Jackson (7 page)

Or how lucky I am
, she thought, giving this team of Jackson’s another look. Maybe she was just delusional from exhaustion, but most of these men were incredibly attractive. Even Roth, for all of his sternness, had
something
about him that made her curious about the man beneath the frown.

Though it was easy to forget that with the way he was looking at her.

“It’s probably safer if I hold onto the atlas,” he said, holding out his hand.

Her stomach tightened, but she silently cursed at herself for being an idiot. She’d known she’d have to give up the atlas eventually. There was no point in delaying it. Still, she felt a twinge of sadness as she handed it over, as if she were losing a little bit of herself.
Which is dumb, because it wasn’t even yours in the first place. It was Vincent Rinaldi’s.

Roth’s weathered fingers skimmed over the gold embossing on the atlas’s cover, but his eyes were still on her.

“Thank you for bringing this to us,” he said, without even the barest hint of a smile—or any gratitude—in his face. “I hope your travels have been pleasant so far.” His eyes shifted to Jackson, then back to her. “As I can see you’ve had the chance to learn, this is shaping up to be a rather dangerous expedition. Perhaps you’d be more comfortable staying here in Split for the time being? I can make arrangements for you in a nice apartment building right by one of the beaches.”

But Jackson’s arm tightened around her. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Of course it’s a good idea,” Roth countered, as if lecturing a child. “This isn’t a game. It’s not safe for her here.” His gaze was back on her again. “We’ll make sure you get a share of the haul. You have my word on it.”

But Jackson was shaking his head, and she could feel the tension in the muscles of his arm around her.

“She stays with us,” Jackson said.

“We need to be able to move freely,” the other man said. “That means we can’t have anyone slowing us down. You’ve already seen how dangerous this is going to get.”

“All the more reason why we shouldn’t just leave her somewhere by herself,” Jackson said. And then, “You already agreed to this over the phone.”

“Because you said that in all likelihood she’d run home long before she ever set foot on this boat.”

That was like a kick right to the gut. But before Charlotte could ask either of them to elaborate, Jackson released her and stepped toward the other man.

“She’s involved in this now, whether we like it or not. Blame me if you like, but if Nash is onto us, you know what that means. She’s safer with us.”

Roth’s mouth went rigid. She’d heard the way Jackson and Leo had talked about this man—he was the leader of this little team, and it was clear they respected him deeply. She hadn’t realized she’d be in the middle of something.

But the decision, such as it was, appeared to have been made.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes,” Roth said, looking around at his team. And with that, he turned and climbed back down below, the atlas still clutched in his hand.

Charlotte still felt a little like the wind had been swept out of her sails, even when Roth had completely disappeared below and Jackson turned back to her. She’d known she was stepping into Jackson’s territory, but she hadn’t really expected it to be so… well,
awkward.

But if the others were feeling that awkwardness, they hid it well.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” said the one with the tattoos, twisting around Jackson to place himself right in front of her.

Jackson was already back to his normal self, and he rolled his eyes at his friend before looping his arm around her waist again, as if to protect her from the other man’s enthusiasm.

“This is Toshi,” he told her. “He’s an even bigger player than Leo.”

“Hey, hey, hey. Don’t be knocking me right out of the gate, man,” said Toshi. To her he added, “Jacky here has it out for me. But don’t worry—I don’t go after my brothers’ girls.”

Charlotte started to point out that she was most definitely
not
Jackson’s “girl,” but before she could get out the words, Jackson had already started introducing her to the other two men on the boat. The big one on the left with the short, chestnut hair was Alexei, and he greeted her with the hint of a Russian accent. The other one was lither and had wavy, sun-bleached hair, and Jackson introduced him as Xavier.

She didn’t have time to speak with any of the guys, though. They’d all jumped to action preparing the boat for departure.

“We should take your things downstairs,” Jackson told her.

She nodded, eager to do something besides stand here like an idiot. She followed Jackson through the opening and down the ladder-like steps to the area below deck.

She’d never been on a boat before, so she was pleasantly surprised to see how many conveniences were down here below the deck—even if quarters were a little cramped. Roth was nowhere to be seen—he must have shut himself behind one of the narrow doors on either side of the stairs—but there was a small kitchenette tucked away to the left, and next to it, a short table jutted from the wall beneath a panel of electronics.

Jackson led her to a door at the far end of the tiny main room.

“This is where we’ll be sleeping,” he said.

The space beyond could hardly be called a room. It was essentially just a bed with a scant ten inches of “floor” between the mattress and the door.

“This looks… cozy,” she said. But then she realized what he’d said. “We’re
sharing
this?” The bed hardly looked big enough for one person, and the thought of sharing it with Jackson made her go hot from head to heel.

“It’s the only option,” he said with a shrug. “Unless you feel like shacking with one of the others.”

“No, I just…” God, her skin felt too warm.

“Charlie,” he said, and she suddenly realized how close they were, standing in this narrow doorway. His hand came up, his fingers brushing tentatively against her cheek as his eyes seemed to search hers. She knew she should move away from him, but she was frozen in place.

“We have some things to talk about,” he told her. But the way he was looking at her, she wasn’t sure he actually wanted to do any talking.

She wasn’t ready for this conversation—not now, not ever. But before she had the chance to tell him so, one of the other doors slammed open, and Roth stood there. His steely eyes bored right into them, but if he had any thoughts on how close Jackson was standing to her, the man kept them to himself.

“I need you up on deck,” he said to Jackson, just as Leo stuck his head down below.

“We’re ready,” Leo said.

Jackson nodded. “Right away.” He turned to her as Roth climbed the stairs. “You might want to come up. You’ll get sick if you stay down here, at least until you’re used to the movement of the boat. You can sit at the front of the boat while we sail out. But keep your head low if you don’t want to get knocked overboard.”

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he meant by that, but she was relieved when she realized she’d avoided an uncomfortable conversation for the second time in less than an hour. And she was more than happy to go up on deck.

By the time she and Jackson emerged, the guy Jackson had called Toshi had just pulled up the gangplank. The lithe, blond one—Xavier?—was winding up some rope, while the big Russian—Alexei, if she remembered correctly—stood by Roth at one of the vessel’s two wheels. Roth glanced her way but didn’t say anything.

A moment later, she found herself sitting at the very front of the craft while the engine pushed them slowly but steadily out to sea. Behind them, the city of Split grew smaller and smaller. From here, she could also see the mountains behind the city—she hadn’t even noticed those when they were in the car. In spite of her uncertainty, her chest swelled with amazement. She hadn’t even been here for half a day, and it felt like every moment she discovered something new.

In the other direction, the Adriatic Sea opened in front of them, wide and blue and glittering in the morning sun. The wind swept her hair across her face, and she pushed the loose waves behind her ears as she leaned forward. They weren’t even on the open water yet, and she already felt like she was in some strange, wondrous new world. Everything was sun and wind and sparkling water.

She heard one of the men call out something, but his words were swept away from her. When she glanced back, Jackson was gesturing for her to keep her head down, and she leaned back against the hard, white surface of the boat. Toshi was turning a crank, and before she realized what was happening, their sails were up, one behind the other, and the boat pitched as they caught the wind. She grappled desperately for the rope dangling nearby, terrified for one horrible moment that she was about to pitch headfirst into the sea, but as soon as she steadied herself, she couldn’t do anything but laugh.

And she suddenly realized why so many adventures started with ships.

Her last day and a half had been exciting—there was no doubt about that. But this was different. This was…
magnificent.
She’d never experienced anything like it in her entire life. She felt like she was soaring over the sea, like the whole world was just waiting for her to explore it.

Her hair was whipping around her more violently now, and she caught it and twisted it into a knot as she threw another glance back at the others. The big Russian guy was still at the wheel, and Toshi and Roth appeared to be tying up some things. Leo and Jackson stood together, talking and looking out across the water, and it startled her how perfect he looked out here. This was his element. This was where he was
meant
to be, out here taking on the world.

But it wasn’t just him—it was all of these men she’d just met. There was an ease in the way they all worked together—a familiarity and a mutual respect. It warmed her to see it, and at the same time, it reminded her once again that she was an outsider in this group, that she’d inserted herself into something where she didn’t belong. She was the opposite of these men.

Jackson argued to keep you here
, she reminded herself.

As if he heard her thoughts, he turned and looked at her. Her breath caught when their gazes met. Even here, twenty feet away, she could see the way his eyes shone, and she knew that every bit of joy she’d experienced when gazing out across the sea was shared by him, too.

CHAPTER FOUR

She doesn’t belong out here.

That’s what Jackson kept telling himself, anyway. Charlie belonged somewhere comfortable, somewhere safe
.
And yet no matter how many times he repeated that fact to himself, he couldn’t stop staring at the way the sun made her hair shine like burnt gold, or how the wind danced around her like it wanted to keep her here forever. Right now she was stretched out on her back beneath the sail, basking like a cat in the sun. Every once in a while she’d shift and stretch, arching that soft, curvy body toward the sails. It reminded him of the way she used to arch beneath him, lifting her body to let him go harder and deeper inside of her.

A low laugh sounded behind him. “I knew it, old boy.”

He turned. It was Leo, a can of that cheap Croatian beer in his hand and a smirk on his face.

“I knew she still had you by the balls,” Leo said. “I just didn’t realize how bad it was.”

Jackson swung his elbow at his friend, but Leo dodged it.

“Hey, I never said I blamed you,” he said. “I’m just saying that a lot of things make sense now that I’ve seen her.”

Jackson forced himself to take a swig of his own drink before he responded. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Leo leaned his elbows on the rail beside him. “Exactly what I said. And there’s no point in denying it, old boy. You might as well be walking around with your cock out pointing right at her.”

This time Leo wasn’t as quick with the dodge. Jackson’s hand hit his beer, sending it flying over the rail and into the dark turquoise water rushing past them. But Leo only laughed.

“There’s no shame in going a little soft around a woman,” he said.

Easy for him to say.
Leo wasn’t the one getting the stink eye from Roth. Jackson glanced over his shoulder, but their leader had gone below.

“Have they found anything yet?” he asked Leo. “In the atlas, I mean?”

Leo shrugged. “Nothing conclusive yet. But Alexei’s down there looking at it right now. If anyone can find anything, he can. Roth thinks we should continue on to Vis in the meantime. Sloane is meeting us there.”

Jackson nodded. Sloane—the only female member of the Set—had been sent ahead to pursue a few special lines of inquiry. Considering how this expedition was shaping up, Jackson would feel more comfortable when everyone was back together again.

Everyone except Tav
, he corrected in his head. With every passing hour, he was more and more convinced that their missing member had been the one to betray them.

He turned and glanced behind them. It was a warm, beautiful day, and this stretch of the Adriatic was full of ships—not just sailing yachts like the one they were on, but also fishing vessels and huge, luxury catamarans. Since they’d left Split, he’d been looking for any sign that they were being followed, but so far, he hadn’t seen anything suspicious. That made him nervous. At least if they had a tail, he’d know exactly where the enemy was. Instead, it felt like they were just waiting for their opponents to strike.