Page 176 of Stand: Part One

“You know, I think we could lose a little more weight while we’re at it,” I suggested to Scott.

He nodded, then turned to direct Antonio, Luis, and Carlos, instructing them to toss the slain passengers and Miguel’s body out of the helicopter to land within the confines of the explosion and burning buildings.

“Put it on autopilot,” I told the pilot.

Once he had it securely engaged, Scott yanked the front of his head back against the seat and quickly dragged a blade across his throat from behind. Leaving the man to bleed out, Scott reached over to open the pilot’s door and pushed him out of his seat, his body plummeting to the fiery ground beneath us.

Maneuvering quickly, I placed myself into the pilot’s seat, changing some settings on the controls before disengaging the autopilot and flying us the hell out of there.

A sense of pride floated through the cabin now that the war had been won. But things were never that easy. I may have closed the door on one war, but there was still one left that I needed to take care of.

Matthew Rainer was a very, very dead man.

43

Behind the Curtain

My fist slammed against the side of his jaw, the blow knocking him clear off his ass and sending him straight to the concrete floor. I got in two more hits, busting his lip and eye before strong hands finally gripped me and yanked me back.

“Jason, stop!” Romero demanded as Anthony and Derick held me back from completely demolishing Matthew Rainer into the fucking ground.

“You lying piece of shit!” I roared, raging against their hold as Rainer spit blood onto the floor. “You fucked up that entire operation and betrayed our agreement. I should fucking end you right now!”

Rainer said nothing as his hand clutched his bruising jaw and slowly stumbled to a stand. The old warehouse we were in didn’t hold much light, but I could still clearly see the glare on his face from the accusation.

“I had no idea they were going to attack ahead of schedule,” he argued. “I had to scramble to get my own team together in less than an hour to coordinate our attack at the same time, and it was almost damn near impossible. Either someone had miscommunicated something or Miguel was an even bigger fool than I thought.”

“Bullshit!” I retorted. “We never should have fucking trusted your word. I should have just infiltrated the suite myself and gotten Jaden the fuck out of there. We have the goddamn cloaking device. She doesn’t need to be there anymore.”

“But then who would have convinced Darren to go to the country estate, genius?” Rainer countered. “I’m surprisingly impressed she actually managed to do it in the first place. And besides, we already agreed you can’t be her contact anymore. You can barely control yourself as it is. The last time you saw her you nearly fucked everything up and almost went back for her. We all agreed it’s best you stay away for now, remember?”

I groaned aloud, because yeah, I fucking remembered. I remembered the inferno that burned deep in my chest as I watched Jaden walk into that beachside restaurant with him. As beautiful as she looked, I caught the slight limp in her step and the way he took her hand to help her inside.

It was just a single glance from the driver’s seat of a passing car, but five minutes later that was all it took for me to whip the car around and go back, even if it was just for a glimpse of her shadow.

Thankfully, Derick had been with me at the time and successfully brought me back to reality, but I’d gotten us about fifty yards away from that restaurant before I realized I’d be driving myself straight to my own damn death, and maybe even Derick’s.

That was when I knew I couldn’t be trusted with being that close to her anymore. That first time in Rome had nearly broken me. I never wanted to have to leave her behind again. So I just needed to stay away. For now.

“As much as I hate to admit it, Jason, he’s right,” Romero conceded. “We need Jaden to be there if we’re going to have any shot at taking this guy down. She made the attack possible in the first place. We may need her to do it again. Remember, she isn’t the only one we’re trying to save.”

I shook my head at Romero, knowing damn well we were making a mistake with this fucking guy.

“He doesn’t give a shit about any of that,” I reminded him. “As long as he gets Daniel, he won’t care if our plans fail or not. And he couldn’t even get the stupid fucker!”

Matt’s eyes flashed with fury as he took a step toward me. “Why the fuck would I want that mission to fail? I need Darren just as dead as you do to avoid his retaliation. That fucker will never stop until someone puts a bullet in his head.”

I scowled at him, my fists tightening as I imagined blackening one of his eyes next.

“Who the fuck knows with you,” I retorted. “We’ve been at this with you for months, and we’ve gotten no closer to ending this. Your intel and plans are proving to be inadequate and unreliable.”

Rainer shook his head as he glared back at me. “Believe what you want, it makes no difference to me, but the agreement remains the same. Either we can work together as a team and coordinate our efforts or we can go at it separately and most likely fail.”

My gut wrenched, knowing I had been this close to ending all of this, and this motherfucker still had the balls to deny it. I had one goal and one goal only.

Get. Jaden. Out.

That time had finally come. And then it was gone before I even knew it.