Breach of Honor by Naomi Porter

46 Will

CORI STUCK TO me like glue on the boat. A week ago, I had learned she was a drama student in high school and took some courses in college. It explained why she played the part of my fake mistress flawlessly.

“Jason, this was a brilliant idea,” Cori said, laying it on thick just as Jason liked. She’d been stroking his ego all damn day. I hated it, knowing how the bastard had betrayed me and was stealing from SJI.

“He always has great ideas,” Tabitha cooed, rubbing sunscreen on Jason’s shoulders.

He grinned proudly. “I’m glad you’re pleased, sweetheart. You two look cozy there.” His eyes darted toward Cori’s leg draped over mine. He totally bought into her act, but I was fucking uncomfortable with her hanging all over me. The fact that she was wearing a skimpy bathing suit didn’t help.

“Yeah we are. Right, Billy?”

I cringed. Calling me Billy was just another thing Cori did that unnerved me. “Right,” I grumbled.

“Dude, calm the fuck down. Miranda isn’t here. You can get crazy out here on the open sea.” He stood with his arms wide open, inhaling the ocean air.

“Go easy on him, Jason. Billy’s a nice guy. He cares about his girlfriend. Too bad she couldn’t keep him from straying.” Cori stroked my cheek. “I do things for him she could never do.”

Tabitha giggled, covering her mouth.

My stomach roiled. Freaking Cori, I knew what she was alluding to. When we first met, I had to tell her something about my relationship with Miranda that might help to convince Jason I was really having an affair. Miranda’s inability to give me a blow job came up. Not that it was an issue. I didn’t care. But now I was disgusted with myself for telling Cori, knowing how much it meant to Miranda.

“Yeah? And what might that be, sweetheart?” Jason leaned in, eager to hear what would make me cheat on Miranda. The dick.

“Well, let’s just say Miranda is vanilla, and Billy likes a little kink. Nobody’s perfect.”

Relief washed over me. The devilish grin on Jason’s face showed his sick satisfaction.

“That makes total sense. I mean, Miranda is gorgeous… sorry, Cori.”

Cori shrugged his comment off.

“Never let her go, buddy, but never let go of the woman who likes kink either.” He guffawed. “Keep ’em both!”

Tabitha tee-heed. She never said much. Probably why Jason kept her around. He never liked intelligent, talkative women.

“That’s easier said than done. Our outings are wearing on Miranda. She nearly broke up with me last night.”

Jason furrowed his brow. “Seriously? You’re a billionaire.”

“Don’t be an idiot. Not every woman is money hungry. Miranda makes her own money. She doesn’t need mine, and she will dump my ass in a heartbeat. If that happens, I’m leaving SJI to travel with Henry. I’m tired of corporate life anyway.”

“Well, you can’t let her!” Panic flashed in his eyes.

I studied Jason’s reaction. I mentioned wanting to leave SJI to see what kind of effect it would have on him. That bit of information seemed to knock the air out of him.

“What do you care if he’s with her or not?” Cori asked, eyes narrowed. Her question took me by surprise. “If the girlfriend is out of the picture, then I can be his number one, and we can travel the world together.” She laid her hand on my thigh, leaning into me almost possessively, but this was all part of the act.

“No way. You won’t be coming with me. If I lose Miranda, I don’t want to be with anyone,” I snapped back. A bit of a knee-jerk reaction to Cori’s comment, but the thought of being with her was hilarious. It’d never happen in real life.

Jason raked his eyes over Cori, a disgusted expression on his face. “Honestly, and don’t take offense, but you’re not good enough for him.”

Cori gaped, hand on chest. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Jason had hurt her feelings for real. “That’s mean!”

“I apologize, but it’s the truth. Miranda is the perfect trophy wife. She’s the total package, and his family loves her. Plus, Will needs an heir to the SJI throne.” He guzzled his beer. His defense of Miranda was mind-boggling. “You can’t lose her or your job. You’re a St. James. You have a responsibility to your family. I’ll tell you what… I’ll let up a bit on the partying. Get things straight with Miranda. Make her happy.”

What in the hell was going on with Jason? He was flipping faster than I could keep up.

“I don’t know, Jason. It might be too late.” And that was only a half-lie. Miranda would hit her limit, and I would lose her.

“Listen, I have a deal I’m working in Vegas next month. Play nice with her so she’ll let you go… okay?”

Cori squeezed my knee, alerting me to agree.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“You’ll make nice?” Jason’s need for clarification wasn’t like him. Nothing about this conversation was like him. I couldn’t wait to hear Cori’s thoughts.

“I’m not an idiot. I care about Miranda, and I don’t want to lose her. Damn straight I’ll make nice with her.”

Jason exhaled with a relaxed grin. “Excellent. Another beer?”

“Definitely.” Anything to help calm the rampant thoughts flooding my brain. I felt more confused than ever. Between Cori and Jason, I might really go insane.

As soon as we left the pier, Cori was on the phone talking to Abe. Gone was Cori, the mistress. She was in full blown Fed-mode.

“Are you kidding? That’s fantastic news! I will. Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” Cori ended the call and turned toward me with her face beaming. “We just got a huge tip from an informant! We’ve had someone staked out in El Paso, wandering the town like a new resident.” She clapped her hands excitedly. “While getting a haircut, he asked the stylist about Juárez and what there was to do there. This woman wasn’t much older than twenty and said, ‘Jason Sayton is the man to talk to.’” She squealed. “This is so great! Our first major lead.”

“I don’t know what it means.”

“Oh my God, Will! Juárez is a corrupt city with narcos and the Mexican cartel running the show. I’ve tried digging up evidence to get us into Mexico, but without a lead, Abe wouldn’t sign off on it. We’d hoped Jason was working alone, that it was something as simple as white-collar crimes, but this is huge.”

“And dangerous?” I surmised.

“Oh yeah.”

“Shit.”

“Listen, we’ll do everything possible to keep your family safe, but now more than ever, we have to play our hand carefully.”

“What about Miranda?”

“I have some ideas, but I need to talk to Abe first.” She put her hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze. “I know you didn’t want to be caught up in this, but the bad guys found a way into SJI through Jason. They may have already been watching you and Miranda.”

My throat constricted. If anything happened to Miranda, I couldn’t take it.

“What next?” I asked, pulling up to her apartment complex. I didn’t want to bullshit. All I wanted was to get home to Miranda.

“Sounds like Jason’s going to lie low for a bit, so take advantage of this time with Miranda. I have a feeling it’s going to get a lot worse in the coming weeks with the Vegas deal Jason mentioned.” She fiddled with the hem of her coverup. “Will… you can’t fall apart, okay? Each time you talk about Miranda, your emotions are on full display. It’s dangerous. Your love for her is just the sort of thing they’ll leverage in getting what they want. Her life means nothing to them, but they’ll see it means everything to you.”

Her words sent an icy chill down my spine, and I nodded somberly.

“I’ll be in touch. Good night.”

I threw up a hand and pulled away from the curb.

Miranda’s life meant everything to me. She meant everything to me. There was no chance in hell I’d let anyone hurt her.

I’d do anything to protect her.

Even going against the agreement I’d made with Abe and Cori.