Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
TEDDY
Istraddle Killian, the shirt he'd made me put on riding up my thighs. He said I was too much of a temptation. That he didn't want to take me for a third time, and he shouldn't have taken me the second. I breathe, and he says I'm tempting him.
"My name will fit perfectly here." I circle a spot on his chest.
"Your name?" Killian's brows furrow together. I was kind of joking, but now that he appears to not want to tattoo my name on him, my feelings are hurt.
"I was teasing."
"Don't lie to me, Zolotse."
"Don't call me out," I huff and lift my ass, dropping back down onto his stomach.
"Ooohh." He pretends it hurts.
"You calling me fat now?"
"Zolotse!" Horror spreads across his deadly handsome face. "I was going to say, 'Why not your face?' and 'Which name are you referring to?'"
"Oh." I nod, pretending I was not bothered at all.
"That works." I pose with different expressions.
"Ahh!” I squeal when the next thing I know I'm flat on my back.
I lift my legs, wiggling my toes. He grabs one of my calves and puts it around him.
Gah, I love him, and I really love when he moves me where he wants me. I find it funny; he probably does not.
"I will put your name on every inch of my body if that’s what makes you happy."
"I know you would." I lift up and press my mouth to his. "Maybe I'll get a tattoo too with your name on it."
"I don't care for this idea." His lips form a straight line, and I know he's contemplating this. He’s so overprotective. It’s adorable that the thought of a needle piercing my skin would evoke this reaction from him.
"Because it will be painful?"
"That and your skin is so delicate." His finger strokes across my collarbone, where his shirt has slipped down one side of my shoulder.
"I thought you'd be into the whole marking your territory so people know I'm yours," I tease.
"Oh, they will know." Killian's expression turns deadly serious, making me burst into laughter. "What is so funny?"
"It's sweetly funny."
He grunts. A ding echoes in the room; it's my alert that Lily is online. Killian knows the sound. He presses his mouth to mine before rolling us and then lifting. The next thing I know, I'm on my feet.
"I'll order food." He grabs his jeans, yanking them on. I find my laptop. We'd brought it in here just so I could hear it when Lily came online. I hurry to the bathroom and brush my teeth and find some panties before opening my laptop and logging in.
Lily's face comes up on the screen. The soft purple walls in the background let me know she's in her bedroom.
"You know how close we are?" I speak first.
“I know." That makes Lily smile before her face grows serious. “Listen, Tristan has a meeting this afternoon. That will be our chance.”
“Today?” I sit up straighter. This is happening!
“Well, I know he has a meeting, and I’m going to spring it on him that I have a checkup with the doctor. He’ll send Nathan up to take me. When I get down to the lobby, that’s where I’ll give him the slip.”
“While I make chaos!" I add.
“I’m not sure I want to know what this chaos is,” Lily says with a laugh. I haven’t actually come up with what I’ll be doing, but I’ll wing it. I do know a lightsaber and crown are likely going to be involved.
“All we really need is to get you to the lobby. Then no one can truly stop you from leaving.”
"Oh, he can and he will," Killian says, coming up behind me. "Tristan is a powerful man now, not only in this city but also in the state. Which is one of the things we need to speak about." Killian’s tone lets me know he’s serious about whatever he’s about to tell us.
"What?"
"That doesn't sound good." Both Lily and I speak at the same time.
"Any plane I would be able to get at the last second would be military. Tristan's ties are thick there."
"We're driving," I remind him.
"We need to get out of the state as quickly as possible and back to Colorado. Once we're on the ground, things will get a whole lot harder for Tristan."
"Military ties?" Lily asks. "I know so little about this man, I swear," she mutters, but I can see the hurt there.
"I don't want your name on it either," Killian says.
"No problem." I grab my phone.
"Who are you reaching out to?" Killian asks.
"Ro," Lily responds before I can.
"Yep, that man can get anything." It's rather impressive. It only takes a few seconds and Roland is responding. I show Killian my phone. “He said it will be done within the hour. Let him know which airport." I fill Lily in.
We talk for a few more minutes, and Lily lets me know she’ll switch to texting once we’re near her building. At that point, Tristian will be across town, and there won't be much he can do, even if he sees it. It might not be until after the fact. Lily said he has a lunch meeting.
“What did you get at the fight?” I ask Killian as I grab another piece of bacon off one of the plates.
He’s getting his stuff ready, which is fascinating to watch.
All these devices I have never seen before are laid out.
The way he handles guns is smooth, almost like they are as much a part of him as his hand.
“These.” He picks up a small black bag, opening it to reveal a few vials. "They'll render a person unconscious." He grabs a couple funny-looking bullets he has sitting up on the table. "I can put it in these, or on a cloth will do." He motions to a couple of black cloths he has folded up.
"Like the movies? Over the mouth?"
"Pretty much. We don't want to leave a trail of bodies behind." I'm not sure that's true for Killian, but he's being a gentleman for me.
"Right. I hadn't thought about what we'd do if a person tried to stop us."
"Someone will try and stop me. We're going in two different entrances." I can tell he's not excited about this.
“We are?”
“You keep your sweet ass in that lobby area. I’ll go in the back in case it’s not so easy for Lily to get out. Then I’ll go in.”
“You sound so badass." I reach out to touch one of the vials, but Killian’s hand wraps around my wrist, stopping me.
“That’s a big no.”
“Why? I was just going to touch it.”
“Like you were only going to hold your taser.” His eyebrow shoots up, and he gets that questioning look on his face.
What the hell? I throw my hands up. “You still won’t let that go?!” He’s obviously going to keep bringing up that one little mistake I made with the taser for all eternity.
“It was yesterday.”
"Whatever," I mutter, popping up from my seat. "I need to get my things ready too." I spin around to head to the bedroom but get nowhere, as I expected. His arm is around me from behind, and he pulls me back into his hard, warm body.
"Zolotse."
I turn in his arms. "I'm only messing with you." I kiss his chin. "Probably for the best I don't touch them."
"I don't want to hurt your feelings. I still want to track down all the kids from your school that hurt you and beat them into the ground."
I snort a laugh. "And that's why I was only teasing. I know everything you do is with my best interest in mind."
"Thank you, Zolotse."
Intent is everything. He relaxes. It's insane to see how much of what I do and say affects him. I'm still taking my taser, but I'm not going to bring that up.
We finish getting ready before we head out. I don't get that nervous energy until we're in the SUV. Killian goes over everything again with me. Roland already came through with the plane.
"You will stay in the lobby, Zolotse," Killian tells me.
"I will." I nod adamantly. "You don't need to worry about me." His brows rise, and I know that was the wrong thing to say. "Really, I'll stay put until you tell me to move my booty."
Killian presses his forehead to mine. "I love you, Zolotse."
"I love you too." I press my mouth to his.
Killian might have done underhanded things to get me, but they'd all been done with sweetness, and no harm was intended.
Right now, he's going up against a person that he shouldn't be.
They have worked together in the past, but he's doing it for me.
The man is willing to change his whole life for me.
That tells me all I need to know about how much he cares for me.
"Five minutes," he tells me before I slip out of the SUV.
I fire off another text while I wait the longest five minutes of my life, but Lily doesn't message me back. She did thirty minutes ago when she said Tristan left, but maybe she's not taking the time to respond and is focusing on getting out.
Killian has Lily's number too, so they can message if need be.
Finally, it's go time, and I slip on my sunglasses and make sure my crown is in place before I power on my lightsaber and enter the building.
The two men behind the giant marble desk stand, their attention right on me. The lobby is pretty dead.
"Ma'am?" The bald one speaks first.
"The beginning of wisdom is the statement 'I do not know.'"
"What?" the younger blond one asks, interrupting my monologue, but I keep going.
"The person who cannot make that statement is one who will never learn anything. And I have prided myself on my ability to learn.”
"We're going to have to ask you to leave," Baldy says.
"What's that, Trall?" the other asks.
"Yes!" I can't believe he got that.
"The lightsaber was throwing me."
"Do not question my weapons, human." I guess I'm leaning into Warcraft. I keep going and go into another monologue. I get further this time before I have no choice but to stop. “Don't!" I bring my lightsaber down on the desk. "You're not calling anyone."
I glance over my shoulder to see a couple of men in all-black suits rushing in toward the elevators.
"Why didn't you stop them?" I point over my shoulder with my thumb.
"They are free to come and go."
"Is it because I'm a girl? My age? My crown?!" I try to act super offended.
"No." Baldly shakes his head. "It's because of—"
"Me," a male with a deep voice says from right behind me. I slowly turn to meet the chest of a swanky suit. I know who it is instantly. I may have googled him more than once. My eyes lock with Tristan's. Oh crap, this is not good.
"Mr. Vanderbilt, we were just escorting her out."
"She's not going anywhere." He grabs my elbow.
"Hey," I say, trying to jerk my arm away. "Stranger danger!"
"You want to see Lily?" he asks.
"It's okay," I tell the two security men. "No need to call the police on Tristan here."
Blondy snorts a laugh. "We would never do that."
"But he was kidnapping me," I point out. The hell, man? No wonder Lily is trapped here.
"This conversation is over," Tristan tells all of them and starts pulling me back toward the elevators. I go with him because why not? He's not going to keep me captive. "You think you could pull one over on me?" Tristan asks when the elevator doors close, leaving us all alone.
What does Lily see in this man? He's tall with dark hair and deep blue eyes. They are striking, and he's pretty. Not a bad build, but Killian's is better.
"I think you're a jerk face." I glare up at him. "You don't know who you're messing with."
"Oh, I know." He gives a slow, icy smirk. "Killian Kotov is here." Wait, does he have him? Did we walk right into a trap? I do the only thing I can think of to get me out of this situation. I hit Tristan Vanderbilt with my taser.