Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Maverick
I let her sleep for a few hours while I hold her, but I keep a close eye on the clock as she snores in my arms. Part of me wants to be selfish and keep her in the room, all to myself, but she really has her heart set on an afternoon with the girls, so I give her a little nudge.
Her head rises, and a long string of drool connects my bare chest to her lips.
“Shit, did I fall asleep? What time is it?” She sits up and looks around, her hand clamped to her head.
I smile and stroke her shoulder. “You didn’t miss anything. I woke you up in time.”
“Thanks. I guess I needed that nap.” Raising her arms above her head, she stretches with a groan, then rises from the bed and strides to the closet, where she begins digging through her bag. “Are you coming with?”
She pulls a skimpy silver bikini from the shadows, and my mouth begins to water.
“Yep, I can definitely join you,” I say as I leap to my feet. I’m not missing a second of Frankie wearing those tiny scraps of fabric.
I throw on a pair of swim trunks and go to the bathroom sink. Right as I begin brushing my teeth, someone knocks on the door. I move to answer it, but Frankie waves me off.
“I’ll get it,” she says. “It’s probably one of the girls.”
With a nod, I go back to the sink. The door creaks open seconds later, but instead of a greeting, I hear Frankie gasp.
“King?” she shouts. “Why the fuck are you here?”
“Well, that’s no way to talk to your boss,” a male voice answers. A British male voice.
I spit into the sink, then quickly rinse my mouth with water before leaning past the alcove’s edge and sneaking a peek at this visitor.
He’s tall, with a thick shock of salt-and-pepper hair atop his head.
A trimmed beard graces the manliest jawline I’ve ever seen, and he peers back at me with oddly hypnotic dark eyes.
“Many apologies. I didn’t know you’d have company.” He gives me a nod. “Still, this meeting can’t be helped. Your tracker went offline, and naturally, I became concerned.”
Frankie pushes out her lower lip in a faux pout. “Aw, so sorry I concerned you, but wasn’t the entire point of this trip to get rid of me?” She drops the act and rolls her eyes. “You came to make sure the job was done, nothing more.”
She goes to shove the door closed, but he stops it with his black dress shoe. After firming his grip on the door’s edge, he pushes it wide and steps into the cabin. Frankie begins to backpedal, and I dart between them.
“I don’t know what sort of agreement you have with Jim, but I vowed to protect her,” I say. Using my arms as a blockade against the narrow walls, I halt his forward movement. “I suggest you leave the room if you want to make it off this ship in one piece.”
King straightens to his full height and adjusts his tie with a smirk that holds no amusement. “Young man, I appreciate your tenacity where my little Ghost is concerned, but I have no plans to harm her, I assure you.”
“Then why was I sent on this mission?” Frankie ducks beneath my arm and approaches King.
“Castle told me everything. We were sent here to die because you wanted to get rid of us. I can understand getting rid of him and Amber, but why me? What the fuck have I done that would warrant signing my life away?”
King rubs the thick stubble running along his jawline. “Is that what you think happened? You believed I orchestrated this to end your life?” He shakes his head and utters a single chuff.
“What was she supposed to assume?” I ask. “If everyone else was here to be eliminated, what was her purpose?”
“Unfortunately, it’s not my place to say.”
“Then whose place is it?” Frankie asks. “You’re my director. If not you, then who?”
King shrugs his shoulders and clasps his hands together. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Bullshit.” Frankie ducks under my arm again, appearing seconds later with her badge in hand.
She throws it at the man, and he winces as he catches it against his chest. “I quit. I’ll send in my resignation letter the moment I return home.
After that, wipe me from the system and forget I ever existed. ”
“That’s not what I want, Ghost.”
“Don’t fucking call me that!”
He winces again. “I’ve come to offer you a promotion. The only catch?—”
“Fuck you and your catches. God, I can’t believe I ever looked up to you.” With tears in her eyes, she pushes past King and exits the cabin. I move to follow her, but he grips my arm and holds me in place.
“Let her go and give her some time,” he says. “Jim told me you just want what’s best for her, and we both know that means steering her back to her post. In fact, it’s probably best you let me take it from here. I’ll gather her things and?—”
“Gather her things? What, you plan to kidnap her off the ship?” I yank my arm out of his hold. “No. I won’t let you take her.”
“The experiment had its desired effect, but she’s gone a little too far into your world. Nothing we can’t fix with a little reprogramming.”
“A little... reprogramming ?” I blink my eyes as if that will clear the cotton from my ears, because there’s no way I heard him correctly. “She’s not a fucking robot. She’s a human being, and you aren’t reprogramming shit.”
He cocks his head and studies me. “Funny. You didn’t seem to have a problem with it when you were sleeping with her.
Wasn’t that a form of reprogramming?” He sighs and shakes his head as he stuffs his hands into his pockets.
“I wanted her to develop a compassion for the art of what you and your friends do. I never wanted her to become the artist.”
“Why would you want her to have compassion for us?”
“To make her better at her job. Her bloody mother kept her locked away in a tall tower.” His mask cracks, and the frustration shows through.
“She’s the reason Frankie never received any field assignments, which means she lacked the necessary experience for the jobs she’d have been best at.
I saw her potential, and when I created my division a few years ago, Frankie was the first prospect on my radar.
Sending her on this trip wasn’t my decision, however.
This was miles above my head. Using my connections, I did what I could to protect her. You have to see that.”
The fight drains from my body because I see it. He’s telling the truth. Jim wouldn’t have given him carte blanche on this ship unless he trusted him, and I also realize King and I aren’t so different. He wants the same thing I do. For Frankie to be happy.
We both know this life won’t bring her that.
“What do you need me to do?” I ask.
“I was hoping I could bring you around. Jim was right about you.”
As he drapes his arm over my shoulder and leads me to the balcony, my stomach is already swaying. Before he even has a chance to speak, I know what he’s about to say. I know what I’ll be asked to do.
And because I know it’s the right thing for Frankie, I’ll do it.