Page 11 of Shades of Mercy

“Do I have any other option besides jumping out of a moving vehicle?”

He chuckled. “You’ve done a lot of stupid things in your lifetime, but I’m sure that’s a line that even you won’t cross.”

“Excuse me? Says the man who jumps out of airplanes and climbs big mountains for a rush,” she retorted.

“Jag.”

She almost jumped out of her skin. “I think I misheard you? I thought you said Jag as in Constantine Jagerson, which can’t be happening because the last I heard, he was in special ops getting shot up in Kuwait.”

“He was, but now he’s retired from his contract and living in some small town working a ranch and for a security company. The perfect place for you to be safe.”

“Not happening. Turn this vehicle around or Iwilljump out.” She placed her hand on the door, making it clear she was serious.

“I thought you might say that, so I flipped on the child’s lock.”

“You think you’re cute, don’t you?”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“If you stick Jag and me together, we won’t have to worry about some dangerous criminal. I’ll strangle Jag with my bare hands.”

“I know you two don’t get along, but the only one I know I can trust is Jag.”

Mateo would feel differently if he knew the complete story.

A part of her wanted to blurt out to him that she and Jag had a complicated history. After crushing on him since she was eighteen and having him ignore her for just as long, she and Jag tested the waters at Mateo’s wedding. After an evening of drinking and dancing, they found themselves in her hotel room, having the most incredible sex she’d ever experienced.

She’d been foolish to think he’d finally see her as more than Mateo’s little sister, because the next morning she woke to an empty bed. Jag had disappeared without so much as a goodbye or kiss my ass.

When she ran into him again, which had only been unavoidable on those occasions, shegave him the cold shoulder. What type of man gives a woman the night of her life only to disappear the next morning?

Constantine Jagerson, that’s who.

Telling her brother that she and his best friend slept together wouldn’t serve any purpose other than breaking up a friendship.

“You two are adults. I’m sure you can get along for a week or two. Lives depend upon this,” he said.

“He has the emotional capacity of a rock.”

“Maybe, but he’s trustworthy. He’s one of the best.”

“I can’t do this. I refuse to be near him,” she said, her words echoing into what she felt like were deaf ears.

“This is the only option.”

“So you say.”

“I do say.”

“Fine! I’ll agree to do this if you agree to speak to your wife. You know, the woman you married because you were in love.”

“Mercy—”

“No,” she cut him off. “If you want me to trust Jag, then you need to trust me when I say that you and Adriana need to talk. You both have too much pride.”

“I don’t know what you think speaking to her will gain—”

“I just want my brother to be happy.”