A View to a Thrill (Masters and Mercenaries Book 7) (35 page)

It was time to let her go. Once and forever. He took a deep breath and gave her his most serene smile, the one he’d perfected over years and years of telling everyone he was all right. “I understand. Come here. Give me a hug and we’ll be done.”

“Simon,” Ian began.

She practically ran into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

In one swift move, he turned her and got his arm around her neck. She couldn’t be left behind, but he didn’t trust her to come quietly. She would put everyone at risk including herself and that couldn’t happen. “I’m sorry, too, love. This is probably going to be quite painful.”

He pressed on her carotid artery, depriving her brain of blood. It was a move he’d practiced hundreds of times and had perfected. In the hands of an amateur, it would be dangerous, but he knew exactly what he was doing. She slumped over, completely unconscious.

Charlotte was crying as he lifted her up. “You’re a good man, Simon. She didn’t mean any of that. I know her. When she’s backed into a corner, she spits bile but it doesn’t mean she doesn’t care for you. I’ve watched her since she’s met you. She’s crazy about you. She’s hiding something. You’ll see. I’ll go make a place for her.”

Charlotte was an optimist of the highest order. He’d required one thing from Chelsea. Some modicum of trust and the tiniest bit of honesty. He was willing to look past every other problem, but she didn’t really want him. Not for any length of time. She’d wanted someone to fuck her and he’d been enthusiastic. She would likely just move on to Ten now that she knew she enjoyed sex.

Ian stayed behind, his expression grave as he looked Simon’s way. “Are you sure you want to come with us? I can handle it from here if you want. I can drop off you and Jesse and you can head back to the office with the rest of them.”

He said nothing, simply held her knowing this would be one of the last times. The last time. Funny, he should have known the only way she would be sweet and docile in his arms was when she was unconscious.

Ian put a hand on his shoulder. “Man, I know where you are. Charlotte’s high if she thinks everything’s going to magically be all right. You need a little time. If you need to take a step back, I’ll understand.”

Dump her on Ian. He could dump her here and now and go back to his regularly scheduled life. He likely wouldn’t even have to see her again.

Or he could use her the way she’d used him. He hadn’t even fucked her arse yet. He hadn’t done half the things he wanted to. He could prove to her that he was the boss and she meant nothing to him.

Idiot. He was a bloody idiot because he was making excuses. Even as she ripped his heart out, he was trying to find a way to stay close to her.

“I’ll finish the op.” Simon hauled her to his chest. She weighed next to nothing. Despite the fact that she’d just betrayed him, he couldn’t leave her alone. He couldn’t turn her over to Ian and just hope that she was all right. He shouldn’t care and eventually, he wouldn’t, but he couldn’t just walk away yet.

He would do his job. His job was all he had left.

He carried her to the van and settled her in then got into the back. He got in beside her, but kept his eyes front. She would be out for a while and then he would have to deal with her bile. For all the false sweetness and affection she’d given him, she would likely equal it with her nastiness.

Alex took off, leaving the ranch in the dust. His real home. Despite the fact that his aunt had helped him, he had to wonder if he’d be welcome again. His uncle was indulgent with her, but he had a breaking point and Simon was a little afraid that JT might have found it. It seemed all he’d managed to do was cause a massive rift in his family.

All of them it seemed. Ian was sitting next to Jesse in the very back and he turned to him. “What the fuck did you think you were doing? I understand what Simon was doing. He was following his dick. Your dick isn’t involved so you should have had a brain in your head. Who do you owe your fucking loyalty to? You should have called me the minute you realized Simon was running. My goddamn number should have been the only thing on your brain and yet you just did whatever the hell Simon told you to. Who are you loyal to? Decide right fucking now. Are you loyal to him or me?”

Shit. He’d done this to Jesse, too. “It’s not his fault.”

“Shut up, Simon. This is between me and him. I want to know and you better think about it. Who is your first loyalty to?”

Jesse’s face went blank. He stared straight ahead. Ian was treating him like he was a new recruit straight off a damn bus and meeting his drill sergeant for the first time. “It’s to Simon. My first loyalty is to Simon Weston. He’s my best friend.”

Charlotte winked at Simon.

And Ian put a hand on the back of Jesse’s head. “That’s right, Murdoch. That’s your fucking partner and you take care of him. If he wants to do stupid shit, you go with him and make sure he doesn’t die. We have partners on this team and we back them. I’ve got Alex. Jake, the poor asshole, got stuck with Adam.”

Adam sat in the front seat next to Alex. He lifted his hand, sending Ian his middle finger. “Fuck you, Tag.”

Ian ignored him. “And Li has that bottle of beer he never seems to finish. Or maybe he just starts ’em faster than my eye can track. You did good, Murdoch. I might be pissed as shit, but he’s your partner and you take care of him.” Ian sat back and Simon took a deep breath. “I found a lot of blood at that motel. You do that?”

Jesse nodded. “I lost it.”

“And we’ll deal with that, too. I promise, man.” He reached out and smacked Jesse upside the head. “But what the fuck were you thinking letting that dumbass mini-me get the jump on you?”

And Big Tag was off. He was yelling about anything and anyone who came into his bloody head. Charlotte gave Simon a smile. She was on the other side of Chelsea’s unconscious body.

“He’s been worried. You have to let him yell for a while. In the meantime, I’m supposed to make a list of all the places we lived so we can try to figure out where this package thing went. It’s a long damn list,” Charlotte admitted.

But he could narrow it. “You kept up addresses everywhere?”

She shook her head. “No. Just a couple of places. Our favorite places.”

But Al had only talked about one place. Damn it. He’d been off his game. He’d been thinking so much about Chelsea that he hadn’t really thought about the problem at hand. Why the hell had Al spent so much time reminding her about Europe if he wasn’t trying to warn her? And there was really only one place in Europe to go. He thought back to that night. Al had mentioned Europe, but Chelsea had told him that Al Krum had met her in Venice.

Al Krum had been rather brave. He’d lost his family and his life and he’d still attempted to give Chelsea a chance at getting out of this alive.

“We need to get to Venice.”

And then he could finish this thing forever.

“You want to explain?” Ian asked.

He turned so he was staring out into the night. He’d never really belonged here. It was a temporary home at best, like all places in his life.

“Certainly, but Adam should find us a plane because we need to get to Italy.” He began his explanation, vowing silently to finish the job so he could finally let her go.

Chapter Sixteen

Chelsea came awake slowly, the world foggy and vague. Sound. She could hear something that sounded like thunder. No. Not thunder. Engines. She knew that sound.

Chelsea forced herself to sit up. Damn it. What the hell had happened and why was she so lethargic? Her body felt heavy, her eyelids barely able to open. For the first moment her vision was dimmed, but slowly the world started to come into focus. Yes, she had to focus.

Take stock. Figure out where you are.

She was in a chair, a seat belt around her middle. To her right was a small window.

Chelsea groaned. Damn her sister. She was on a plane. How the hell had they gotten her on a plane?

“Morning, sunshine,” Charlotte chirped from the seat beside her. “Aren’t you super happy to be awake? Rise and shine. We’re somewhere over New England. That makes me think of crab cakes. Damn, I’m hungry.”

“How long was I out?” She was suddenly aware of an aching pit in her stomach. Simon. The last thing she remembered was Simon’s face. He’d gone a careful blank, but not before she’d seen his hurt. It had been right there in his eyes. They’d widened and he’d looked down at her like she’d stabbed him in the heart and he was trying to find a way to make sense of it. And then the emotion had blinked from existence because he wouldn’t share with her anymore.

She’d killed it. She found it threatening and scary. Simon’s love had been something she didn’t understand so she’d done what she did with all things she didn’t understand; she’d gotten rid of it.

Oh, god, what had she done?

Charlotte looked down at her watch. “A couple of hours.”

“What?” Simon had done something to her. God, Simon had opened his arms and she’d walked into them, and if she needed any explanation of how thoroughly she’d killed any love he’d had for her it was there in the fact that he’d done that to her. Simon, who was always so careful with her, who rubbed her legs when they ached and placed his body in front of hers so he took whatever came her way, had pressed on her carotid until her brain no longer had the blood flow to properly function. It was a martial arts move and dangerous as hell. She could have died and apparently that had been fine with him.

And what had she expected? She’d basically told the man she’d used him for sex and that he wasn’t good for anything else.

Misery swamped her, a familiar friend. She understood misery in a way she just didn’t comprehend happiness. Happiness was climbing to the top of the building and feeling like the king of the world before the inevitable multistory fall broke her again.

Focus. She had to focus if she was going to deal with the situation. “I should have been out thirty minutes tops. Less really.”

“Oh, I dosed you with sedatives for transport. We had to do a little creative manipulation of the system. So we drove to Dallas and got on a Malone private jet and took it to Houston, where we then logged a flight plan for that plane to Phuket. Derek and Karina met us there. They’re flying as you and Simon and they’re so grateful for the honeymoon. It might involve a little gunplay, but apparently Karina hasn’t killed anyone in a while and it’s made her cranky. Meanwhile, we’re taking this Malone jet to Canada.”

“You drugged me like I’m a rabid fucking dog you needed to keep calm?”

Charlotte sighed and smiled. “Yes. Excellent analogy. I’m so glad you understand. We changed planes and used aliases. New ones. Adam can work fast when he has to. It’s just the five of us now. You and me and Simon and Ian and Jesse. Ian tried to tell Jesse he would handle it, but he took that whole partner speech seriously.”

Partner speech? She had to shake her head to try to clear it. She wasn’t sure what Charlotte was talking about, but one thing penetrated her brain. Simon was still here? It didn’t matter. It would be better if he’d left. She would have one less person to deal with. Her sister could be obnoxious. “Why? Why the hell did you do this?” She tried to stretch, but her leg was aching terribly. “I told you what I wanted. I’ll just walk away when we land. This was all for nothing. I’ll call Ten and he’ll come and get me.”

Charlotte picked up her glass from the table in front of her and turned her chair. They weren’t flying commercial. It looked like an executive jet. Was Simon in the cockpit?

Cock. She would never see his cock again. She was going to miss his cock forever.

“Ten is spitting mad.” Charlotte leaned over like they were gossiping about boyfriends or something. “He called Ian and left the nastiest voice mail. Something about murdering him but only after he’s played with his innards. He actually used the word innards. That boy’s country comes out when he’s mad. So, tell me how it was with Simon. Was he as good as he looks? Don’t tell Ian, but the whole suit thing kind of does it for me. He wasn’t a gentleman in bed, was he? He was all nasty, right?”

He’d been perfect. He’d given her everything he had and she would dream about him for the rest of her life. “It’s none of your business. When do we land?”

“Not for a while. We have to change planes again. We’re going to bed down in Toronto for a bit. We’re doing the equivalent of making sure we don’t have a tail so we won’t be where we need to be until sometime the day after tomorrow. Which gives us time to talk because that’s so not fair. I totally told you all about Ian.”

“I didn’t want to hear it.” Her sister was big with the over share. “I still don’t. I’m glad you’re happy with Ian and all, but I don’t want to be here. Are you really going to keep me against my will?”

She could still salvage this. If she got back to Ten, or even just got to talk to him so he knew she hadn’t run willingly, he would probably keep up his end of the bargain. Probably.

She had to make sure Simon was safe. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life on the run because she’d gotten him into a bad situation. Or worse, he wouldn’t run. He would turn himself in and face murder charges and The Collective probably had really good lawyers. He would get sent to prison and likely murdered himself. She couldn’t be the reason that happened.