“I know lots about you. Everything about you.” He moved his face closer to mine. “But what I don’t get is why you think I’m talking about hooking up? Has anything I’ve said suggested that’s my intent?”
“So when you said your feelings for me, you weren’t implying sexual attraction?” The three glasses of sparkling wine had cut my filter.
“Of course I was, but I am not suggesting a hook-up, Hope.” His eyes were lidded.
“Oh no? You are looking for a committed relationship?” I rolled my eyes. He might have known me, but I knew him too.
“Yes. A committed relationship with lots of sex.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against my ear. “With you.”
I jerked away. “I’m moving. Let go of my hand.”
“We land soon. I wouldn’t unbuckle.”
“I’m quitting when we get home.” I was done. No job was worth this kind of harassment, and since HR was run by his cousin I knew reporting it wasn’t going to help.
“Quitting your job?” His hand tightened on mine.
“Yes. There are other jobs out there.” I’d find one even if it paid less. Anything was worth not having to deal with Justin.
“Of course there are. I respect your decision, but maybe you’ll change your mind during our trip.”
I snorted. “Respect my decision? When have you ever respected me? You’ve done nothing but make me uncomfortable since I met you.”
“You’ve made me uncomfortable as well, but in a different way than you’re implying.” He raised an eyebrow.
I looked toward the aisle debating what to do. Did I try to kick him? Could I maneuver myself? I tried to move my leg, but he caught it with his own.
“Do you remember the first time we met?”
I said nothing, refusing to encourage this conversation or his behavior. He said we were almost there. Everything would be okay once we got to Mirabella. She always stopped him when his flirtations bothered me.
“I remember it. You were wearing that short black dress. The lace one. I remember thinking it was odd you were wearing lace in August, but then again, the dress had such little material it didn’t really matter.”
“Are you implying I dress slutty?” I was already angry, and this was only making it worse.
“No. I’d never say that about you. But it was a short dress.”
“No shorter than anyone else’s.”
“Longer than many others but sexier.”
“And your point is?” I refused to look at him. I didn’t want to see the expression on his face.
“My point is I remember exactly what you were wearing. I remember you had your hair down. You never wear your hair down anymore.” He released my hand over the seatbelt to touch my hair.
I took the chance and unbuckled. I stood up.
“Running away from me?” He looked up at where I stood.
“Yes.” I moved back to a seat further back in the plane.
He stood up. “You smiled at me and shook my hand. But you wouldn’t let me get you a drink.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” I remembered the night he was talking about. I’d gone with Mirabella to Justin’s frat house. He was a senior. We were freshmen.
“Why not?” He leaned on my seat. “Why did you say no?”
“Because I didn’t trust myself to drink at a frat house.” I was a light-weight. I was careful then, unlike what I was now. Not that I had to worry about a loss of inhibitions around Justin. Nothing could make me do anything with him.
“I wouldn’t have let anyone hurt you. I even took care of the only brother to bother you at all.”
“What do you mean?” I dared to look up at him.
“Devin. I could tell he was making you uncomfortable. He never bothered you again after that, did he?”
“No. I hadn’t realized that was your doing.” But I’d been glad. I was good at letting down guys who liked Mirabella, but I struggled to get guys to lay off when it involved me.
“It was all my doing.” He sat down in a seat across the aisle from me.
“What do you mean?” Alarms were going off. Was this going to be like Mirabella being followed? Had Justin been stalking me?
“Don’t worry about it. It’s all in the past anyway.” He put his hands behind his head and leaned back.
The pilot got on the loudspeaker and announced our descent. I buckled my seatbelt.
I half expected Justin to move to sit down next to me, but he stayed in his seat and looked out the window. He didn’t say another word until we landed.
I hoped Mirabella didn’t make this difficult. All I wanted to do was get home.
“Let me do all the talking.” Justin unbuckled and moved into the aisle right in front of where I sat.
I couldn’t get up until he moved.
“This might be dangerous. It’s better if you stay close to me.”
“Dangerous? If it’s dangerous, why am I here?” Was I expendable? Was that it? My anger at Justin had expanded to his whole family now, even Mirabella. Why couldn’t she have just come home? Or why didn’t I just refuse to come? That was the real question. Was I that desperate to stay in her family’s good graces?
“We don’t know what to expect.” He looked away.
“I’m going to find Mirabella. That’s why we’re here, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “Just stay close.”
I was still lost on how they went from never hearing of the island to getting us clearance to land, but in the four years I’d known the Wellingtons, there had been little they hadn’t been able to do.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Justin walked into the cockpit.
Wait here? Was he serious? I examined the door. If I opened it, would the stairs be there already? I considered turning the wheel but didn’t. All I needed was to fall and break a leg on some strange island. I’d really be at Justin’s mercy then.
“It will be just a minute.” Justin returned to my side. “The weather’s nice at least. It’s in the low eighties.”
“You just asked the pilot about the weather?”
“I was in there anyway, so it didn’t hurt to find out.”
Minutes later the door opened, and Justin led the way down the stairs. At the bottom he held out his hand to help me, but I avoided him. I didn’t need his help. I didn’t want it.
“Welcome.” A man wearing an all white uniform smiled. “We are honored to have you on our beautiful island.”
“Thank you. We are glad to be here.” Justin smiled. “We are looking for Mirabella Wellington. Can you tell us where to find her?”
Had he really just asked? As if the porter, or whoever he was, would know where to find his sister.
The man smiled. “Yes. I can take you there.”
Another man carried our bags off the plane. I’d packed lightly—one overnight bag. Justin had done the same. The first man put the bags on the back of a golf cart. “Are you ready to see the villa?”
“The villa?” I asked.
“Yes. Mirabella is there waiting.”
“Oh. Then yes.” At least we wouldn’t waste time tracking her down.
I slipped on my sunglasses and climbed onto the back of the golf cart.
“Why don’t you leave your purse with the other bags?” Justin reached for the bag.
“I’d rather hold it.”
“Why? You don’t need it.”
“My purse stays with me.” It’s not as though I had a lot in there, but I liked to have something with me. I also couldn’t tell him I planned to temporarily ditch him when I found Mirabella.
The man in white got in the front, and Justin sat down next to me. Why was I surprised?
“You can take the front.” I not so subtly suggested he move.
“No thanks. I like the view from back here.”
The golf cart lurched forward, and we were off, driving down a paved path that ran parallel to the beach. The bluish-green water was crystal clear, and if I wasn’t sitting next
to Justin on a mission to piss off my best friend, I might have looked forward to taking a swim.
I pulled out my phone and tried to send off a text to Mirabella, but I had no service.
“There’s no cell towers here. No internet either.” Justin tapped my phone. “Might as well put that away.”
“How do you know?”
“We’re on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.” He held out his arms. “It’s not a surprise.”
The golf cart came to a stop behind a of a gorgeous thatched bungalow that extended over the water.
“Hope!” Mirabella yelled my name.
I followed her voice to where she lay on a lounge chair wearing a tiny string bikini and drinking an orange drink.
I stepped up onto the deck and walked around toward the front.
Mirabella set down her drink and pulled me into a hug. “You made it.”
“I did.” Seeing her sent a flood of relief over me. She’d take care of Justin, and everything would be okay. I might even be able to keep my job. She’d talk some sense into him.
“Hello, little sister.” Justin waited a little ways away. “Enjoying yourself?”
“Of course. How couldn’t I here?” She gave him a forced smile. “Give us a few minutes, brother.”
“Of course.” He walked back around the way we’d come.
“Here, let me get you a Tundra.” She hurried over to a tiki style bar and poured the same orange liquid into a second glass. She handed it to me. “Try it. It’s amazing.”
I sipped the drink. It was sweet, but not too sweet. “It’s good.”
“Ok, let’s sit.” She sat back down on her chair and gestured for me to take the chair next to hers.
“Did I tell you already I’m glad you’re here?” She slipped down her sunglasses a little revealing her warm brown eyes.
“You did. It’s good to see you too.”
“But you aren’t glad to be here?” She raised an eyebrow.
“It was a long flight.”
“In other words, Justin pissed you off.”
“He’s been coming on strong lately.”
“I bet.” She looked out at the water.
“Where are your friends?” I was surprised to find Mirabella alone. It wasn’t like her.
“They left.” She sighed. “Can you believe it?”
“They brought you to a remote island and left you?” They didn’t seem like the best kind of friends.
“They had to leave, and I didn’t want to.” She sipped her drink through a purple straw. “But now you’re here.”
Then something strange occurred to me. “How did you text me?”
“I typed words.” She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me you forgot how to do that.”
I pulled out my phone. Still no service. “You have service?”
“Yeah.” She took my phone and looked at it. “Funny.”
“Justin didn’t seem surprised I had no service.” Did Mirabella have something special? Like an international type plan?
“Justin is always the pessimist. You know him.”
“I do.” But pessimistic wasn’t the way I’d describe him. More like annoying.
“How bad was he?” She set my phone down on the table. “You changed the subject before I could ask.”
“He’s gotten worse. I don’t know why.”
“I do.” She sighed.
“Care to explain?” I sipped the drink. What I needed was food, not more alcohol, but the sugar helped a little.
“You’re twenty-two now.”
“And? I’m still three years younger than him. Nothing’s changed.”
“Everything has changed.” She put her arm over her eyes. “Everything.”
“Quit with the drama queen routine. What are you talking about?”
“Twenty-two is an important age in my world.”
“We’re part of the same world.”
“Not really.” She dropped her hand. “I mean you’ve kind of been part of mine, but only superficially.”
“Superficially?” The word stung. Was she implying we were different because she was from money and I wasn’t?
She sighed. “I thought this would be easier.”
“What would be? Is this when you tell me you aren’t coming back and leave it to me to explain to your family?”
“No. Not at all. I’m going back.”
“Ok, then what’s up?” I was used to Mirabella making things dramatic when they didn’t need to be. I needed to talk her down and then she’d explain things.
She adjusted the back of her chair so she was sitting up. “Why do you like Clayton?”
Ugh. Did she really have to go there? “I don’t.”
“Come on. You’ve been into him for years.”
“Yes, and now I know the truth about him.”
“Oh yeah?” She grinned. “This I have to hear.”
I chose my words carefully. “Did you know your dad sent a guard to watch you when you traveled?”
“Yeah.” Her expression didn’t falter. “He’s been doing it for years.”
“You knew and never told me?” I felt a pang in my chest. If she kept that from me, what else was she hiding?
“Why would I have told you? You’d have been freaked out.”
“So you lied to me instead?” Some friend.
“I didn’t lie. I omitted. Those are different things. Ask any lawyer.”
“So you are okay with them sending a guard?” Mirabella hated when her dad and brothers interfered with her life. I found it odd she didn’t care that they had her followed.
She shrugged. “It’s just life.”
“Then why did you slip them this time?” That was why I was on the island to begin with. Otherwise I’d be back at work fighting with the copy machine.
“I didn’t.”
“Wait. What?” A shiver ran up my spine. “What do you mean? You slipped the guard and didn’t tell your dad where you were going.”
She waved her hand. “Forget that. Back to Clayton. Why are you into him? He’s practically Justin’s twin, yet you want Clayton and won’t give Justin the time of day.”
“Since when did you want me giving either of your brothers the time of day?” And why was she changing the subject? Something told me I wasn’t going to like the answer.
Four
Carter
The plane landed sometime after day break. I still had no idea where we were going, but at least I knew what kind of team I’d signed up for. I’d heard rumors of a secret force. I’d had no idea it existed, nor did I ever expect to get an invitation to join. Everything was going to change now. I would have the chance to amount to something great.
Alastair was out of his seat the moment the wheels touched the ground. I followed, eager to meet the other people I was working with and get an idea of what I was in for.
Within a minute of our arrival, the door opened, and Alastair hurried down a set of stairs. I followed behind.
We’d landed inside of a large hangar. It was dark, but my night vision allowed me to make my way through the room. The vision was one benefit of being a wolf shifter.
There were several other passenger planes of different sizes parked inside, along with half a dozen helicopters and a handful of fighter jets. The Rangers definitely had access to wings.
There were several men and women working on the planes, but none of them as much as looked up as we passed. They were all wearing black, and I was beginning to realize that was the uniform. Evidently I’d picked the right color t-shirt to wear.
Alastair opened a door and started down a narrow hallway.
I followed, counting ten different doors on our way down the hall. He stopped in front of a set of two metal doors and scanned his fingerprints. The doors opened, and he gestured for me to walk in first.
He followed, and the doors clanged closed behind us.
We were standing in a large gym. About a dozen guys and one girl were working out on a
variety of work out equipment, while a few guys played a game of basketball on a full-sized court in the center of the room. Off to the side a few guys were seated in front of computers.
“This is your headquarters.” Alastair held his hands out in front of him. “I’ll have one of your team members show you to your room after this, but don’t expect to be here long. Your mission starts soon.” He nodded and walked back through the double doors.
“Hey, new guy.” One of the guys on the basketball court tossed me the ball. “Show us what you got.”
“You want me to play ball?” With only twenty-four hours before a new mission, I wasn’t expecting to play recreational sports.
The girl laughed. “Maybe Alastair picked him for his pretty boy looks.”
“I’m not a pretty boy.” I’d played basketball for years, including all of high school. When you are 6’2 and have a vertical close to four feet it’s not a very difficult sport.
I dribbled the ball toward the man talking, and he assumed a defensive position. I drove to my right. As he moved to block my route, I did a quick spin move toward the paint to pass him and easily slammed the ball through the net.
Someone clapped from off the court. I turned and noticed a guy with brown hair walking toward me. “You done showing off?”
“That wasn’t showing off.” It was showing I could stand on my own. That was the whole reason the guy had challenged me.
“Oh, then what was it?” He cocked his head to the side.
“Playing ball.”
“And that’s why you’re here? To play ball?”
“No.” My wolf stirred with annoyance. “It’s not.”
“Tell me, why are you here?” He crossed his arms over his black sleeveless shirt.
“I’m waiting for someone to tell me what my mission is.”
“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not asking about your mission, I’m asking why you want on this team.”
I considered what he was really asking. Was this some sort of test? “I want to prove myself.”
“Prove yourself how? By showing you have ball skills? That you’re strong? Is that it? Because if that’s all you’ve got you might as well march back through that door and back to whatever team you were on before.”
Heart of the Wolf (The Heart Chronicles Book 1) Page 3