Anything He Wants: Castaway #2 (Anything He Wants 7) by Sara Fawkes Page A

descended the stairs into the bowels of the ship. With the night came turbulent waters; the walkway beneath him swayed and rolled, but Lucas barely noticed.
    Down below, his men were milling about, taking stock of the situation and searching every inch of the ship to be sure the threat was gone. Lucas appreciated their thoroughness. The muscle he hired weren’t just thugs; some were as well trained as Jeremiah, if not better. These men were smart; they had to be to survive this cutthroat business.
    Two men stood outside a small room near the back of the ship. On a table beside them lay a variety of weapons and electronic equipment. Lucas picked up the small radio, checking the settings. “You checked him thoroughly?”
    “We stopped at the cavity search after he gave Rawlins here the shiner.”
    Indeed, the quiet man did seem to have a bruise forming above one eye. When the bald man saw Lucas’ scrutiny, he added, “We decided to hold off on anything more until we got your word.”
    “Why?”
    “He’s your brother.”
    Ah, and that was the crux of everything. Lucas nodded, then jerked his chin toward the door. “Bring him out so we can talk.”
    Lucas looked through the rest of the items on the table, including the gun. He was quite familiar with the MP5-N gun, an old favorite for military types. This one looked like it had weathered more than a few battles. He checked the clip to be sure it was loaded, then cocked the gun and turned around. “Ah, little brother. It’s always so good to see your face.”
    Jeremiah glared back, his lip curled slightly in obvious distaste. In the face of such disdain, it was easy for Lucas to smile. He’d grown quite adept at the practice. “So tell me: how did you find my ship? I’ve searched it thoroughly for tracking so it can’t be that. Satellites perhaps?”
    “Why did you take her?”
    Lucy’s stricken expression rose up in his mind. Lucas turned quickly to hide his reaction from his brother. “Is the answer here?” he said, poking again at the equipment on the table. “Surely you didn’t just pick our location out of thin air. It’s a big ocean, something must have led you here.”
    “Goddammit, Loki, answer my question.”
    Lucas’ fingers dug into the smooth edges of the table. “I’d really prefer to focus on how you found me.”
    “If you hurt her...”
    “Oh, you’re one to talk.” Lucas turned back to his brother, pursing his lips. “Do you know how easy it was for me to gain access to your compound? You might as well have given her to me on a platter.”
    Jeremiah fought unsuccessfully against the hands holding him back. Lucas held his ground, waiting until his brother’s struggles subsided. “Somebody paid a hitman to get rid of you, but the minute he’s gone you’re stupid enough to relax and let your guard down. And no, I’m not going to tell you how I got in there any more than you’re going to tell me how you found me, but it was child’s play . ”
    Lucas struggled to get himself back under control. “Do you know what she said to me in the car?” he said after a minute. “That you’d broken her heart. I believe she also said you called her emotions “platitudes”, which didn’t seem to go over well.”
    The conversation was obviously not what Jeremiah wanted to talk about. “She signed a contract,” he said before biting off his words.
    “You made her sign a contract?” This was news to Lucas, and touched off a fire inside him. “What did it say, that you got to do whatever you wanted?”
    Jeremiah said nothing, but Lucas had spent years reading his baby brother. The truth was written all over his silence. “My god, you turned that poor girl into your whore.”
    “Don’t you call her that,” Jeremiah roared, and managed to wrench one arm free. He lunged at Lucas, only to be brought up short by the second man’s grip. Then Kolya appeared between the two brothers, wrestling Jeremiah back into submission and on his