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contact with Trace again. He knew that Noah and Trace would be able to handle the cops. Trace
had connections all over the place. Let s get inside.
She glanced toward his now dirt-covered Porsche. You surprise me.
He paused on the first wooden step. Sure, the cabin might not be much to look at, but he felt at home
there. Always had. He came out there at least four or five times a year, when the city was about to
choke the life out of him, and he remembered who he d been a lifetime ago.
A boy who fished on the dock. A boy who jumped into the water and laughed at the freedom. A boy
who looked up at stars and dreamed.
Not just a man with too many nightmares.
I& didn t see this for you, Jasmine said as her hand waved toward the cabin. It doesn t seem to
fit.
Then maybe you should ve checked more into my past, and not just my present.
She gave a jerky little nod at that as she came closer to him. My past is so screwed up. I have a rule
that I try not to poke too far into anyone else s
He caught her hand in his. Because you don t want them knowing about yours?
Yes. So soft.
I want to know everything.
She smiled, but her dimples didn t flash. Isn t that what Trace is for? So he can give you a file on
me?
I want you to tell me.
He waited a beat.
You will tell me.
One way& or another.
***
Saxon braked his motorcycle a good distance from the old cabin. The Porsche waited, covered in
dirt and dust, about fifteen feet from the place. Drake s car. He d recognized it on sight.
So he d followed them. Carefully.
His eyes slid over the cabin. Drake and Jazz were in there.
This was the perfect opportunity. Just what his boss had been waiting for.
Now, if he could just get the go-ahead to act.
Saxon pulled out his phone. Guess who I ve got in my sights&
Chapter Eleven
So I m supposed to reveal all my secrets to you? Jasmine asked as she rubbed her arms. There was
no reason for her chill, but she still felt it. Is that the way this works?
He was seated at a small, wooden table. His legs were stretched in front of him.
I tell you mine, she heard herself say, and I ll want to know yours. She thought those words might
scare him. She should have known better.
His head inclined and her heartbeat raced.
You first, Jasmine blurted because she was a coward at heart. Had he realized it? Sure, maybe she
could walk on a three inch ledge to a balcony ten feet away, but sharing anything personal?
Terrifying.
What do you want to know?
She sucked in a deep breath. The woman& Anna Jean& did you love her?
No.
Such a flat response.
I wanted her, I cared for her, but& I never loved her. I don t think I ve loved any woman.
Jasmine cleared her throat.
Have you slept with them? Drake demanded.
Them?
Victor Monroe. The too familiar agent.
Jasmine shook her head.
And Maxwell?
No. He was an assignment, nothing more.
His eyes narrowed and she realized that she d slipped up. Jasmine hurried toward him. Why
casinos? You were in the military, and going into the casino business seems like a serious one-eighty
to me.
Life s a gamble. He shrugged. You realize that when you spend your days and nights dodging
bullets. When you cheat death over and over again, you realize you ve hit a lucky streak.
Hell, his whole life was a gamble. Now it made sense to her.
Then your luck runs out.
She stopped near his side and stared down at him. Is that what happened to you?
A faint smile tilted the corners of his mouth. My turn now.
Oh, right.
Why did you run away at fifteen?
Talk about getting right to her darkest, most carefully guarded secret. I don t like this game
anymore.
He caught her hand. Held it in his. It was never a game.
His touch scorched her.
Tell me.
She stared at their entwined hands. She didn t want to look in his eyes when she revealed her shame.
My mother& I realized what she was when I was nine years old. Before that, I just& I thought she
had a lot of boyfriends. That was what she called them, you see. Her boyfriends.
Mommy s going out with her boyfriend tonight. You just stay inside and keep the lights turned off.
I ll be back soon.
She liked drugs and she liked to drink and she needed money& so she got it the only way she could.
Had her mother been different once? Maybe before Jasmine had been born? Long ago, she must have
been different.
Drake s hold tightened on her.
When I was fifteen, she tried to give me to one of her boyfriends.
His hold became painful.
She said she was tired and that he liked me, and it would just make things easier if I& if I& No,
Jasmine would not say it. I left, and I never looked back. Her breath whispered out. Maybe ease
that grip a bit?
Sorry. He immediately lightened his hold. Then he brought her hand up to his lips. Kissed her
wrist. Her palm.
Jasmine could only stare at him. That wasn t how you were supposed to react.
He looked up at her.
I m the daughter of a drugged out prostitute. She overdosed a week after I left her. She died and they
found her naked and alone in that trailer park. She shoved back the pain. You re not supposed to
react this way. You re not supposed to just sit there and stare up at me and
He kissed her hand again. The first time we talked, I realized how strong you were. I thought you
might just be the strongest woman I d ever met.
She shook her head. She wasn t strong. She was weak. A
You should see what I see, he told her, tilting back his head. When I look at you.
A liar and a thief. She already knew what he saw.
No. He pulled her down, and Jasmine sprawled over his lap. I see a beautiful, smart, strong
woman who needs to believe in herself. Life s been hard, damn brutal to you, but you ve survived.
He was making her heart hurt. Like life hasn t been brutal to you?
We all have our scars. His thumb moved lightly along the inner column of her wrist. Jasmine knew
he had to feel her racing pulse.
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