Page 34 of Traitorous Lies (Prey Security: Charlie Team #6)

Chapter

Seventeen

For the first time in … almost as long as Jax could remember … things felt good.

Not perfect. They wouldn't be perfect until they had the final man who had raped his stepmom either dead or in prison, but they felt good. As close as he was going to get until then.

There was still work to be done with Monique. She was there, and she’d slept with him last night, trusted him with her body and her pleasure, trusted him to know he wouldn't take things too far but still give her what she needed, but he hadn't completely regained her trust yet.

As much as he’d love to dedicate every single second of his time trying to convince her that he wouldn't let her down again, there was still work to do. Just because she didn't believe it didn't mean that her father wasn't a dangerous man.

A dangerous man who was now backed into a corner.

It was imperative that they convince Monique that her dad was involved and then work with her to try to figure out where he might be holed up if he was desperate and not wanting to be found.

“You going to go and talk to her?” Jake asked as Jax headed for the huge staircase that would take him up to the third floor, where he and Monique would be staying for as long as they were there.

She’d asked for a little time to get herself settled, and he’d needed to check in with his brothers anyway.

“Yeah. She should have her stuff unpacked by now and be making herself at home,” he replied.

“Good luck.”

Rolling his eyes at his big brother, Jax shook his head. “I don’t need luck.” A miracle maybe, but not luck. Monique was there, and she was ready to listen to him, he just needed a miracle to convince her that her father wasn't the man she thought he was.

Which shouldn’t be absolutely impossible given she already had a barely existent relationship with him.

“That’s what you said to me when I messed up with Alannah by leaving the hospital,” Jake reminded him as if he’d forgotten that his brother had come dangerously close to ruining the best thing to ever happen to him.

“You needed luck to convince Alannah to forgive you, but Monique said she forgave me and wants to figure things out.”

“But is she ready to accept the truth? We all get why she doesn’t want to, but we need her. She’s our best bet at ending this and being able to live normal lives.”

“Normal.” Jax huffed. “I don’t think I even know what that is. But I do know the stakes. I’ll find a way to convince her. She’s not trying to be obstinate, she’s just overwhelmed, and this all came at her out of the blue. You guys get that, right?”

While he didn't want to give up his family, he’d made it clear when they got home from France that if he had to choose a side, it would be Monique’s. But that wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Monique to be accepted by his family the same way the women his brothers loved all had been.

“Relax. We all like Monique. She’s sweet and genuine. We all get being overwhelmed, no one is holding that against her. ”

“Appreciate that.” Driving his fingers through his hair, the pressure to convince Monique as quickly as possible of her father’s guilt was resting heavily on his shoulders.

Once they overcame this last hurdle, it should be clear sailing between him and Monique.

Especially since they were staying together, it gave him unfettered access to her, and he was going to take advantage of that. “Better get up to her.”

“Good luck,” Jake said again, amusement in his voice that made Jax smile.

His brother had taken on a lot of responsibility at a young age, and Jake had learned to hide his emotions behind a gruff exterior.

But ever since he’d realized that love had been staring him in the face all along in the form of his best friend, he was slowly loosening up.

Learning he didn't have to be in control of himself all the time.

“Yeah, yeah, luck,” he muttered as he took the stairs three at a time up to the third floor.

This place was like a maze. Corridors everywhere led to a warren of mostly empty rooms. The six Delta Team guys lived there together, their rooms all up on the fourth floor, and all the living areas were on the first, so the middle two floors weren't used.

Well, they hadn't been until he and his family had invaded Delta Team’s peace and quiet.

The entire Charleston Holloway family would forever be grateful to these guys for giving them sanctuary when they needed it. It meant a lot, especially given that everyone at Prey knew these guys were battling something dark, but no one knew what that was exactly.

Locating the room he and Monique would be sharing—a small miracle in itself that she had agreed to share and not asked to have her own room—Jax stopped outside the door, his hand on the handle, when he heard voices inside.

Everybody else was downstairs, which meant she must be on the phone.

Who would she be talking to?

Someone from her rescue?

“No, Dad, that’s not good enough. This is important. You need to tell me where you are, or you need to fly back home. That’s not negotiable.”

The sound of Monique’s firm voice had his vision going black.

She was talking to her father?

Why would she call her dad without running it by him first?

What part about her father being a dangerous criminal was she missing?

And how could she risk everybody else’s safety, including the six men opening their home to her?

Anger had him shoving open the door more violently than he should have, and it banged into the wall, no doubt leaving a mark. Monique jumped at the sound and spun around from where she was standing, staring out the window. At least she had the good grace to give him a sheepish look.

“I have to go, Dad, but this conversation isn’t over,” she said before lowering the phone from her ear and ending the call.

“You called your father?” he growled, aware of the menacing note to his voice even without Monique’s flinch.

“Uh, yeah, of course. Isn't that why I'm here? To organize a meeting for you with my dad? I mean, that’s why you came up with the whole track me to the Halloween ball in France plan, wasn't it? You wanted my help connecting you with my dad, so that’s what I'm doing.”

The fact that she sounded so genuinely confused as to why he’d have a problem with her calling her father didn't soothe his anger.

If anything, it did the opposite.

How could she be so blind to the danger swirling around her?

Was being run off the road not enough? Being kidnapped? Shot at?

What was going to be enough for her to take off her rose-colored glasses and see the reality that was staring her in the face?

“You shouldn’t have called him without talking to me first,” he snapped, making her flinch again.

Still, she jutted out her chin and looked back at him defiantly. “It was safe to make a phone call. It couldn’t be tracked. I checked with Lion in the car that I could make calls without compromising anyone’s safety, and he said I could.”

“He said you could call your rescue to check in, not your rapist father,” he spat.

It wasn't really anger flooding his veins, it was fear. Monique meant a lot to him, more than he would have thought given how short a time they’d known one another.

It was one thing for her to be sweet and innocent, but it was another to ignore reality .

It made her the spoiled princess socialite that everyone thought she was, because it showed she had no real grasp on the real world, and he didn't know how to combat that.

Which left him almost breathless with fear.

He couldn’t lose her.

But how could he keep her safe if she was fighting against him?

“You have no proof my dad raped your stepmom,” Monique told him.

“And I don’t need your permission to make a simple phone call.

I was doing exactly what you want and trying to find out where my dad was, or at the very least, have him fly out to wherever you want to meet him so you can talk to him and then move forward, looking for the real fourth rapist.”

“What you did was show me that you're like a child, willingly closing your eyes to the danger right around you,” he shouted, knowing he had to tone it down but unable to stop himself. “When are you going to grow up and stop believing in fairytales, unicorns, and magical happy ever afters when life has shown you nothing but that it’s a cold, dark place? When are you going to stop playing the role of spoiled little princess and enter the real world?”

November 11 th

12:32 P.M

It felt like someone had flicked a switch.

Shutting her down.

Like Jax’s words had been a blizzard raging through her soul, completely wiping everything away.

Child.

Spoiled.

Princess.

Monique had always hated that word.

Always .

Until Jax anyway .

Because when he called her princess, it had never seemed like an insult.

Except for this time.

This time it was definitely an insult.

He was a liar.

From the very beginning, he’d lied to her, and she’d been stupid enough to believe that a man like him could ever fall for a girl like her.

What was worse, though, was she’d learned he was a liar, gotten her heart crushed, and still decided to give him a second chance because he’d seemed so sincere.

An act.

That was the only explanation.

The idea had crossed her mind that he’d only followed her back to her rescue because he still had information he needed from her.

Now she had to believe that was all he’d ever wanted from her because he’d said he saw her, the real her, not the spoiled, immature, socialite princess the media always portrayed her as, but that wasn't true.

Okay, so she still believed in fairytales and tried to look for the good in life.

It wasn't because she wasn't aware of the dark, she’d learned the hard way when she was fourteen that evil existed even in places that ought to be safe.

Just because she wanted to have her own happy ever after didn't make her spoiled, stupid, or a child.

It just made her … her.