The Redemption (31 page)

“But will Kat be safe?” I ask.

“I’ll make sure of it,” Henn says.

“So will I,” Josh adds.

This is crazy. Can we really ask Kat to do this? Why are Henn and Josh acting like this is a reasonable request? I look at Jonas, expecting him to be as anxious as I am about all this, but he’s nodding emphatically. Have they all gone mad?

A waitress walks by and Kat flags her. “Double Patron shots all around, please.” When the waitress leaves, Kat lets out a long exhale. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Kat, are you sure?” I ask. “You don’t have to do this.”

“Yes, I do. This ain’t no casino heist, fellas—and very pretty lady.” She winks at me. “This is about taking these guys down so they can’t hurt you ever again, Sarah. It’s a no-brainer.”

Everyone besides me raises a beer in salute to Kat. I’m too freaked out to celebrate. I know all too well the kind of criminals we’re dealing with here.

“We’ll create an offshore account,” Jonas says, forging right ahead. “And funnel everything into it at the last possible moment.”

“
Two
offshore accounts,” Josh interjects. “I think we’re gonna have to take a little finder’s fee on the deal—don’t you think, bro? Maybe one percent?”

“Fuck yeah,” Jonas says. “Great idea. Yeah, five and a half mill sounds about right for our commission. Kat and Henn, you guys will each get a cool mill off the top. You’ve both earned it.”

Kat and Henn look at each other, in total shock.

“Are you
serious
?” Kat squeals. “You’re gonna give me a
million
dollars?”

“You deserve it.”

Kat squeals again. She stands and hugs Jonas across the table and kisses his cheek in sheer elation like she’s won the Miss America pageant. And then she grabs me and kisses me hard on the lips, laughing. She moves on to Josh, obviously intending to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek, but he swoops in and kisses her on the lips. Holy hell, that’s quite a kiss—wowza—and Kat’s responding like her panties are melting. Good Lord, those two are sizzling hot. I guess that answers the question of whether Kat and Josh are sleeping together.

Henn looks away from their make-out session, crestfallen.

When Kat and Josh finally disengage, Josh says, “I feel like I’ve been waiting a lifetime to do that.”

“Why the hell did you wait so long, Playboy?” Kat breathes, her face blazing.

Wait.
What?
That was their
first
kiss?

Josh chuckles. “Gee, I wonder why.”

“So does this mean you’re finally gonna tell me?” Kat whispers.

Josh nods. Oh my gosh, his cheeks are on fire.

What the hell are these two talking about?
Color me curious.

Kat sits back down, grinning devilishly, but when she sees Henn’s face across the table, her face falls. “Oh, Henny. I’m sorry.”

Henn shakes his head. “No, it’s great. You’re both the best.” He swallows hard. “Indubitably.” He tries to smile.

Josh looks apologetic. “Hey, Henn—”

“No, really.” He waves Josh away. “I’m good.”

But he’s not good. Not at all. Aw, poor Henn.

Kat maneuvers around the table and grabs Henn’s shoulders. “You’re the best.” She kisses him softly on the cheek. “I’m proud to call you my friend.”

That’s probably no consolation to the poor boy, but it will have to do.

The waitress arrives with the tequila Kat ordered and we all raise our drinks in the air.

“To the Party Girl with a Heart of Gold and the Hacker,” I say. “A couple of
mill-ion-aires.”
 

“Here, here,” Josh adds, his eyes blazing at Kat, and we all knock back our shots.

“Yeah, well, let’s not put the cart before the horse,” Kat says. “There’s still the little matter of actually getting the money.”

“Oh, we’ll get it—don’t you worry,” Henn says, trying to imitate light-heartedness. The expression on his face is killing me right now. I guess a million bucks isn’t enough to stave off a broken heart.

“What about you, Jonas?” I ask, trying to deflect attention from poor Henn. “They owe you money, too.”

“Fuck yeah, they do. Those fuckers took that two-fifty I gave to you—and I’m gonna get it back for you—plus I want the one-eighty I paid them to convince them I’m a fucking idiot.”

“Well, plus the two-fifty in membership fees you paid in the first place,” I add.

“Nah, I don’t deserve that two-fifty back,” Jonas says. “I shouldn’t get a refund for being a dumbshit.”

“Jonas, they took your money under false pretenses,” I say.

“No, they didn’t.” He shrugs. “Regardless, it was my choice to join that place for a fucking
year
. Who
does
that?” He glances over at Josh and half-smiles. “And, anyway, it turned out to be the best money I’ve ever spent.” He winks at me and I smile from ear to ear. I love it when he says that. “All I want is the money they legitimately stole from me, a payday for Kat and Henn, and then the rest of the pot is all yours, Sarah Cruz,” he says.

“What?” I blurt.

“Those fuckers almost killed you, baby—they owe you a shitload more than three million bucks. Plus, you’ve been our fearless George Clooney through all this—you deserve it.”

Everyone at the table agrees enthusiastically.

“No, I can’t—”

“Sure you can,” Josh says.

“Absolutely,” Kat adds.

“But what about you, Josh? Don’t you want some of the money?” I ask.

Josh laughs. “Hell no.”

“But you’ve been helping us from minute one—”

“Of course, I have. I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He smiles at Jonas.

I exhale. Wow. Three million dollars? It’s tempting, I admit, but it’s too much. Don’t get me wrong—I’m no saint—if Kat and Henn are willing to take a million bucks out of the pot, then so am I. But
three
million? No. With a million bucks, I’d be able to do everything I’ve ever dreamed about—buy my mom a house, pay for all my schooling (because, clearly, that scholarship’s a pipe dream at this point), maybe put a little money away for the uncertainties of life. But, other than that, I don’t need a thing. I’ll always be able to take care of myself with my law degree, one way or another. I’ve got a beautiful place to live with Jonas for the foreseeable future. And if I want to travel, anywhere in the whole wide world, my hunky-monkey boyfriend’s already told me I can just name it. What more do I need than all that?

I suppose, since Jonas isn’t the marrying kind, I should in theory put money away for the allegedly inevitable day when things go to hell in a handbasket between us and I’ve got no one in this world to rely on but myself—but the thing is I know that day will never come. For Pete’s sake, the man permanently declared his love for me on his skin. He’s promised me forever as clearly as he knows how—and I believe him. Yes, even if it proves I’m hopelessly brainwashed by Lifetime and Hallmark and Disney, I believe my sweet Jonas with all my heart.

“Just don’t make a decision about the money yet,” Jonas says, gently rubbing my thigh. “Think about it for a little while.”

I nod. “Okay, I’ll think about it.” And, in fact, even as I sit here, I already have a pretty good idea of how to put that money to good use. “So, Henn, how quickly do you think you can—”

I’m interrupted by the arrival of a figure at the edge of our table.

Holy crappola. Oh my God. Holy shitballs. No effing way. This can’t be happening. No, no, no.
It’s Max.

Jonas
 

What the fuck is Max doing here?

Sarah’s body jolts next to me in the restaurant booth like she’s been zapped by a Taser gun.

Shit. Did he see us go to the FBI today? Holy fuck. No, there’s no fucking way. I made us jump through ridiculous hoops to ensure we weren’t followed and I’m one hundred percent sure it worked. Max must have a goon stationed in the hotel who called him when we finally turned up again.

“What do you want?” I ask, putting my arm around Sarah. Wow, she’s noticeably trembling.

“Hello, Mr. Faraday,” Max says. “Sarah.” He glances at the rest of the table but doesn’t acknowledge anyone but Sarah and me. “I hope you’re still enjoying your stay here in Las Vegas?”

“What the fuck do you want?” I ask.

Sarah squeezes my thigh, probably signaling me to tread carefully. But this fucker thinks I’m a possessive asshole, right? Which I am, actually, so fuck him.

“I had some business in the hotel—what a coincidence to run into you,” Max says.

I clench my jaw and glare at him. It’s taking all of my self-control not to leap up, grab a fistful of his fucking slick-backed hair, and pummel his smug face. This fucker spilled my baby’s sacred blood onto a bathroom floor and left her for dead. This cock-sucking motherfucking fucker of an asshole haunts my baby’s fucking nightmares almost every night. I want to rip his head off. I want to slit his throat and watch the lifeblood spill out of him and onto the floor.
I want him fucking dead.
 

Sarah can read my thoughts, obviously, because she puts her arm across my body, as if she’s holding me at bay. “Hi, Max,” she says, her voice quavering. “Yeah, that’s one helluva coincidence. Hey, everybody, this is Max—a friend of mine. These are some friends of Jonas’ who met us in Vegas to party—Jonas’ brother Josh, Josh’s girlfriend Kayley, and his roommate from college, Scott.”

Max nods absently at everyone. “I just need to steal you for a couple minutes, Sarah.” He puts his hand out like he actually expects her to take it.

“No,” I say, crushing her into me. I’m a heartbeat away from grabbing a knife off the table and slashing this motherfucker’s fucking throat.

Max snarls at me.

“Hey, guys,” Sarah says to Josh, Kat and Henn. “Could you all excuse us for a few minutes?”

They all look at each other, at a loss.

“Um,” Josh says, looking at me for a signal.

I nod.

“Sure,” Josh says. “Come on, Kayley. Scott
.
Let’s go roll some dice.” They leave, looking back at us warily as they do.

Max takes one of the newly vacated seats at the table and my heart leaps into my throat. I could kill this fucker right now. I could reach across the table, grab his fucking head in both my hands and twist with all my might. But, fuck me, I can’t. For Sarah’s sake—for the sake of the mission—for the sake of the forest and not the trees—for the sake of never having to look over our shoulders again—I’ve got to control my urges. I clench my jaw like an epileptic on the verge of a seizure.

“This will only take a few minutes,” Max says evenly. “Why don’t you do a little gambling, Mr. Faraday?”

I lean forward. “Fuck you,” I say. “Motherfucker.”

Max narrows his eyes.

“I paid you eighty thousand bucks to
own
this woman every second of every day for the next month. And I do—every inch of her, inside and out—every single hair on her beautiful head. So fuck you.”

Max smirks and sits back, blatantly surprised.

Sarah leans into me, shaking like a leaf.

“For the next month, this woman is
mine
, motherfucker. I don’t want you calling her. I don’t want you texting her. I don’t want you ‘stopping by our table’ by so-called ‘coincidence’ to talk to her. I don’t even want you
looking
at her.” I wouldn’t be surprised if actual steam were shooting out my ears right now. “She’s
mine.
”

Max squints and grinds his teeth together. After a moment, he stands, staring at Sarah despite my explicit instructions. “Enjoy your month, Sarah.”

“Are you fucking deaf, motherfucker? Don’t talk to her. Don’t fucking look at her,” I growl. “I paid eighty thousand bucks to be the only man who enjoys those sublime pleasures.”

Max ignores me and continues staring at Sarah. “I’ll expect to see you in my office the minute your month is up. That very day.”

“Of course,” she says. “I look forward to it.”

I whip my head to look at her, about to blow a fucking gasket.

Sarah squeezes my thigh under the table again. “When our month is up, Jonas, I’m gonna have to work again,” she says, her entire body quivering against mine. “I’ve got tuition to pay, my mom’s medical bills, my dad’s house payment. You know that.”

Oh, Sarah. My Magnificent Sarah. I don’t know how she always manages to keep her head in the game, even when she’s obviously scared to death. “We’ll chat about all that later,” I say. I glare at Max. “Why are you still here?” I wave at him condescendingly. “Time to shoo, motherfucker.”

Max trembles with rage. “I’ll look forward to seeing you in a month, Sarah.” He shoots daggers at me. “Mr. Faraday, I’d recommend you take care whom you call a
motherfucker
.” He clenches his jaw. It’s clear he wants to kill me as much I want to kill him. “That’s a strong word.”

“Mo-ther-fuck-er,” I say, drawing out the word. “Yeah, I see what you mean. That
is
a strong word, motherfucker.” I lean forward and glare at him. “And so is asshole. And douchebag. Shithead. Asshat.” Oh fuck, I want to kill this motherfucker so bad. “
Cock-suck-er
. The list goes on and on,
mo-ther-fuck-er
.”

Max shakes his head slowly. “Watch yourself, Mr. Faraday.”

“Thanks. I’ll be sure to do that,
motherfucker
.”

Max stands. He looks at Sarah for a brief moment, his nostrils flaring, and then he turns on his heel and exits the restaurant in a blaze of white-hot fury.

The minute he’s gone, Sarah’s entire body begins twitching next to me in the booth. I take her face in my hands and she shakes beneath my palms.

“Are you okay, baby?”

She nods and swallows hard.

“You’re safe now, baby—my precious baby.” I pull her into me. “He’s gone.”

“Jonas,” she breathes, quivering violently against my chest.

“He’s gone. You’re safe.” I stroke her hair—but she continues trembling. Jesus. Her entire body is jolting against me like a fish on a line.

“Jonas,” she says again.

“I’m right here.” I pull back from her and look into her big brown eyes.