by Lana Hartley
Chapter 35
Lacey
When Mr. Denham is within a few feet of me, he spreads his arms wide, palms out.
“Now, Lacey, come on. Let’s just sit down and work something out.”
What? That is never going to happen.
“What do you mean?” I say.
I know I can’t believe a word out of his mouth, but I prefer him talking than trying to get his hands on me.
“Let’s just relax for now. I know you have a lot to process, but we’re partners now. We can work out some kind of agreement, right?”
As if. No fucking way. But now is not the time to argue with him.
I’m obviously not going to get any help from the rest of the morons on this plane, so I have to come up with a way to get myself out of this.
“You had an agreement with the boys. We can discuss what that was and how we’ll work together after we refuel.”
Backing up a couple of steps, he gives me room to get by him and blocks the cockpit from me.
“Come on now. Why don’t you go sit down and get comfortable?”
He takes another step back, so I break for my coat, throwing it on quickly. It’s uncomfortable to bend over, strapped up with cash like this, but I grab my pants and jacket, too. Settling into my seat, I watch him go up to the cockpit to talk to the pilots.
Think, Lacey, think!
So, what are the negatives? What will get me in trouble?
The money.
The money is one thing that will get any of us in trouble. I have my passport. I’ll be a citizen of the country we’re landing in.
Really, the only thing I have done wrong is associating with the wrong people.
Fuck. My heart is breaking, too. Could anything he said have been true?
Did they all have fake names and passports? Were Adam, Sam, and Charlie even their real names? Had I been played in the worst way?
I would love to have time to berate myself about my horrendous choice in men, but there are some other pressing decisions to be made.
How am I going to get off this plane when we land? And without the money?
Well, I’m not going to be able to get off the plane with this ridiculous fur coat.
Opening it up, I quickly step into my pants and put my blazer on over my shirt, leaving everything undone.
Picking up the fur coat, I quickly rip a hole under both arms. The satin lining gives way easily on the seam. Perfect.
Now, I have holes down the arms and down the bottom hem. Putting the coat back on, I’m immediately too hot, but it’s worth it.
If I can get the most obvious money out of my pants and into the coat right now, I’ll be able to at least sit a little more comfortably.
I start pulling the cash out and drop it into the holes. Pounding, shuffling, and distributing it from the outside, I have it looking pretty good. I’m only able to get the money out of my butt between the hem and sleeves before Mr. Denham walks back out of the front.
Dammit.
It’s tricky to distribute it in the coat to avoid an obvious bulge. With my arms in the coat, the sleeves are even harder.
He only gives me a cursory glance before sitting down and immediately getting on his phone.
Slowly, I start pulling the cash out a little at a time from each area and try to get it into the coat. When he looks at me, I pretend to shiver to cover up my movements, but it’s time consuming.
The plane wheels jolt on the runway as we land.
Fuck! Time flies when you’re fucking panicking.
I look out the window at the familiar terrain, ignoring Mr. Denham sitting in the seat near me. I’ve been making myself as small as possible, but I must have slept a lot longer than I realized.
Mr. Denham’s change of plans has kept him busy on the phone for the most part, and I’ve tried to keep up. It sounds like he’s called in a few favors and has a golfing buddy who owns a private island with a small airport.
Not that it matters. My plan is to make sure I’m off this plane at this stop.
I have the upper hand. This is my country, and my word will count for something! There will be so much action going on here in the next little while that I’m sure I can get my chance.
As we taxi slowly by the airport, I see the familiar gates. So close.
The plan pulls to a stop.
Mr. Denham immediately walks to the front to talk with the pilots. I can hear him demanding an update on how long we will be here for the refueling.
I stand and turn to face the window, putting my back against everyone to get the rest of the money out of my pants. Half the problem is how sticky I am from fear and sweat. The money feels glued to me.
Glancing out the window, I see a door swing open on the side of the airport, and three men come sprinting out of the building. They’re running right for the plane.
I feel the plane start to pull away, and I watch in horror as I slowly move farther and farther from them.
Is this it? Am I stuck with this crazy, pudgy, creepy shit and wherever he takes me?
Suddenly, the plane screeches to a stop, and there’s yelling all around the plane. I look out to see the guys still running toward the aircraft.
They only get about fifty feet before the door slams open behind them, and a few chunky security guys come bouncing out.
My heart accelerates, and I feel light headed. Could they be my saviors?
As they get closer, I recognize their familiar faces coming into view.
Thank fucking god!
“Hold that fucking door!” Mr. Denham realizes what’s happening after the bang, but it’s too late.
The door opens just as one of the security personnel steps out to stop them, and Charlie deftly uses his momentum to toss him over his head, down the stairs, and into the fat one who just reached the bottom of the stairs.
If I’m not this terrified, that would have been funny.
Past them, I can see more security guards running toward the plane.
“Lacey! Lacey!” They’re all calling my name, out of breath, as they pour in the door.
Mr. Denham has retreated to stand by me, and we both watch the other security guy try to stop them before Adam knocks him out with one punch.
As he slumps down just inside the door, both pilots retreat into the cockpit, and the door locks loudly from the inside. Chickens.
“He wasn’t even going to get off the plane here! He was going to take right off after refueling,” I say quickly as Charlie storms toward us.
I’ve never been happier to see someone in my life!
Sam locks the door of the plane, effectively keeping out the rest of the security now pounding up the stairs.
“Shut up, bitch!” Spit flies from Mr. Denham’s mouth as he starts to retreat further into the plane by the serving ladies who are crouched down in their seats.
“I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time.” Charlie grabs him by the neck and just pounds him in the head.
The crunch is loud as his nose breaks, and blood starts pouring out of his face.
“My turn,” Adam states, right behind him.
Charlie releases him, and Mr. Denham weaves on his feet dramatically before Adam slams him in the stomach. He folds and crumples before Charlie pulls me into a hug, blocking my view.
“Are you okay, baby?” His comforting arms wrap around me, and my eyes start to tear up.
“I’m okay. I’m okay.”
Sniffing, I pull away and see Adam coming up behind him.
“We need to go.” Sam’s still holding the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Wait. One minute.”
Quickly pulling out of Charlie’s arms, I fasten myself up while they watch me and pull my passport into my hand.
Adam and Charlie flank me as Sam pulls open the door and pushes me behind him.
Security backs up with tasers out. “Arms in the air.”
We all throw our hands up as security steps down, giving us r
oom to reach the ground.
“I was kidnapped!” I shout loudly. “Held against my will, and they saved me. Here’s my passport!”
Security spreads out, pulling the men away from me while one grabs my passport and takes a brief look at it before handing it back.
“Okay. Let’s get everyone inside and sort this out.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I follow them in to give my statement. I have never been happier to be back home in Switzerland.
Chapter 36
Charlie
“If you three were any bigger assholes,” Lacey announces, “you wouldn’t need me at all—you could just fuck each other.”
“Babe,” Sam reasons, “you know we don’t swing that way.”
“Besides,” Adam reminds her, “your ass is pretty tight, baby—and we made things fit just fine.”
But me? I keep my damn mouth shut.
It’s not that I’m surprised that she doesn’t believe us at first. Fuck, I wouldn’t even believe us.
It’s just that explaining this whole thing would be a hell of a lot easier if we hadn’t spent our entire relationship with the woman of our dreams wheeling, dealing, lying, and trying to cheat our respective ways to the top.
Any other man might have struggled to book this suite on such short notice, but I’m not just any man—and neither is Sam nor Adam.
Admittedly, even just one billionaire might not have been enough to score this place. Looks like the odds were in our favor, though—with bank accounts like ours, good luck comes in threes.
“Run it through me again,” Lacey says, pacing a path straight through the Persian rug beneath her dainty little feet. “Slowly this time. You three put me in danger today—I think I at least deserve the truth now that it’s over.”
Adam is seated confidently in a high-backed leather armchair by the window. Sam—ever the marketing man—has placed himself exactly where he wants this encounter to end: on the end of the massive triple-king-size bed that dominates the center of the room.
And me? I’m exactly where I want to be—in between Lacey and the door. Because if she thinks she’s walking out on us before we get to have our say, she’s going to need to think twice.
After that, if she wants to leave, she’s free to. As much as I’m sure we’d like to keep Lacey tied naked to a bed for our own personal use—she’s a free woman. Free to make her own decisions.
But we’re not letting her go without a fight.
“Well, for one thing, none of us were ever really behind Denham,” Adam begins, “a man who doesn’t exactly inspire the desire to follow him, as you’ve surely realized.”
“In fact, we were looking to fuck him over on this,” Sam adds. “And, I suppose, to fuck each other over in the process.”
“But mostly, Lacey, we were looking to fuck you. You’re goddamn gorgeous—you’re smart, you’re charming...” I lower my gaze to the curves of her body, then raise it to the look of fierceness on her face. “And you’re very sexy when you’re angry.”
“Exceptionally sexy.” Slowly, Adam leans back and spreads his legs like he’s imagining taking Lacey across his lap even as he speaks. “It doesn’t justify anything, of course, but you can imagine what men like us might do in order to have a woman like you all to ourselves.”
“Is that really how you thought of me?” Lacey asks, touching her fingertips to her delicate collarbone.
“Maybe at first,” Sam admits. “Men like us are used to being able to own anything that we see as soon as we want it.”
“But that was before we met you. Really met you.” I run my fingers through my hair and try to tear my eyes away from her.
It fucking hurts to see her hurting like this—but Lacey is too captivating. I can’t drag my gaze away. “We were wrong, baby.”
“And we worked together.” Adam stands. He can’t take his eyes off of her, either.
“All three of us,” Sam adds, rising as well.
“To save you, Lacey.”
I get to her first, taking her little chin between my thumb and finger so I can turn her face up toward mine.
“Did you really think I ever needed saving?” She raises an eyebrow in challenge.
I chuckle as Adam wraps his hands around her waist and turns her to him.
“Who’s to say?” He brushes her hair behind her ear. “We might’ve enjoyed watching you kick that fat bastard’s ass.”
“But we’d rather know that you were safe,” Sam says, turning Lacey toward him now. “We might have all had our ulterior motives, babe, but we were all in agreement about one thing.”
“Seeing you harmed would have fucking killed us.” I come up behind Lacey and growl the words into her perfectly shaped ear. “That’s never going to happen again.”
“We worked together.” Adam runs a hand down her slender, shapely arm and purrs against her neck. “For you. Always for you.”
“Losing you was never an option, babe.” Sam presses a kiss against her forehead. “When it was you on the line...we didn’t even have to think about it.”
“And we never will again,” I promise her. “You want us? You’ve got us. No more infighting. No more jostling for position—”
“Well, maybe a little.” Adam chuckles darkly. “But only in bed.”
“You rat bastard,” I say with a surprising amount of fondness. “Always feel like you’ve gotta be on top...”
“Adam just hasn’t learned to enjoy the way Lacey looks when she rides cock yet...” Sam teases.
Lacey sighs, and we drop the teasing.
Looks like we’re not out of the woods with our woman quite yet.
“Okay...and what about all the money?” Lacey asks. “What’s the plan with everything you all planned to steal?”
“Steal is such a dirty word, darling,” Adam says with a scoff.
But as we look at each other, all three of us seem to hit the same realization all at once.
“We didn’t exactly get that far,” I admit.
“There were, ah...more pressing matters to attend to,” Charlie adds.
I have to hand it to him—I can see it in his eyes how bad he wants to direct Lacey’s attention to the hard-on that’s undoubtedly threatening to split the front seam of his slacks as we speak, but he’s managing to restrain himself.
“Right,” Lacey says, crossing her arms over her perfect chest. “Then let me tell you all how it’s going to be. You’re returning the charity money. No argument. If you ever want to see me again, that has to happen.”
Adam, Sam, and I share a look.
“That’s more than fair,” I agree.
Adam and Sam nod to verify.
“And you’re buying me a ticket back to the States. As much as I like Switzerland...I think I’ve seen enough of it for the moment.”
“You sure?” Sam asks. “Not interested in doing a little skiing?”
“Or a little snowblowing?” Adam licks his lips, and I laugh.
“No jokes, guys. These are my demands.”
“For having us over a barrel here, you don’t ask for much,” I point out.
“Anything else I want, you’ll give me,” Lacey says with confidence, and I feel my cock throb at just the thought of what those things might be. “These are the really important things.”
She draws back from the lust trap we’ve encircled her in and looks at us all with those bright, pretty eyes of hers.
Fuck. She’s right, too. I’d give her the entire world just for looking at me like that.
“Please, guys. This is important to me. Really. After everything that’s happened—”
“We’ll take my jet,” Adam says definitively, texting his personal assistant before Lacey is even finished speaking.
“On the phone with the charity right now,” Sam says with his cell phone to his ear.
She looks at me, a little surprised, and I just shrug.
“We work fast, sweetheart,” I remind her. “Anything for you.”
; “So just like that...everything is fixed?” Lacey asks, blinking.
“If you want it to be,” I offer.
She bites her lower lip, and it breaks my fucking heart.
“I...I don’t know,” she admits. “So much has happened between us—between all of us. I need space honestly. The trust is gone, guys. You might have only thought you were lying to each other...but you were lying to me, too.”
That’s what hurts most of all, I think.
We took everything from Lacey.
Her virginity. Her body. Her kisses.
Her love.
We took her trust, and, without even thinking, we shattered it into so much fucking dust.
I watch Sam and Adam’s faces, and I know they feel it, too.
We fucked up.
And now, we need to make this right.
“Tell us what you need, babe,” I say softly.
Lacey looks to be on the verge of tears—but she’s a fighter. She’s not about to let us see her cry.
“Get me a plane ticket—not a private jet, just a regular fucking plane ticket.” I can hear the exhaustion in her voice. “Return the money and get me a plane ticket. We’ll work from there.”
Her body brushes against mine fleetingly as she moves past me. I catch her scent on the air—soft and sweet and addictive—
And I watch her walk out of my life.
Out of our lives.
Maybe for good.
“We need a plan,” I say, turning to Sam and Adam.
The determination in their eyes is the only response I need.
We can make this right. Together.
After all, someone has to go down after all of this.
And once Lacey’s done blowing us, we’ll make sure that Denham sees justice, too.
Chapter 37
Sam
“And what about the girl?” the one with the blue suit and FBI hat asks.
“She had the wool pulled over her eyes even more than we did, sir,” Charlie says.
“And you? You held the money, right?” The agent looks over to me.
“Yeah, but he told my department it was while the charity was preparing something. We had no clue what this was all about!” I say, feigning a very solemn face. “That money will get to the right hands, right?”