Randle's Princess (13 page)

“I’m not going anywhere.  Now get them off!” he yelled again.

She knew he was in a hurry to get rid of the bloody clothes.  She pulled off the shirt and Randle grabbed it from her right away.  Then with mere embarrassment she now stood in just her bra and panties and handed him the pants. 

“Now scrub yourself,” he then ordered as he disappeared from the room with her bloody clothing.  She had no idea what he was gonna do other than give them one of his people to dispose of for him.

She quickly fixed her water and climbed into the shower.  She grabbed a wash rag and lathered it up and scrubbed herself as hard as she could making sure she didn’t leave a trace.  Still not believing fully what she had just done she closed her eyes and continued to scrub her skin almost feeling like she had been raped.  She couldn’t get herself clean enough.

When she was finally sure she had all the evidence washed away she turned off the water and grabbed a towel to dry herself.  But now she had nothing else to put on.  She grabbed another towel and carefully placed it around her and tucked it firmly under to hold it in place.  She opened the bathroom door and thankfully Randle wasn’t there.  She walked into the bedroom and began to look around in hopes of finding one of Randle's large shirts to better cover herself.

Just as she eyed his suitcase the door flung open.  Oh dear she thought standing there almost completely exposed except for the towel as
Randle’s face filled with fury was upon her.  He came at her so quickly it was all she could do to walk backwards trying to keep away from him.  Then her legs hit the bed and she fell backwards landing with her elbows propping her upper body but he didn’t stop until he was nearly on top her near naked body with one hand on either side of her on the bed.

His face was now only inches from hers.  “What the hell were you thinking?” he let out with rage.

“I’m sorry Randle.  I really never meant to cause so much trouble,” she whined back.

“Trouble?  You almost got yourself killed.  You almost got us all killed!” he ranted.

Lia couldn’t move.  Her towel covered body was nearly pinned to the bed as Randle hovered over her. 

“I didn’t mean too, really,” she nearly whispered.  “I just wanted a little freedom.  I swear it won’t happen again.”

Randle finally rose but his eyes never left hers.  “It had better not.”  He seemed to be trying to calm himself.

“How did you find me?” she then got the nerve to ask.

“I knew where you were the moment you walked into this hotel,” he informed her. 

Lia looked with astonishment.  “But how?”

“Arthur called me right after you checked in.  He promised to keep a close eye on you so I agreed to give you a few days before coming to get you.  But then Thomas called and told me what was going down at the warehouse so I boarded my plane immediately and came to fix this mess.”

“And Thomas?”

“He’s done a couple of jobs for me.  I’ve known him for awhile.”

Lia thought for a moment and then it hit her.  The day she went to Randle’s office with him Jessica had paged that Mr. Whitman was on the phone for him.  She never put it together that it would be the same Mr. Whitman.

“So he’s a business partner of yours?” she then asked.

“Well, sort of,” he began.  “Lia, I built this hotel two years ago.”

“You
own
this hotel?” she cut in with much surprise.

He came to stand just in front her with his hands on her bare arms.  “No.  I built this hotel with the money Joseph put away for you after he sold your family property.  It was supposed to be a surprise for your twenty-fifth birthday.”

Lia looked confused.  “What are telling me?”

“
You
own this hotel Lia.  Arthur Whitman doesn’t work for me.  He works for
you
.  I named it the Malia, short for Malcolm-Lia.”

Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open as she began to speak again.  “How funny is that?  How could I possibly have picked this place to stay in not knowing that I myself owned it?”  She chuckled now at the thought.

“It was fate again,” Randle replied as his eyes steadied with hers.  “It has always been fate Princess.”  He again took her chin in his hand to bring her to look up at him.

Then his mouth again met hers.  Lia actually found herself wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back and enjoying the passion more than she ever had.

Then a knock at the door stopped them.  Lia actually felt disappointed.

  “Dammit,” Randle mumbled out as he neared it.  “That must be James.  He was gathering up your things from your room.”  He opened it and reached out to take the bags from James.  He walked back over and threw her suitcase and purse on the bed.

“Get dressed Princess.  We’re going home.”  Then he turned and again left her alone in the room.

The flight home from Vegas was rather quiet but uneventful.  A couple of weeks had passed now and Lia and Randle seemed to be getting their relationship back on track as he was finally easing up speaking to and treating her as he always had.  It was a beautiful Saturday morning now as Lia looked out her bedroom window and knew Randle would be home today.  She was hoping now she could talk him into taking her into town to do some shopping or maybe even a movie or something. 

She dropped the curtain and now made her way down the staircase toward his office.  All was quiet and peaceful and she knew even Betsy had the day off today so felt her chances were good because surely she knew Randle wasn’t about to cook for them. 

Not bothering to knock, Lia opened his office door and made her way inside.  Looking over she saw Randle sitting at his desk talking on the phone with someone as usual but he didn’t seem bothered by her sudden presence.  He only motioned with his fingers for her to come on in.  She made her way around to the back of the desk then made herself quite comfortable as she scooted up and sat on top of it just next to him, so close she was enjoying the smell of his cologne and admiring how handsome he actually was with his perfectly groomed brown hair, glowing blue eyes and clean shaven face.  And today he was actually dressed in blue jeans but still had his white dress shirt and suit jacket on as well.  It was rare for her see him wearing jeans but she found herself thinking he looked rather sexy in them now.

“Fine, I’ll see you this afternoon then,” she heard him say as he finally ended the call.

“Good morning Princess,” he greeted with a bright grin and seemed in a rather happy mood today.

“Good morning, why are you all smiles today?” she then asked.

“Oh I don’t know.  Do I really need a reason?” he chuckled up at her.

“I guess not.  So how busy are you today?” she then asked.

“Uh-oh.  Why do you ask?” he teased back.  “There’s usually trouble when you get bored.”

“Oh come on.  I was just hoping the two of us could go into town today.  Spend some alone time together,” she replied finding herself almost flirting with him.

“Maybe later.  I have a few calls to make and I’m expecting a visitor later this afternoon,” he answered as he began shuffling through some papers on his desk.

“Well, at least you didn’t say no,” she responded with a little disappointment.  She knew now he’d probably get so involved with all his work the day would be over with by the time he finished it.  That’s usually what happened.

“Oh come on Princess.  Don’t look so sad.  I’ll hurry the best I can just for you.  I promise,” he then tried to assure her as he stood up and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead.

“But I really miss getting out with you.  Marc just isn’t the best company,” she persisted.

Randle smiled at her sweet voice.  He could almost never say no to her.  “Ok, my visitor isn’t coming till later so I guess a couple of hours out and about won’t hurt a thing,” he finally gave in.

She relaxed her hands on his shoulders and smiled back.  “So where too?  A movie maybe?”

“That takes too long.  I need to be back here sooner than that so how about lunch and little shopping?” he offered as a settlement.

“Sounds awesome but this time I get to pick the place and you’re just gonna have to suck it up,” she teased.

“Oh dear, what have I gotten myself into?” he laughed back at her.  “Let me get the car and I’ll pick you up out front.”  He opened the top right drawer of his desk and grabbed a set of keys then made his way outside.

 Lia was actually happy to be spending time with him now.  After her escapade in Vegas she no longer had the desire to run off and be out on her own and was pretty sure Randle knew it.  That episode had scared her immensely and she really thought she was going to die.

She almost jumped down the front steps of the house making her way to join Randle in his Mercedes when he finally drove around to pick her up. 

“Where to first?” he asked as soon as she finally shut the door and put on her seatbelt. 

“To the first pizza parlor you see,” she replied laughing.

“Oh come on!” he almost yelled back but was smiling at the same time.

“Oh no…you agreed this was my day out and I get to decide.  I’ve been craving pizza all week,” she insisted.

“Oh gees…pizza it is,” he actually agreed and without further delay he put the car in gear and began to drive.

“And I think I’m gonna drink a beer too,” she then pushed.

“Oh I don’t think so.  Not my crazy little Princess.”

It only took a few minutes for Randle to pull into the pizza parlor and park the car.  He sat for a moment looking at the building then turned to face Lia.  “Am I really doing this?” he asked grinning widely.

Lia already had her seatbelt off and was pulling at the door handle.  “Yes you are.  Now come on, you’re gonna have more fun than you ever have,” she promised.

“If you say so,” he reluctantly replied but followed her lead and got out of the car.

As they made their way inside a waitress met them at the door.  “Seat yourselves and I’ll be right over,” she instructed them.

Lia grabbed Randle’s hand and pulled him behind her as if he were her child.  She went straight to the back of the building and found them an empty circular booth in the corner.  She was hoping to make Randle feel a bit more at ease if she didn’t display him out in the middle of everyone else.

“How’s this?” she asked as she slid around to the back of the overstuffed seat and he made his way over just next to her.

“Fine, fine,” he replied as if he were only humoring her now.

“Oh come on Randle.  Smile.  You’ve gotta eat junk food once in a while.”

He just looked at her grinning as the waitress now handed them menus.  “What can I get you to drink?” she then asked.

Before Lia could speak Randle ordered for both of them.  “Bring us a pitcher of beer and two mugs,” he replied with a chuckle.

Lia couldn’t help but laugh out loud.  “Really?” she asked.

“What the hell?” he responded.  “I’ve come this far, may as well do it right.”

She couldn’t believe he was being so easy going today.  They actually had a really good time and watching Randle eat pizza and drink beer she knew was something that she would probably never again witness. 

Once they left the pizza parlor they stopped at one of Lia’s favorite clothing boutiques but Randle waited patiently by the counter as she shopped not caring to rummage through women’s clothing with her but watched her every move closely.  He paid for all her merchandise and finally convinced her to finish up so he could make his afternoon appointment.