“Check your bag,” Striker said, peering back at me before his head once again disappeared from view.
I unzipped the bag I hadn’t packed and was surprised to find the satin clutch I’d brought to the wedding and had left behind. I opened it to find my passport which I hadn’t brought to the wedding. Someone had packed it for me. What was missing was my phone. I was about to ask when the TSA agent approached me. I handed over my passport without looking inside. I had no idea if it was mine or a fake one.
When he handed it back and walked away, I looked, and it was mine. The flight attendant was back, grinning at Striker as though he was a rock star. She handed him a crystal tumbler with liquid the color of molten lava. I realized then I was thirsty, but I refused to ask her for anything.
Connor –
The flight attendant didn’t have to send me a “down to fuck” text for me to know she’d be up for anything I offered, including shoving my cock down her throat. Unfortunately for her, I preferred a certain natural blonde with real tits and an actual personality. I also didn’t think the flight attendant would care who was sitting in my seat as long as it meant they could afford to charter a flight.
“Let me know if you need anything else,” she purred with a wide smile and an unspoken open invitation.
“I will.” I could have told her not to hold her breath, but I was saving my bastard responses for the woman behind me.
I checked my phone for the hundredth time. Griffin hadn’t sent me any updates. I shot him a quick text before turning off my phone as required by the captain’s announcement. Strapped in, I allowed my muscles to finally relax. I’d been on high alert for hours. She was safe. I shouldn’t be so tense. But seeing her helpless and tied to a chair, after hearing passing comments made by the men with guns, I was taken back to a past I’d thought I’d walled up long ago.
A quick glance behind me and I found frustration marring her pretty face. She was frantically going through her bag, looking for something. I thought I knew what that was, but there was a reason she didn’t have it.
The scotch went down smooth, but my turbulent thoughts were a different story. I closed my eyes as if that would bury the memories I’d suppressed for so long. But as weariness took hold, I wouldn’t find peace even in dreams.
Past-
I held her legs, but she used her hands to take mine. It hurt when she squeezed.
“Connor.” She used her angry voice. “Don’t embarrass us.”
I looked at my father, hoping he’d understand my fear. He knelt, and I stumbled over and wrapped my arms around his neck, my tears making his shirt wet.
“Please,” I begged.
He looked me in the eye—man to man, he’d always say. “Make me proud, my boy. Remember, I went here as a boy. You’re going to love it.”
I shook my head and my lips shook too as I spoke. “No, I don’t want to.”
Dad scooped me in his arms as he stood. A man had come into the room.
“Mr. and Mrs. King, this is Dr. Payne. He’s a psychologist and our school counselor. I thought, given the situation, he could help your son make the transition easier.”
I buried my face in my dad’s neck. “I don’t want to stay here.”
He patted my back before setting me on my feet. “You’ll see. A few days and you won’t want to come home.”
The man they’d called Payne came over and took my hand in his firm grip. “Let me show you where you’ll be sleeping. You’re going to make lots of friends.”
The man might have smiled, but I saw the monster behind those eyes. But it was too late. He led me through a door. Though I called for Dad, he stood there as the door closed between us.
“You might want to be nicer to me,” Payne said when we were alone.
I pulled free and ran back toward the door. Just as I was about to reach it, the man caught me. I kicked and tried to scream, but he had a hand over my mouth. When I bit him, he dropped me. I got to my feet, and he pinched my cheeks hard.
“You shouldn’t have done that, boy.”
I kicked his shin. It didn’t hurt him. I only made him madder. He yanked my arm and marched me down a long hall until we reached double doors near the end. He shoved me in a room full of beds and boys.
“Meet James,” he said in a not-so-nice way.
Everyone looked at me before pointing and laughing. I looked down and saw that I’d had an accident. That wouldn’t be the worst thing that happened to me that day.
Five
Connor
A hand on my arm broke me out of the dream that had me in a choke hold. I jerked away from the hand, blinking several times to clear my vision. A blonde—not mine—dipped her head into view and I quickly let go.
“I wanted you to know we are due to land soon,” she said.
I nodded because I hadn’t fully come to myself. A few heartbeats later, I got to my feet and scooped up my bag.
Before I passed through to the next compartment, I said to Lizzy, “You need to change.”
I didn’t wait for one of her signature one-liners. I opened the door and slipped into the back compartment. I dropped my bag on a small sofa and was shrugging out of my jacket when Lizzy followed me in.
“If you think I’m going to join the mile-high club with you, you’re delusional,” she said.
I pulled my shirt over my head and smirked as her thirsty eyes drank me in. I had my hand at the hemline of my pants when I said, “No, princess. Delusion would imply crazy, and a crazy man wouldn’t have a chip he’s yet to call.”
She put a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side. Damn, she was sexy as fuck. “What chip would that be?”
“A twenty-four-hour pass.” Her eyes widened in remembrance before narrowing, and I added, “Not that I’d have to use it to get you in my bed.”
She huffed. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Her tone was so sickly sweet, I felt a toothache coming on. I pointed at the door and shrugged—it was a guess. This wasn’t my plane. When she opened the door, that guess turned out to be a good one.
By the time she emerged, I’d changed into khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt to look like a real tourist. She, on the other hand, wore next to nothing. It was a struggle not to swallow my tongue as we took in each other’s metamorphosis.
She circled her pointed finger in the general direction of my abs. “You did the reverse from a butterfly to a caterpillar, but the dad vibe is working for you, especially with the open shirt.”
“I was going for tourist,” I admitted.
Her eyes dropped to check herself out. “I really didn’t have a lot of options. Griff and I will have words later.”
The bikini top she wore did a damn good job at drawing the eye. Though I’d seen what was under the triangle-shaped fabric, I wanted to see it again. Then there was the printed but see-through fabric that covered her long, gorgeous legs.
My gazed trekked to her naked finger. “We’ll have to stop and get rings.”
“Why?” she asked.
“We’ll blend better as a married couple.”
“But you told those guys I’m your wife already.”
“Yes, and if they believed me, they won’t be following us. If they are, they didn’t buy it.”
She put her hands on her hips. “Well, how do we know they are?”
“We don’t know anything concrete yet. That’s the problem.”
She stewed on that before it appeared she made up her mind and opened her hand. In it was a small pouch. “We don’t need to buy rings. I brought these to the wedding to give them back to you.”
“But you didn’t?”
“There wasn’t time.”
I decided not to point out we’d had a handful of encounters, including those when we were close enough to speak, but didn’t.
“I’ll wear these now and when this is over, you can have them back,” she said.
“And do what with them? You think Harry Winston has a return policy?”<
br />
“You’re the one who convinced me they had sales,” she said, stepping toward me. Her finger aimed at my cheek.
I took her wrist and slid her rings on her fourth finger. “You wouldn’t have let me buy them otherwise.”
Her breath caught as I brought her finger closer to my lips.
“I’ll need you to take your seats.”
We jerked and glanced at the flight attendant in the door. Her eyes landed on Lizzy’s hand that I held. The sparkler I’d gotten her was doing its job and grabbing attention.
Lizzy snatched her hand from mine and pivoted. The woman who’d destroyed our moment had to backtrack to let Lizzy through the door. I took the time to move my band from my right hand to my left ring finger before following them. Nothing was said as we strapped in for landing, though I wanted to curse the moment that had been interrupted.
When the plane finally came to a full stop, I waited for the door to be opened before I got up from my seat. When it was, the sun brightened the space as the heat slammed inside. Far different from the chilly days in New York.
The pilot came from the cockpit and I realized he was around my age. It shouldn’t have struck me, but it did. When someone held your life in their hands, you’d like to know they had years and years of experience.
“Mr. Black, I’m Grant King, your pilot.” I blinked several times, thrown by his name, and almost didn’t catch what he said next. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to greet you before the flight. It was a bit of a rush with the last-minute booking.”
“No problem,” I said as my mind scrambled. I might have said more, but I felt more than heard Lizzy’s approach.
She stopped beside me. “Nice flying.”
When I glanced back, her eyes were all for him. I had to begrudgingly admit Grant was a good-looking guy.
“I’m glad you enjoyed the flight,” he said, shaking the hand she’d extended.
“Like I said, the flying was great. The inflight service, on the other hand, was a little over the top. I don’t think I’ve ever had a woman blatantly offer my husband a happy ending in front of me.”
I bit back a smile as Grant turned to the woman in question.
“They’re not married,” the woman whined.
Lizzy held up her hand and wiggled her fingers. I thought she might curl down four, leaving the middle one up, but she didn’t.
“They weren’t wearing those,” the flight attendant went on.
Grant sighed. “I’m sorry about Mandy. She’s not a part of our normal crew. Again, we were left with few options in our scramble to accommodate your needs.”
“Not a problem,” I said and gave Lizzy a look to hopefully muzzle her. There was a good chance we might need to use their services in the future.
“Really, Grant King, after everything! Remember, I did you a favor.” Mandy stomped out the door and down the stairs in a huff.
“Sorry about that,” Lizzy said. “But you’re better off knowing so you don’t lose future clients.”
“It’s okay,” Grant said.
Lizzy nodded and made her exit, leaving me alone with the other King.
“You’re based out of….” I asked.
“A little town in the western panhandle of Maryland. Though as you can see, we can handle international flights.”
I extended a hand. “I’m sure we’ll use your services again.” As we shook hands, I wondered if I was imagining a resemblance to my dad there around his eyes.
“We welcome it, even last-minute flights. You won’t have to worry about Mandy again though.”
“It’s good to hear. While I had no problem handling her, she didn’t treat my wife as a valued customer.”
Grant nodded. “Noted.”
I wanted to ask him who his father was, but I stopped myself. My father wasn’t the only man in the world with the last name King. Just because Grant shared ours didn’t mean he was a brother or even a relative. My mother wasn’t the only one guilty of cheating. My father was no innocent in the failure of their marriage. But would he keep information about a half-sibling to himself?
Standing at the door didn’t prepare me for the wall of heat when I was fully outside. Lizzy waited for me with a hand to her forehead to block the sun as a customs agent looked over her passport. I met them at the bottom and handed him mine.
“Thank you, Mr. Black,” he said.
When he walked away, I took Lizzy’s hand. When she glared at me, I said, “You’re a good actress. Just do what you do best and pretend.”
Six
Lizzy
Oh, how I wanted to throttle the man. “Pretend what?” I said quietly through gritted teeth so the customs agent, who was still in earshot, wouldn’t hear.
I was already on edge from being forced to wear a bikini off a plane. Like who does that? But the packed bag I’d been given left me no options.
“Pretend you don’t like me holding your hand.”
“Ego much?” I said, not looking at him.
“My ego isn’t in play. Yours is. Pride won’t let you admit you still want me.”
“What I want is food. Not you.”
“Liar,” he said.
I shifted to face him, stopping his forward progress. “Let’s get this straight. The only liar here is you, Mr. Black.”
“It’s called subterfuge. You know, the kind that’s keeping you alive.”
I didn’t exactly understand why this destination would keep me safe.
“Yeah, whatever.”
Given the tropical setting, it might have been romantic if this wasn’t all so fake. I understood why so many bikinis had been packed for me, not that I liked it. A pair of shorts would have been nice. If the woman who had swapped clothes for me in the tunnel had done my packing, she’d lost her girl card. Because only a man would think bikinis were the only necessary clothing for me on an island.
I would have walked off except Striker had shackled my hand to his by lacing our fingers together, kicking my heart rate up. I wanted to lie to myself and say it was the rage I felt, but I wanted the man in the worst way. Good thing my head was still in the game and wouldn’t allow me to be so stupid.
As we reached the airport entrance, I instantly knew where we were. Providenciales International Airport was in Turks & Caicos. Before everything had happened with Bailey going to Scotland, I was going to suggest a girls’ getaway here for the two of us. Now I was here with him.
When we stepped inside the small airport, I freed myself from Striker’s grip and made a beeline for a shop. The hat in the window display had grabbed my attention. The sun would be great for a tan, but I had a tendency to burn more than anything else, damn my genes. A floppy hat was a must in weather like this.
As I walked in, I spotted a wall full of short, tanks and other clothing items not swimwear. I walked over and grabbed things because the sarong I wore was so wrong for the beach. It was more for lounging by a pool. If I’d been told someone would pack for me, I would have given them instructions. Then again, I hadn’t even known our destination. I ground my molars before taking my selections to the corner marked as a dressing room.
I had the door almost closed when Striker pushed his way in.
“Excuse you,” I complained.
“There’s only one changing room.”
“And?”
“And it’s not like I haven’t seen the goods before.”
“It’s not like you’ll ever touch me again,” I said tartly.
His eyes dropped as if assessing every inch of my skin before he stepped forward, crowding me in the small space that barely fit the both of us. My back hit the wall as he leaned down. I thought he might kiss me—and I might have been slightly disappointed when his lips ghosted over mine before reaching my ear.
“Now that you’ve made your intentions clear, let me tell you mine. I will not touch you unless you beg me to.”
His words landed on my skin, and I shivered. When he pulled back, he smirked, his gaze going to my
chest. I glanced down and saw my nipples were hard and puckered the fabric, belying my reaction to his closeness. I let my gaze fall to his crotch, making my point. He didn’t seem to care and dropped his shorts, letting me see his hard cock straining his boxer briefs.
“I don’t want to want you, but I do. Trust this, I won’t act on it.”
Personally, I was glad he wasn’t commando, because I might not have been able to pull off what I said next. “Good, because you might be a decent lay—”
“Decent?” he asked, pulling on a pair of solid blue board shorts.
“Okay, a really good lay, but that doesn’t mean I’ll ever make the same mistake by screwing you. Bet or not.”
“I’ll never force you to do anything, bet or not.” He opened the door and stepped out with his bag and the shorts he’d been wearing in his hand, still wearing the new ones. Before he closed the door, he said, “But always remember, you’re only as good as your word.”
He had me with that one. I’d called him a liar and here I was saying my word wasn’t good. I sighed. The man messed with my head, but I didn’t want him to break my heart. My snark was more defense than offense.
I pulled on a pair of shorts, which hadn’t been packed for me. Then I pulled on the off-white crochet cover-up with fringe that had brought me to the back of the store. It was gorgeous and did the trick.
Like him, I left the dressing room with the new items on.
“I’d like to buy this and this,” I said, pointing at the things I had on. I placed the tags I’d removed on the counter. “Along with these and that hat over there.”
The woman with the welcoming smile nodded as she scanned my purchases. When it came time to pay, I knocked Striker’s hand away and handed her the black card Kalen had given me. Since it was still in my purse, I assumed it was good to use without security risk. After I put on the floppy woven hat the color of flax seeds, I took the bag she held out and went for the door.
Striker caught me, once again taking my hand. “So my brother’s money is better than mine?”
Kingdom Fall: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance (Kingdom Come Book 2) Page 3