The way his family had been taken before. “I was sixteen when my dad went to jail for the third and final time. He died in his cell two weeks later. My mom had passed a few years before.” He didn’t like walking down this path. For her, he was doing it. “My brother was a year younger than me. I wanted to stay with him. Told the lady from DHR over and over again not to separate us but…” But in the end, it hadn’t mattered. “It’s hard to place older kids.” Hard was an understatement. “Do you know how many older kids just sit in foster care? Everyone wants the younger ones. Two tough-ass teens aren’t exactly cute.” Maybe that was when he’d first learned how the world responded differently to smiles. To jokes. To charm. But Ramsey hadn’t played the same game. He’d never hidden his darkness. “They said my brother had anger issues. Attachment issues.” He remembered that designation so clearly. The counselors and the paper pushers had been so fast to label Ram. “Said he’d never connect with another family, but that I had a chance. If I would just agree to be permanently separated from him, they could place me.” His hand tightened around her fingers.
“But you didn’t agree.”
Surprised, he looked into her eyes. Tears still swam in her dark gaze.
“You didn’t agree to give up your brother. That’s not how the two of you became separated.”
“How do you know?” He forced his smile. “It’s my story.”
“Because I know you better than you realize. You didn’t walk away from him. You aren’t doing it now, and I don’t think you did it when you were sixteen.”
No, he hadn’t. “You’re right. He left me.” A pain that still gutted Jinx. “Found a note. It said that I’d be better off without him. Said he knew he was holding me back.” His chest burned. “Guess people like leaving me notes.”
Her thick lashes flickered. “Jinx…”
“I took off, trying to find him, but he was gone.” Too late. “Couldn’t find a trace of him. Not until years later when I discovered just what he’d become.”
Crime boss.
“Then I had to try and save him.” He was going to stop the story there. Enough secrets had been exposed. He let go of her hand. “About those drinks…” He made it to the bar. Flattened his hands on the gleaming top.
“Now I know why you did it.”
He had reached for a bottle of whiskey. Not the fancy-ass whiskey that War kept stocked, but a passable bottle. “Did what?”
“The agency. Odin and War cut out early. They retired and found a different path sooner, but you took more cases. I always wondered why. Especially when I looked at your files and saw that a lot of your solo runs, they could have counted as suicide missions…if anyone but you had taken them. See, I thought you were called Jinx because you got lucky on so many dangerous missions. You know, one of those opposite nickname things that service guys like to use. Jinx—not for bad luck, but for good.”
He didn’t speak.
“You took those cases for him, didn’t you?”
He would not look back at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, sweets. We already covered that I live for danger.” He put the bottle back down.
But she was determined. “You worked out some kind of deal, didn’t you? What is Ramsey going to get for all the cases you took? A new identity? His sins erased? And does he even know what all you risked for him?”
Chapter Ten
Jinx’s broad back tensed. The light spilled onto him, showing the powerful muscles and strength of his body. He still wore just his jeans, jeans that clung loosely to his hips. His hands were flat on the bar, and it took all of her control to hold back and not rush toward him.
And then, he laughed.
Laughed?
What was funny? Ali didn’t remember telling a joke. Actually, nothing about the night had been funny. Very unamusing so far.
“Erasing his sins…” Jinx turned toward her. Leaned back against the bar. Gave her an amazing view of his chest, his million abs, and his Adonis belt that just zinged down like the badass that it was. She’d never seen a real Adonis belt before Jinx. Sure, she’d seen them on seriously cut celebrities in the movies, but not in real-life. That sexy, V-shaped muscle slid diagonally from his hip bones and worked on down to his—
“I’m not trying to erase anyone’s sins. Not even my own. But cute idea.”
Cute? Her brows shot up. Her eyes also shot away from his distracting Adonis belt. “You’re trying to save him.”
“Ramsey doesn’t need saving.”
“You try to save everyone.” She took a quick step toward him. “Case in point—look at me.”
His gaze raked her. Heated. “I am looking at you.”
Do not get distracted. A little late for that mental warning, though. She’d already been distracted. “One of the reasons I didn’t come to you sooner was because I knew you’d risk everything to save me.”
His lips thinned. “Just how did you know that?”
“Because it is what you always do. In the field, over and over, you take the riskier assignments to protect everyone else. You take the danger before anyone else can. You have more of a hero complex than anyone else I’ve ever met.” Only now, she understood it. Jinx blamed himself for the team that hadn’t survived. Was he determined to make sure no one else was lost on his watch?
“I’m not a hero. Don’t make that mistake about me.”
“Oh, really?” She closed the last bit of distance between them. “Then enlighten me. Why do you take the risks? The most dangerous missions?”
“Told you, I like the thrill of danger.”
Ali was gonna call BS. “I have met adrenaline junkies. You are not an adrenaline junkie.”
“You’re right.” His hand curled around her hip. “I’m not addicted to adrenaline. Though there is something I could become addicted to…” He tugged her ever closer.
Her head tipped back automatically.
His mouth lowered toward hers.
“You,” he whispered right before their mouths touched. “I could sure as hell become addicted to you.”
***
Paydirt.
He’d known that if he just kept to the shadows, if he watched long enough, closely enough, he’d find the perfect opportunity to strike.
That fancy house on the beach? It was his goal. The people inside? They were the targets he’d attack. He rocked back onto his heels as he watched the house.
This was gonna be so easy. They would never see him coming.
And when he was done…
No one would ever forget him again.
He just had to wait. Pick the right moment…
Then go in for the kill.
***
The kiss was drugging. Deep. Sensual. Her toes curled and her knees wanted to do a little jiggle as Ali leaned into Jinx. He kissed her with a languid passion, with a smooth possession—as if he had all the time in the world to savor her.
And…yes, guilty, she was kissing him back the same way.
Why do I feel like he belongs to me?
Jinx…and all his secrets.
“I think I could fuck you a thousand times,” he growled as his mouth moved to press kisses along her jaw. Then down her throat. “And still want you a thousand more.”