Redheaded Redemption (Redheads Book 2)

by Rebecca Royce

  I shook where I stood. God, I was such a coward, because I absolutely didn’t want to go. Terrible, but it was true. I didn’t want to go to that country and have what happened to Muffy happen to me. I wanted to pay these brave men to do it for me.

  “Out of my way, Luke,” Max said, storming into the room. He had a bag under his arm and a bottle of wine. He stopped short as he took in the room. His gaze found mine at last, holding me in its intensity. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “L.T.” Clayton jumped to his feet. “It’s you. Look, Mitch, it’s Max.”

  Max pulled his gaze from mine to the other two men, who were suddenly in front of him, embracing him tightly.

  “Hope,” Michael said, catching my attention. “Who the fuck is this?”

  “He’s my friend,” I supplied. How else was I to explain my strange connection to Max?

  Luke cleared his throat. “Sometimes they spend the night together, boss.”

  My cheeks heated up. That was really not anyone else’s fucking business.

  “I’m supposed to be told if those things develop.”

  I held up my hand. “He’s my friend.” I couldn’t stress the point enough.

  “We served together for a long time.” Clayton seemed downright joyful. “The L.T. is good people. Tough. And we did that other shit together too, until he lost his taste for it. Some bigtime chef now.”

  “Hope?” Max ignored Mitch to speak just to me. “What the fuck is going on?”

  I sighed, exhaustion hitting me like a ton of bricks. I needed a vacation. “Muffy and her husband were killed. Tim is a prisoner of some very bad people. I’m getting him back.”

  There, I explained it.

  “What?” He set down what he was carrying and walked over to me. “When did this happen?”

  “Yesterday.” Every time I thought about it, I wanted to cry, which wasn’t helpful. “I have some of her money and her mother’s permission to get her grandson back. So I called Michael—he’s in charge of my security, and I guess he’s good at this kind of thing. He’s arranged all of this, and we’re going.” I swallowed. “We’re all going. They need me.”

  When Max spoke, it was through gritted teeth. “The fuck you are.”

  Chapter 14

  “Excuse me?” He’d shouted at me, so I shouted right back.

  When he spoke to me again, it was through gritted teeth. “You aren’t going with them to Slomestikan. That is insanity. It’s dangerous, and I forbid it.”

  My mouth fell open. “You forbid me? Who are you to forbid me to do anything?”

  Clayton whistled through his teeth. “Damn.”

  “Maybe you two would like to talk in the hall?” Michael suggested. “And you are going to watch how you speak to her, got me?”

  Max rounded on Michael. “Look, I don’t know why you think you can talk to me like that. Maybe you’re in love with her? I don’t really give a shit. Right now, all I see is that you’re the imbecile suggesting this civilian should go with you to a country the State Department doesn’t even acknowledge exists.”

  I held up my hand. “In the hall. Now.”

  Max followed me to the hallway outside my apartment. I could hardly breathe from the anger surging through my veins. It was like my entire body was on fire, and not in the same way it was when I was in the bed with Max.

  “You understand that, in order to get his dick in you, that man is suggesting you risk your life.”

  I pointed my finger right into his face. “First of all, he’s not in love with me, and he doesn’t want to stick his dick in me. I’ve known him since I was sixteen. Besides, if he’s in love with anyone, it’s my sister Bridget. He’s helping me out. Plus, he saved Layla’s life, so whatever macho thing is going in your head about Michael, you can let it go. Not to mention you have no right to come in here and order me around like some sort of caveman!”

  He flared his nostrils. “It’s insanity. Why do you care so much about this, anyway? This isn’t your problem. Give the grandmother the money and let her hire her own mercenaries.”

  “She’s a little old lady who can hardly speak today from grief. She isn’t going to be hiring anyone to do anything, and Tim is there alone.”

  Max shook his head. “You know, I knew you had a self-destructive side that could make you do stupid things, but I didn’t imagine you could be this…ridiculous.”

  My body went cold as the insult hit just where he intended it to—in my gut. “Remember, friend, when you told me that there would come a time that I wouldn’t want to do this anymore? Yeah…this is that time. I’m done. Goodnight and goodbye, Max. I’ll always regret ruining your life. If I can ever help you, please let me know, but this thing between us, yeah, it’s over. Please send Anna and Eric my regards.”

  With my back somehow straight and my emotions hidden away until I could lose it later, I shut the door in his face.

  The room of mercenaries—I’d not thought of that word myself until Max introduced it—stared at me as I entered.

  “You okay, Hopey?” Michael spoke in a low voice. “Want me to go take care of him?”

  Mitch shook his head. “I don’t know which one of you I would pick in a fight. Max has been out of the game for a while, but he was lethal. So are you. It’s fifty-fifty which one of you would win.”

  “No one is fighting,” I informed the room. I was the boss in this, after all. Or something like that. Who knew what I was anymore? I sure as hell didn’t know.

  Michael rocked back on his feet. “You don’t have to go.”

  “I think I do.”

  That must have been the right answer because Clayton and Mitch nodded like they agreed. It looked like I was going to Slomestikan to rescue a little boy that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. These men were going to help me get him, and I’d bring him to his grandmother on her white sand beach.

  Another mistake I could try to amend.

  Somehow.

  Excusing myself, I left the guys in my living room, my mother’s painting staring down at them with the lights of the city behind them. Someone had opened my curtain.

  We were leaving in the morning.

  No time for heartbreak. No time to wonder if he’d lingered in the hall at all or just left. No time to remember that he thought I was self-destructive and ridiculous. Just the hours of the night ahead of me to not let myself feel pain.

  How Michael had gotten so much equipment so fast was beyond me, but the plane I boarded was state-of-the-art and huge. We were taking off from a small private airport in New Jersey. The guys had their gear stashed under their seats, and there was an entire wing of the plane that would be used as a makeshift airport if need be. The pilot’s name was Buck, and I hadn’t learned the co-pilot’s name yet. It was going to be a fifteen-hour flight. I’d been on longer. It took over a day for me to get to Australia, and I’d been a bunch of times. Plus, I’d visited Bridget a lot. Still, long was long. I was glad to have my Kindle app.

  Quickly, and before I could overthink it, I shot out a text to Bridget and Layla. Love you.

  It was really all there was to say. I put my phone on airplane mode and resolved not to turn it back on Wi-Fi until after I had Tim. Then I’d message them again.

  “I’m going to message your brother-in-law that this is happening about two seconds before we take off. Then I’m not going to look at that phone again until later.” Michael sat down in his seat. “He’s not going to be happy about this. He might fire me, but you were going to do this anyway, and I know these guys. I trust them.” It looked like we’d had the same kind of thought.

  I nodded. “I know I put your back against the wall.”

  “You Radfords know how to do that. It’s in the blood.” He smiled at me. “You’ll be safe here. We won’t let you off this plane until the fighting, if any, is over. Plus, it looks like you’re going to have your own bodyguard.”

  What? That was news to me. “How does that work?”

 
“Well, here he is.” A man climbed into the plane, and Clayton closed the door behind him, essentially sealing us inside.

  I gasped and sat forward, my brain trying to deny what my eyes could clearly see. Max. He is here. On this plane. Heading for Slomestikan. How was that possible?

  He plopped down in the seat next to me, still not making eye contact with me or acknowledging my existence, and Michael exited his seat, leaving us as alone on this plane as it was possible for two people to be.

  “What are you doing here?” I kept my voice low.

  He lifted his eyebrows. “If you are doing this fucking stupid thing, then I am doing it with you to keep you safe.”

  Now which one of us is being ridiculous? “You can’t do this.”

  “I can’t?” He looked left and right. “Looks like I am.”

  That wasn’t what I meant, and he knew that. “How can you leave the restaurant?”

  “Anna has it.” He stashed his bag under his seat and stretched out his legs. “Her mother is good with Eric, who is recovering well, and this is going to be fast. In and out. I’ll be back in three days. I’m paying her really well to cover for me. When I explained to her that I was trying to keep you alive, she was all for it.”

  I put my head in my hands. “You didn’t have to do this. I told you, we are done.”

  “Hope.” He said my name, and then waited until I looked at him. Like a force connected us, I had no choice but to lift my gaze and meet his. “I want to apologize for what I said in the hall. It was completely uncalled for. I was mean, and I didn’t mean it.”

  Well, what was I supposed to do with that? I swallowed. “I’m not self-destructive. Not at all, actually. Most of the time, I hide in my house. I am ridiculous, that is true. Like a walking caricature or someone to be mocked in literature. I get it. I might be ridiculous, but I try to do the right things. The next right thing. Day by day. Maybe someday, someone will appreciate that about me.”

  He squeezed my hand. “You’re not any of those things. I mean it. None. And I appreciate that you care about your fellow humans more than you’ll ever know.”

  “Did you come here because you felt guilt about what you said?”

  The plane took off fast, and I closed my eyes against the onslaught. Other people loved this moment, but it was my least favorite part of travel. The anxiety passed quickly, and I opened my eyes.

  He waited to speak until I did. “I told you, I came here to keep you alive. You get the kid, and I’ll make sure you’re still intact when you do it.”

  Max closed his eyes like he was done with the conversation. In turn, I stared out the window. The coastline disappeared beneath us, and a hush fell over the guys. They were all going to sleep. I wondered if that was part of the training they’d all had from whatever they’d done before—sleep as much as they could, whenever they could, in preparation for whatever might come next.

  It was too bad I was an insomniac. It still applied to planes.

  Max, however, seemed perfectly content to sleep right then.

  He was there, and as much as I was still sore from what he’d said, his apology helped. Plus, just his presence was an incredible gift. He cared about me enough to do this incredible thing for me. I couldn’t remember the last time anyone else had been willing to go so far for me.

  Maybe it was weird—our relationship that wasn’t one, really. I didn’t understand it myself, and right then, I didn’t care if I ever did.

  Sometime about halfway through the trip, while I was playing my fifteenth game of BitLife, Max opened his lids to regard me. “Sleep at all?” He kept his voice low, and I shook my head as an answer. He frowned. “I don’t sleep much, but you take it to a new level. Was I snoring?”

  I smiled at him. “Totally. So loud, the whole plane complained about it.”

  He scowled at me before he grinned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “About the snoring? I thought it would be rude.” I could play this game if he wanted.

  He shook his head. “No, in all seriousness—about Muffy and Tim. Why didn’t you tell me they died? I didn’t see anything about it until afterward. I was swamped and busy, but we texted about things. Why didn’t you tell me?”

  I shifted in my seat. “Because you were so busy. Because Eric had surgery. Because I don’t know where the line is with us, what I should and shouldn’t share with you. You’re my friend, not my boyfriend. You can’t become my one and only person. You said it yourself—this will end. I can’t rely on you.” I looked down. “Even if you do amazing things like this.”

  He took my hand in his again. “Did you not tell me because you thought I might stop you? Or talk you out of this?”

  “Maybe there was a part of me that thought about that, but I was doing this. I won’t leave that child there.”

  He tugged on the end of my hair. “No, of course not. This is you, and for some reason, you feel entirely compelled to try to solve the world’s problems. Why is that?”

  “There has to be a reason, a purpose for things. I fuck up a lot. When I do, I have to make it better. I have to believe that I can, otherwise I get sucked down to bad places thinking about how much worse the world is everywhere I go.”

  His face fell. “Hope…”

  “All right, everybody, we’re halfway there. Everybody up. Let’s go over the plan one more time. Then we eat and get ready to hit the ground.” Michael spoke to the group, essentially cutting off our conversation. It was a relief. I couldn’t believe I had said that. What had I been thinking?

  The hours passed, and the planning continued. Every detail was attended and then attended to again. I didn’t know how things worked when they were actually enlisted, but they really were trying to not leave anything to chance. My cousin had been right—Michael had a lot of contacts, and he was even able to pinpoint the area where Tim was being held. There might be other children there too.

  “They sell them, kill them, ransom them, or train them. Frankly, it depends on the kid.” Michael rubbed his eyes. “And I thought I was done seeing this shit when I left. I thought I was just going to take care of a rich guy and his kids. Arrange for guards to go to parties. I had no idea I’d be right back in the thick of it with this and other things.” He winked at me. “But her family keeps things interesting. Plus, my side jobs are always all over the place.”

  The truth was I knew very little of what Michael did for others. He ran a whole company, and not all of it had to do with us.

  “You might not have to do this anymore.” I finally spoke for the first time in hours. Sitting next to Max at a makeshift table that they’d pulled out to act as the center focus of things, I hadn’t needed to say a word. My only job was to be available when they needed me to make myself known to Tim. Otherwise, my job was to stay in the plane.

  With Max, just in case something happened. Although, from the looks of their planned approach, I wasn’t at all certain how it could get fucked up. They were going to grab Tim and go.

  If they could take other children while they were there, they would, but Tim was the objective, and everyone understood in this fucked-up world that might have to be enough.

  Michael nodded, a smirk coming to his usually stoic face. “Because Zeke might fire my ass. Yes, I know, but I’m still not going anywhere. This is my job, as far as I’m concerned. He said to watch you and keep you safe, so you didn’t get taken. I’m doing just that. If he fires me for it, I’ll still hang around a bit until you’re all fine.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Until we’re all fine or until Bridget is fine?”

  He shook his head. “Until you’re all fine, including Bridget.” He pointed at me. “You were always the problem out of the group.”

  “Me?” Now that was shocking. His words made the group laugh. Even Max, who had been very quiet this whole time. I had no earthly idea what he was thinking, or if he was greatly regretting whatever impulse brought him to my side. “I was a very well-behaved teenager.”

&n
bsp; “You were until you were about nineteen. Then you… Well, a senator’s son and random trips here, there, and everywhere before you started devoting yourself to making a living in a way that meant you could be out till two in the morning every night. Yes, you. Not until recently did Bridget… Well, never mind. We all know what happened with Layla.” He patted my knee. “You, Hope, you were the toughest one to keep safe from moment one.”

  I cleared my throat. “She’s having terrible dates, but eventually, she’s going to have a good one. Isn’t there something you want to do about that?”

  “She’s got you, boss.” Mitch grinned. “Isn’t there something you want to do about that?”

  “Bridget Radford is safe from me.” He met my gaze. “That is just how these things go, unfortunately. Maybe in another world, one where I didn’t end up on planes like this one? Eventually, she’ll find her version of Zeke, and then I’ll keep them both safe.”

  I rolled my eyes. “If that is some kind of pseudo Knights of the Round Table bullshit, I would try to find a different kind of chivalry. Bridget can handle whatever you dish out. She’s tough. Maybe tougher than you, Li. Besides, you might remember how it worked out for Guinevere and Lancelot.”

  “Heads up,” Buck called from up front, and everyone got moving. With nowhere particularly I needed to be, I got back in my seat and buckled in for landing. Max sat next to me and got in his harness.

  “I’m amazed he lets you talk to him like that. Do you not realize he’s intimidating? I mean…not to me, but I think most people would give him a wide berth.”

  I smiled. “Michael has been with me a lot of places I’d rather not be. Lately, it’s Theo and Luke. But it used to be the three of us and Michael. Then he started just guarding our father. Dress fittings. The prom. College. I think it was right around then when he decided he liked Bridget. When she got really serious, he took note of her. Everyone knows how he feels…except Bridget. I think Michael is the only one who won’t acknowledge it would be completely reciprocated if he’d get off his butt and do something.”