His Ransom 6(17)

She had no idea that her son was doing dirty work for the government. I bit my lip and turned back to her as she squeezed my fingers.

“Why didn’t you ever reach out to Jake?” I asked. I didn’t want to push her, but it was a question that burned in my mind. “If you wanted to know him—”

“They told us that it was too dangerous,” she said. She pursed her lips. “Even this… this is dangerous. It’s good you didn’t tell them your names downstairs.”

I thought of Rien, and what he had told me. I didn’t need to ask any more. The hurt in her face told me what I wanted to know—that this separation hadn’t been her fault. It had been as hard for her as it had been for Jake. Worse, maybe. She had known that her son was out there, somewhere, and she wasn’t able to be with him.

“Well, if there’s ever any need for more money, you only have to ask,” Jake said softly.

“I’m glad—” She bent over in a fit of coughing. Sean was at her side immediately with a tissue. She blotted the tissue against her lips and started again. “I’m glad that you found happiness. You’re nothing like your father.”

The gleam of tears in Jake’s eyes as he bent his head made my heart swell. That had always been so hard for him. He had his father’s name. I felt that he had been hating himself for it all this time, and now that weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

“And you,” she said, looking over at me. “You are an artist as well?”

“Yes,” I said.

“A whole family of artists, then,” she murmured. I could tell that so much talking was beginning to wear her out. She coughed again.

“Maybe…” Sean said.

“We should go,” Jake said, at the same time. I could see that it hurt him to leave. “We don’t want to bother you too much all at once. I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”

“Yes. That would be wonderful. It was good to meet you.” She pressed my hand with hers. “Take care of Jake, will you?”

“Of course,” I said. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them away. This was Jake’s moment. I stepped back and waited as he kissed her on both cheeks and said goodbye.

Out in the hallway, Jake turned to Sean.

“Thank you,” he said, his throat choked with emotion.

“It’s good to have a brother,” Sean said, reaching out his hand. Jake shook it, then clasped his brother close in a hug.





Chapter Eleven

“Thank you,” Jake said, when we were back at the hotel. He sat down on the bed.

“Me?”

“You’re the one who pushed me to see him again. I would never… I wouldn’t have…”

“Jake.”

He was crying then, tears streaming down his cheeks. I wrapped my arms around him. He was bigger than me, but I wanted to cradle him completely. I wanted to tell him that he had done the right thing. I wanted nothing more than for him to be happy.

“It was a moment I’d been waiting for my whole life,” he said. “And I’d never known it. I wouldn’t have met them if it wasn’t for you.”

“I didn’t—”

“Lacey, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

“I can only imagine,” I whispered.

“I’ve been living with this guilt my whole life. I thought I’d left them there to die. My whole life…”

I didn’t say anything, only caressed his back with my hand. He was so strong, yet at that moment he was utterly vulnerable. I let my fingers thread through his hair, smoothing it down. He didn’t deserve to be so hurt.

“I love you,” Jake said, lifting his head. He wiped a sleeve across his cheeks to dry them. His eyes were an almost unearthly green against the red rims of his eyes. I didn’t think that he could ever have looked more handsome than he normally did, but the fiery passion in his expression made him so beautiful I couldn’t breathe.

“I love you too,” I said.

He kissed me, softly at first. As though it was our first time kissing. So tender. So unlike him.

“Lacey…”

He lay back onto the bed, pulling me on top of him. My legs straddled his hips and I leaned forward to continue the kiss. His lips teased me, pushing and pulling in turn. The ache between my legs grew into a terrible want. I eased myself against him, letting out a soft whimper as his lips left mine and moved down to brush over the skin of my neck.

“Lacey, I want you.” His breath tickled me just under my ear as he whispered. I shivered, tightening my legs around his body. He was so strong, so hard, a body tense and pulsing underneath me. I’d never felt him like this before—completely alive, every part of him coiled with energy, like a spring that had been waiting for years to let go.