons?”

She smiled. “You say that like it’s a bad thing, Holland, but look at my sons. They’re happy, healthy, well provided for. They’re entrepreneurs, and they will never, ever put the coin in another man’s purse. No, my boys live free. They live hard. And they take what they want.”

But to what end? When will it be enough?

“Sounds like you’ve lived a rather interesting life.”

“I have. And there isn’t a single person in this world who’s going to take that life—or my boys—away from me.”

Her light eyes held mine, and suddenly her motives for the day out became clear. She was here to remind me that she was the matriarch of the family.

Well, that kind of talk might’ve worked in her world, but she was forgetting something important….

“They’re not boys anymore, Jasmine. They’re men. I think it will serve you well to remember that.”

Placing my cucumbers back over my eyes, I laid back on the bench, hoping to God that her loyalty towards Nate would trump any desire to harm me. Thankfully, her loyalty won.