One month later

Jaya closed the book and set it on the table next to her lounge chair, her hand lingering for a moment. The dark, wild and tragic tale of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff still called to her even after she’d finished the story. A shiver of appreciation ran down her spine and she closed her eyes on a sigh. This was her second time through and this time she was able to absorb so much more from the story. The deep abiding passion of the characters, the rich scenery, the sense of mystery and awe surrounding the entire story. And though it had ended badly for some, it still finished on a positive note, finished with a love that had sprung out of hate.

She stood up and gazed out at the sun setting on the city of Jakarta. In the past few days she’d begun hoping Ivan would agree to make their home here. She knew he was considering all the security angles. He thought the high-rise city setting was riskier than another island or a remote country somewhere off the grid. Jaya had argued that it would be easier from a work perspective if they stayed in the city. He’d given her ‘the look’ as she was coming to call it. Now that she no longer feared him, she just ignored it and did her own thing anyway. Which was picking up new jobs at will and playing with her internet friends.

Ivan had tried to enforce his rule of picking and choosing her jobs for her, but since neither he nor any of his people came anywhere near her tech capabilities there was no way for him to know what kind of jobs she was accepting. He quickly became aware of her rule breaking when she had to sneak out of bed one night to do a particularly time sensitive job that was in a different time zone. Ivan had responded by taking away her laptop. Jaya had then stolen Keane’s smart phone and hacked into the penthouse security system, locking everyone in until Ivan promised to negotiate with her. Since then, she’d agreed to run her jobs by him as long as he agreed to allow her unilateral decision-making on which jobs she chose to take.

“After all, I am a multi-millionaire,” she’d murmured against his lips, allowing him to wrap his arms around her when it looked like negotiations were going her way. “I’ve been taking care of myself for several years now.”

“And look where that got you,” he pointed out, kissing her lips, then her nose and forehead.

“Where?” she asked, breathless.

“Kidnapped by a villainous arms dealer who caged you up and ravished you,” he growled, picking her up and striding toward the bed.

She laughed as he dropped her and then came down on top of her. “Maybe so, but I’m happy with the outcome. And if this horrible crime lord arms dealer guy plays his cards right I might consider selling him some of my fancy hacking services.”

He looked down at her, a frown creasing his forehead as though he were thinking about it. “I said villainous, not horrible,” he finally said. “You need to get your terminology correct if you intend on getting that laptop back. Remember what happened to the last guy that made me an enemy.”

She gasped and smacked his arm. “That’s so awful, Ivan! No wonder you never make jokes, you’re really bad at it.” She giggled and pulled his head down, meeting his lips in a searing kiss. Her heart soared, bursting with the freedom and happiness he’d gifted her.

That conversation had been a few days ago and he’d given her laptop back. True to her word Jaya had told him of every job to come along and detailed the ones she intended to take. She’d enjoyed the look of astonishment he couldn’t quite conceal from her as she described the intricacies involved, the reason she didn’t take jobs for completely monetary gain. Sometimes she took jobs for political reasons, sometimes for charitable and sometimes for the sheer challenge. She felt gratified when she saw admiration reflected on his face.

Since their discussion, Ivan had created an office work space for her right next to his, designed with only the basics. He’d explained that he wanted her to order exactly what she wanted in both tech and office equipment to make her office its most optimal for her use. She’d nearly started crying when he’d shown her. Instead, she’d slammed the door shut and thrown herself into his arms hoping he got the message. He did. They made slow, sweet love on the floor of her brand-new office. A place she’d always dreamed of, but never dared hope to have. A room filled with space and light and all the best and newest equipment. But best of all… the man she loved right next door.

“Hey, daydreamer, get your ass down here.” Jaya looked down at the pool where her two best friends were laughing and waving at her. She waved back and assured them she’d be down in a minute.

Ndari and Katie had taken to each other like ducks to water. They were two very confident women with a taste for the finer things in life. After a little bit of circling and sizing, they’d finally settled on the side of becoming instant friends that air kissed and Snapchatted their exploits every few hours. An amused Jaya had instantly hacked their Snapchats and added a beagle in sunglasses and a santa hat to every picture. They could usually be found arguing which princess from which country had the best crown jewels, and which online store they would raid next with Ivan’s credit card. Though both Katie and Jaya had plenty of their own money, it was agreed that Ivan’s credit card had the best likelihood of being unlimited. Though no one had proved it yet.

There had been some tension between Katie and Ivan upon Katie’s arrival, though it was completely on Katie’s side as Ivan was cool as always at meeting the former protégé he’d given up to get his hands on Jaya. Sensing the tension between his lovely wife and a very powerful international crime lord, Katie’s husband, Roman Valdez, had immediately stepped in. Silent, tense, angry, and tattooed from head to foot, Roman was the epitome of every badass gangster Mexican movie villain rolled into one. Jaya was in awe and possibly might have been a little in lust if she weren’t so totally enthralled by her own badass antihero.

Jaya had stepped in and broken the tension by throwing her arms around Katie, hugging her tight and exclaiming over how beautiful the tall blond was. They’d never actually met in real life, though Jaya had, of course, seen Katie many times over surveillance. Katie had never set eyes on Jaya before, hadn’t even known the real name of the hacker genius that had helped her time and again through her many heists. So the two women had plenty to catch up on. Once this was pointed out to her, she was happy to leave the room with an excitedly chattering Jaya, throwing one last pointed glare over her shoulder at Ivan.

Jaya rifled through her drawer coming up with a black one-piece bathing suit. She grinned as she held it up, then tossed it on the bed, quickly disrobing. Once she was dressed in the bathing suit, she stood in front of the mirror. “Well, he insisted no bikinis. He wasn’t super specific otherwise.” She shrugged, a gleam of mischief in her eyes as she surveyed the deep plunge of material that ran all the way down to her belly button. The sides were held up by a thin see-through mesh. She pulled on a long, silky robe and bent over to kiss Haty’s soft head where she was slumbering upside down on Ivan’s pillow. The cat stretched out a paw, purr-meowed, yawned and went back to sleep. Then Jaya left the suite to join her friends.

“Hey, bout time you joined us, lazy bones,” Ndari sent a wave of water slicing toward Jaya as she walked toward the pool.

Laughing, she dropped her robe on the nearest lounger. It had taken some work, but she was now able to spend time at the pool without thinking about that awful day when Borjan’s men shot up the pool area. It helped that Ivan had the entire area renovated to look completely different and insisted it be done shortly after their arrival from Bangkok. Ndari had also dragged her outside almost daily, insisting she spend time in the sun, socializing and learning how to swim with her wacky friend as a tutor.

“Do you think Katie should try stealing my princess tiara?” Ndaria asked, swimming to the edge of the pool and pressing herself against the ledge, leaning her arms on the warm pool tiles, her breasts swelling over top as she bobbed up and down in the water. A quick glance to the side confirmed that Keane was on duty near the balcony perimeter. His eyes were glued to the trio, or more specifically, the princess. “I don’t mean one of the tiaras I’ve picked up in a jewelry store, but the real deal. My crown jewel. The thing that makes me a princess.”

Jaya laughed. “A tiara isn’t what makes you a princess!”

Ndari rolled her eyes. “Well obviously it was the accident of birth thing, but in the mean time, the tiara is pretty freaking awesome, why wouldn’t Miss Blond-thing stick-up-her-ass want to steal my tiara? She’s stolen everything else of value in this place.”

“Okay…!” Katie started, lunging toward Ndari, clearly intent on doing some damage.

“Is there a problem here?”

Jaya twisted around at the deep voice, Katie and Ndari stopped their pool sparring match. Roman Valdez, tanned Mexican God, strode up to the pool, his eyes on his wife.

Katie swam immediately for the edge and lifted her arms. “Roman.” Her voice was breathless, her eyes hot with longing, room for no one but her husband. Heedless of the water dripping from his wife, Roman reached for her, placing his hands beneath her armpits and lifting her from the pool. Jaya and Ndari stared in fascination as Roman kissed Katie, uncaring of their audience. She pressed herself against him and, when he finally released her lips, whispered, “No problem here, baby.”

“Jaya.”

The spell was broken, Jaya blinked and turned to look at Ivan. He wasn’t looking at Roman and Katie. His gaze was on her. Though his eyes were grey: steel, silvery, light… they also held such unreachable darkness. She didn’t know if it was the tragedy that befell his family or if this was just Ivan. But there was always going to be a part of him she couldn’t reach, couldn’t know. She would just have to be comforted by the thought that he knew her. He could reach her, he knew how to touch her heart.

“I love you,” she whispered knowing he was too far away to hear.

He strode toward her, reaching for her robe and picking it up off the lounger as he approached. He opened it over her shoulders, covering the bathing suit she’d known he wouldn’t approve of when she bought it. He bent to capture her lips in a lingering kiss, then wrapped his arms around her waist, trapping her against his hard chest. She lifted her hands to hold on to him, clinging to his solid frame.

“I love you too, Jaya. My Victory,” he said huskily and reached to bring her hand forward, pressing his lips against the ring on her finger. The same ring they had found together in the Tiffany’s store before Jaya had tried to escape. Sometimes she wondered if he’d given it to her both as gesture of his love and a promise that he would always find her.

Her gaze flicked up and she nearly stepped away from him. Though his voice was soft and gentle, his eyes told a different story. One of darkness. One of a man that had done anything and everything to attain his position of power. A man that knew how to hold on to what he valued. Ivan would always come for her; no matter where she was taken, where she fled.

He would never let her go. Especially now that he had her love.

THE END