Mr. Corporate (Mister #3) (25 page)

“Drop!” West yells. “Drop!”

I do it on instinct. My face hits the ground again as bullets fly past over my head.

He was alive.

He was alive.

And now he’s standing in the middle of a rainstorm of bullets.

The shooting stops and the helicopter whines, circling over the top of me, but the trees are too thick for them to aim.

And just as quick as all this started, it ends.

The helicopter tilts, and flies off.

I wait for the silence but it never comes.

Because that’s when the house explodes in a fireball.

I stay where I’m at for minutes, at least.

“Miss Arias?”

That motherfucker is not still alive.

“Miss Arias? Are you hurt?”

What is happening?

“Answer me, goddammit.”

“Tori,” West calls. “Tori! Where the fuck is she, dude?”

I stand up, unable to believe it. But he’s there. West is there, standing next to his friend, who has a bullet hole in his chest.

“What the fuck is going on?” I scream.

I run up to Paxton Vance and punch him in the face. He grabs hold of me by my arms, but West is there, tackling him to the ground.

I fall with them, and the three of us struggle.

I grab Vance’s rifle and pull, but he jerks back. “Tell her, asshole. Tell her before she gets us all killed!” Vance yells.

“He’s on our side, Tori. Just calm down! He’s on our side!”

I stop struggling and just lie there, panting. “What is happening? What the fuck just happened?”

“It’s OK,” West says, pulling me up off the ground. Vance gets up, pulling the barrel of his rifle out of my grip as I stand.

“I’m the fucking cavalry, Arias. So quit your bullshit and give me a fucking minute to explain.”

Chapter Thirty-Four - Weston

“This had better be good,” Tori growls.

“We don’t have time for that,” Pax says, one finger probing the hole I left in his armored vest. “Our ride is at the boat house right now. We need to go before those assholes start feeling guilty for leaving me behind and come back.”

I can’t argue with that. Because I can’t answer her question.

I have no idea what’s happening. All I know is that we have no choices here. We either stay on the island and hope for some kind of real rescue when people show up to investigate the explosions, or we go with Mysterious.

“Come on, Tori. We can talk about it once we’re safe.”

I expect a fight. I mean, what are the chances that Victoria Arias will ever go quietly?

But she says nothing.

Pax starts heading in the direction of the boathouse and she simply falls in line behind him. I take up the rear, and can’t help but be pissed off that her shirt is ripped open and Pax got a good view of her tits just now.

We walk the half a mile back to the lagoon in silence and even though I’m not expecting anyone to be there, there is someone there. A guy I’d like to punch in the face for many, many reasons.

Vlad the pilot is grinning like an asshole as we walk up to the boat.

“I count three living, breathing bodies,” he says. “So looks like this one went off without a hitch.”

“Don’t count the living just yet, Five. We’re not even close to being done here.”

Five. I
knew
that guy looked familiar.

Five was our fixer back when we were charged with rape. Five was the guy Match called to swoop in and tell us what to do.

“What the fuck is going on?” I ask, looking straight at Mysterious.

“Just get in the boat, man. I’ll explain along the way.”

“Nice to see you again, Vlad,” Tori snarls as she moves forward. But I grab her hand and turn her around to face me.

“Are you OK?” I ask, taking off my shirt and holding it open for her, so she can slip it on.

She sighs and looks down, like the tough girl just flew out of her with that exhale.

I button the shirt up so she’s covered again. “Are you hurt?” I ask.

She shakes her head and looks up to meet my gaze. “No. But I’m scared to fucking death right now.”

I pull her close and wrap my arms all the way around her body so I can hold her tight. “We’ll be all right. We’ll figure it out. OK?”

And even though it took a hit squad and two explosions to get what I’ve always wanted, I’m happy anyway.

Because she looks up at me and says, “I know. I trust you. Just get me out of here.”

Pax waves his hand towards the boat. “Get in, you guys. We’ve got a plane waiting for us back in the US. So we’re gonna go there, get on, dump the boat, and go to San Diego by air.”

“Why San Diego?” Tori asks as I help her into the boat.

Pax looks at me and says, “I got a place and we need to stick together until we sort all this out.”

I stare at him, not quite sure what to make of all this. OK, so he’s admitting he’s behind some of this. But how much? How much is him? And who else is involved?

“You got a problem, Corporate?” Pax asks.

I look over at Five—he’s telling Tori to go down below—then look back at Pax. “Where’s Oliver?”

“He’s waiting in San Diego. We’re meeting up with him.”

“And Nolan? Mac? Are they coming too?”

“No,” Pax says. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet? Why the fuck not? If this is connected to Nolan’s bullshit, he needs to be in on it.”

“Maybe it is. Maybe it’s not.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Did you tell her?” Pax nods his head in the direction of the boat.

“Tell her about what?”

“Who you really are?”

I study him for a moment. My jaw is clenching. “I told her.”

“You did, huh?” Pax says, laughing a little. “You told her everything?”

“Define everything.”

“Because I know everything, asshole. So did you or didn’t you tell her
everything
?”

“You don’t know shit. And whatever it is you think you know, you’re wrong. So get the fuck out of my business and back off.”

“So she knows who your real father is?”

I squint my eyes at Mysterious.

He squints back.

“What the fuck are you doing, Pax? Did you set me up? Did you set all this up? Was that whole thing with Wallace a lie?”

“We’ll talk about it in San Diego.”

“No, we’ll talk about it—”

“Not now, Corporate,” he says, cutting me off. “Unless you want me to go down in that boat and tell your girlfriend all the things you’ve been leaving out of your life’s story.”

I am so pissed off right now.

“Get. In. The boat.”

“We’re not done,” I say, bumping his shoulder as I go past.

“Not even close,” he says, following me.

I take a seat next to Tori, who is huddled up on an l-shaped sectional with a sleek teak marine table in front of her. She looks at me when I enter and takes a deep breath.

“You all right?” I ask, taking a seat next to her as she scoots over to make room for me. We suddenly feel like a team now. Us versus them.

“Yeah,” she says, wrapping her hands around my bicep and leaning into me. “Are you? I thought they killed you.”

“I’m fine,” I say, leaning down to kiss her head. I’m not going to worry about what Mysterious thinks he knows about my past. There are a lot of moving parts there. Best to let him spill before I come out swinging with a defense. “I went in the house, closed the safe. But by that time, those guys were already there. I found a backdoor and ran right into Pax, who sorta…” I look over at him as he talks with Five about whatever. “He sorta had a plan. I mean, he was expecting us to be in that safe room. And when we weren’t, he went outside looking, found me by the back door. We had to play it right to the last second so his team would leave him behind.”

“Who is his team?”

“I don’t know yet. I guess we’ll find out when we get to San Diego.”

She sighs. “I don’t want to go to San Diego, West. I just want to go home. I’m hungry, I’m tired, and I need a shower. I just want to go home.”

“You can’t go home, Miss Arias.”

Tori looks up. Paxton is standing in the entryway that leads to the control room. “Why not? What is going on?”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told Corporate. I don’t know yet. But whether you like it or not, you and this asshole are the reason this is happening. I can’t, in good conscience, cut you loose just yet.”

“Cut us—” Tori starts.

But I hold up my hand. “We’ll just wait, Tori. OK? We’re fine. Whatever is happening,” I say, throwing a look at Pax, “we’ll figure it out and be home in a few days.”

“Maybe,” Pax says. “Maybe not. I wouldn’t promise her anything you’re not sure you can deliver, Weston. And we’ve got a lot of come-to-Jesus moments ahead. For both of you. So if you’re tired, Miss Arias, I suggest you claim one of the cabins and get settled. We’re sailing to West Palm Beach first, then we’ll get on the jet and land in San Diego. So you’ve got plenty of time to rest up.”

Pax turns his back to us and goes back into the control room, like this conversation is over.

“Well, he’s an asshole,” Tori says.

I smile. “See, I’m not so bad.”

Her body shakes with a small laugh. “I’d like to take a shower. Do they have showers on these things?”

“I’m sure they do. Come on, let’s go check it out and claim a cabin.”

I wait for her to fight.
I’m not sleeping with you, Mr. Corporate.
Or,
Don’t order me around, you controlling pig.

But she doesn’t even put up a small fight when I take her hand, and stand up, and lead her past the galley and down the stairs to the cabins. I check the first door—occupied. Then the second—also occupied. We turn around and try the starboard side, open the next door and find it empty. “I guess we’ll take this one, huh?”

“I don’t care. Do you think they have any clothes I can wear?” Tori looks up at me. Everything that has happened in the last few days has finally caught up with her in this moment. She looks exhausted. Her eyes are ringed with dark circles, her arms and legs have red welts and scratches from running through the underbrush, and she’s got a cut on her cheek that looks painful.

“I’m sure I can find something. Look,” I say. “I bet this cabin has its own en suite.” I let go of her hand and walk into the cabin, which is spacious. The salon was well-equipped with a TV, a bar, and ample seating for at least twelve people. The cabin has a king-sized bed with luxury bedding and six pillows. There’s two doors—the first one, I discover when I open it up, is a closet. “Look, clothes.”

Tori walks up to me. “So they planned this whole thing?” She looks up at me, frowning. “They have clothes for me, West. What the hell is going on?”

“I’m not sure yet. Just… let’s… we just have to trust him, OK? I don’t have a good reason, I’ll admit it. I’m suspicious too. But we’re stuck here until we get to Palm Beach. I’m sure the jet he’s talking about is the one we share. So I’ll have more options once we get to the US. But for now, let’s just rest and keep our heads down. OK?”

I’m expecting a fight. Some protests at least. But Tori just hunches her shoulders and nods her head. “Is that one the bathroom?” She points to the other door.

I walk over to it and pull the door open. “Yup. And look, it’s got a tub. Why don’t you take a bath and just go to sleep?”

“Where are you going to be?”

“Feeling needy, Miss Arias?” I give her that crooked smile she loves so much.

And she cracks a small one in return, but it’s brief. “A little bit. But you can’t go too far, so I’ll be OK.”

“Go take a bath and I’ll be in after I grab something to wear from Pax. OK?” I kiss her tenderly on the lips and pull her into a hug. “We’re fine, Tori. Just fine.”

She nods and turns to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I head back up to the control room and find Five and Pax sitting at the bar getting drinks.