Forever Distraction (Distraction #3) (27 page)

“Let me go
,” I hissed.

The elevator door opened and he stepped over the threshold
, following my two bodyguards and speaking as if he was annoyed through gritted teeth. “Never.”

“Why did he call you Romeo? Why did he call you anything?” I
asked with my own fueled irritation.

“You know why
,” he snapped, and I did; it was the domination club. He worshipped my father like everyone else, and the Romeo comment had something to do with the line of awaiting women. Ugh, I thought I was going to be sick. How could he not have known? I look like them.

“Don’t you think it’s odd I look just like her?”
The bitter sound the words made as they slipped from my lips had me shivering. I sounded identical to my mother. But seriously, how couldn’t he have known?

“When I look at you,” he paused and his soft eyes found mine
, “I don’t see her.” He shifted his eyes back to the path in front of him and I was confused. He didn’t appear as furious as he sounded. In fact, I saw conflicting things—comfort, love, and torment. I laid my head on his chest, wondering what was going on behind his emerald eyes.

****

Jason

We reached the car; Owen slipped in the back seat with us and I struggled with setting her in the seat next to me. Instead, I held her tightly thinking about Doc’s strength and his need for perfection. So many pieces of the puzzle fell into place and I couldn’t let her go. She was mine and he hurt her. The car started to move and my eyes snapped to Owen’s; anger was written all over his face. I wondered what he knew about the abuse. “Princess, I just want to be absolutely fucking clear—was that your father?” It was a simple question and something that was obvious, but I needed to hear her say it. I needed to process it while holding onto her.

“
Yes,” she breathed.

“He’s the monster in your dreams
, the reason you are scared of the closet.”

She
jerked away from me and eyed me with a mixture of stunned confusion and embarrassment, like she couldn’t believe I knew. Her blues shifted to Owen and then back to me. “Yes.” It was clear and loud, and fuck if she wasn’t holding her chin high so she wouldn’t appear weak.

“Who else?
I want a list. Who are the monsters in your dreams?” I demanded. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Owen, and I knew she didn’t want him to know. She pushed away from me, but I wasn’t going to back down on this. I grabbed her chin between my thumb and my forefinger and waited until her wide blue eyes met mine. “Look at me, not Owen, just me.”

“Dr.
Holtin.” Her voice was soft, like she was ashamed. Who the fuck was Holtin? Was it Thomas Holtin, the asshole from last night’s party?

Owen
’s voice broke the silence this time. “That’s the guy who examined you at the hospital the first day you were back. He gave you the ‘thorough exam’, the same man who gave you a birth control shot.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. There were two people I was going to maim.
I fisted her hair in my hand and stared directly into her eyes. “Did he touch you,” I swallowed, looking for a nice way to put it, “inappropriately?” Her eyes closed and I squeezed my fist, tightening my hold further. Her eyes popped open and she licked her lips slowly. “Did you say no—no to the shot, no to the examination?”

Her innocent eyes glazed over and I knew I wasn’t going to get any information.
“Anyone else, princess?” I gave her a moment; I could see nervousness in her fidgety hand movements and I brought her face to mine again, attempting to calm her. “It’s going to be okay.” I lightened my hold on her hair, weaving my fingers into the soft hair at the back of her head in a coaxing way. “You are mine. I need to know who hurt what’s mine.”

She responded immediately to this
, her blue eyes turning vulnerable as she shook her head. “That’s it, no other demons.” I swallowed the large lump in my throat and kissed her forehead.
Mine
. “I know Owen, Jason; he will kill the men who hurt me,” she whispered, and I gave her a huge, smug grin. She had no idea how safe she was now.

“Yes, Kat
arina, there’s no need to worry about monsters anymore. We’ll take care of everything.” I pulled her close and tucked her head into my neck.

“No, Jason, you can’t kill anyone. You have to promise. You believe in God
, and if you kill someone, you’ll go to hell. Please, promise.”

I gritted my teeth and squeezed her tight.
“I can’t promise…yet. Give me time; right now, I want the people who hurt you to pay a price.” My heart resonated in my chest, her hand moved over it, and I watched the pad of her finger tap to the beat. It was both hypnotizing and calming.

“Jared gave me something. He said it would
‘rock the boat’. It was his apology for what happened between us.”

What
?
“When did you see Jared?” I questioned. Her body stirred and I knew it was to check on Owen, so I held her snug, not allowing her to budge from her spot.

“He handed me an envelope
, and when I called him, he told me he was disappearing and I needed to create waves. The envelope had a flash drive and papers inside.” Her whisper was only intended for me.

Owen
’s growl echoed over the back of the vehicle. “When?”

Kat
arina leaned back to look at him, her eyes shifting from me to Owen. “Coffee shop.”

I carefully placed
her in the seat next to me; the tension radiating off of Owen made me feel like I needed to protect her from him. I buckled her in and moved my arm around her shoulders to hold her close.

“Nobody dies, Smith
,” she told him, her eyes narrowing in an unspoken challenge. “Jared told me someone was after him. He got information for me to help me separate from Thomas, so stop the hunt. He’s a selfish prick, but he is convinced we were in love. He’s not going to hurt me.”

Owen crossed his arms
, visibly irritated at what she was saying. “I think it’s a good thing your grandfather’s dead, because he would’ve taken you over his knee for your constant stupidity,” he replied.

Kat
arina broke her stare on Owen, leaned back against her seat, and defiantly laughed. When she finally pulled her annoyance together, she peered around me to get Owen’s attention. “If Jared didn’t do what he did to me, I would still be living with monsters. Think of Jared as a dark hero, a necessary evil. It was a pivotal moment, but I wouldn’t change it. The papers Jared gave me said at the age of sixteen I was to be married to Thomas. Please, leave Jared out of it.”

Laughter roared out of Owen
, and it was such a unique sound it made me laugh. “I want the information, all of it. I’ll review it, and if it’s helpful, I’ll think about what you just said.”

“It’s at work in the top desk drawer
; the flash drive is in my purse,” she said. Owen started dialing before she finished her sentence and the conversation was over. Katarina stared out the window, and I was left to wonder how she knew Owen would kill these men.

“Princess
,” I whispered into her hair, “how do you know Owen’s lethal?”

She turned
, eyeballing Owen as he hung up the phone. “I scared him once. I jumped out from behind the door and he screamed like a little girl—right before he pulled a gun on me. He told me he kills people for a living, and I know it was mainly to scare me, but I believe him.”

Owen grumbled from the other side of the car
, “I didn’t scream like a girl.”

Katarina
’s smile was huge. “Yep, you sure did. It was more like a Smurf—Smurfette, actually.” Her voice went up into a high whine as she mimicked, “‘Oh no, Gargamel, woe is me.’”

I laughed
, and just like that, she had Owen smiling and me grinning like a fool. She twisted to stare out the window after we settled, allowing me a vision of her side profile, all the sleek lines that make Katarina beautiful and sexy. I couldn’t help but wonder what she was thinking about.

****

The airport resembled a massive parking lot, with giant industrial buildings scattered on the outer edges and covered stalls filled with a variety of airplanes. We were directed toward a large plane at the end of the runway. Katarina got out after me and I led her toward the stairs and eased her into the fancy jet. It was more like a living room, with a table in the corner, couches spread out around the edges, soft chairs toward the back, and a giant screen against the pilot’s cabin. Katarina walked to the corner, sat on the gray, leather, built-in couch closest to the window, and I sat next to her. Owen followed, handing Katarina her purse. She opened a hidden pocket and pulled out a flash drive. I watched as her eye twitched, and the familiar resisting-of-the-eye-roll happened. He stuck out his hand and she slammed the flash drive into it.

She turned away from me and my gut twisted at
the cold feeling she sent me. I reached for my jacket and pulled out the camera Katarina had given me. “So, I have never been on a private plane,” I confessed to her. She slowly turned, and when she saw the camera, her face brightened. “It’s a first.”

Her smile was
exquisite, resembling the sun poking through on a cloudy day, and I might have moaned out loud. She took the camera and said, “So you’re a
first timer
.” My cock jerked when she stressed ‘first timer’. She fiddled with the buttons and it came to life, and then snapped a couple shots before the battery died. “We’ll have to charge it when we get to your house.”

“Or
, I could buy a battery when we land,” I countered.

Her smile was smug
and I adored it. I studied her face as it suddenly fell and she turned away. Her brain was a ticking time bomb, and I knew she was in a dark corner and I hated it. “What did you just think about?” She twisted in her seat to gaze at me and I could practically hear the wheels turning.

“I was robbed. I was thinking about how you took a gift from me.” She spoke slowly
, like every word hurt.

My heart took on a heavy ache that echoed through my entire body.
“What did I take?” My mind was too numb to think about all of the possibilities, because there were mountains of things she could be referring to.

“You took a first away from me.” Her eyes blinked and I watched her long lashes flutter closed
, and I knew I was royally screwed. The look was regret, and I wanted to tear her from her seat and hold onto her like a mad man so she wouldn’t escape me. Fuck, I was insecure. Long seconds passed, but it felt like uncomfortable hours, but then she finished, “The first time you came in me—I wish I could have watched your face. I wish I could have taken a picture of it. I was your first, right?”

She literally stunned me silent. Of all of the things…all of the crazy
, fucked up things I have done and regretted, that one single thing was the furthest from my mind, because I didn’t regret it. A smile stretched over my face and hers immediately lit up. “You were my first and only. I make the same face I do now, because it always feels like the first time. You are incredibly soft and wet, and I’m not sure if it’s the lack of condom or the spark that’s always between us, but every time I am bare inside you, I can’t get enough. I am scared, grateful, and most of all, I am a greedy bastard. I want more and more…fuck, princess. Like I said, I can’t get enough.”

“Why are you scared?”
It was a thought she whispered aloud. Her face morphed into confusion.

“I
’m scared, because of how much I love you.” I traced my finger down her face. “I’m scared, because I am a lion and you are a butterfly.” I winked, knowing I changed ‘rabbit’ to ‘butterfly’, and she rewarded me with an easy smile. “I’m scared you don’t feel what I do, the intensity, and you’ll disappear.” I leaned over and kissed her, letting my tongue explore. The moisture in her mouth drove me insane. I could drink her. We continued to kiss, taking turns exploring each other’s mouth, breathing each other’s breath, and I could have done that for the rest of the day. My hand explored her body and her hair, never giving her a chance to have the last word, because nothing she could say would change how I felt.

My mouth devoured hers
, and the outside word drifted away. A pretend-cough broke our lips apart; I pulled away and Katarina groaned, the sound making me chuckle. Brian glared down at us and said, “I want to go over some details of the project you’ve been working on.”

Kat
arina straightened her skirt and tucked her hair behind her ears, while Brian got comfortable on the other side of her, and they conversed the entire remaining hour of the flight. Owen and her other bodyguard sat closest to the door. Owen flipped through paper after paper of what I assumed was the documents Katarina had in her desk, the documents Brian brought, because I’m a hundred percent sure he’d already said his goodbyes to Katarina. I studied Owen as he searched through his jacket, pulled out a pen, and began circling things, and then I closed my eyes.

A large
, black Escalade with tinted windows and chrome accents was waiting for us when we landed. We loaded and immediately took off. The whole action was speedy and swift. I glanced back at the plane, knowing our luggage was never loaded into the vehicle. Katarina’s eyes distracted me. She was watching me closely, and I reveled in it. I adjusted so she could get a better look, flexing my muscles, giving her my intimate stare and panty-dropping smile.