Harmless Revenge: A Harmless World Novel (Harmless #11)

Irritation fluttered through her. How could he not understand? The man they both loved had just dropped off the face of the earth, then appeared in Hawaii acting completely out of character. There was something wrong and not something little. This was cock up your life kind of horrible.

“Maybe after a job. Not when he’s been lying around like some kind of slacker. Just what the hell is that about anyway? He has never been a man who liked to waste time.”

“Well, it’s not a bad place to do his laying about. I wonder where he got the money for this?”

Jaime looked around the grounds below and knew something was really wrong. This was a house that would be featured on Hawaii Five-O where a socialite might have been killed. The furnishings had been masterfully chosen, and not by Sean. He’d like finer things, but he had no sense of style. The colors, the styles, they all looked as if someone had spent time and money to perfect the look. That definitely wasn’t Sean. And, she knew one thing for sure; this had taken money. Sean had always had money, but he hadn’t had this kind of money. The house was four million—at least. The way real estate prices had been ballooning on Oahu in the last couple of years, it was probably going for a lot more. That kind of money did not just plop down in your lap.

She knew the last few years, Sean had been playing fast and loose with his jobs. Getting involved with Lassiter was one of the worst decisions Sean had ever made after they split up. Randy and Jaime had walked away from taking jobs with Lassiter, partially for personal reasons, but also because Lassiter had made some dubious connections lately. Sean had kept working for him. It was his involvement with the bastard that had been Sean’s downfall—or so they heard. Both Randy and Jaime had done jobs with Sean that were sketchy, mainly because they had wanted to protect him. Knowing he had gone on a job by himself, then disappeared off the edge of the earth had worried her. Subsequently…as the months had rolled by, and they didn’t hear anything about him…both she and Randy had started to worry. They couldn’t really put the call out for him because it might cause him issues, so they had sifted through the evidence. It had been long and painstaking, but they had finally found out what the hell happened.

Burned. As in, no connections, no protection…ruined in their business. He was considered a security risk, thanks to Lassiter—another man who had let her down more than once.

The race to find him overtook their every thought. She knew that Sean would be an ass and say he didn’t need them, but he did. Burned in their world was ten times worse than being dead. At least dead you knew the pain was over.

“Babe?” Randy asked. He was worried about her. She had been a bitch on a mission from the moment they had found out.

“He’s not working, we both know that.”

Sean was always resourceful, but the massive mansion on Oahu was beyond his means. Not to mention the Jag and the pimped out Escalade in the driveway. There was something very wrong going on with Sean, and it wasn’t all about his burning.

Randy stepped up behind her, slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. She took comfort in the warmth he offered her. He was a calming influence.

“He’s okay. We’ll figure out what’s going on.”

She sighed and let the worries she had been holding in for more hours than she wanted to think about release. It wasn’t easy. It never was when it came to Sean. He was the one person who could hurt both of them without even thinking. He never understood why the two of them kept coming back.

Wanker.

“We should have gotten here sooner.”

It was Randy’s turn to sigh. She had repeated that phrase over and over for the past week. “Babe, you know we couldn’t. We didn’t know about his burning until last week.”

“We should have known.”

The world of security experts—especially on their level—was a small one. Everyone knew each other and, on some days, your enemy could be your best friend. The fact that she and Randy had not heard anything was, to say the least, odd. Lassiter had not told them, but then, Jaime and he were barely speaking.

“It’s weird that we had not heard anything. If he’s been burned for six months, someone would have said something. Hell, Lassiter should have told us.”

Just another transgression to lay at the feet of Royce. The man had been nothing but trouble from start to finish, and now he had hidden Sean’s status from them. She had an idea why, but she couldn’t tell Randy. Not yet.

“You heard what Ross told us,” she said. “He’s been hanging out here in Oahu. Lord only knows why, because he always said it was too busy for him. He preferred the Big Island.”

“Let’s face it. There is no Rough ‘n Ready there. Of course, after his behavior from last night, he might not have a membership anymore.”

Club owner Micah Ross had been furious last night, but she got the feeling he was more worried about Sean than mad at him. It was the reason he poured out all the info he had on him when they had shown up. The fights, the drinking, and the fact that something was driving him into this behavior. If an acquaintance Sean didn’t know that well knew of his issues, it was definitely getting bad.

Randy shook his head. “There is something bothering him. You know he likes to brood.”

“Yes, but he has never been a drunk.”

And she knew why. They both did. Control was something that was so important to Sean, and drinking to excess was something he never did. Not in all the years she had known him had she ever seen him pissed, but apparently, he had been spending most of his nights that way.

“Hey,” Randy said, resting his chin on her shoulder. “We’ll help him sort it all out. I promise.”

She closed her eyes. Tears threatened, but she would not show it. She would not lose it. She had her dignity left—and that was something she planned on holding onto. Still, it was hard to deal with Sean who had no idea what this did to both she and Randy. When he hurt, they hurt.

“I don’t know what the two of you are cooking up, but I don’t need your fucking help.”

Randy moved away from her to look at him. Jaime opened her eyes and turned to face Sean. He didn’t look any better…and he looked so damned beautiful. From the moment she’d met him all those years ago, she had never been able to take her eyes off him. He was one of those men who just seemed to capture the attention of everyone in the room.