“Promise me you’ll never betray Derrick or any of the others if we find our way back to each other. Promise me. Swear it like you mean it, in a way that can never be taken back. Knowing if you do, we’ll never be together again.”
He sucked in his breath. My nipples were hard; they pressed against his chest. He had to have been able to feel them. Warden nodded before he spoke. “I promise it, beautiful. I swear it. Whatever you need. I’m in love with you. I’ll never betray Derrick or anyone you love. I’ll do that because of how I love you. How I’ve continued to love you despite not being able to see you. Living on parcels of news, tidbits. How when I thought I was going to die, not seeing your face was the only thing I couldn’t stand about it.” He touched the side of my face and shivered from the need I saw in his eyes. “Yes, I promise you, Everly. I swear it.”
I kissed him. Hard. Warden ran his good hand up my back, and I stayed like that against him for a long second. I wasn’t done so I couldn’t linger, couldn’t really take this where I wanted anyway since Warden was injured.
Still, even though, it was fast, when I pulled back, his eyes were glazed.
I stepped back, turning my attention to Derrick. I expected a smirk. I didn’t get one.
“My turn?”
I walked over to him. The plane shook in the air now a little bit so that when I got to him Derrick, he put his hand on my waist to steady me. I hated flying but I was too distracted to care right now. “Derrick, I can say to you what I said to him. Being loyal to me means being loyal to him and anyone else who comes back to this odd relationship we all keep choosing to twist ourselves up into. I can’t be worrying about my loves hurting each other. I won’t do it. I’d rather call the whole thing off.”
He squeezed my waist. “I can do that, Evs. I’ve waited my whole life for you. I didn’t know having you was even possible. This loyalty you’re talking about? It never existed for me. I was willing to settle for the superficial look of it. Yes, I’ll be loyal to Warden. To Judson. Kade. Trace. If they come back. But that’s it. You can’t decide you’re in love with some guy named George down the street and expect him to count, too. This is closed. That is the caveat I have.”
I nodded. “Only you guys. How could I possibly add to this? Who would want to come play in this fucked up playground with us?”
“Anyone who spent half a second looking in your brown eyes.” His voice was low. “You don’t know it, somehow. You don’t understand what it is that you do to a man’s soul.”
I smoothed my thumb over the side of his face, feeling the slight bite of stubble under the pad of my finger. “Why Derrick, you’re suddenly a poet. Swear it.”
He smiled at me. “I swear it.”
I kissed him, pressing my already heated body right up against his. He moaned against my mouth, and for just a second, I let us stay like that. Then I pulled back. This wasn’t the time we would have sex, this was just the time I would use it to get what I wanted from them.
Yes, I could admit that to myself.
I walked back to my seat and strapped in, feeling their gazes on me the whole time.
I’d made them swear to me what I needed to hear for this to continue, and I’d absolutely pressed my breasts against their chests and reminded them what we hadn’t been doing for months in order to get that assurance. My grandmother would have said that well-bred girls didn’t use their bodies to get what they wanted.
I’d been locked in a basement and the woman who emerged knew that sometimes life required us to use whatever means necessary to achieve our goals. They wanted me, I wanted them, too. We could all eventually have what we desired.
The Alliance was back in my life but this time it wouldn’t control me. I’d see to it.
Derrick jumped to his feet. “We’ve made a huge miscalculation.”
Warden tilted his head. “What?”
“They’re watching me. That means they’ve now seen you, Warden.” Derrick’s eyes darted around in their sockets. “Marcus will know you’re not dead. Do you know why he wanted you that way?”
Warden shook his head. “More than the rest of you? No. I really don’t. I’ve speculated it’s because I know where his accounts are.”
“With Warden it has to be financial, right? He doesn’t want you to find something money wise,” I added. That seemed pretty obvious to me. They all had things they were good at, but Warden could hurt them where they kept their wallets and that was damned serious.
Derrick rubbed his face. “You managed to get away. That’s good. They won’t make that mistake a second time. I have to protect you like I have to take care of Everly.”
I would have objected if he’d been wrong, but he wasn’t. When it came to this kind of stuff, I absolutely wanted Derrick to take care of me. I didn’t want to accidentally kill the wrong person again. The right people? Fine. I was game.
Warden shook his head. “Look…”
“We’re landing early. I have this worked out.” He rushed toward the cockpit. Warden and I exchanged a look. If I was reading it right, he didn’t know what Derrick had planned either. He came back fast. “Warden, give me your clothes.”
“Your plan requires me to get naked?”
I laughed, this wasn’t funny and yet that was hysterical. Derrick rolled his eyes. “No. You’re going to put on the co-pilot’s clothes, and then when it’s time to land for you, you’re going to get in the luggage.”
I rose and the plane shook, hard. I groaned. Some smooth flying would be nice for a change. “Let me get this straight. Warden is going to give the copilot his clothes and the copilot is going to get off in this first unscheduled stop wearing Warden’s clothes.”
Derrick tapped the end of his nose. “Exactly.”
“Does he know there’s a hit on Warden? That he’s putting his life in danger?” I was crazy but not willing to sacrifice strangers. Not yet, anyway.
“For a million dollars.” He grabbed his phone and pressed a button. “Transferred. He’s risking it for a million, and he’s willing to do so for that money. Even said, I’m going to try to keep him alive because it has to look like it’s Warden.”
I pointed at the floor. “And he has to get in the luggage?”
“It has to look like only you get off this plane. Trust me, just do as I said. All will be well, and I’ll meet you at Judson’s tonight.”
The plane shook harder, and I buckled myself in. Warden stripped and Derrick took out his phone, seeming to ignore the other man getting naked. I didn’t let the smile that wanted to come out happen. I’d told them to be loyal to each other and suddenly Derrick had a plan. I wasn’t wrong. We needed this. Fuck the Alliance and any other secret societies that wanted to come crawling out of the woodwork. They could keep their secrets. We would be loyal to each other and outlive them all.
I would see to it.
And then if we were lucky, maybe we’d get to love each other, too. In the weird, screwed up way that we did. However that worked.
Derrick took out his phone. “I’m on my way to you. My plane is landing in an hour and a half. Long story. Just do it. I need a black, untraceable van, I need them to be very careful with the luggage, and I need you—only you—to come onto the plane when it lands. No, it’s not a fucking bomb. Why would I have you collect a bomb? Just do it, Jud. You’ll understand soon.”
He hung up the phone.
“Why are you being so secretive with him?” I tried not to notice just how rough the skies had gotten. “Why not tell him?”
“I don’t want him trying to alter the plan, and I think it will be good for Judson to be surprised seeing you. That part… that’s just me having some fun.”
Warden handed Derrick his clothes. “You have some for me to change into?”
“Nope. Lied about that. You’re going in the luggage when you land in Boston in your boxers. Sorry, brother. I had to get you to give them to me. There’s no point in dressing you like the pilot. I mean… unless you want to for some kin
d of kinky thing.”
Derrick threw a gray blanket from one of the overhead compartments to Warden. My currently injured boyfriend groaned but took it. When Warden was back to full form, Derrick was going to suffer for that. I unlocked my seatbelt and made my way over to Warden. I locked myself in next to him and cuddled against his good arm. “This is almost over.”
“I am going to find ways to torture him. Not betray him. But between the diamonds and the clothes, he is due some serious revenge. Like maybe I’m going to… have his driver’s license revoked. Something small and not going to kill him.”
I kissed his shoulder before I wrapped him in the blanket better. “I’m pretty sure he just saved your life.”
“I recognize that. I’m more annoyed about the diamonds than the clothes.”
Derrick sat down across from us as my ears indicated we were descending. “I love my car, and I am just in awe that you thought to do that at all.” I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You got to drive it for two minutes. I could do diamonds.” He closed his eyes, his whole face scrunching up like he was in pain.
Derrick nudged Warden in the shin, and Warden lifted his lids. “You could never have gotten the diamonds while you were on the run. How did you get that car?”
“Paid cash. Fake IDs. It’s nothing you couldn’t have done. I just wanted my girl to know I remembered.”
Derrick nodded. “That’s what I wanted, too, which is funny since if either of us had respected her wishes we wouldn’t have known she was even back in school. How did you find out?”
I watched the exchange, joy filling me again. Derrick was distracting Warden. I winked at Derrick, which he saw and indicated only because the corner of his mouth lifted into a slight smile.
Warden shifted slightly in his seat. “I hacked into her account and saw when she paid for school. After that, I hacked into the school’s account and watched how she was doing based on her grades. Sorry, Everly, I’m totally a stalker. Derrick’s not the only one.”
I sighed. “All of you could regularly be arrested for something. It’s creepy. But I’m screwed in the head so we’ll just go with it. Maybe I’ll stalk you sometime and we can call it even.”
“Would you? I’d love that.” Warden laughed. “Stalk me, Everly. Have at it.”
* * *
We’d landed in Maryland where Derrick and the co-pilot got off the plane. I grabbed Derrick’s hand. “Don’t die or get hurt. And try not to let that random man who is now a millionaire get killed, too.”
Derrick pressed his lips to mine, kissing me hard. “See you tonight. I love you.” He kissed me again. “I want to see you in those diamonds. Totally naked. Just the diamonds on your body.”
Warden groaned as he unlocked his seatbelt. “I want you naked in the car. I am going to have sex with you in the back of that car. In public somewhere. When I’m not in pain.”
Derrick exited the plane, and I grabbed Warden to kiss him softly. He sighed against me. “Sit down, Warden. We’re not getting off here.”
He blinked. “That’s right. Sorry. I’m getting distracted. Not good. Might need another pain pill.”
It hadn’t been that long since he’d taken the last one. “Not yet. I want you to have a liver and kidneys when we’re done with this. Can you hold on a little longer?”
“I can.” He sat back down. “I’m just going to think of you naked in that car not wearing Derrick’s diamonds. And by the way, Judson is going to freak out when he sees them. I mean downright silently lose it. Just so you know. He won’t say anything, but he will.”
As the pilot readied the plane for our departure to Boston, I thought about what Warden said. “I don’t know if Judson will want back into this. I don’t know if Kade and Trace will. They might all be done.”
Warden kissed my temple. “Trust me, love. That is not what they want.”
I hoped he was right. I loved having Warden and Derrick back, more than I could have imagined I would feel. But it did feel like there were holes in this crazy thing we were doing. We needed to be all together, for many, many reasons.
Safety and love were intertwined this time.
4
After landing, the pilot came back and opened a compartment toward the back of the plane that I hadn’t even known existed. Warden managed to climb down, and with some help from me leaning over into the compartment, we managed to get him into a duffle bag.
He looked up at me before I zipped it. “This is really going to suck if Judson doesn’t show up.”
“He doesn’t let Derrick down. Maybe it’s leftover as some sort of post mortem favor to Alyssa or because he feels bad about what Alyssa did. In any case, he’ll be here, and he’ll know who can help you.”
He nodded. “I believe you, but you and I both know that things have a way of getting really fucked up.”
I pretended to consider this for a second. “True, but we both know I can’t kill my father today so that’s always a bonus.”
He groaned. “I love you.”
They were so easily saying that to me. I wouldn’t pretend it didn’t make me warm inside. What human being didn’t want to feel alone? Maybe I was justifying. Maybe I just missed this, missed something about being in the center of this.
Maybe I didn’t have to figure it all out lying on my stomach on this plane.
“I love you, too. I hope this is fast. Don’t make a sound until we get you out of this duffel bag, okay?”
He nodded. “There are words I bet you never thought you’d say in your life.”
“Look at you, W.” I winked at him. “Thinking like the common folk. See you in a minute.”
“That god damned letter.”
I smiled at him one more time before I closed the compartment. I stood up. Now what? It was hard to follow Derrick’s directions when there were so many variables and I had no ability to manipulate any of this if it went wrong.
“Ma’am?” The pilot caught my attention. He stood by the exit, ready to open the door. I’d forgotten he was still there. I had to do better with details. If I was going to live this life, at least for the present, I had to remember that lives depended on focus and not accidentally shooting my father in the stomach because I didn’t look before I shot.
I rubbed my arms. “Hi. Thanks for getting us here, safely.”
He nodded. “You’re welcome. I’m glad Derrick called me. I’ve worked with him a lot in the past. I’m hoping now that you’re back, he’ll call on me more again. We’re all hoping the group he’s usually associated with comes back in power.”
My body went cold. I needed to be smart right now. Judson’s sister, Alyssa, who was also Derrick’s late wife, died because she’d tried to insert herself into the Alliance. Just because this man was loyal to Derrick didn’t mean he wouldn’t turn around and hand me to Marcus for acknowledging that I even knew what he was talking about. Warden was so weak he’d allowed a plan that involved him to be put in a duffel bag. My weapon was five feet away from me. How fast could I get to it? My hands itched to grab my knife. It should have been strapped to my back, but I hadn’t wanted to prick Derrick or Warden with it accidentally.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I smiled and inched forward. “Derrick’s group? Is it a baseball thing? A sports network thing?”
The pilot sighed. “That’s the right answer, but I am harmless to you. I’m a nothing in the Alliance, and I prefer it that way. I have three sons. I don’t want this life for them. I’m sorry your father was killed in the crossfire of Ben’s madness. Now Marcus?” He shook his head. “He was the least in control of all the leadership. What is he doing now? I can’t fathom any of this.”
I scratched my head. Two more feet and I could have my knife. Ten more seconds and it would be in his eye socket. “I don’t know who any of those people are. My father had a heart attack.”
“Right. Well, have a good day. Take care of yourself. I’m… hopeful I’ve just played a small role
in setting things right. You might not know anything,” his tone indicated he didn’t believe me, “but we all know you. And whether you want to be or not, the fact that you are here with Derrick and Warden, that inspires me to hope things can get back to how they were when my grandfather was Alliance.”
I really wanted to ask him what that meant but that would acknowledge I had a clue what the Alliance was. This was dumb. Everyone knew I’d been at the Alliance meeting in Boston. I had to know what he meant. But if playing stupid kept me, alive then so be it. I wasn’t going to be the girl in the horror movie who went up the stairs instead of out the front door.
“What’s your name?” I should know it in case there came a time I had to take my knife and stick it somewhere to kill him. I tried not to picture it. These things were coming easier and easier to me. Before too long I’d be as apt to accidentally stab as I had been to shoot.
He smiled at me. “What name?”
I supposed two could play at that game. Derrick knew him. I’d get it from him later if it became important.
He opened the door and exited the plane via the steps that dropped down. I sank into a chair. I had to wait for Judson. If he didn’t come, I’d release Warden from the luggage container and we’d go somewhere safe until we could reconnect with Derrick and get some help. I had my burner phone and Derrick’s number stored in it. He’d done that without asking me at some point when I’d been busy.
I shook my head. I was glad he was on my side.
“All right.” Judson’s voice echoed into the plane as he must have been climbing the stairs. “What the fuck is going on, Derrick?”
I jumped to my feet as he came through the door. Whatever he would have said died on his lips just like the words didn’t come out of mine. I let my eyes drink him in. I wouldn’t even pretend at this point that I hadn’t missed these guys. They’d come and screwed up my life beyond recognition. Somehow, at the same time, they’d managed to shove themselves deep in my soul where I couldn’t kick them out.
Deadly Truths: Kiss Her Goodbye #3 Page 4
