High Stakes (The Kingdom Book 2) (38 page)

“Okay,” she sobs, “I can’t do this with you standing at the door, and crying like a baby.” She swipes the back of her hand across her cheeks, and blows out a breath. “Take care of her D- man,” she instructs, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. He wraps his arm around her waist and pulls her tight into him.

“Don’t you worry about that. Take care of you, okay?”

“Yep.”

“Call me if you need anything. I mean, anything at all, day or night,” he orders.

“Yes, sir.” she sobs loudly, and takes her bags from him.

“You sure I can’t drive you to the airport?” he asks.

“Nope. Cab’s waiting,” she says, jabbing the elevator button.

She’s so damn stubborn.

“Now please take my girl inside, shut the door, then screw her brains out to keep her from thinking about me, okay?” Lottie demands.

Denham laughs from deep down in his chest. “Okay,” he says, stepping back from the threshold. “Take it easy, Lotts.”

“You too, D.”

“Love ya,” Denham says quietly, which somehow makes me cry even harder.

“Uh huh,” she replies, swallowing hard and finding herself unable to form any more words, as she steps back into the elevator, and the doors start to close.

“I love you, Lottie!” I call out.

“I love you, babe,” she calls, her words just making it through the gap in the doors as they shut.

Then she’s gone.

I know it’s what she needs to do. It’s what she
wants
to do. But it hurts to know she’s going to be so far away.

“She’ll be back,” Denham soothes, pulling me into his chest and stroking my hair.

“She’s going to be so far away,” I sob, rubbing my nose into his shirt.

“London isn’t that far. We will go and visit her once she gets settled, okay?”

“Why couldn’t she have ventured to New York or something? Why so far?”

“She’s hurting, Stunner. She needs to find a way to heal her heart.” He shrugs with me still tight in his arms, and I know he’s right. When Spike found out he had lost the use of his legs, he was angry at the world. He still is. He pushed Lottie away, which cut her deep.

“For fuck’s sake.” We hear yelling from across the hall, in the other penthouse.

“I’ll go,” Denham sighs.

“No, let me,” I say, tiptoeing to kiss him on the cheek.

Spike was only allowed home from the hospital on the proviso that he had someone to care for him. This didn’t go down too well with him. He’s a grown man, who’s lived on his own for years, so he didn’t want to move back in with Dana, much to her disappointment. So, Denham had the other penthouse converted to suit Spike’s wheelchair. That way we could be just across the hall, but he could be independent too.

“Spike,” I call out as I push the door open.

“I’m fine,” he snaps.

I can’t see him but his voice is close. He’s in the kitchen, and as I approach, I see that he’s knocked his mug off the countertop, and there’s hot coffee everywhere.

“Shit. Spike. Let me help you.”

“NO,” he shouts. “Please, Ari. I can do it, okay?” he pleads.

It’s hard to stand here and watch him struggle, but I respect his wishes. Although we’ve adapted everything in this apartment for his needs, and he has a custom made wheelchair, he’s struggling, physically, and emotionally.

He wipes over the countertop and drops the mug in the sink. He drops his head back and looks up to the ceiling with a huge sigh. I stand next to him quietly for a moment, and put my hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Spike,” I whisper. This is all my fault.

“Ari … Just stop, okay?”

“But—”

“No. It’s not your fault. That crazy motherfucker would have done something sooner or later. It was always in the cards, we just didn’t know it. So enough with the apologies.”

I nod. Trying to accept the truth in his words, but it’s so hard.

“Lottie just left,” I say quietly.

He blows out a breath and rakes a hand over his face. “I know.”

“You could have—”

“Don’t even say it, Arianna,” he warns. “It’s bad enough that I have to live with this shitty existence day to day. I won’t do that to her too.”

“Spike.”

“It’s not up for discussion. She’s free to live her life now, with a man that can be a man. With someone that can treat her how she deserves to be treated.”

“What if someone treats her like dirt?”

“Then I’ll find that person and make them wish they were never born.”

“But she’s leaving for London, Spike. London!”

“Don’t you think I know that, Ari?” His voice starts to rise. “Don’t you think it’s going to kill me not to see her beautiful face every day? Not to hear her voice … Fuck me. I love her. I fucking love her more than life itself. Which is why I have to let her go. She deserves more than I can give her. I’m no use to her like this,” he says angrily. I wrap both of my arms around him from behind the wheelchair and squeeze him tight. I hate that he feels this way. I hate everything that has happened. I hate that I can’t do a damn thing to make this better for Spike, or Lottie. It hurts to see them so miserable. I just hope and pray that Lottie will come back soon, and Spike will see that she loves him no matter what.

Everyone has been affected by Jonny. Everyone has been tainted by his cruel obsessions. But he’s not here anymore, and life goes on. The more we dwell on the past, the harder it is to move forward, and the stubborn girl in me will most certainly not let him win from beyond the grave.

I STAND OUTSIDE OF CHIQUE
, and watch my girl as she finishes up for the day. She doesn’t know I’m coming to meet her, I thought I’d take her by surprise.

After what has probably been the hardest couple of months of our lives, things are finally starting to settle down.

Amy is currently serving a sentence in the Nevada women’s correctional center, for aiding criminal activity. Her dealings with Jonny went deeper than we realized, and she had gotten herself in way over her head. However, I couldn’t feel sorry for her. It was karma for every shitty thing she’d ever done to anyone. Not only had she sold me out, she had used her tits and ass to seduce Dom, my tech guy. Which in turn, led him to help her fuck with the security and CCTV systems. If it wasn’t for them, it would have been much harder for Jonny to get to Arianna. But I’m sure he would have figured out a way somehow. It was lucky for Dom that the LVMPD got to him before I did, and he doesn’t ever want to show his face around here again. Fucking sad excuse for a man.

Spike is doing really well; he’s dealing with his paralysis better than I ever thought he would. As much as his condition sucks, it won’t beat us. I would rather have him around like this, than not at all. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t hard, but he’s a fighter. I’ve tried to talk to him about Lottie but he won’t hear me out, I guess it’s just going to take time. He has the rest of us: me, Ari, mom, and Tara, and I will spend every day trying to make it the best for him. He’s my brother and my best friend, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for him.

There isn’t a foreboding cloud hovering over us and The Kingdom like there was before, and the mysteries from the past have been solved. Who would have thought that Jonny Ellison was the cause of everything for all those years? But with him gone, there are no threats. There’s no reason to look over our shoulders for fear of repercussions. So we can move on. Move forward with our lives, together. And now that I have Arianna back, I’m not ever letting her go.

“Hey, handsome!” Ari chirps as she bounces through the double doors. Fuck, she never gets less beautiful. “What are you doing here, is everything okay?”

I push myself off the wall with a smile, and plunge both of my hands through her hair, cradling her nape and pulling her lips to mine before she has a chance to say anything else.

“Happy Birthday,” I murmur against her lips.

“Thank you. Although I think you wished me a happy birthday this morning.”

“Oh Stunner, that was just for starters,” I growl and nip her neck with my teeth. She yelps then laughs, and although I know it didn’t hurt, I suck gently to soothe any sting it might have left.

“I love my bracelet.” She beams, admiring the diamond eternity band around her wrist. She tilts it so it catches in the light, and her eyes sparkle with happiness. I love to see her smile, her pure spirit and now unguarded happiness; she makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world.

“Good. I’m pleased,” I say, kissing her cheek. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?”

“Three words, Ari. Diamonds, heels and lace.”

I scoop her up in my arms before she can reply, the thought of her in diamonds, heels or lace is enough for me to march back toward The Kingdom with a quickened pace. Knowing I’m going to have her in all of them gives me the strength of a thousand men.

“So let me get this right,” she says as I walk with her in my arms. “You get to unwrap me, for my birthday?”

“Oh no, Stunner.
You
get to unwrap you, while I watch … and then I’ll be giving you multiple birthday presents.”

“Is that a promise?” she asks unashamedly, which makes me beam with pride at the confident woman she is becoming.

“You should know by now that I always keep my promises. I would never make you a promise that I can’t keep.”

Her eyes soften, and I stop momentarily to take her mouth with mine, before continuing down the strip to fulfill my promise to her.

I carry Arianna the whole way home, through the foyer, and into the elevator. I don’t want to let her out of my arms. I want to stay cocooned with her forever, in our own little bubble of happiness. And every time I have this thought, it makes me fall in love with her even more, if that’s even possible. She amazes me every day with her strength and resilience. Her ability to love and trust after everything she has been through makes me so damn proud of her. I’m a lucky man to be able to call her mine.

I let us into the penthouse with her still in my arms, and carry her straight through to the bedroom, setting her gently in the middle of the bed.

“Before you get unwrapped and I forget that anything else exists, I have something for you.”

“You do?” she asks excitedly.

“Yes, here,” I say, grabbing the large box from behind the bedroom door. I did my best to wrap it myself, but I won’t be winning awards for my efforts any time soon.

“But, you already got me something.”

“Yes, and I already got you something else, do you want it?”

“Of course!” she squeals, before slipping her heels off and sitting cross-legged in the center of the bed.

“Happy birthday, Stunner,” I say, handing her the box.

I start to get a little nervous. I can’t explain it. I’m pretty sure she’s going to love it, but the nerves are still there none-the-less. I sit on the edge of the bed beside her as she unties the bow, and pulls the lid off with no hesitation whatsoever.

“Oh my, you didn’t … Lace Dentelle Louboutins. They are … they’re just,” she stumbles over her words, and clutches her new heels to her chest. “I love them. I love them,” she shrieks. I was advised by Beth that these were the most sought after shoes in the city. They looked just like any other high heels to me, but Arianna had expressed her love for them, many times, but refused to buy them for herself for fear of being too extravagant. Until I met Arianna, I had no affinity with heels. Now, as long as they are on her, I fucking love them.