Page 3 of Traitorous Lies (Prey Security: Charlie Team #6)

Chapter

Two

When was the last time he’d been around a woman who didn't try to manipulate or hide what she was thinking or feeling?

Jax honestly wasn't sure.

Everything about Monique was so transparent.

Her appreciation as her gaze roamed his body, her nervous hesitations, her determination to set aside whatever made her anxious and come with him.

Following so trustingly that he knew he was going to feel a whole lot of guilt about using her, even if he had no intention of hurting her.

“Champagne?” he asked when they reached the bar.

“Umm …”

There was clear hesitation in Monique’s voice, and her gaze darted around, surveying the room, although what she was searching for he had no idea. According to his intel, she hadn't come with anyone—neither family nor a date—so she wasn't looking for anyone in particular.

“You don’t drink, princess? It’s fine if you don’t, we can grab something else,” he told her.

He wouldn't be drinking, he needed a clear head and was pretty sure there would be no need to get Monique drunk to get her talking, not that he would have taken that route anyway. This wasn't about taking advantage of an innocent woman, it was merely about doing an unpleasant but necessary task to clear his dad and stepmom’s names and get the targets off his family’s back.

“Actually, I don’t very often, and never when I'm at one of these,” Monique replied.

Anger unfurled inside him at the possibility that something bad had happened to this woman that made her feel like she had to be constantly on her guard. “Someone hurt you, princess?” he growled.

Those gray eyes of hers widened until they were almost impossibly big.

“What? No! Course not. I'm okay, no one hurt me,” she soothed, and the fingers of the hand he still held tightened.

“I just get sick of stuffy, boring, rich guys wanting to drone on and on forever about how rich they are, and all the things they want to do with their money. How they think they’re better than everyone else because they have money, and how I'd be so lucky to be with them because they have money. Yuck.” Monique made a disgusted face, her body shuddering, but then she whipped up her eyes to meet his.

“What?”

“Sorry,” she squeaked.

“For …?” Whatever she wanted to apologize for, he wasn't following. This woman wasn't anything like he’d expected her to be. He’d thought the Kerr princess was going to be this spoiled, bratty woman who looked down on everyone, but in reality, she was the opposite.

“ You're one of those guys, right? I mean, you're here.” She winced and shot him an apologetic smile, attempting to tug her hand free from his.

Maintaining his hold on her hand was easy enough, and Jax enjoyed the feel of it nestled in his palm. It was so much smaller than his own, her fingers dainty and delicate, her nails polished in a perfect French manicure. Stupid as it was, he wanted to maintain this tenuous connection to her.

There would be no maintaining of a connection.

This was about getting answers .

As soon as he found out where her coward of a father was hiding, he’d be out of her life quicker than she could blink, leaving behind nothing but another type of guy for her to dread running into at these events.

“ You're here,” he countered, not wanting to blow his cover but also not wanting her to lump him in with the rest of the men she clearly disliked.

Monique sighed. “I know. I'd much rather be at home, curled up in front of a fire, reading a book and eating chocolate. Introverts like me don’t usually love big gatherings like this. Too noisy, too busy, too many people, too much forced conversation, and too much peopling,” she added with an exaggerated shudder and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Then why come?” This woman was like a puzzle wrapped up in silky satin and soft gauze.

“Because I never miss an opportunity to fundraise for my animal rescue.”

What caught him by surprise wasn't learning that Monique ran a rescue, he’d already known that, it was the passion in her voice when she said it.

He’d assumed that running a rescue really meant she lent her name to the charity so she had an answer when someone asked her what she did and what causes she believed in, not that she actually cared about it.

Which, if her tone was anything to go by, she absolutely did.

“A rescue?”

“Yeah, we take any animal, doesn’t matter the species, the age, how it came to be in our care,” she explained, practically vibrating with enthusiasm.

“We once had a tiger. Like an actual tiger. I have no idea how it was even snuck into the country, but the owner quickly realized they were in over their head, so we cared for it for a few weeks before it was taken in by a zoo.”

“A tiger, that’s cool. I hope it’s okay to ask, and I'm not offending you, but why do you need to fundraise for your rescue? You're Monique Kerr, right? The Kerr princess. Don’t you have a ton of money already?”

Some of the enthusiasm vibrating through her faded.

“I sunk most of my trust fund into buying the land and setting everything up. The rest is set up to pay my personal monthly expenses. I have enough left over to help some animals, but it’s not enough.

I won't get the rest of the money until my dad and his parents pass. I don’t just want to help some animals, I want to help them all.

And the people here are always willing to donate to something, which means they can pretend to be good people who care about others and the planet. ”

“I think that’s amazing,” Jax answered truthfully, and was rewarded by a pretty blush pinkening Monique’s cheeks.

“Thank you. My family … it’s not what they had planned for me. They wanted me to marry an appropriate man from an approved family and add to their wealth, so I'm a bit of a disappointment in their eyes.”

“Hey.” When he squeezed her hand, she looked up at him. “Who cares what they think? You're doing something amazing that you love. That makes you a good person.” Unlike him, who was here to use and manipulate her for his own personal reasons.

Big picture .

The reminder strengthened his weakening resolve. It might suck to hurt Monique, but in the end, she didn't even know him so it wasn't like she would mourn his loss or anything. By morning, he’d have the intel he needed and be heading for a plane to fly back home.

“What do you say we get out of here for a while?” Jax suggested. At least with Monique being an introvert who hadn't even wanted to come to the charity ball, she was more likely to open up to him if they were somewhere she felt more comfortable and at ease.

So leaving was more a professional decision and not a personal one.

“Oh, umm, I haven’t really done any schmoozing yet, and I had a fundraising goal I wanted to hit before I left.” Monique said the words, but she didn't sound all that upset about the possibility of getting out of there.

“Whatever your goal was, I’ll match it and add ten percent,” he vowed.

Since he was there to get intel out of Monique, it seemed only fair that she be compensated.

Billionaire former SEAL, founder and CEO of Prey Security Eagle Oswald had more than enough money to pay whatever it was Monique had hoped to raise there tonight, and Jax was confident his boss would be happy to do it, especially since the money was going to a good cause.

“So you really are one of those rich, stuffy, boring guys then,” Monique said, sounding disappointed.

“Oh, princess, boring is totally the wrong word to describe me.”

When he winked at her, she shivered and her blush deepened.

That wasn't a lie, his life was far from boring, but it wasn't like he was rich or stuffy either. Still, for now, she had to believe he had the money to donate to her rescue that she’d been there to raise, so it wasn't like he could blurt out that he made a good living working for Prey, but he was nowhere close to rich, nothing more than comfortable.

“I don’t usually leave these kinds of events with guys,” she hedged, not an outright no, but she was definitely conflicted.

“No pressure, princess,” he assured her. Just because he selfishly wanted to enjoy a little time with her away from the party didn't mean he was going to pressure her. “We can stay, dance a little, talk a little. Pretend you're Cinderella and I'm Prince Charming,” he teased with another wink.

One of those cute little tinkling laughs fell from her lips. “Cinderella, huh?”

“Absolutely.” Only this time, she wouldn't be the one to disappear at midnight, he would be, and he wouldn't be leaving behind any identifying items.

“I guess a girl can't say no to a prince. Okay, we can get out of here. Let’s do this.”

October 31 st

8:39 P.M.

Had she lost her mind?

Monique thought that was the only logical explanation for allowing this man—this stranger —to guide her toward the exit.

This wasn't her.

She didn't go anywhere with people she didn't know.

Heck, she barely went anywhere with people she did know. Curse of being an introvert. The company of herself and animals had always been enough to satisfy her even when she was a kid. It drove her grandparents crazy because they expected her to be the social, bubbly, life of the party.

Truth was, though, she took after her mother.

Which had been a source of much anxiety to her over the years.

If she took after her mom, did that mean that if one day she found someone who was happy helping her care for sick and traumatized animals, and understood her need for quiet and solitude, she would wind up ruining it?

Would she walk away from a child as easily as her mom had walked away from her?

Not a worry for today.

As Jaxon led her across the grand entrance hall, his fingertips brushed across the inside of her wrist, making her squirm. How was he managing to turn her on at an event where they were surrounded by people, with just a simple touch?