Page 17 of Traitorous Lies (Prey Security: Charlie Team #6)

Chapter

Nine

It definitely made him a bad person that he couldn’t regret having sex with Monique even though he was lying to her.

Jax knew the smarter option would have been to say no and find a way to let her down gently, but she’d been so open with him, allowed herself to be so vulnerable, and she’d begged and pleaded with him not to reject her.

How was he supposed to say no to that?

It didn’t matter how smart it was, telling her no would have snapped the bond growing between them.

Just as surely as telling her the truth would.

Only …

Maybe she would understand.

She’d been raped when she was fourteen, bargained with her body to save another girl, so she would understand why his family had to do whatever it took to get justice.

She’d get that coming to France to meet up with her at that Halloween ball wasn't about hurting her, it was just about trying to use anything they could to get answers.

Monique would understand. She had to.

At least that’s what he kept trying to convince himself of.

Because the alternative was that he would lose her.

It shouldn’t have been him who came to France to make contact.

One of his brothers would never have developed feelings for Monique, they were all madly in love with their girlfriends.

They would have been able to keep clear heads, keep focused on the mission, and not allowed themselves to get distracted by falling for her.

Only at the time, one of them falling for her wasn't even a consideration.

His brothers hadn't felt comfortable leaving the women they loved after the ordeals of the last couple of months, and Jax had wholeheartedly agreed.

It made sense for him to come, being the only single one, and no one, certainly not himself, could have foreseen what would happen the moment he laid eyes on the beautiful inside and out Monique Kerr.

Falling for her was a blessing and a curse because she was everything he’d never considered wanting, and everything he was going to lose when the truth came out.

“You seem so lost in thought today,” Monique’s voice pulled him out of his head. “Are you having regrets about what we did last night?”

Stopping abruptly, he grabbed Monique around the biceps and hauled her off the ground and into his arms. Giving out a little squeak, her legs automatically wrapped around his waist. Since she had the fox in her arms and couldn’t hold onto him, Jax made sure he had one arm under her bottom, supporting her weight, the other curled around her back, anchoring her to him.

When he looked at Monique, at the doubt in her big gray eyes, it was hard to believe this was the same woman who had asked for hard and rough, not to be treated like a china doll.

Monique was not a fragile, breakable doll, and he’d never come harder in his life than when he sank his teeth into her soft flesh and she screamed, her internal muscles clamping around him.

But beneath her strength was a vulnerability that came with having to navigate the world alone.

Without a team to have her back. How exhausting that must be.

While his life had been rough in a lot of ways, he’d always had Jake beside him, and then later Cade, Cooper, Connor, and Cole.

He always had a purpose and people to work toward it with.

Monique had no one.

“Don’t regret a single second of it. Never could,” he said fiercely. No matter what happened next, whether they died of exposure and hypothermia in the French forest, or made it back home where he’d be forced to tell her the truth, he could never regret what they shared.

If anyone was going to regret them having sex, it was going to be Monique.

It gutted him to know that she would as soon as she learned their meeting at the gala was no accident, even as he knew he had no one to blame for his predicament but himself.

Telling her right after they’d gotten away from the men and the van would have been best. The danger of what had almost happened would have been fresh, and they hadn't bonded too deeply at that point.

Knowing what he did about her now, he wouldn't have worried about her running from him. Maybe she would have kept an emotional barrier between them, but she’d just witnessed him kill to protect her so she would have stuck close to him even if she didn't like it.

Should haves.

Would haves.

Could haves.

None of them mattered now.

What was done was done, and he had to make the most out of it and hope for the best.

“Do you regret it?” he asked, forcing himself not to hold his breath as he waited for her answer.

Knowing she would regret it when she learned the truth was one thing, but if she regretted it now, a piece of him would shrivel up and die.

Jax had never given this much of himself to a woman.

Never given this much of himself to anyone who wasn't family.

Crushing her mouth to his was her answer, and it wiped away any fears he had.

He hadn't lost her .

Yet.

And he was prepared to fight for her.

Just because she was going to be hurt when she learned the truth about why he’d been in France didn't mean he was just going to give up. He’d find a way to prove to her that he’d never meant to hurt her, that he and his family had been desperate.

The alternative was losing her, and he wasn't sure he could survive that. Not emotionally anyway.

This woman had turned up in his life at a time when falling for a woman was the last thing on his mind, even though he’d just watched all five of his brothers partner up.

He hadn't been interested, hadn't thought he was ready, but Monique was everything, and he’d fight for her with everything that he had.

“Guess that answers my question,” he said with a chuckle as he reluctantly set her back on her feet. The temperature was dropping further, and they needed to keep walking to maintain their body temperatures.

“Mine too,” she told him with one of those charming smiles that managed to be both shy and confident all at the same time.

Just as he was reaching out to take a turn carrying the fox, Jax saw it.

Footprints.

About three yards from where they were standing.

Someone had been there, and recently.

“What?” Monique asked, looking around them, instantly picking up on his change in demeanor.

“There,” he said, pointing as he stepped closer to try to determine how many sets of prints there were.

“Looks like … footprints?” Monique asked as she followed close behind him.

“Yeah.”

“Someone is out here.” The thread of fear in her voice was obvious, and he wished there was something he could do about it. But until he knew who the prints belonged to he couldn’t.

“At least four someone’s.”

“Do you think we’re near a house, or a road, or a village, or something?” she asked hopefully.

“Could be. Or it could be …” Jax trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence. It could be more of her father’s men, sent out to find them. If it was, he wasn't going to look for them with Monique and the fox in tow. “I want you to hide.”

“Hide?”

“Up a tree. Should keep you out of sight until I know what's going on.”

“I don’t want to leave you.” Her eyes pleaded with him, but this was the safest option. If it was help and safety he’d come back for her, but if it wasn't then he at least bought her some more time, which was about the best he could hope for right now.

“Don’t want to leave you either, princess.

” Leaning in, he touched a kiss to her forehead, then took the fox from her arms. There was no way she was going to leave it behind so he may as well help her out with it.

“If it’s them then as soon as you hear gunshots, I want you to wait up here for as long as you can, then climb down and keep walking.

I’ll tell them that you died, and I left your body behind days ago.

They’ll want to confirm that so they’ll head off in the opposite direction.

That should buy you enough time to keep walking in the direction we were heading. ”

“You're talking like you're not coming back. Jax, I don’t want you to trade your life for mine.”

“I absolutely will if I have to,” he told her honestly.

Since he didn't want to waste time arguing, the men could be nearby still and hear them, he wrapped an arm around her waist and boosted her up to a branch on the closest tree. “Since you’ll have to get down on your own, I’m going to give you the little guy now.

Don’t go too high, just a few more branches and you’ll be hidden.

Here, take this as well,” he added, shoving one of the weapons into her arms.

Doing as he asked, when she and the fox were another three branches up, he took one last look at her, aware that this could be it. The end of what could have been the best thing to ever happen to him. Cut short far too soon.

“Be careful, Jax,” she whispered. “Come back to me.”

“I’ll do everything I can to make that happen, princess.”

With that, he turned and crept away, a weapon in his hands, keeping his steps as light as he could to make the minimal amount of noise. Failure wasn't an option, not when Monique’s life was dependent on him.

He had no plan, he couldn’t until he knew what he was up against. All he had was a fierce determination to protect his girl. Because, hell yeah, she was his, and he’d do anything he had to prove it to her.

But first, he had to find out if this was a threat or the break they’d been praying for.

Jax got his answer a moment later when he passed a tree, only to come face to face with the barrel of a weapon.

November 5 th

12:03 P.M.

How long was she supposed to stay there?

Not only was Monique freezing just sitting up there in the tree in the middle of the forest, but she was hurting and uncomfortable. Balancing herself on the branch would have been hard enough, but keeping hold of the wriggling little bundle in her arms, plus a weapon, made it almost impossible.

Already, she’d almost tumbled off her perch three times.