by Gina Kincade
"How do I know I'll be safe after you leave?"
"They know you are untouchable, or I would kill them all," he growled. "It only takes a snap of my fingers, per say, to have their demons turn on them, for good. Their lives can end at my whim. The irony here is that I control all the demons, and yet, I can't get the demon in me gone. But, back to your safety, they didn't touch you before, did they? And they had all the opportunity in the world. They know, and I reminded them, that I hold all the cards in the end. I can take them out, one by one, destroy the business, the group, it all. They didn't believe I would do such a thing before. I think they all still saw me as my father's son, the one who did whatever he was told for the family, as I was raised—no, trained—brutally, to do, but I've set them straight.
"They foolishly thought I would give you up to protect the company, the family, but I won't. Sure, I hoped to have it all, to exorcise all the demons, to leave, get you back, and to leave them intact, but not anymore. Not now that I have touched you, tasted you again. I would destroy them all first, obliterate everything my father built, before I would let you go again. I think I got my point across all too well to them.
"I guess they thought they could counter my actions by showing up all beastly, but they hadn't considered I wouldn't go along with them after that. Fact remains, they can't overthrow me. My demon is stronger. It actually feeds off of theirs. They thought I had loyalty to them, but they know better, now, and they know they can't defeat me. I will strip them all of everything, their demons, money, influence, all of it to have you. My only issue is I want to be rid of the demon. I want a fresh start with you, but without the beast I can't keep them in line any more. I need to get rid of them all, and I don't know how yet. I mean, sure, I can destroy the company in seconds, but the monsters inside, that I'm still working on."
"Keep your voice down. Follow me," she said, her face flushed even more as she spun on her heel, and walked off toward the elevators.
When the elevator doors closed, trapping them inside alone, he added, "Listen, I didn't want to have to say that all there, but you wouldn't let me up."
"No, you listen. You are coming up, saying what it is you have to say, just to shut you up, and then you are leaving. Got it?"
"Got it. And, thank you."
"Keep your damn hands to yourself. I don't trust you. I don't trust your family, no matter what you have said to them or they have said to you. And, though I think I am over it, after last time we saw each other, I'm not going to trust myself either."
When she closed the door of her loft behind them, he asked, "Does it make it hurt less to stay away from me than to be with me?"
"It just hurts right now, but at least I don't have to deal with them when I'm here. I'd thought I wouldn't have to deal with you either, because nothing hurts more than the walking away."
"Your place is amazing," he said. Trying to shake off the brutal truth she'd presented, he distracted himself with his surroundings. To finally be in her space, the clean cut, yet warm feel of her spacious loft. The oversized, ten foot ceilings towered above white walls. Double hung windows trimmed in dark mahogany, along with the expertly crafted white oak flooring, made the room look endless. A few steps in, the seven foot windows framed New York's skyline, and some of the best of its cityscapes.
"It's not a house on a cliff over the sea," she semi-hissed, seemingly more comfortable already than she had been downstairs.
"It's still breathtaking, from the lobby to your residence. Fantastic architecture. The sights. I love it."
"Thanks. I do, too. Now, sit down and talk. You have a limited amount of time here."
"No tour?"
"Sit and talk or leave," she grumbled out the words as she plopped down on a couch, gesturing for him to sit on the one opposite.
"Allanah, first, let me apologize again for the other night," he stated as he obeyed her gesture. "My father had them all brainwashed that you were the enemy to me being there, running the business and taking my rightful place. While they were right, I would leave it all in a second to have you if I had that simple of an option, leaving that point out, I said what I needed to in order to assure them I have their best interests at heart. I outright lied, saying you were not a threat to them, and I reminded them I was the boss. What I say now, goes.
"Most importantly, between you and me, what I want is you. I understand our lives complicate that. I am sure you don't want me the way I am, with all that you know. Although, I am confused by the why of you coming over in the first place the other night when you did already know. But, another discussion for another time. I still want out, of all of it. I want you. Seeing you, it just compounded that need. I don't have a full way out yet. I am trying to do it without honestly destroying all of them, but, they wouldn't just give me a clean break. I think because no one knows how. Given the option to take over the demons and the company, if they knew how, I know my brothers would. So, I have to come up with a way to disappear, and to get rid of this thing inside of me that alerts them not only to my location, but to everything I do and feel."
"So what is the demon telling them now?"
"It doesn't matter. I told them I was coming here, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I told them I needed time to see you, alone, to figure things out, but I also threatened them, everything they love. At the same time, I also assured them their interests were safe. I didn't lie, not exactly, I merely bent the truth to get what I wanted right now, and that was to go away with you. Just don't say anything yet. Let me finish. Please hear me out," he said when she went to protest.
"Fine!" she said, the short word falling off at the end, maybe exhausted from the shock of seeing him in her building he thought.
"I have a place secured for us in the Maldives. A water villa. It's advertised as a place to escape reality. The family, if you want to call them that, is giving me some time to spend with you, to figure things out, how to make it all work. They think they will have a say in our decisions once I get back. They think they are giving me time to scratch an itch, so I can say goodbye. It's all they understand of relationships, never having loved themselves prior, and now their demons supporting that.
"What I want, though, what they don't know, is I want you to go away with me for a week so we can make a plan, a way to be together, a way for me to escape for good. All of it. Since they think I'm coming back, they are going to leave us alone, at least for this week. I let them assume my plan is to talk you into my life, the life I share with them, when in reality, it's to find a way to get away from them for good. Again, though, they believe, because they know no better, I will simply screw you a few times and get over this. Regardless of them, they won't bother us, I promise, just please, give me a chance. Give us a chance. I believe together we can figure this out. There just has to be a way. That is, if you are willing to give up your life to be with me, too."
"Ciaran. That is a lot to ask. Now and then."
"I know it is, and I'm not asking you to decide your whole future this minute. I'm not even saying it will all work out in the end. I'm just asking for a chance to brainstorm together, to spend some time away together, in order to discuss our possible options. That gives us a chance to think things through, to make some decisions away from distractions. Don't we both deserve that? And, if that is all we have, at least we will have had one amazing week together in paradise."
He watched as she stood there biting at her lower lip, on the right side, as she used to whenever she was thinking something through. The whole thing, the whole picture of her wrapped in intimate memories, brought a smile to his face.
"Don't go getting cocky, thinking I will just do whatever you ask," she said, a huff in her voice. "I can read that smile of yours; you think you have won."
"I'm not. I was just remembering, watching you nibble on your lip like you always used to. Something about some things never changing, I guess. It gave me hope. Or maybe just the happiness of the memory got to me. Whichever. I can't remember t
he last time I actually smiled. Wait, yes, I do. It was in imagining this very conversation and then imagining you said yes, you agreed to go with me. Just come with me. Nothing else has to be decided now. We can discuss it all until we are too tired to talk anymore once we get there. Here, let me show you pictures of the place. If nothing else, just think of it as an amazing free vacation," he continued on, rambling he knew, not at all his usual. He rambled for no one but her, and he was okay with that.
He could feel her gaze on him as he focused on not letting his fingers shake as they poked at his phone to find the images of the place he'd reserved for them. He could barely breathe in her presence. Never could. He'd have thought she had magic of her own the way this woman had bewitched him from his youth, from the first moment he'd ever laid eyes on her.
"Here, look," he said, standing up, moving over to the couch she sat on across from him.
He didn't give her a second, though he saw her flinch and then tense as he moved in close, let his thigh touch hers, their arms meet, as he leaned in to show her the whole gallery of pictures. A selling point, he hoped, both the images of this paradise on earth, and his touch, the promise of more, thanks to the electricity moving between them. He knew she could feel his magic coming to the surface, especially as he tried to pacify his demon with all the deception it took to even get to this point. He'd finally figured it out. If the thing thought being with her a wrong, something he shouldn't do, it would be appeased. It had no loyalty of its own except to further facilitate the spread of evil.
One after another, he showed her the different rooms in the private resort on water. Her eyes did widen, which he took as a good sign. He'd take any glimmer of hope at this point. He could feel the heat rising from his neck. Though his stomach churned, his dry mouth and frazzled nerves begged for a good gulp of his whiskey. His chest tightened as she continued to look with interest at the images on his phone. The longer she took in refusing him, the more he grew hopeful she wouldn't. In fact, he had no intention of taking no for an answer, so the sooner she relented the better; the further away from his plan to kidnap her if need be.
"This is for real? A place like this really exists?" she exclaimed, a smile brightening her eyes.
"Seriously? You've never heard of it?"
"I don't really vacation. I travel for business, which has taken me some amazing places, but no, I'd never seen such a place. It would be all ours?"
"Yes, except for a caretaker couple who lives in one of the rooms. But, I already planned on having them set the place up and then leave for the week. I wanted you all to myself."
"I have appointments, work to do this week," she countered, but rather weakly in his opinion.
"We both know rescheduling it all only takes one phone call to the right assistant. How often have you done that?"
"Never, really. At least, not for this sort of reason."
"Then come with me."
"You really think we can come up with a way to get you away from your family? You have a demon that tells on you. I don't see how it's possible, and if you are being honest, you've had years and not come up with a viable option. While wonderful, it just seems like putting off the inevitable, our separation."
"But, we've never worked on it together. And, even if it is impossible, please, give me this week. We have to be able to figure out some way, some compromise maybe, with them, to be able to be together. I can't just never see you again. Please, Allanah. I will beg for hours if I have to."
"Oh, I'm sure of that. I just don't know, though. One more week is just going to break my heart further. Do you know what it was like to see you and then after what happened, have to walk away, once more. My heart broke all over again."
"I know!" he yelled, rising up, for what reason, to what end he didn't know. He didn't want to scare or intimidate her. "I'm sorry. I know all too well. But that just means you still love me. You have to give us one last chance."
"Yes. I still love you. I know, now, no matter how I try to deny it, I always will. But, in life, just because we want it doesn't mean it can be ours. Your father taught me that lesson all to well."
"And, I will be eternally sorry for that, but, never in business have you submitted to such a thought," he accused, goading her, though he knew she was on to his tricks.
"No, I haven't. In business I've taken all I wanted, but obviously in my love life, the same doesn't apply. Give up. We are talking two separate things here, so your reasoning is pathetic at best."
"Why? It should be the same. My father is dead. Sure, we have a few issues left over thanks to him, but if you want me, then take me. I feel the same. We can make this happen. Come with me. Just agree to come with me, Allanah. Fight for us. We couldn't before, but we can now. We are stronger, and wiser. My father is gone. We can have each other if we are willing to give up everything else. I know it's different for me, my wealth and power were handed over. For you, you built what you have from nothing."
"Oh, I had plenty of help from your father, even after school was paid for. I've tried to convince myself it was all me, but at night, alone, if I let myself, I know I was handed my success as a means to keep me away from you."
"Then rebel against him. The worst I could do, in his eyes, is to leave everything he built behind. Help me do that. Come with me. Let's find a way to leave it all behind. My father may be dead, but the need for revenge isn't, sadly. Right or wrong, I will ruin them all. My only issue is finding a way to silence my demon. For good. Who knows, maybe some time away, some time spent with you, I might stumble on something I haven't. Maybe the answer is there, right in front of me, but I'm not seeing it for some reason. I can lay it all out for you. We can think on it together. "It's worth a shot, no matter how far off it sounds. I want some time with just you. I think we deserve it after all of this time apart. But, I'm not asking you to decide our entire future right now. I just want you to agree to come with me so we can have some time alone, time to talk it all out. Look, I know I'm talking in circles here, so say you will come with me. Shut me up."
Chapter Six
The conversation had been strained between them on the flight to the Maldives, just awkward small talk that included any topic that wasn't personal. Yet, as the boat they were in to get to their private water villa approached the unbelievable place he'd arranged for them to stay in, maybe the clear to turquoise water, the thatched roofs, or the sun warming her back, something in her finally began to relax, to see the possibilities this paradise on earth could offer.
To say something in her snapped would be wrong; it broke, shattered, in the best way possible. She seemed to take her first real, deep breath in his presence. Allowing herself to hope for the impossible, or maybe just to live each moment in the present, she gave in to enjoying this incredible place with an unbelievable man she happened to be in love with, whole heart and soul when she let herself feel it.
She looked his way, knowing her smile told all, and watched his face relax, his sculptured jaw move as he smiled. The sentiment reached his eyes, a sparkle in them she'd only seen a few times in their sparse moments together: the night of their first few dates when they were teens; the night they first made love; and the night she'd seen him again just a month ago. Although, then it had only been brief, short moments when he'd let himself forget the world around them. Now, it seemed as if the sun had lit him from the inside, obscuring his usual darkness. Even his bulging shoulders, with the muscles so large and hard, seemed to go down an inch.
Only, the moment proved fleeting. His shoulders tensed back up to his ears, and his smile took on the look of a forced grimace. He looked sick, pale around his lips, his eyes darkened with hints of crimson. She watched his muscles tense, his ire rise in every feature of his face.
"What's wrong?" she asked quickly, making him jump, the boat he drove jerk a bit. "Are they here?"
"No one is here but the two of us. I even sent away the help," he added, a bit too quickly, his words bitten off with a sharpness of t
one.
"Then what is it? You looked happy for a second."
"I want us to be honest here, Allanah. I want us to lay all of our cards on the table. Hold nothing back. I think it's the only chance we have to make this work, if we stop the secrets, even if the words are hard to get out, the secrets hard to let go of."
"I agree. I want the truth," she said, though a knot tied up in her stomach knowing she had secrets of her own she would have to tell him as well. "No need to spill them all right this minute, though. You could start with why you only managed to look happy we are here for about one or two seconds."
"My demon. He doesn't like the way you make me feel. It's something I'm dealing with, I promise, and why I want a way to get rid of the damnable thing for good. I've been trying to trick it, to let it see you as a forbidden, but, it only works so long before my love for you comes through and pisses it off again, makes it rise to the surface, try to force me to eradicate anything good."
"I don't understand exactly, but I'm trying. You can control it, though, right? You said I'm not in any danger here. Not from them, but not from you either? You didn't hurt me the other night. Guess you left before you could?"
"I left before I shifted in front of you, though that plan went to hell just moments later, but, no, I'm not going to hurt you. I will fight it before that happens. I would kill myself before I let anything happen to you. My demon is really threatened by you, more so than any women I've ever been with. Makes sense, I guess, the thing would hate any true feelings, and I love you, Allanah."
"I know, and I can only imagine that is true, a demon would hate love," she said, looking away from him and back to the paradise he had just stopped the boat at.
Though, she had to wonder if that was all there was to it, his demon's aversion to her. It would all come out soon enough, and then she wondered if she could maybe help him. Given the right timing, maybe her secret wouldn't go over so bad. Maybe there was hope for them. She let herself gulp in the clean air, relax. She wanted to be with him. Truly with him, and to try with everything in her to help him. For a second, she grew excited, in fact, to reveal her secrets to him, before she again feared his anger once he realized she'd had a secret longer than he had, from the beginning, that she'd not shared with him their first time around even.