Damn it all to hell. Of course he noticed what was distracting me, too. Captain Obvious has nothing on me.
“I was just thinking about the mission.”
“So you were thinking about me.”
Maybe if I beg, Reina will let me stab him. Just once, and not anywhere that would jeopardize his career. Maybe in his hand. He shouldn’t need his hands to swim. I mean, they slice through the water, but a little cut wouldn’t affect much, would it?
“Waverly?” Isa asks, and I realize I’ve zoned out again. This time with violent, and not lusty thoughts, but still not a good thing. Shit.
“Sorry. I zoned out for a minute.”
“This is all a little hard to take in sometimes. I get it,” Knox says, motioning to his body.
“I was thinking of stabbing you,” I reply.
“My body is insured for twenty million dollars.”
“If you piss me off enough, it’d be worth it.”
He steps back, and takes the farthest chair away from me as Reina and Isa laugh. “Now that we’re all present, let’s get down to business,” Reina tells us.
I force myself to not watch as Knox starts to rub himself down with a towel, because I need to focus on the mission. He may be the mission, but he’s not all I have to worry about. I need to remember that.
“So, where are we going?” I ask, trying to show that I’m back in control of myself.
“Cape Town,” he answers, like it’s not a big deal.
My heart starts to race, because it is a big deal. The biggest deal. “No.” The word comes out before I can stop it, but I mean it. I won’t go back there. I can’t go back there.
“Knox can you please excuse us for a few minutes.” I hear Reina’s voice, but it feels like it’s coming from far away.
“What’s wrong? Is she okay?” I hear panic in his voice, and I know I’m slipping away.
“She’ll be fine,” Isa tells him in a calm voice, but she’s wrong. I won’t be fine. Not if they make me go there.
“No,” I say again. That’s all I can seem to say. Just that one word. And then everything goes blissfully black.
Knox
“Let me go,” I yell, as Matt Corrigan pulls me from the room where Waverly fainted.
At least I think she fainted. I thought she’d be happy about going to Africa. I don’t know where she’s from in the vast continent, but I thought she’d want to go home. If the repeated “no” coming from her mouth didn’t tell me otherwise, fainting sure did the trick.
“You need to wait out here,” Matt tells me, finally releasing me once we’re outside by the pool.
The water isn’t calming me right now, and that’s almost as alarming as what I was forced to leave. “I need to know she’s okay.”
“She’ll be fine. He’ll make sure of it,” he tells me, motioning through the window to the dark-skinned man running inside the room.
“Who’s he?” I ask, not managing to keep the jealously out of my voice.
“Her best friend, and one of the best doctors in the world. Kenny will help her.”
“Just friends?”
“There’s no ‘just’ about their relationship, but nothing romantic’s going to happen.”
I didn’t see the woman come outside, but all of a sudden she’s standing next to me. Now, she…she’s who the press and the public would expect to see on my arm. Jet black hair cut longer in front, tattoos all over the parts of her body I can see, a slim but sexy body, and a piercing above her lip. She’s hot as fuck, and doing absolutely nothing for me. What the hell? Maybe I’m broken.
“Who are you?” I ask, trying and failing to put some swagger behind my words.
“His.”
The one word startles me, and I physically react. I wasn’t expecting that, and I look back and forth between them. She doesn’t look like the type of woman who would be easily claimed, and the doctor doesn’t look like he’d be up to the challenge. Objectively, I can admit that he’s hot, and watching him tenderly caress Waverly’s cheek as she opens her eyes makes me feel something, too. Something a lot like jealousy.
“You’re okay with him touching her like that?”
She chuckles. “Yes, I actually am. Waverly is not a threat to me. Honestly, the only woman in the world who is a threat to my relationship is me. Thankfully, I know how lucky I am to have that man in there, so I’m not going to do anything to fuck things up with him.”
“Wow. That’s…umm…pretty insightful.”
“Love will do that to you,” she says, turning to look at me. “It will also make you protect your man’s best friend from douchebag athletes.”
I pretend to look around. “I don’t see any lurking at the moment, but I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
“You hurt her, and he’ll come for you. I’ll be right beside him, but he’ll be the one to take you down. There’s no one who can protect you from him in that scenario.”
“No one?” I ask, nodding my head to where Reina’s sitting with Waverly.
“No one. Not even her. She wouldn’t try, though. Wave’s one of us, and that means more than whatever crazy amount you paid her. You’d do well to remember that.”
“I’ve played along, but I don’t see what you think I could do to Waverly. It’s not like we’re involved romantically, or even fucking. She’s my bodyguard.”
“Is that all she is? All you want?”
“Yes.”
“You need to work on your lying skills, Swim Boy.”
“I’m not lying.” I am so totally lying, maybe just not to myself anymore.
“Remember what I said, because we both know the truth.”
She walks inside, and sits on her doctor’s lap. He places his arm around her while keeping one of his hands linked with Waverly’s. The two women perform a hug that should be awkward with how they’re sitting, but it’s not. I see the smile on Waverly’s face as she looks at her friends, and I know I’m lost. Lost in this woman, and wanting her to find me. And maybe just maybe, I want her to find my heart, too.
Waverly
I’m embarrassed. Totally and utterly embarrassed. I can’t believe I fainted. Yeah, I was shocked to hear Knox say we were supposed to got to Cape Town, but I’ve been trained to keep my emotions in check. I’ve been trained to do whatever it takes to guarantee the outcome I need. Yet, two words erased all of it. All of those years of becoming a child soldier just vanished. Reina’s going to pull me from this mission, and I have no one to blame but myself.
“I’m sorry,” I say to her.
“There’s nothing you need to apologize for. I had no clue he’d want to finish his training in Africa.”
“Africa?” Kendrick asks from where he’s sitting next to me with Matisse on his lap.
“Cape Town,” I tell him, trying to hold back my tears as my friend looks at me with sympathy in his eyes.
“Maybe it’s time.”
“It’s not Ken. I’m not ready.”
“It helped me to go back and have that closure.”
“Because you wanted to go back. You missed it.” He doesn’t deny it, because he can’t. His silence fuels my desperation—and my anger. The anger is for me alone, but I take it out on him. Just like always. “You never tell anyone that it’s South Africa we come from, and that’s because you wanted redemption but you don’t want to remember it all, either. Everyone asks about your accent, and you just say you’re from Africa. Never South Africa. Never Cape Town.”
“Stop it, Waverly,” Matisse has steel in her voice as she calls me out, but as always, my best friend is protecting me.
“It’s okay, Tees. She’s right. My country has overcome Apartheid, and survived so much, but it is still a flawed place. A place of trafficking and other horrors mixed with honor and compassion. I both love it, and feel shame about it, so I am intentionally vague about where it truly is I come from.”
“The swimming program there is exceptional,” Isa says, working to bring us all back on track.”
&
nbsp; “It is. As Ken said, there are many great things about our country. Our city, even. Unfortunately, the only good thing I ever experienced there is currently sitting in this room with me right now.”
“I won’t make you go. Knox will need to change locations, or we’ll send someone else,” Reina tells me, and I know she means it. She won’t hold this against me.
“You went back to Mexico even though you’d been taken there.”
“Yes, I did.”
“That was brave. I just don’t know if I can be as brave as you.”
She shakes her head. “I wasn’t brave, Waverly. I wanted to die. I knew going back could help me make that happen.”
“That was never going to happen,” Matt tells her with a growl.
He went after her, and almost died saving her from the man who’d taken her for a second time—once when she was a girl headed for a convent, and again when she was one of the most powerful women in the world, and thought she was done living. I didn’t think love like that was real until I met them and the other couples from the Society. Or saw Ken and Matisse fall and break, only to put each other back together again.
Still, what Reina says shocks me, even though I know it’s true. “I can’t believe you can just say that…say that you wanted to die.”
“Admitting my weaknesses is the strongest and bravest thing I will ever do. Not many people live without demons. It doesn’t matter whether they worry about their appearance, their job, their love, or something else. We all have things that could potentially push us to the point of no return. I survived mine, because I had people who weren’t willing to let me go, and had the skills and resources to stop it from happening. Not everyone is so lucky, but I wish they were.”
“I survived.” I say the words out loud, and hear Ken gasp from beside me.
I’ve never said those words before, out loud or in my head, but right now I know they’re true. Things were horrible for me, but they could have been much worse. I am here right now, living and breathing. I have friends who care about me, and maybe I’ll never have the kind of love some of them share, but I’m lucky. I’ve known that for some time now, but I’ve never allowed myself to voice the truth. I’m still a little battered, but I’m not broken.
“I’ll go to Cape Town,” I add, knowing Ken was right when he said it was time. I need to go there if I’m ever going to move past what happened to me there.
“I meant what I said, Wave. You don’t have to do this.”
“Yeah, Rei. I do.”
“I’m going with you,” Ken says.
“No. You’re going to stay here with Matisse.”
“He can go with you,” she says without hesitation.
“No. It’s time for me to stand on my own. With the knowledge I have friends to call on if I need them, of course.”
“You’ll always have that,” he tells me.
“I know.”
Matisse slides off of his lap as my best friend stands and pulls me up into his arms. I hold on tightly to him for a few minutes, and then I let go. I might have to wipe my eyes a little, and his are a little misted over as well. This is a new chapter for us, and it’s what we both need. He needs to always put Matisse first, because she deserves nothing less. And I need to face my demons, and let myself finally live. Maybe even love. Or at the very least, lust.
3
Knox
I don’t know what was said between Waverly and her friends after she woke up, but Reina told me she was willing to go to Cape Town with me, and things moved quickly after that. I gave them the info on the house I rented, and met with Isa and some other women, including Ainsley Taylor, the wife of one of my acquaintances, football star Zack Taylor, as well as Darcy who is a princess by day and reformed cat burglar by night. I knew this organization had a long reach, but I didn’t know just how long it was until I saw it in action. In the week since it all went down, my rental has been transformed into a virtual fortress, while looking exactly the same as it had before they got their hands on it.
The only one noticeably absent this past week has been Waverly. I’m pretty sure she’s been avoiding me, but what I don’t understand is why Reina would let that happen. Then again, maybe I do. The woman who spoke to me—I found out her name is Matisse—told me they’d put Waverly before me if anything went down between us. It hasn’t in the way she meant, but I wouldn’t classify her fainting as nothing, so I can only imagine they decided to close ranks. Since the plane is readying for takeoff, she’s going to have to show herself soon. Like the next few minutes, soon.
I hear voices near the front of the plane, and I stand as Waverly walks into the rear seating area. We’re flying on a Corrigan & Co. jet, and most of my team are in the front, so there are plenty of seating options for her. I want her to sit with me, and I make that known.
“I saved you a seat, Waverly.”
“Oh,” she says, her eyes widening a little. “I’m fine, sitting up front with everyone else.”
“Hey, I’m someone,” Cohen tells her, winking at me. Wingman of the Year right there.
“Yes, you are, but I don’t belong here with the two of you. I just wanted to take a look.”
“You haven’t flown private with the Corrigans before?” I ask, ignoring what she just said as I take her hand and lead her to the sofa I was sitting on. She’s not fighting me, so I’ll mark this in the win column.
“I have, but they have a few different planes.” She lowers her voice as she continues. “I’ve seen the schematics of this one, but it’s good to have a visual.”
“In case you have to throw someone off the plane?” Hell yeah, I’m flirting.
“Exactly,” she answers, smiling back at me.
My mental fist is pumping, but then she pulls her hand away and stands up. “I’m the help, Knox. I should really sit with the rest of the team.”
I know she’s right. She has a job to do, and since I like breathing, I should let her do it. Hell, I should be happy she’s so intent on doing her job. I’m not, but that’s on me, so I nod.
“Yeah. I guess so. When we get to the house, can we hang out and talk a little, though?”
“Sure. I don’t see why not.”
She smiles before turning to walk back to the front of the plane, and I feel like I was just bathed by the brightest sun ever. I know I’m smiling like an idiot, but I don’t care. Not even when Cohen starts in on me.
“You’ve got it bad, my friend.”
“Yeah, I think I do.”
“It’s about damn time.”
We bump fists, and then I settle in for the longest flight of my life. Not just because we’ll be flying for almost a day, but because I know Waverly isn’t going to seek me out again until we land. Maybe I should’ve insisted she stay back here with me, but the anticipation is going to make our date that much better. Yep. I’m calling it a date, and I’ll have candles and flowers there so she knows it too.
Waverly
I know the house we’re staying in. I’ve studied the pictures, floorplans, and videos for the past week. I know what to expect, and I also know there are only four bedrooms while there are twenty of us on the team. Knox, Cohen, his longtime chef, Martha, and I are the ones staying in the house while everyone else stays in short-term apartments closer to the aquatic center. I knew this, and I even agreed to talk to Knox once we got here. But somehow knowing it all didn’t prepare me for seeing it in person, and realizing I’m going to be living with Knox. In a bedroom he picked for me. With the attached bathroom that has a tub I’d secretly been dreaming of. It’s like he looked inside my brain and picked what I wanted without me having to even ask.
Not that I was going to ask. I correctly assumed Martha would have the “girly” room, but I didn’t want to even hope for my room. Honestly, none of them would’ve been a disappointment, but I really fell in love with this tub that looks out over the ocean.
“Is this one okay?” he asks me from the doorway.
“Yes. I
t’s actually my favorite,” I admit.
His smile stretches wide, and his blue eyes become even brighter than usual. “Really? It’s the tub, isn’t it?”
“Um, yeah, it is. How did you know?”
“I love a good bath, and I thought you might, too.”
Interesting. “Well, you thought right, so thank you. Cohen won’t mind having the smaller room, though?”
“He only cares that he has a bed to take the women he picks up to. Hell, he’d probably be okay with just a mattress on the floor. Or the floor itself.”
“You’ll be bringing other people here?” I ask, because that’s going to make my job a lot harder if the answer is yes.
“We’ll have some parties and shit. It’s what we do,” he says, with a shrug.
“You have parties and bring women to your rooms. Of course you do,” I say, more than slightly disappointed. “You hired us because you think you might be in danger. Or were those pictures you showed us faked to make it look that way?”
“Nothing I do is ever fake. I promise you that. I am worried about the threats, but I’m not going to hide.”
“Heaven forbid Knox Edwards goes more than a few days without dipping his dick somewhere so he can stay safe. The world might implode.”
“I was at the Corrigan apartments for two weeks. Did you see me having sex?”
“I wasn’t looking, so you may have brought in someone.”
I know he didn’t, and he knows I know it, but I’m too worked up to stop now. Yeah, part of it’s jealousy, even though I have no claim on him. I just wanted to believe he really had an interest in me, and that if he did, he wouldn’t be with other women. I’m not stupid, but despite everything I’ve seen, I am a little naïve. I know it, and I own it, even when it sucks. Like now.
“Your pulse is racing, Waverly.”
“So?”
“So you promised we’d have a talk. Meet me outside in five minutes?”
“By the pool?” I ask, refusing to back down just because I’ve developed a crush on this jerk, and he knows it.
“No. Let’s hang out in the side garden. Do you know where it is?”
Waverly (Socierty Girls #4) Page 3