Back by the bed, Kyle followed the left jab he’d landed with a right hand, but Antonio weaved left just as Kyle’s fist whizzed by. Since Kyle wasn’t expecting to miss, his balance was thrown, and Antonio took advantage. He moved forward, wrapping his arms around Kyle’s midsection, and pushed him down onto the bed. His momentum carried him forward, and he landed on top of Kyle.
“X!” Kyle shouted. “Shit’s getting weird over here!” Poking fun at the fact that Antonio was on top of him, in bed.
Antonio was unfazed, and he postured up, cocking his right arm back, ready to deliver a punch.
Xander had heard Kyle’s announcement just as his foot hit the floor after knocking Thug Three unconscious. He looked toward the bed and in a continuous motion tossed the heavy end of his broken bat, which landed in a thud against Antonio’s hip. Thug Two once again swung the tire iron, taking advantage of Kyle’s distraction. Xander weaved but still took a glancing blow to his right shoulder. Pain swelled at the point of impact, and he stumbled forward. Thug Two swung again, and Xander quickly reversed course back to his right. As the tire iron narrowly missed his head, he threw a quick right hook to the big man’s ribs, then a right hook to his forehead that stood him back up. He staggered back, dropped the tire iron, then dropped to the floor after Xander smashed his chin with an overhand right.
The man’s hard head was like granite, and Xander shook out the pain in his knuckles as he turned back toward the bed. Antonio had moved back away from the bed after being hit by the piece of the bat, and Kyle had back-rolled to the opposite side of it, now on his feet as well. Antonio turned away from Kyle and looked over his three men who lay unconscious at his feet. Then he looked up at Xander.
Xander said, “Not the way you saw things going?”
“You have no idea who I am, do you?”
“Yeah.” Xander gave a mocking expression and said, “Obviously. You’re Antonio. Don’t you remember me from throwing you in the pool earlier?”
Kyle smiled at Antonio and followed Xander’s lead. “Wait, you mean he threw you in the pool earlier? Ouch, I bet that was embarrassing. I hope your girl wasn’t watching.”
Of course Kyle knew full well, from Xander’s recounting of the story earlier, that Gabriela was indeed watching.
Antonio was turning maroon with anger.
Before he could speak, Xander piled it on. “Hey, bright side, at least she isn’t here to see this. You can tell her you beat me up. I don’t mind.”
“You had better kill me, Xander King. Anything less and both of you will be dead men soon.”
Xander walked over toward the door and opened it. “Tell you what, Tony, me and Kyle here don’t want to end up dead soon, so we’re gonna go.” Xander picked up his duffel bag and threw the strap over his shoulder. Kyle pulled the extending handle on his rolling suitcase and comically exaggerated weaving his bag around the unconscious bodies on the floor.
“Just promise me you’ll consider one thing,” Xander continued. “Try to find some ex-military guys as your bodyguards. At least they’ll have a little training. Your men are a reflection of their leader, and I gotta tell ya. . .” He paused and shook his head, disappointed.
“You have a big mouth, American,” Antonio said. “And it is going to get you killed.”
Xander looked over at Kyle, his best friend for almost twenty years. “You know, Sam says that same thing to me all the time.”
Kyle rolled his bag in between Antonio and Xander and right through the open door. “The only thing Antonio there should concern himself with about your mouth is the fact that you’ve been nice enough not to use it on his woman.”
Xander shrugged his shoulders at Antonio, as if to say, “He does have a point.”
Antonio finally lost it and did exactly what Xander had wanted: he ran at him. Xander moved forward to meet him and lowered his shoulder like a linebacker, smacking into the much smaller man. The force knocked Antonio back a couple of feet, and Xander pressed forward, then with two hands pushed Antonio onto his back on the bed. Xander reached down, grabbed the lapels of his white silk sport coat, and pulled him back to his feet.
“You’ve made a lot of threats today, Antonio, yet here you are, at my mercy.”
“I’ll find you, and you will pay for this,” Antonio spat.
“Get in line, my friend. But for your sake, I hope that day never comes.”
Then Xander tossed Antonio so hard against the back wall that his body indention was left in the plaster after he fell to the floor.
“Tell Gabriela I’m thinking about her. This has been a real treat, but I’ve got some tequila that needs drinking. Know of any good bars?”
Xander stood over Antonio for a moment waiting for a response. When none came, Xander shrugged and walked out the door, shutting it behind him. When he made his way outside the gate, Kyle was waiting, a massive grin on his face.
“You missed it, didn’t you?”
Xander sighed. “You have no idea.”
“Does this mean we’re back? Should I call Sam?”
The two of them started up the stairs to the hotel lobby.
“Already done.”
“Finally!” Kyle was excited. He had been bored as well.
“Our first mission starts tomorrow. But for now we celebrate.”
Xander put his arm around his friend, and the two of them headed off to find a little trouble of a different kind.
5
Old Friends and New Beginnings
A few hours on Xander’s G6 private jet, and he and Kyle landed at Cyril E. King International Airport in Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The small landing strip jutted out directly into the magnificent turquoise waters, and hugged tightly to the mountain just on the other side. It was easily one of Xander’s favorite places to fly into. Of course, it didn’t hurt that most of the year he kept his yacht here, which unquestionably rated higher than any of the resorts on the island.
After just a few minutes’ cab ride down Long Bay Road, the two of them exited the vehicle at the Marina at Yacht Haven Grande. The name wasn’t subtle, as it described the marina’s exact function, a haven for yachts. The marina sat on Long Bay, the private docking area of Saint Thomas. Most of the boats were docked all together, clustered in the middle of the marina. However, Xander and Kyle had to walk all the way to the far outer dock, as that was the only spot in the marina that could accommodate his 250-foot yacht.
Rich people problems.
As the two of them walked toward Xander’s floating hotel, he couldn’t help but give Kyle fair warning.
“Listen, our new stewardess is what you would call a smoke show. Absolutely stunning. But you’ve got to do me a favor and let her alone while we’re aboard the boat. I know it will be hard, but please, we can’t afford to lose another good stewardess.”
Xander was expecting Kyle to protest profusely. Instead, Kyle just wiped the sweat from his brow and agreed.
“Okay, I think I can manage.”
Xander stopped in his tracks and turned to Kyle. “What? That’s it?”
Kyle shaded his eyes from the sun as he looked to Xander. “Yeah, man. You don’t want me to chase her, I won’t. I respect that.”
Xander reached up and held the back of his hand to Kyle’s forehead.
“Doesn’t feel like you have a temperature. You still hungover from last night? What’s wrong with you?”
Kyle started walking. “Nothing man, just want to respect your wishes. Let’s get out of the sun. Don’t worry about me. I can keep my hands to myself.”
Xander watched Kyle walk away for a second. What he was saying wasn’t computing. Normally if you put Kyle within a two-mile radius of a beautiful woman, he would be falling all over himself to get to her. Even more so being confined to the same general quarters. Something was definitely off.
When Kyle noticed Xander wasn’t walking beside him, he stopped and looked back. “What?”
Xander shook his head in disbelief.
“Nothing. You’re just acting strange.”
They both shrugged it off and walked toward the yacht.
“Well, if it ain’t the King himself,” an older man in a cowboy hat shouted down from the rail of the long, white monstrosity of a boat. “You put on some weight while you’ve been island hoppin’?”
Xander looked up.
“Jack! You ugly son of a bitch! You wish I got fat, then you might have a chance at keeping up. Good to see you, old man!”
They boarded the boat and the ex-CIA, real-life cowboy, Jack Bronson, greeted them both with a hug.
“Damn, it’s good to see you boys too. I was gettin’ tired of watchin’ old Mash reruns and shootin’ beer cans off the fence post.”
Xander had grown to respect Jack as much as any man he’d ever met. He had shown up in Paris and Moscow in a way that Xander would never have expected a stranger to. His sniper skills saved Sam’s and Xander’s asses more than once in France.
“You haven’t let your skills falter, have you, cowboy?” Xander asked.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about me. I can still shoot a pimple off a whore’s ass from a thousand yards.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Xander laughed.
Jack grabbed Xander’s bicep and gave it a squeeze. “I was worried all this time off would make ya soft, but you still look like that Hemsworth fella that plays Thor, ya asshole.” He turned and looked at Kyle. “Some guys have all the luck, I guess.”
Kyle smiled and nodded. “You know, now that Thor cut his hair, I do see the resemblance. Where is everyone else?”
“They’s all in there havin’ lunch. I just stepped out for a smoke.”
“Xander!” A red-haired woman with a Russian accent walked out onto the walkway from inside the cabin.
“Hey, Zhanna, long time no see.”
She greeted him and Kyle with a hug. Zhanna was the daughter of the now-deceased—by Xander’s hand—Vitalii Dragov. The largest crime boss in Russia and quite possibly the world. Of the many mistakes the fat crime lord made, estranging his daughter, was probably his biggest. That and crossing Xander King. Zhanna almost single-handedly saved the life of the president of the United States’s daughter in Paris. Her time in the former KGB left her highly skilled. Her appreciation for Xander ridding the world of her evil father left her forever ready to fight by his side.
Zhanna pulled back and smiled, her accent thick. “It has been too long. I am glad to see you are back to old self.” Zhanna’s smiling face went solemn for a moment. “I am sorry to hear about Sarah. We will miss her.”
Xander’s stomach dropped.
Sarah Gilbright was the CIA beauty who came in and distracted Xander while Natalie was filming in Paris. Sarah looked like Barbie but kicked ass like Sam. Without her, more of this oddball little family would certainly be dead. Xander included.
“Sarah? What happened to Sarah?”
Sam walked outside at that moment.
Xander looked past Zhanna. “Sam? What the hell happened to Sarah?”
“Well, hello to you to, Xander.”
“Sam.”
“What?” Sam’s British accent was sharp. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot. Nothing happened. She is just on a different assignment with the CIA and couldn’t be a part of our little top secret team.”
Xander’s shoulders fell and he exhaled.
“Jesus, Zhanna, don’t scare a man like that.”
“Sorry. I thought you knew.”
Sam moved in for a hug. “You boys stay out of trouble last night?” she said as she looked over Kyle and Xander.
“We did,” Xander answered, then motioned toward Kyle. “Take his temperature, would you?”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know, something’s wrong with him. I told him how he’d be stuck on this boat with a gorgeous young stewardess and he hardly even cared.”
Sam put the back of her hand to Kyle’s forehead, just the way Xander had. Kyle moved her hand and scoffed at the two of them. “I’m not just a walking hard-on, you know.”
Even Kyle couldn’t help but laugh with the rest of them, as his reputation preceded him.
Xander changed the subject. “Well, I hate that Sarah can’t be here. What about Viktor?”
Viktor was the crazy son of a bitch who flew in on his daddy’s helicopter and saved Xander from certain death. He then almost got him killed a couple of times, but there was just something about that nut job Ukrainian that Xander loved.
Kyle fielded this one. “We kind of started a new business.”
“Okay . . . and just what does that have to do with Viktor? Please tell me he’s supervised, and whatever he’s doing, please tell me there is at least a billion-dollar liability insurance policy in his name.”
Sam said, “There is indeed a large liability policy. I told you he is crazy, but you insisted we find him a job. We couldn’t, so we made one up.”
“Bob kind of took a liking to Viktor,” Kyle said. Bob was Xander’s veteran jet pilot. “Said he always wanted a touring business. So Bob convinced us to open a Southern California helicopter tours business—”
“And you’re letting Viktor fly the helicopter? Good God, you all are crazier than he is,” Xander said.
Sam motioned them all inside, and they followed behind her. “Well, it’s the only skill he’s got, Xander. Other than video games and driving me mad. You said you wanted to keep him around, so Bob found a way to keep him around.”
“Yeah, but I never meant put innocent lives of strangers in jeopardy. Why didn’t Bob tell me about this?”
“’Cause he probably thought you’d fire him,” Jack said.
Xander stepped inside the salon of the yacht. The floor was a dark hardwood, the walls were white, sprinkled with a few colorful paintings, and the chairs and couches followed the clean white look all the way to the oversized reclaimed-wood dining table.
“So this is it? This is the new team?”
“Don’t forget me, X-man.” A skinny, salt-and-pepper-haired man stepped into the salon, pushing his black-rimmed glasses back up the bridge of his nose.
“Marv!” Xander said. “Finally, someone with some brains around here.”
Marvin—Marv—Cameron was the best with electronics in the entire CIA. His brains were also useful when running down clues on the web, and there wasn’t a soul on earth he couldn’t find, given enough time.
“You’re going to make me blush.” Marv smiled.
They shared a quick hug, then Xander got straight to it.
“Well, now that we’re all here, let’s get down to business. I have to say, this time off has given me a lot of perspective, and all of that perspective came to a head last night when a little bit of trouble went a long way in letting me know what I really wanted. Who I really am. And I have to say, all of you were right . . . Sam, we need a new bad guy.”
Sam folded her arms and smiled.
“I’ve come prepared.”
6
Coming Together
The sun was beginning to fade over Long Bay, but the fun the team was having on the top deck was not. Kyle passed the pitcher of margaritas to Zhanna, Sam passed the tray of pizza to Xander, and Jack was cracking off redneck wisdom like it was his job. Earlier, they had pulled the yacht out and anchored down so they could look back over the beautiful island. The look of it reminded Xander of a mini Hawaii.
The stewardess—Karen—whom Xander had warned Kyle to steer clear of, was once again up on the deck delivering another tray of pizza. And once again, Kyle didn’t so much as look up from his plate. Something was definitely wrong with his friend, and then it hit him.
“Who is she?” Xander said to Kyle as he knocked his knee against Kyle’s leg.
Kyle finished his bite.
“What? Who is who?”
“You sound like owl, Kyle.” Zhanna laughed. She didn’t joke much, so the margaritas must have been working. Kyle flashed her a fake an
d annoyed smile, then looked back to Xander.
“The woman you’re seeing,” Xander said. “Who is she? Why didn’t you tell me about her?”
“What?”
“Don’t play dumb, K. One of the best looking women we’ve ever had on this boat has been up here several times, and not once have you looked her way. And don’t give me this BS about how I asked you not to. You and I both know that would only make you want her more. So who is she?”
“I was wonderin’ the same thing,” Jack chimed in. “The Kyle I know’d already have her snuck over in the pantry or somethin’. What gives?”
“Damn, you all, can’t a man grow up a little without it being a federal case?”
Xander gave a sweeping look to all at the table. Everyone attempted to hold it in, but they couldn’t contain their laughter, and all of them busted out at his expense.
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts at catching his breath, Xander finally calmed enough to answer.
“No.”
“Whatever, X.”
“There is no way this is about you ‘growing up.’ Come on, brother. I know you better than I know myself, but if you don’t want to tell me who she is in front of everyone, that’s fine. Just at least admit there is someone.”
Kyle was over it. “Can we just talk about the mission? Marv, can you show us some cool gadgets you brought with you? Something?”
“He’s right,” Sam said. “We really do need to start to drill down on this thing. We had a few options for targets, but one very special opportunity came up, Xander, and I don’t think you are going to want to miss it.”
Xander’s excitement to get back into the bad-guy business flooded back through, and he forgot all about the games that Kyle was playing.
King's Reign (The Xander King Series Book 4) Page 3