To Catch A Rook (All The Queen’s Men #1)

22. Chapter 19 – Hillary

M arty: Deal’s done. On your desk for the morning.

I shot off a text in response, relieved to have this particular company off my hands. Marty was a gem, working late into the evening once again to help lighten my load. I loved the man.

I stared out the window as Josephine drove down the winding road that led to the base of the mountain. The rich landscape of color, the gold, crimson, and copper of autumn dotting the tops of the trees was the perfect tapestry to calm my roiling mind, even if just for a moment.

We were well outside the cl ustered city boundary, heading toward the farming fields in the river valley below.

When Lauchlan suggested skydiving as a ‘real’ date, I had swiftly turned him down and suggested a hot-air balloon ride instead. I liked to play my well-calculated games as much as the next mercenary-trained billionaire, but I was not jumping out of a plane with a man who was after … something.

Naturally, I assumed he was after money; it was usually what everyone wanted from me, after all. I had been pruned and prodded from the time I was born to be a cash cow; for Daddy, for Stanley, Logan … and those were just the blatantly obvious agreements.

I’d fended off many men and women when I came into my grandmother’s inheritance. Luckily, being born a Lane and owning several successful businesses already had given me a healthy dose of detachment and suspicion. Opportunistic assholes came and went, bowing out or shoved out before they could make any headway into my head or my heart.

Once I’d built my empire, trusting people no longer mattered. Everyone I did business with was thoroughly vetted. I had very few people in my personal circle, and they were all I needed. Anyone else was just a fun distraction.

Now I knew Lauchlan was working for Alvarez, I wasn’t sure what his end goal was, but I was determined to find out.

Neither Alejandro nor Marco knew anything about my personal mission—that I was sure of. Other than picking off individual predators, I hadn’t even made a dent in the trafficking situation, and the pressing weight of that failure on my chest grew heavier with each new day.

Blackbird had hacked into the HR records and sent them to me this morning; Lauchlan had only worked for the compan y for a month, just a few weeks after our meeting at Quintessence.

Coincidences, again. Lauchlan was steeped in too many to believe there wasn’t a much bigger plan at play.

Josephine drove us out to the grassy field just as the sun dipped toward the horizon, large and orange. I mulled over the situation.

Hot-air balloon rides relied on wind currents, and sunrise or sunset were the best times to float on the breeze. I’d opted for sunset; as much as I believed in ‘ carpe diem ,’ I wasn’t interested in spending the first minutes of my morning with a con artist in a farmer’s field.

That, and, with my growing nightmares, I’d slept in three times this week. My haunted past roamed my subconscious, pacing deep grooves in the fabric of my mind. I was desperate for a session with Sammy instead of this farce of a date, but curiosity was getting the better of me.

If worse came to worse, Lauchlan could be a stress reliever as a human dildo tonight. There were worse things.

Joey turned onto the short country lane leading to the clearing where Lauchlan was scheduled to meet us. Despite all of my adventures, I’d never taken a hot-air balloon ride before. Logan hated heights, and regardless, it wasn’t the kind of couple’s activity he and I had ever engaged in.

I could have suggested dinner, but I didn’t have the energy to have a long, drawn out conversation with someone who evidently knew how to lie for a living. A person was more truthful when they weren’t in a familiar environment. So, Lauchlan and I could dance around ‘Two Truths and a Lie’ all evening, three thousand feet in the air over a bottle of champagne and strawberries.

It would look and feel like the real thing, and maybe I’d be a few truths closer to figuring him out.

I spotted his candy-colored muscle car long before we came close to it, the unnatural blue a stark contrast to the brilli ant orange skyline. As he climbed out of the low driver side door, I took the moment to appreciate the raw sex appeal of Lauchlan O’Donnell before he could see the attraction all over my face.

His outfit reminded me of the first night we’d met. Tight dark denim jeans molded over thick thighs and a full ass—the ass I’d gotten quite acquainted with—with dark brown boots. A burgundy sweater peeked out beneath the rugged brown leather jacket that gave him naughty bad-boy energy for days. Aviators covered his mischievous eyes with the setting sun, but the curl of his knowing smirk and messy windswept hair did nothing to hide his ‘fuck it’ air.

Lucky was a hot piece of ass, and I planned to fuck it a few more times before I sacrificed that sexy body on the altar of my revenge.

I pulled myself together as Joey came to a stop. Then I slid out the rear passenger door to greet my tasty little thief.

“It’s great to see you, Blondie.”

His solid arms pulled me into a hug before I could get out a word. The unique scent of him—cedar and cherry cola—swallowed me in a cloud of Lucky. For one tiny second, I allowed myself to melt in it.

Even I wasn’t immune to the pull of powerful arms and crushing body heat when treading through a lake of problems and crisis. My heart and head didn’t need to get involved; I could lean into biology without compromising one second of my greater crusade.

“You too.” I pulled out of his hold to flash him a quick smile and tried to step back altogether, but he snared my hand and clamped it in his.

I froze in place, my fingers going limp in his warm grip. Blissful dominating sex was one thing—holding hands like we were some sort of domesticated couple was not the pictur e perfect postcard I had been going for—even the pretend kind in an empty field in the middle of nowhere.

Still, a ploy’s a ploy. I’d done much more for much less potential payback. So I unfroze and squeezed his fingers gently, then I led him toward the corner of the clearing where our balloon ride waited.

“Is she our chaperone this evening?” Lauchlan removed his sunglasses and dipped his head toward Joey still seated stoically in the driver’s seat of my Land Rover. “If you wanted an escort tonight, love, I could have just invited a friend.”

Joey’s gaze tracked us as we walked further out into the field, but she made no move to get out of the car.

“Where I go, Joey goes.” I shrugged my shoulders dismissively. “Workplace hazard. She’ll wait down here, though.”

His stare lingered on my driver/bodyguard for a second longer than casual interest suggested. I stole back his attention.

“Besides, if you’re suggesting a threesome, Lucky boy, I’m the one inviting the guest.” I licked my lips; his heated gaze followed the trail of the tip of my tongue. “Or do you forget who your master is?”

The sizzling interest in those sea-glass eyes melted into wicked delight. He stopped us in our tracks in the middle of the tall grass and spun me around to face his smirking pout head on.

“Oh, ho! You think because I let you rail me up the arse, you’re my Dom now, do ya?” A devious little grin matched the sin in his stare. “Blondie, I believe in equal opportunity. I like to give orders too.”

I’ll bet.

I snorted, unable to entertain that thought for a second. “Sorry, Lucky.” I shook my head with my own sultry smile, sweeping my gaze over the spatter of dark freckles along his cheekb ones and the rust-colored stubble along his jaw. “I’m the boss. I’m always the boss.”

For everyone except one broody Viking and another brutish businessman.

Lauchlan's eyes shifted to the color of stormy seas as he stepped closer. My nose temporarily buried in the folds of the cedar-scented wool atop his hard chest.

“I don’t believe that for a second, love.” His calloused thumb stroked along my jaw and tilted up my head. “Beautiful brats just love a good spanking every now and again to keep that fiery blood in check, ay?”

Okay—I could maybe get on board with that plan.

He kept his grip on my chin and skimmed the other hand up my thigh to possessively cup my hip.

“They do,” I said, slightly dipping my head to brush his thumb over the soft flesh of my lip. I parted them slowly, letting the thick digit slip into my mouth and cradling it with my tongue before I sucked hard on the salty skin.

I popped it out with an exaggerated flourish, but the effect was instant. “And I’m the one who spanks them.”

A creeping rosy flush colored the pale skin of Lucky’s neck, and the blown pupils and granite-hard rod between us told me all I needed to know.

For one fraction of a moment, I let the dark heat of his stare spread warmth through my insides and pull me out of our little gauntlet. For one blissful second, we were just two people in a field about to share the whimsical adventure of childhood dreams.

But I didn’t do adventures. I punished pedophiles; maimed and tortured the demons walking as humans. I built cities and organized kingdoms. I wasn’t an innocent standing in tall grass at sunset about to share a sweet date with her lover. And neither was Lucky.

We were playing a dangerous game. Each move needed a jarring reminder this dance floor we dallied on was merely a dirty carpet.

I slipped out of his hold before the lust could dissolve my facade of a fact-finding mission into a rudimentary rut.

Pulling his body along with mine, I upped my pace until we stood within the balloon’s eight-story shadow. Its rippling kaleidoscope of patterns and colors loomed over us like a joyful mirage.

“We need to leave in three, Ms. Lane!” The young pilot with braided blond hair shouted over the roar of the burner as the balloon was inflating. “We don’t want to miss the sunset off Pillar’s Peak.”

Instead of straining my voice, I nodded my understanding. Lauchlan nestled behind me and we watched the pilot conduct a few more safety checks. His hold to his body probably looked casual, but the weight of his forearms across my chest felt intentional.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” he whisper-yelled into my ear above the din of the pitchy exhaust. “I’m geeking out, Blondie!”

Agreed. A hot-air balloon was the simplest of science, but it held an allure far more magical than the invention of a modern airplane. I couldn’t keep the girlish grin off my face as we stepped onto the platform and lifted off into the sky.

Aside from the aggressive whoosh of the propane flames burning up into the balloon, the ride was exceptionally quiet. Our pilot was silent as she conducted several safety checks and then gave us room to relax—as much room as you could give someone in a 12-by-12 suspended square.

Side by side, we leaned against the perimeter railing as the balloon hovered over the farmland gradually growing distant. Neither of us moved to speak. The feeling of complete weightlessness, like we were birds gliding through the mounta in pass, was one of the most peaceful moments I could ever remember.

The chaos in my vengeful veins idled as I drank in every drop of tranquility, forgetting my original intentions for this set-up.

Eventually, Lauchlan broke the silence with a handful of softly uttered words.

“Da would have loved this.” His tone was mournful; melancholy. If Lauchlan was using this story as his ‘in’ for pity points, he was an Oscar-winning actor.

“Oh?” Thanks to Blackbird’s sleuthing, I knew his father had died because of a heart attack. I let the question hang in the air—quite literally, wanting him to share the story instead. Needing him to spill his secrets.

“He died. Last year.”

The simple explanation made me turn to catch his expression. The sun was just kissing the edge of the horizon behind him. I wasn’t prepared for the glossy sheen in his eyes. Was that … tears? Or just high altitude?

Despite needing distance, I felt compelled to offer comfort. I placed my hand over the icy ridges of his knuckles still gripping the railing, and gently squeezed in reassurance.

“I’m sorry.”

“S’alright.” Lauchlan’s sad smile was laced with something bitter, but I couldn’t place it. “He was a good man. Never thought I’d lose him without warning, you know? Still bites.”

The child-like mischief Lucky wore as a shield was temporarily down, exposing the points of raw edges beneath. Whatever sport he was playing with me, these emotions were real.

Is this how he played people? Showing vulnerability to get vulnerability? As much as I wanted there to be maliciousness behind his admission, my heart couldn’t hide its su btle pang. I knew how the loss of a parent felt to my core.

“My mother died in childbirth.” This was a topic I didn’t speak about, not even to Winter, but if it would get Lauchlan to open up, bring me closer to figuring him out, and fulfill my retribution, I could let him in on a secret of my own. “I never knew her, and Daddy never spoke about her. I think she would have liked this too.”

The admission formed a tight ball of choking emotion at the base of my throat. I swallowed so hard to force it down my mouth was drier than if I had eaten sand.

I’d done my research, of course. Helen Lane had been a stunning ball of energy, a socialite involved in every cause known to man, and loved by all. How she’d ended up with my father was the ultimate puzzle, but somehow, according to every news piece and commentary about her, the opportunistic, egotistical jackal managed to snag himself a good one.

I didn’t think about her most days. I didn’t want or need the reminder that I’d been robbed of such a formidable woman; that my childhood could have been filled with such light and life, instead of the warped, twisted path my father had led me down.

A strong bicep wrapped around my shoulder, and Lauchlan pulled me tight to the crook of his chest. I huddled within the heat of his body, locking down my emotions before they could reveal any more truths. Who knew a hot-air balloon ride would unlock the vault of those memories?

Leaning into Lucky’s refuge was not a wise choice, but I didn’t care. Vulnerability for vulnerability. Truth for a truth. And I was a liar if I said it wasn’t working.

My breathing leveled out—cool pulls of untainted air calmed my nervous system, while the warm pulse of his heart against my cheek did the same. The sun dropped comple tely below the skyline and the chalky blue of twilight blanketed us as we drifted down to our landing point.

We walked off the platform without a word to each other, greeting the driver who would take us back to our cars, six miles away.

Before I could climb in the passenger seat, Lucky breached my trance.

“I can’t believe you call him ‘Daddy.’ That’s weird shyte out of a woman’s mouth, unless he’s fuckin’ ya while you’re doin’ it.”

The moment abruptly broken, I couldn’t have been more grateful for the reminder.

A game. This was all a game .

I wouldn’t forget it again.