Royally Mine: 22 All-New Bad Boy Romance Novellas

by Susan Stoker

  Chapter Five

  A few hours later, the plane touched down and started to taxi toward the hangar. Dryce looked out the window and immediately spotted his car.

  “Tank… there she is.” He pointed out the window. “My ‘97 Toyota Supra.”

  “Wow, really?” Erik got up and looked out the window next to Dryce. “A Toyota, huh?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Dryce’s smile tuned into a smirk.

  “You just don’t strike me as a Toyota kind of guy. Here I thought you would have some kind of Lamborghini or some shit,” Erik jokingly said.

  “Whaaat? C’mon, man.” Dryce tried to shove him away but only pushed himself back. “That Supra there’s got forged pistons, a stage five turbo, an intercooler from hell and an exhaust system that’ll give your mom an orgasm. That bad boy there’s got over nine hundred ponies under the hood.”

  “Please don’t ever put the image of my mother like that in my head again.” Erik grinned at him.

  Austin stood up, packing his files and equipment. “I tell ya what, Your Highness. We’re about to arrive and park this plane. Why don’t you go warm up your car; I wanna chat with Mr. Keegan for a second.”

  As the plane came to a halt, Erik opened the door. Sticking his head out to look for the guards standing around, he twirled his finger around and gave the nonverbal sign to watch Dryce.

  Dryce ran off the plane like a kid at Christmas while Erik and Austin followed slowly down the steps.

  “That boy will never grow up,” Austin muttered to himself out loud. “Keegan, stick on him today… I just got an email from Yally; he’s going to be meeting me here tonight. I’ll rendezvous back with you at the hotel.” Austin made his way towards the limo.

  Erik saluted and walked to Dryce. “Ya ready, kid? Get in the passenger seat. Let me show you some shit.”

  “Tank… you’re gonna show me?” Dryce chuckled. “I got this, I know this car inside and out.”

  “Oh yeah.” Erik took the driver’s seat. “I bet I know a few things you don’t.”

  “Like what? I built this car for maximum power and speed,” Dryce said cockily. “I’m sure I know things that you don’t.”

  “Oh yeah, have you ever made a woman cum twice?” Erik said with a sly look in his eye and revved the engine twice, slamming the shifter into first gear.

  Before Dryce could come up with a snappy answer, Erik popped the clutch, peeling out, leaving tire marks down the runway in front of the hangar before switching into second.

  Austin shook his head and rolled his eyes as he got in the limo. Closing the door, the driver asked, “Where to, sir?”

  “First to the hotel.” Austin looked forward. “But once we get there, we’re not going to be long so don’t bother parking.”

  ***

  Dryce and Erik had their fun tearing up the tarmac at the private airport. Dryce took over the driver’s seat while Erik showed him the difference between short shifting and double clutching. Dryce tore out of the airport and started heading downtown to his friend’s garage.

  “Tank, man… you’re going to love this town. The women here… they are second to none.” He looked back and forth, from the road and Erik. “I wish you were with us the last time I was here.”

  “Hey there, playboy. Let’s focus on the road and slow it down, huh.” Erik gripped the dashboard in front of him. “And… from what I recall, it’s because of the last time you were here is why I have this job.”

  “Oh yeah, huh… Mr. Ngo hired on after that fight he got into.” Dryce squinted his eyes as his memory flashed back to that night.

  “You know; I never did get the actual story of what happened,” Erik questioned.

  A wretched look came over Dryce’s face. “It… it was kinda my fault.”

  Erik looked over at him. He watched Dryce’s body language as he slouched down in the seat.

  “I was actually at one of these street races… party things. I had just picked this car up off of my friend,” Dryce started to explain.

  “The one we’re going to meet now?” Erik asked, still gauging his demeanor.

  “Yeah, I took this car out that night. And I started flirting… well, actually she started flirting with me. But anyway, I definitely was flirting back. Things got out of hand. Someone had a gun and Mr. Ngo. Well, Mr. Ngo, he did his job.” Dryce’s face became blank as he stared down the road.

  “So Austin felt like he needed more help? That’s why I’m here now,” Erik said softly.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I kinda found out later on that the girl who was flirting with me was actually a ruse to try to get me. They were going to ask my father for money to set me free or some shit like that. But, because Austin was by himself and there was a lot of them. Well…” Dryce continued, “Austin, kicked the shit out of most of them. But, they just kept coming. So he killed one of them. I guess to prove a point to the rest.”

  “Hey, Mr. Ngo is a great guy. He’s been with you your entire life,” Erik said, trying to ease the tension. “I’ll tell ya what, kiddo… Mr. Ngo scares the shit out of me. Yeah, he’s not as big as me. But he’d fuck someone up if he had too.”

  “So yeah, you’re here because if he’d had some help that night, you guys would have been able to handle it and get me out of there safely.” Dryce glanced over at him.

  Dryce pulled up to an older looking building. The sliding garage doors were open and from the angle of the sun, it was dark inside. Erik looked around scouting the area. Dryce stepped out of the car and walked around to the passenger side while Erik unhinged his own door.

  Dryce walked up the to doorway and yelled in. “Yo… where are ya?”

  The silhouette of a guy rushed out, bear hugging Dryce from behind, picking him up.

  Without hesitation Erik bounced from the car, grabbing the guy from the back of his neck, picked him up and slammed on the ground face down. All in one swift move Erik’s sidearm un-holstered and was pointed at the back of his head. Erik dropped his knee in his back and started looking around.

  “How many more do you have with you?” Erik examined the area.

  “Whoa! Hold up, Tank. Tank, this is my friend. This is Tompika, he’s of royal blood as well.” Dryce leaped over, grabbing ahold of Erik’s arm.

  Instantly, Erik stood up holstering his hand cannon and picked Tompika from the ground. “Your Highness, my deepest apologies,” Erik said embarrassed.

  “My God, man.” Tom looked up at Erik, astonished by his size. “Dryce… where the fuck did you find this guy?” he asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

  Dryce smiled and bounced his attention between the both of them. “Tank, you don’t need to call this lame fucker Highness… he’s got so many siblings he’ll never make it up the ranks in his family.” He patted Tompika’s chest. “And besides. Who the hell wants to rule the desert?” Dryce laughed.

  “Hey, fucker. That desert is fueling that sexy ass car of yours.” He turned to Erik. “And please, just call me Tom.”

  “Aww such a long time… how have you been?” Dryce asked, giving Tom a hug.

  “Oh good, good. Just out here living the dream,” Tom replied. “Oh… check this out.” Tom pushed the both of them into the garage.

  As they entered, the darkness faded and their eyes adjusted from the sun to the fluorescent lights inside.

  Dryce’s eyes opened wide. “Is that what I think it is? Is that a Skyline?”

  “It sure is. You took my Supra, so I had to upgrade. She’s a 1998 Skyline R34.” Tom smiled.

  Erik shook his head, walking along behind them, still scanning around. “Who’da thunk it. Two freakin’ princes with money galore, love those little rice burners. And… y’all are a bunch of gear heads to boot.”

  Dryce hopped up on the car lift and stuck his head in the car window. “Tank, you just don’t get it. These sexy machines will never get mad or jealous if you ride in another car. They’ll never cheat on you. And they’ll never ever get pissed off if you
trade them in for a newer model.”

  Tom laughed. “Aww yes, but they’ll also take all of your money if you don’t take care of them. And if you don’t treat them juuuust right… they’ll leave your ass stranded in the middle of nowhere.” Tom pointed up at Dryce. “Speaking of ladies… bro, there are going to be some fuckin’ hot ones there tonight. You’re definitely going to get laid.”

  “Oh thank god… I had a ceremony thing with my parents this morning, and now I could totally use a good blow job,” Dryce said, hopping down off the lift.

  Chapter Six

  Austin returned to the limo after arranging the accommodations with the hotel and picked up his phone to text Erik the suite information. The little blue light at the top of his phone flashed on and off.

  It was an email from Yally.

  Mr. Ngo, my flight will be landing at approximately 17:55 your local time. I’m eager for the opportunity to work for you.

  Closing his email, he took note of the time. “Driver, we’ve got less then thirty minutes to get to the airport.” Austin slid his phone away in his jacket pocket. “The international airport, please.”

  In an almost sigh of relief, Austin started to think to himself. I really hope this guy is all that his file makes him out to be. At this point I just really hope he’s half of what his file says and he takes the job. Prince Khan isn’t a teenager anymore and he’s grown out of amusement parks. It’s getting harder and harder everyday to keep that boy out of trouble. I really wish he would just settle down and meet someone.

  “Excuse me, sir, what terminal are we looking for?” the driver asked, looking back through the rear view mirror.

  “Umm, you know… I don’t actually know. The flight is coming in from America and it arrives at 5:55,” Austin said.

  “Yes sir. I’ll call and get the information, sir,” the driver replied.

  Pulling up in front of the terminal, Austin got out of the limo and quickly glanced at his phone for the time as he walked inside.

  Standing at the bottom of the escalators, he looked for Mr. Yally to arrive. Fuck, I have no idea what he looks like.

  A tall slender gentleman appeared at the top of the escalator, carrying an old military style back pack. As he got on the escalator, he glanced around. Noticing Austin standing there, he did a head nod. As he exited the escalator, Austin slowly started to step towards him when a young girl yelled out from behind him. “Daddy!” she screamed, running up to him.

  Austin shook his head. Too good to be true, he thought.

  The traffic of passengers began to thin out. Austin turned his head to both sides and became aware that there he was now standing alone in the middle of the terminal. With his phone still in his hand, he raised it up to double check the time. I must have missed him. Or, did he get the time mixed up? he pondered.

  Shrugging it off, he turned around and walked back to the limo. Unbuttoning his suit jacket and fluffing it out before sitting back down in the limo, he opened the door and dashed in.

  As he looked toward the driver to head back to the hotel, he noticed he was not alone. A woman sat on the bench seat adjacent to him.

  “Can I help you?” Austin slowly made his way for his sidearm.

  “Mr. Ngo, my name is Yally. You’ve been expecting me,” she said.

  Cocking his head to the side, he said, “Ahh, yes… Ms. Yally, nice to meet you. I was waiting for you.”

  “I prefer to be as invisible as possible,” Yally said.

  She sat there with her legs crossed and her hands on her knee. Her dark brown hair with blonde highlights was up in a bun, using what looked like two chop sticks to hold it in place. She wore a full business-style pants suit, black on black, and heels. Nothing about her really stood out, she had the potential to be very attractive, but she was playing the role. Business casual and conservative. And she couldn’t have weighed more than a buck ten.

  “To the hotel please,” Austin shouted out to the driver as he closed the window that separated them, segregating him from their impending conversation.

  With another glance at her, he was shocked that the file he had been reading was about a woman. “I’m very sorry, as I read through your file…” Austin started to speak.

  “You thought I was man,” Yally interrupted. “I know, well I figured. I get that a lot.”

  “My apologies. So tell me about yourself?” Austin was getting right to business.

  “Why don’t you tell me what you need me for?” Yally snapped back.

  “Uh, I don’t really know what I can use you for if I don’t know what you can do,” Austin said snarkily.

  “You read my file, you know what I can do.” Yally turned her head and looked out the window.

  “To be honest with you, some of this stuff is a little hard to believe. I don’t know if half of the stuff in this file is true or not.” Austin smiled.

  “Mr. Ngo… I can assure that that file you have there in your hand, based on the thickness of it, isn’t even half of what is true.” Yally turned her head back to him, locking eyes. “So, again, why don’t you tell me what your issues are, and I’ll tell you what I can do.”

  Shaking his head up and down, Austin blinked, releasing her lock she had on him. “Okay, what all do you know already?” Austin asked.

  Yally rolled her eyes, took in a deep breath through her nose and sighed out of her mouth. “I know that about five years ago, you, sir, got into a brawl fight on the streets of this city. You ended up killing someone. Am I correct?” Her eyebrows twitched upward.

  Austin nodded slightly indicating the answer was ‘yes.’

  Yally continued. “It was over a kidnapping attempt if my research serves me. Shortly after, you hired a colleague of mine, Mr. Keegan.”

  “Colleague? Mr. Keegan told me that he’s never actually met you, he only knew you by reputation,” Austin spit out.

  “We’ve never been formally introduced, but I’ve been in the same room as him before. He’s former military… Marine if I remember right. Anyway, now the Khan Royal family just opened the new lock system in southeast Asia which will revolutionize the entire world’s trade and economy. So, here’s what I think. Only because I’ve been on a damn airplane for the past fourteen hours. Prince Khan has either been kidnapped and you want me to get him back, or you’ve received intel that he’s going to be and you want me to help you stop that from happening,” Yally said seriously.

  “Well then, you’ve just about got it.” Austin stretched his arms out across the back seat. “You’re right, but it hasn’t happened yet. And I don’t want it to happen at all.” He squinted his eyes and leaned his head inward, looking at her deeply. “The last time, I didn’t know. No one knew. I thought it was just another street brawl.”

  Tilting her head off to the side, she looked back at him sideways. “You’re one hell of a brawler, from what I understand you took on, what? Ten… fifteen guys?”

  Austin adjusted himself in the seat. “Look, I did what I had to do. I was by myself and there was no other way for me to get Prince Khan out of there with no other help. The fight wasn’t going to end. So, so I ended it,” Austin said, becoming defensive.

  “Hey, you’re not going to get any arguments from me. They’re actually lucky that I wasn’t there… I’d have killed them all. You just killed one.” Yally smirked.

  “That was one too many,” he replied.

  “Maybe.” She nodded her head up and down. “Maybe you’re right.” She uncrossed her legs and sat up. Leaning forward toward him, she continued, “You sacrificed that one life to end the fight that night, right?”

  “What’s your point?” Austin asked, still in a defensive tone.

  “Maybe, just maybe if you ended all of them that night, we wouldn’t be here today having this conversation.” She leaned back mimicking his posture. “But, not to worry, I’m not here to tell you how to do your job. What you could have, should have… that’s all in the past and there isn’t shit we can do about it now,
right.” Dropping her arms down to her side, she sat up straight. “I can tell you that I can help you. You know my prices. I’m not here as a babysitter for some spoiled little brat. You and Mr. Keegan continue doing what you two do.”

  Yally, using her middle finger knuckle, knocked on the glass window to the driver. As the window rolled half way down, she barked an order for the driver to pull over.

  “Why are we pulling over?” Austin questioned.

  “Because I’m getting out.” Yally started to scooch toward the passenger side door.

  “Here? We’re literally in the middle of the desert. There’s another twenty miles or so to the hotel,” Austin tried to explain.

  “My car has been following us ever since we left the airport,” she said, grabbing ahold of the door handle. “After this, you won't see me again unless I need you too. Trust me, you’re going to know that I’m around, and that I’m watching.” Just as she opened the door and started to get out, she hesitated and sat back down. “Oh, where is he now?”

  “Prince Khan and Mr. Keegan are going to some street race party,” Austin said.

  “Street race huh? Kinda sounds familiar.” Yally exited the limo and slammed the door, walking back toward oncoming traffic.

  Austin sighed deeply. What the fuck just happened? Did I interview her? Or did I just get interviewed?

  Chapter Seven

  “Dude… what time does this party start?” Dryce yelled up to the loft above the garage at Tom.

  “Oh, I think they’ve already started gathering,” Tom yelled back.

  “Well c’mon, man… let’s get over there and get our freak on,” Dryce shouted.

  “You act like you haven’t been laid in years. I bet your ass woke up with like three chicks in your bed with you,” Tom teased back down.

  Mumbling, Dryce answered. “It was only two and they were in the shower when I woke up.”

  “What? What was that?” Tom asked, still teasing.

  “Nothing… C’mon let’s roll, dude.” Dryce was starting to get impatient.