Jeremiah looked away, clearly annoyed by the conversation. I leaned forward to put a hand on his knee but stopped myself in time. Despite my best efforts, my heart ached for the large man. Jeremiah Hamilton thrived on control, and if his brother really had taken away all communication equipment, then he’d lost the upper hand.
“Tonight we rest.” Lucas spread his arms wide. “Tomorrow, we leave for Dubai.”
Maybe I should have been used to the weird turn my life had taken by that point, but I still blinked at the sudden news. “Dubai? As in, the Arab nation?”
“One of the richest.” Lucas winked at me. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”
“But why can’t I go home?” Perhaps I was whining when I asked, but I figured I was entitled to lodge some form of complaint. “I’m not related to either of you; if it’s really as personal as you say, then I can’t be a target.”
“And what would you do,” Jeremiah asked, “when you got home?”
I glared at him. “Contrary to what you obviously think,” I snapped, “I can stand on my own two feet.”
“I didn’t mean...”
“Yes you did.” I crossed my arms, irritation bubbling up. “Since I’ve met you two, I’ve been shot at, poisoned, kidnapped – twice I might add – and attacked by strange men. I don’t care how rich you are or how many foreign countries you drag me into, this whole thing is ridiculous.”
“See?” Lucas spread his arms and gave me a bit smile. “Bet your life has never been this interesting.”
There was nothing I could say to that. I sat back, wordless, watching in a daze as the conga line disappeared back inside the bar. Two beautiful faces, so very similar to one another, stared at me: Jeremiah’s gaze was as stony as ever, and Lucas grinned at me like a buffoon. As much as I wanted to scream and rail at them, I couldn’t seem to form the words.
“There are many ways to hurt a man.” Jeremiah leaned forward. “Sometimes, the easiest is to go after those in our care.”
“What, like the girl you’re sleeping with?” My voice had a nasty, self-recriminating note and I bit my tongue. “You’ve made it clear what I am to you.”
“Others might see it differently,” Lucas murmured, but I just stared at the table, trying to hang onto my anger.
“This is stupid,” I muttered after a moment of silence, as the conga line appeared again from inside the bar. “What about your mother then? Why isn’t she the one you’re whisking off to foreign lands?”
Lucas snorted. “They probably know better than to try hurting us from that angle,” he said.
“My men are keeping an eye on her,” Jeremiah said, and I looked over to see him watching me. His eyes flickered to his brother. “I agree however that she’s not likely in any danger.”
“Imagine, my little brother agreeing with me.” Lucas smirked. “Boy, it must have hurt to admit that.” Not waiting for a response, he suddenly stood. “We’re in the Caribbean, let’s have a little fun.” He held out a hand. “Dance with me.”
I rolled my eyes and looked up to see the scarred man waggle his eyebrows. “It’ll make my brother jealous.”
“Maybe I don’t want to make your brother jealous,” I muttered, not looking at the man in question, but when Lucas grabbed my hand and pulled me up I didn’t protest. The conga line was passing near our table and it didn’t take much for Lucas to steer me to the end of the line.
“I’ll be good,” he said, laying his hands on my waist. When we entered the bar however, he still pinched my rear. “Okay, mostly good,” he murmured in my ear as I elbowed his rib cage.
I hadn’t really noticed what was happening inside, and found that a wedding party had taken over the bar area. The twang of the steel pan drums and the overall festive atmosphere in the room brought a reluctant smile to my face. It was impossible to keep a sour mood amidst the crowd of people; between the loud music and dancing figures, I felt my temper ease a bit. Lucas kept his hands to himself, which likely contributed to my improved disposition, and for a brief moment I let myself get caught up in the party environment.
When the conga line made its third trip through the outside dining area, however, I noticed that Jeremiah’s seat was empty. Scanning the murky area outside the dining area, I saw a familiar shape, outlined by the Tiki torches, walking alone into the darkness. Abandoning the conga line, I pulled free from Lucas’ grip and followed after Jeremiah’s retreating figure.
He stopped beside a maintenance hut when I called his name, but as I came to his side I didn’t know what to say. My eyes were still growing accustomed to the darkness so it was hard to see his face. His shoulders were hunched forward and he kept his face turned from me, and although my heart ached I tried not to read too much into it. Reaching out, I laid a hand on his arm, and was gratified when he didn’t pull away from me.
“I don’t like feeling useless.”
I blinked at his words. Jeremiah didn’t move, just continued to stare out into the darkness. “Well, join the club,” I murmured, and felt the muscles under my palm tense.
“Maintaining control keeps me sane. My father...” He stopped talking for a moment, and I squeezed his arm. “When my father died, I lost control of my life. My brother’s right: I took his as surely as Rufus Hamilton took mine.”
Moving closer, I curled my hand around his arm, hugging him close. “You did what you had to do back then,” I murmured.
Ethan, Jeremiah’s former chief of security, had filled me in on some of the sordid details. Rufus Hamilton, the former Hamilton patriarch, had ruled with an iron fist both in business and family life. When Jeremiah had enlisted in the military, defying the older man’s plans for the boy, the elder Hamilton had arranged it so that everything fell to Jeremiah’s shoulders once Rufus passed away. Faced with the potential collapse of the empire and the loss of jobs for thousands of employees, Jeremiah had left the military and a life he loved to take over the business. He’d also been forced to deal with charges that his own brother had embezzled millions, accusations that had proven untrue but still sent Lucas down his own dark path.
Jeremiah ran a hand through his hair. “Now I’m stuck under the thumb of a brother who hates me, forced to take part in activities that I once fought against, and facing an unknown enemy.” He sighed. “Meanwhile at home, my family name is being dragged through the mud, the business I sacrificed everything for is slowly crumbling, and I can’t do anything to protect those in my care.”