Chapter 16
IN FLIGHT TO SINALOA
Adria checked her phone for the thousandth time.
Nothing.
“The pilot says we are about fifteen minutes out,” Elena said. “Any word from your man?”
Adria fought the urge to roll her eyes. Maxim was most certainly not her man.
She would have preferred to involve almost anyone else. But any person she contacted might put a target on their back, and Adria wasn’t willing to risk it.
Maxim seemed like the lesser of two evils, and like Eric had pointed out, he still had the brand.
Adria looked up. “If he doesn’t come through, what’s the backup?”
“He’ll come through,” Eric said, sure as always.
It was just like Eric to think the brand meant more than a scar on his chest. To Adria, the wings on Eric’s chest didn’t change who he was. It was because of who he was that she even agreed to give it to him.
But Maxim she didn’t know. And her father had given him the brand, not her.
Elena seemed to think about their options when Adria’s phone buzzed.
Maxim: These names should work when you land.
Adria looked them over. They seemed legit. After sending them to Elena, she responded.
Adria: I better not regret this.
Maxim: You’re welcome ;)
She could almost see the annoying grin on his face.
Adria sent a quick text to X, confirming their flight plans, and put her phone away.
Bryson was sleeping across a row of seats, and Kaydon and Seth were talking on the far side of the plane.
It felt good to have them here. Knowing they were safe. But the guilt was slowly creeping in all around her.
“This isn’t your fault,” Eric said.
Adria just stared straight ahead, watching Bryson’s chest rise and fall with each strangled breath. “I don’t see it being anyone else’s,” she said.
Eric put his hand over hers, giving it a squeeze. “Yes, you do. This is Jonathan and Regan’s fault. Don’t try to twist it into something it isn’t.”
But they’re dead.
After they landed, Elena spoke to the Customs Border Officer. Adria watched her fiery hair move in the wind as she spoke animatedly with her hands.
A large envelope was passed between the two, and the pair shook hands.
“They can promise us discretion,” Elena said, walking back. “And a 3am takeoff time, provided no other flight plans come in.”
To avoid detection, Eric insisted they all check into their hotels separately.
Elena and one of her bodyguards would pose as a married couple. Eric and the other bodyguard would check in alone. Adria was meant to check in with a ‘husband’ and the other two boys could check in as friends.
When the time came to select her chosen husband, Adria felt the words leave her body. The urge to be with all three of them was so strong.
“I think the four of us can check in together. It won’t be too obvious,” Adria said.
Eric replied, “If the Triune are looking for us, or if they start asking around. We will be safer if we are not spotted in groups. Pairs or fewer are harder to remember.”
Adria wanted to argue, but if Eric really felt this was safer, she didn’t want to put them in any unnecessary danger. They would be at X’s compound by morning. What was one afternoon and a short evening?
“Which one of you wants to be her husband?” Eric asked the three.
Silence followed.
“Don’t volunteer all at once,” Adria grumbled to herself.
“Kaydon looks more your age, let’s go with him,” Eric said, all business. Completely oblivious to the awkwardness blooming around them.
“Right,” Seth said, clearly upset, and Adria gave him an apologetic look.
Bryson looked off into the distance, and Adria could see how tired he was.
All this travel wasn’t good for his condition.
So, rather than arguing further, she just held her hand out for Kaydon, eager to get this evening over with.
Bright lights in the hotel room did little to increase the size of the space, or Adria’s mood. A single bed, barely enough room for a person to stretch out on, sat in the center. The air smelled of cleaning products, and the scent mingled oddly with the musty carpet.
The air conditioner’s grinding fan blades broke the silence in the room, but the sound only furthered her rising anxiety.
Adria placed her bag on the worn-out bedspread.
The absence of Kaydon’s luggage—of any luggage—spoke volumes in the empty room.
One change of clothes each, that’s all they’d managed to grab.
Three men who once had lives, possessions, futures—now reduced to whatever they wore on their backs.
Because of her.
Adria swallowed hard against the knot in her throat. No one could have anticipated this mad dash to Mexico, this desperate flight across borders. Hours ago, she hadn’t even been certain they would escape Jonathan’s alive. No wonder Bryson could barely look at her now.
She and Kaydon danced awkwardly in the small space, each attempting to maneuver gracefully around the other. Two months ago, she felt the safest she had ever felt in the arms of this man.
Now…anxiety and doubt clung to her like a coat in the rain.
Finally, she said, “I’m going to take a shower.”
Kaydon nodded, and Adria couldn’t help but notice the tension in his muscles. It was obvious he was just as uncomfortable as she was.
“Maybe you could wash your shirt and it will be dry by the time we leave,” she said, motioning for him to come into the bathroom with her.
Kaydon’s eyes scanned the room before saying, “I can wait until you’re done. Give you your privacy.”
The last part of his sentence trailed off, along with his tone. He scratched at a red mark on the inside of his forearm as he fidgeted in front of her.
“Sure,” she said, before closing the bathroom door.
The steam billowed, enveloping her in a cloud of warmth. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensation as the humid air swirled around her. Adria prayed that some of the warmth would thaw her insides. The day’s events had her twisted in knots.
The plan was veil thin, and it included counting on people she didn’t know. The lack of control was enough to drive her insane. But that wasn’t all.
When Bryson had first received her blood, she could vividly remember the frailty in his body, the weight of his head resting heavily on her shoulder. But as he gradually regained strength, she not only saw his physical distance grow but also felt the emotional detachment.
Seth had barely said a word to her on the flight, and now Kaydon.
Of the three, he was the one she would have expected a warm welcome from. At the house, he was always the first to look past her flaws, and the first to see the positive side of things.
Not that there were many in this situation.
Perhaps the last few months had sapped Kaydon of his positivity. A thought that had Adria grabbing her middle. This was all her fault.
She had gotten a few details from them at the safe house. How Regan’s team had intercepted them, and Regan’s relation to Jonathan.
The Balin line was gone.
A chill ran through her despite the warm water when she thought of everything the four of them had to go through to make that so.
The rough towel scratched her skin as she dried off. Her hand wiped the condensation off the mirror, and she gazed at her reflection, her green eyes staring back. The harsh light of the room cast shadows on her face and Adria realized how tired she felt.
Tired of losing, tired of fighting, tired of being on all the time.
She took a breath, closed her eyes, and gripped the edge of the counter. Their lives were in her hands. She couldn’t give up.
Not yet.
When she opened her eyes, determination stared back at her.
Steeling herself, she exited the bathroom.
“All yours,” she said, her tone purely business. Grabbing her bag, she attempted to shove the dirty clothes into the front pocket.
Kaydon wrapped his large hand around hers. “Let me wash these with my shirt.”
Her hand clutched her dirty laundry, and her stomach did a flip at his contact. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was suddenly dry.
“Sure,” she said, voice more shaky than she would have liked. “That’s thoughtful.”
That’s thoughtful?
She wanted to sink into the floor and vanish. Maybe she should have just checked into the hotel by herself. Clearly, she was going to be alone for the rest of her life, might as well start now.
How about, take your clothes off and lay down on the bed naked? How about getting down on your knees and showing me how much you missed me?
A few months ago, she could have threatened to spank him. She could have said any number of filthy things that would have brought him to his knees, blushing and grinning from ear to ear. But now she didn’t know where she stood. She was in uncharted waters, and she felt more adrift than ever.
The shower turned on in the bathroom, and Adria pulled an oversized t-shirt over her head and some red underwear, the smooth texture embracing her curves.
Bringing the curtain back, she looked out into the barren landscape.
This was not the Mexico of resort brochures and spring break postcards.
Beyond the hotel’s thin curtains stretched a landscape of rust-colored dust and squat cinder block buildings with corrugated metal roofs that glowed in the afternoon heat.
A woman in a faded floral dress swept the cracked sidewalk outside a home barely larger than her walk-in closet, while two children kicked a soccer ball in the street.
The air carried the mingled scents of diesel exhaust, cooking oil, and the sharp tang of desert vegetation.
Beyond the buildings, the desert stretched like a vast, indifferent tablecloth upon which countless lives were being served simultaneously—their own drama merely one small plate in an endless banquet of human suffering.
When Kaydon came out of the bathroom, the scent of fresh soap lingered around him. His towel hung low on his hips, and Adria’s cheeks tingled with a flush, a mix of embarrassment and admiration. The droplets of water clung to his defined muscles, and his large frame took over the room.