Chapter 10 Tommy
Tommy
The inside of the plane is straight out of a fairytale. It doesn’t even look like a plane, more like the inside of a fancy-ass mansion. Would that make Isidoro its lord?
With all the gold and opulence, it only makes sense. And those pastries… Holy shit, they are the best pastries I’ve ever had.
While Niko catches his friend up, I focus on the goodness on my plate.
A small tablet came with it, probably for entertainment purposes.
I finish the food in record time, but I don’t want to interrupt the two men, so I decide to just listen in while I do a quick search on the internet.
Isidoro might be Niko’s friend, but I know fuckall about him.
“Unfortunately, they found us at Dona Chela’s village. Poor woman had her shop destroyed,” Niko is saying when I tune back in, squeezing his hands into fists in his lap.
I slide mine there, cocooning one of his. He immediately turns it and intertwines our fingers together, flashing me an adorable smile.
“And this lovely little thing?” Isidoro says, his unusual red eyes darting to me. “Who is he exactly? You were always the lone wolf type.”
My heart skips a beat. Isidoro is an interesting man, and not just because of his sense of fashion.
It’s this whole thing, the way it feels like we’ve entered the den of a predator.
My hackles rise even though I tell myself there is nothing to fear because Niko’s with me.
If he trusts his friend, then I trust him, too.
Niko pulls me closer possessively. “He’s my…” he trails off, stealing a glance my way at the same time I look up. I can see the gears of his brain turning. Oh boy, why do I have a feeling this can’t be good.
“He’s your…?”
Clearing his throat, he places a kiss on the top of my head. “Thomas is my fiancé. So I made an exception for him. And Dona Chela. She took care of him when he was little.”
What?
I gape at the man next to me, my brain not quite processing his words as my heart hammers inside my chest. Fuck me.
I think I might explode. Did he just lie to this very obviously important man that the two of us are engaged?
Holy shit! Why do I like this idea so much? And, hello, where the hell is my ring?
Still shocked, I try to play my reaction down while I rationalize this.
We hooked up, sort of. Now, I know for a fact that Niko is my person—there is no question about that.
I will do my best to have my happily ever after with him, no matter where this shitshow takes us.
But there’s no guarantee he feels the same way.
I might need to blackmail him or manipulate him into staying with me.
I shoot up, which causes Niko to do the same since we are still holding hands. Isidoro raises an eyebrow.
“Excuse us,” I say, scanning the plane for the lavatory. When I spot it, I drag my big, scary ex-mercenary toward it. “We need a moment in private.”
Once inside the surprisingly not cramped space, I lock the door and place my hands on my hips. “What the fuck, Niko?”
“Sorry, I… I just need to make sure Isidoro can be trusted before I tell him about the gem. It’s been ten years. It was the only way to explain why you are with me so he won’t ask a million questions.”
My jaw hits the floor. “If you don’t trust him, why are we here?”
He rubs his neck, pinning his gaze on his reflection in the mirror. “I do trust him. But you can never be too careful.”
“I thought he was your friend! How can you doubt him like this?”
“He is! I’m sure I’m just being paranoid, but what if, I don’t know, the Crimson Crew got to him somehow?”
I consider that. I’ve consumed enough mafia-themed content to know the lengths to which these people will go in order to come out on top. But surely, if this friendship is as real as Niko made it out to be, his friend wouldn’t betray him.
A knock at the door makes me jump. My elbow smacks the wall, making me groan and hiss in pain.
“Are you two lovebirds alright?” Isidoro asks in a singsong voice. “If you want to indulge in carnal pleasures, I have just the place for it on board. Double bed, foam mattress. It’s at the rear of the plane.”
Niko’s lips arch up in a smile. “Just give us a moment, Isi! We are good here!”
The rest of the flight goes without accident, but I’m overly conscious about the red gem in my pocket and the fact that we are lying to Isidoro. He seems like a really nice guy, even if he’s a bit eccentric. But it’s part of his charm.
The crew is bilingual, so with the help of Liliya, I chat with Dona Chela, while Niko handles his friend.
It’s not that I don’t want to hang out with them, I’m just afraid that I might accidentally say something I’m not supposed to.
Besides, it would be weird if I ignored my ‘foster mom’ the entirety of the flight, right?
We land in the middle of nowhere two hours later. The airstrip, if you can call it that, isn’t even asphalted, but a thin strip of dirt running parallel to a river. The trees around it have been cut, but weeds and flowers have found their way back.
The landing itself is a little bumpy and fast, but that’s understandable once I’m out of the plane. The length of the makeshift runway is rather short.
“Welcome to my corner of the world,” Isidoro says with a huge smile, accepting a dark, lacy umbrella from one of the crew. “I hope you don’t mind a short trek.”
Liliya hands us each a bottle of water, then climbs back up into the jet and pulls the stairs.
“Are they not staying?” I ask, watching the plane maneuver itself into position for take-off.
“Oh, no. It would be a dead giveaway if I had a plane parked in my backyard.” Isidoro waves me off and starts walking. “We keep it elsewhere. But don’t worry—if you wanted to go somewhere, it only takes them twenty minutes to get here.”
I take a second look around. There’s literally nothing but jungle, which is a far cry from the fancy mansion in a fancy neighborhood of a fancy city that I expected.
Isidoro is someone you’d encounter at one of those high-society galas, and people like these like to show off their status in every way possible.
So why the fuck does he live in the jungle?
“Ah. Surprised, little kitten?” the man in question teases, aiming a flirtatious smile my way. “Did my taste not match your expectations?”
That’s one way to put it. “No, just…”
“Fear not. I might like to be low-key on the surface, but on the inside…”
What’s that supposed to mean? I give him a once-over.
He’s plenty flashy if you ask me. With that burgundy hair and copper accents in it, there is no low-key in sight.
I notice one other thing as well—despite the heat and sun beating down on us, there is not a single drop of sweat on his face.
His clothes are pristine as well, even though he must be boiling under them.
I wonder whether it’s rude of me to ask about it as we enter the cover of trees. Insects buzz by us and the humidity skyrockets. Next to me, Niko is breathing hard and sweating buckets, he too not used to the scorch. I hope wherever Isidoro is leading us has an air-conditioner.
After about ten minutes, I spot a small wooden cabin by a wall of tall cliffs. Don’t tell me that’s where he lives… He seems eccentric enough for that to be the case, but I mean, he flew us in on a fucking private jet. It doesn’t add up.
“We are almost there, my dear guests,” he announces, heading straight for the cabin.
Okay, then. I guess I was wrong.
I really don’t know what to expect, but it’s certainly not what awaits us inside—an empty hallway, leading to mostly empty rooms, where the only thing that remains is old, rotten furniture.
Is this some kind of a joke? I pause by a bed, the mattress of which sports a rip from one end to the other.
Fear stabs my heart. Or… is this a trap?
I act on impulse. I don’t even know where it comes from, my brain doesn’t have time to comprehend it. Balling my hands into fists, I push Niko behind me and take on a defensive stance, swinging at Isidoro’s back.
He dodges as easily as if he could see my punch coming.
His initial reaction when he turns around is confusion, I’m pretty sure. His perfectly thin eyebrows slant down, and he looks between me and Niko. I tense up. I’m shit at it, but I’m not gonna go down without a fight.
Flicking a strand of his luscious hair that’s fallen over his cheek, Isidoro cracks up. “Oh my! Your Thomas is so fierce, Niko. Small, but truly fierce. You’ve picked well.”
Behind me, I hear Niko let out a huff of laughter. Why is he laughing when we might have been led into a trap?
“What’s so funny? What if it’s a tra—”
“This way, please,” Isidoro says, pressing something on the wall by the doorframe. The floor in front of him opens up with a creak, and a dimly lit passageway appears. “My home is through here, on the other side of the cliffs.”
Some of the tension deflates inside me as Niko’s big hand comes to rest at the low of my back. “Fuck, Tommy. You were so hot just now trying to protect me,” he whispers in a low, sultry voice.
I spin on my heel, jutting my lower lip out and planting my hands on my hips. “Not funny!”
“I know.” He kisses my forehead. “I should’ve warned you—with Isidoro, nothing is what it seems. Usually. He’s a bit of a weirdo like this.”
Gee, thanks for the heads-up. I mean, I figured as much, but people with private jets don’t tend to live in the jungle. Unless… Does he own the fucking jungle? Is that even possible?
As I ponder the likelihood of that, and the nightmare of bureaucracy it must be, we follow the gloomy tunnel to its other end. The bright sun blinds me as we emerge, so I place my hands over my eyes until they adjust. Once the light is no longer my enemy, I survey the clearing we’re in.
Holy shit. Wow. This is… next level. I’ve never seen anything like it.