Jasper

In hindsight, I realized it was stupid to leave in such a hurry, especially with a backpack slung over my shoulder. But if one of the guys was watching my movements, my first stop would draw them out of the shadows immediately. My story that the list was in a safe deposit box turned out to be pretty convenient, since I needed to go pull cash anyway. Sam probably still had all my banking information and could track the use of my card. I couldn’t let him track me down, especially with Mina, so I had to resort to the green stuff no one carried anymore.

And since I had to go to a teller to pull that kind of money out of my account, it was going to take some time. That would easily look like I’d taken the time to grab my list out of the box. With the backpack I was carrying, any of them who might be tailing me would pounce immediately to grab it rather than wait to see if I brought it in or ran. So, I wouldn’t even have to look.

But when I came out with my wallet exploding with what I hoped could last a couple weeks and got on my bike without being accosted, I got nervous. Maybe they were waiting to follow me somewhere quieter, out of public view, where they could beat the hell out of me, take the money and the list they thought I had, and leave me to die.

A week ago, I would have laughed that off as paranoia, but today, I couldn’t ignore the real possibility. So, I wound around a million different blocks, watching my ass for a tail. I zigzagged and backtracked through the city for about an hour before finally deciding I could follow the directions coming through my ear bud from GPS. I still watched, nervous, but after a few minutes of getting out of the city onto open road and realizing there were no cars around me, I relaxed. I didn’t let my guard down, but I stopped glancing over my shoulder every five seconds.

The view was incredible, now that I could enjoy it a little. The air was fresh, and I started to think about how rare it was that I’d ever really left the city. I liked it there, so I wasn’t going to complain. It obviously took life threatening situations to get me to leave. But as I drew closer to the address Mina had given me and realized in was in the low lying mountains, I vowed I’d find more good reasons to come out this way. I could use the break from the grey industrial surroundings.

But more than anything, what I wanted was to get to Mina, and as I turned onto the winding path with the sign in front that quietly announced the presence of the lodge, I felt my excitement grow. I made my way up to the main lodge and entered the lobby, noticing the distinct chill in the air despite the lack of snow in these foothills, and I found a young man behind the counter. He smiled and eyed me in a way that I usually only got from women, which eased my mind. He was a handsome guy, and I didn’t want him getting any ideas about Mina. Obviously, I was more to his liking, which I could handle.

“Can I help you, sir?” he asked with a wink.

I was actually a little embarrassed, and I laughed softly. “I’m here to meet someone. I hope she’s already checked in.”

He gasped and clapped his hands. “Oh, you must be Mina’s new beau. I’ll have to congratulate her on her taste,” he said, blushing. I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything. “She’s in the east bungalow. Here’s a map.” He handed me a slip of paper that displayed walking trails and buildings with a bright circle he’d drawn around my destination. “Listen here, big boy. If you ever do anything to break that woman’s heart, I’ll break your balls. You got me?”

I nearly choked hearing that come from him, but I nodded. “If I ever break her heart, I’ll let you break them. I’d deserve it.”

He laughed. “Oh, you’re a rich one. I love it!” He walked away, which I guessed was my cue to head out and follow the trail to this bungalow. I didn’t need any extra motivation. Mina would be inside, and that was everything I wanted. I found it amazing how one person could become your whole world, your every thought, in such a short span of time.

I walked slower, thinking about Cindy and how our relationship had been. I was young, and I had this idea in my head that she was absolutely perfect. At the time, she was good for me. I had come home from a tour of duty, doing worse than cracking skulls in Special Ops, and I needed someone soft, someone who needed me to calm down and take care of her. Cindy gave me a purpose, even before she got sick. She made me feel again, made me like myself again.

But what we had wasn’t love. We had adoration for each other, and we had chemistry. But I never had a passionate need for her, only to take care of her and keep her well. Our relationship had served a purpose. I’d cared for Cindy, and she’d had feelings for me, but I couldn’t define it as love that we shared.

Mina was different. She made everything glow. She didn’t need me – she wanted me. And I didn’t feel an overwhelming need to take care of her. Protect her? Yes, but that was just a male thing when it came to the woman that steals your heart, right? She was so beautiful and sexy that I could barely keep my dick in my pants, but she was so soft and warm I wanted to cradle her gently against my chest. And all of that warred with my need to enjoy conversation with her because she was so smart and funny.

Now, thinking about Mina, I sped up again until I was almost running, and I banged on the door eagerly. She answered, her eyes hooded with sleep and her hair slightly disheveled, and I’d never seen anything lovelier. Until a relieved smile slowly curled her lips. I put my hands on her face and pulled her into a kiss, needing to taste that gorgeous mouth and feel her here, in front of me, real and whole and safe. When I managed to pull back, she laughed softly and said, “Hello to you, too.”

I couldn’t help grinning ear to ear as I stepped inside. “I missed you.”

She slouched and wrapped her arms around her chest. “I missed you, too.” But her smile faded. “We need to talk.”

“I know.” I didn’t like the solemn atmosphere surrounding us, but it was just the situation, and I would handle it. “Are you cold?”

She shrugged as we made our way to the dark blue couch that looked awfully inviting in the small living room. “I dozed off waiting. I tend to wake up cold. I’ll be fine in a minute.”

She plopped down, and I sat next to her, wanting to pull her into my lap. But I needed to face her while we talked about this, needed to see her reactions as much as I needed her to see what I was feeling. I turned my body sideways to face her. “The guys want something I have, and I can’t give it to them,” I blurted out.

Her brows knit together. “What do they want?”

I closed my eyes and tried to find a way to tell her without sounding like a total heel. Taking a deep breath, I decided for the same brutal honesty I’d used with her before. “I have a list. It’s not written down anywhere, but it’s a very important list for anyone looking to do what I tried to do before.”

The corners of her mouth turned down. “You mean the robbery?”

I flinched at the candid word and nodded. “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean. I memorized that list back then. It catalogs everything your father had in his collection, not just the publicly known pieces.” I hesitated. The rest of it was the hardest. “And I have detailed instructions on how to access those pieces.”

She blinked as understanding cleared her eyes of the sleep fog. “Wait. They want to come back to my house, to the private stash, and rob me?”

It sounded ludicrous, and I felt the anger bubbling up in me. “That’s why I burned everything I’d written, committed it to memory. I won’t let them have it, Mina, but they won’t stop. They won’t let me go till I give them what they want. And I’m not sure what they’ll do to you if they get desperate enough to just break in and take the shit without a solid plan.”

Her jaw set hard, and she shook her head. “I have three times the security my father had when you got in before. And the instructions you had? I promise you, they won’t do any good.” Still, she tensed, and I ached for her. “Why can’t they just leave it alone? If they insist on taking the easy road, why can’t they pick someone else to terrorize?”

“Because it’s personal now.” I reached for her now, pulling her close and embracing her. I tucked my chin against the top of her head when she curled into me. “They’re mad because I’ve been dragging my heels and trying to bow out. And they’re greedy and lazy. They don’t want to do the work. I did all that last time. I did the research, put together the plan. They wouldn’t have gotten anywhere without me.”

“And they have that sense of entitlement, as if you hadn’t already taken one for the team,” she finished, sounding bitter.

I scoffed. “I took fucking eight for the team. And got almost nothing in return.” The fact that Sam handled my business was starting to mean less and less, and I was beginning to wonder if that was a mistake. He knew too much about me and my finances, and he could use that against me. “I don’t know what to do here, Mina. For the first time in my life, I’m at a complete loss for how to handle this. I could give them a fake list, a fake set of instructions. But they would eventually find out and come for me. And you, too.”

“I suppose you’re opposed to disappearing,” she said wistfully.

I chuckled softly. “I’m not opposed. But these guys wouldn’t be the only people looking for me. I’m on parole, and I don’t particularly want to get stuck behind bars for violating the terms.” Of course, if we did it the right way, no one would ever find us, but that still took time to plan. I needed an immediate solution.

“That would negate the purpose of getting away from your old crew.” She shifted, burying her face deeper in my chest, and I reveled in the heat of her tucked into me. She was so small, and I loved the way I could envelope her completely.

I didn’t like my options, but I couldn’t think of anything else. We sat there for a long time, and I stared out the picture window at the trees that were thick and green down the rolling hill, wondering if I’d gotten myself in so deep that I couldn’t dig out. With my crew. With Mina. In general.

Suddenly, she gasped and threw herself out of my lap, her elbow connecting with my ribs painfully. I grunted, but she was pacing back and forth and didn’t even notice. “Jasper, I know what we should do.” She was excited, and even though I had no idea what she was talking about or where this had come from, I felt my own excitement growing. I sat forward and watched her, the look of concentration on her face, and I fell in love all over again.

Mina

I couldn’t believe it had taken me this long to put it together in my mind. But when Jasper mentioned creating a fake list, something started nagging at the back of my mind. I was just so taken aback by how relentless his supposed friends were being that it took a while to come to fruition. And now, the thoughts were coming so quickly I couldn’t express them, unable to squeeze the words out before the next part of the idea flooded my brain.

Luckily, Jasper was either a naturally patient man or had learned extreme patience in prison because he just sat there and waited without pushing me to explain what I was thinking. Eventually, I started to form words, and then words became sentences. “We can set them up, Jasper. We’ll plan the whole thing out, and you can pretend you’re helping them. You’ll give them all the information they want.”

“Mina—”

I held up a hand to cut him off. “It’s all going to be a setup, Jasper. You’ll tell the police what’s going on, and we’ll set up a sting operation. When they come, the police will be waiting. They’ll all go down for it, and with you as a witness stating that these were the men who left you hanging all those years ago, they’ll get put away for life. It’s ideal. They get what they deserve, and if they’re locked up, they can’t come after you. Or me.”

He looked skeptical but optimistic. “I don’t know, Mina. I have a record. I doubt the police want to hear anything I have to say.”

“But that’s the point. Didn’t they press you for information on conspirators or something? And wouldn’t they rather you came to them, willing to play a role in this just to get the rest of them caught?” I knew this would work. We just had to come up with the details. It was ingenious, and I knew I was getting ahead of myself but couldn’t stop. “Listen, you go to the police, tell them everything. About the threats and demands, about the fact that you refused to turn them in before, about doing the time and wanting to live a clean life. Then, you tell them that you know they’re plotting to do it again and that you can hand them over on a silver platter. Detectives won’t turn down an opportunity for a big bust like that.”

Jasper laughed. “You watch too many cop shows.” He shook his head, but I could tell he was pondering the idea. “So, what? I’m basically the undercover narc? I go back on everything, my moral high ground of keeping my friends safe, so that I can protect my own hide.” He took a deep breath and stood, walking over to me slowly where I’d stopped next to the window. He tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear and looked at me for all the world like I was the most precious gem in the world. “I wouldn’t do that, not for me. I’m not worth it. But you are. I would do anything to protect you.”

I preened. All my life, I’d wondered how it was some people found such happiness in a partner, how they sought out a perfect love. But now I knew. You couldn’t go looking for it. You couldn’t make it happen. You just had to wait for the right person to walk into your life. Then, it happened on its own.

My own father wouldn’t have been so adamant about protecting his daughter, and yet, Jasper stood in front of me, his beautiful green eyes sincere and filled with love, telling me he would do anything to protect me. He was willing to ruin lifelong friendships, risk his own skin in this farce, for me. And it wasn’t even a solid plan. It was just a stream of conscious thought I’d had that needed more than a little finesse. But he was ready to commit, right here and now. If that wasn’t love, then what was?

“We have to think this through carefully,” I told him, wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling myself closer to him. “I can’t lose you, Jasper. I don’t want you hurt.”

He smoothed his hand over my hair and cupped my chin in his fingertips, tilting my face up to his. “I’ll be fine. And it’s more important that you’re safe than anything else.” He threaded the fingers of his free hand through my hair, tilting my head back, and I waited as his lips came toward mine, so slowly. When they touched me, an electrical spark flashed, tingling and traveling down my spine, through my limbs, and into my core. I melted against him, basking in his warmth and his passion as his tongue swirled in my mouth. He tasted like heaven, like home, and I couldn’t get enough of him. I couldn’t explain my hunger for him because I didn’t need him. I had survived on my own for a long time, and I could take care of myself. I had all the resources to live a happy, luxurious life. But I couldn’t imagine my world without him now.

Funny how a few weeks changes everything.

I drank from him, taking pleasure and solace in the feel of him and the desire I could sense oozing from every pore of his body, and I wanted him. I wanted him to strip me down and devour me, but I didn’t think we were at that place right now, no matter how tempting it sounded. So, I gently pulled away from the kiss but not out of his grasp. I liked the feel of his hand curled around the back of my neck, his arm tucked low around the small of my back. And even if I knew we needed to cool down, I enjoyed the fact that his cock was hard and pressed against me.

“How long are we staying here?” I asked, my voice a deep, sultry rasp.

Jasper took a deep breath, staring at me with his pupils dilated and a mischievous smirk on his lips. “I don’t know. As long as we can?” Then, he frowned. “I can split the cost with you.”

I scoffed. “You think I’m worried about money? Come on, Jasper, we’re past that, aren’t we?” I could tell it bothered him, though. He had pride, and he was a man. And I knew that even beneath that, he didn’t want me to think he was using me for my money. I touched his cheek and shook my head. “Listen to me, Jasper. You give me everything I need, and I want to do the same for you. I’m never going to worry about money or splitting things down the middle. The money is just a nice luxury. It’s not important to me, and I don’t care if we spend every last dime, if it keeps us safe and happy.”

His eyes shone with something I couldn’t understand, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. The emotion – whatever it was – ran so deep that it hurt just looking at him. I didn’t think I could handle hearing what it meant or sharing the feeling with him.

I took a deep breath and nodded. “I guess we’ll just play it by ear, then. We can start putting together a plan, see what the cops say, and maybe spend a little quality time together.”

He waggled his eyebrows. “I can think of some ways to stay occupied, some very quality ways.” As if to punctuate his point, his hand slid down to cup my ass and push my hips against him. “But if you don’t mind, I’m actually sort of hungry. Where do you get food around here?”

I glanced toward the fridge, which I knew was empty aside from some soda and beer, and then toward the door. “We can go shopping and cook, but there’s a nice little diner up at the lodge that would be quicker.”

He nodded. “So, food and then shopping. It’s better to buy food on a full stomach, especially for me.”

I laughed, picturing him like a child going through the store, throwing everything in the cart. “Very well. Let me change into something fresh, and we’ll go.”