Page 54 of Unleashed
He stops when he sees me.
"Did the reporter crack you in the jaw hard enough to need a straw?" I ask, climbing out of my truck.
"Nah." He holds up the coffee. "She wanted one. This was the only way I could make that happen. You know, it's tricky when their hands are tied."
She.
The word hits my ear wrong.
"Jett." I close the distance between us. "Please tell me there isn't a woman tied up in your barn."
I run my hand over my face.
"Look. I didn't hurt her. She came willingly. She's actually very nice and understanding about this situation." He takes a sip through the straw. "She knew my name, too."
I blink at him. Then I slap him around the head hard enough that the coffee drops from his hand and splashes across the dirt.
"You're out of your fuckin' mind, Jett. Why didn’t you call me?"
"Hey! That was her coffee!"
I'm already pulling out my phone. Dialing Hunter. My jaw is tight enough to crack teeth.
"Hunter, we got a problem," I say the second he answers.
"What is it?"
"Well, you know you told Jett to grab the reporter for you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, he has a woman now tied up in his fuckin' barn, Hunter. Why didn't you specifically tell him it was a woman and under no circumstances kidnap her? Because I egged this plan on. I told him to do this. He made a convincing argument about making sure no one leaks a story."
"You did what!” he shouts.
And Hunter doesn’t really need to ever raise his voice.
"What? You know you gotta be clear on instructions with Jett. He's been kicked in the head too many times. Fuck." I pace beside the truck, running my hand through my hair.
I glance at Jett. He's crouched on the ground, mourning the spilled coffee. But he takes absolutely no offense at what I just said. Which proves my point.
"Ace," Hunter says.
And the way his voice changes makes the hairs on my arms stand straight.
"Hunter, spit it the fuck out. I gotta go untie a woman from a barn and apologize on behalf of our family's name."
We were brought up to respect women. Not pull stunts like this, our mom would go batshit if she could see this.
A pause. And it’s too long. This is bad.
"Ace. This was meant to be a surprise. When I heard who it was, I guess I kinda thought you needed a push towards her. Settle old wars."
I stop pacing. "What do you fucking mean?"
"The reporter ain't just anyone." Another pause. "It's Harper."
The ground tilts.
