Chapter 34
KATIE
My heels clip against the pavement. I walk with purpose, putting emphasis on my hips and the sway of my body.
I don’t know if it’s the blonde wig, the unbelievably expensive attire, or the extra padding thanks to Scott borrowing some bits, wig included, from a friend of his that does drag, but something is drawing the eye of the surrounding men.
It’s a good thing I only need one of them, and his eyes are glued to my fake arse as I sashay past him, knowing I have his full attention.
It took me longer than I care to admit learning how to walk in these ridiculously high heels, and to do it on a cobblestone road is even more challenging than the level slabs out Aiden’s back garden—our back garden. I still need to get used to that.
My engagement ring is safe at home; however, my man made a point to deck me out in as much bling as possible without looking tacky. I’m bait after all—not that Aiden cares for it, but I did insist. It worked for the first three men; why not try it again?
Dropping my phone, I slowly bend, just enough for the dress to ride up my thigh—a move I know drives Aiden crazy.
He hates anyone looking at me when I’m me, never mind when I’m acting like I’ve got Eva Longoria’s figure and confidence.
I straighten up, feeling his eyes on me despite the audience I have attracted.
Damn, so this is what I was doing wrong all these years.
Like Pink once said, “all you have to change is everything you are.”
“Careful, bug.” Aiden’s voice comes through the earpiece we borrowed from the club. His voice is low, dangerous.
“He’s coming in hot, and he’s not alone.
” Raven’s voice comes through the earpiece, making me think that Aiden is two seconds away from making a break from the van.
I don’t even know if Raven is his real name; I was afraid to ask.
Not that Aiden will hurt me for showing any kind of platonic interest in another man, but I can’t be certain that he wouldn’t hurt Raven if he felt my attention was being diverted.
Raven is one of the soldiers in Aiden’s pocket.
I don’t know which one. I don’t know if he was the sniper, the assassin, or the flat out enforcer who took three cars off the road the same night.
I don’t want to know. All I can say is that he gave me serious Michele Morrone vibes the second I clapped eyes on him.
“Double back, pretend you’re lost.” Raven’s gravelly voice comes through the earpiece loud and clear.
“Head down, bug! There are cameras up ahead,” Aiden warns.
At least I know he hasn’t jumped out of the van.
It doesn’t matter that Scott is a magician with makeup and changed my entire face; the wig has a thick fringe that keeps getting in my eyes, and I’m wearing absurdly large Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses.
He still insists that I keep my head turned down or to the side, away from view of any potential security cameras.
“Ok, Mikey is coming over to distract the other two. See if you can draw our guy away,” Raven instructs, munching on something in that van. I didn’t even realise it was lunchtime. “Will you calm the fuck down? She has it!” he hisses. I’m presuming that one was for Aiden.
A nondescript guy with a shaved head steps off the pedestrian crossing and straight into the lad’s line of sight, looking to “bum a smoke.” I guess that’s Mikey.
“Sorry.” I reach out to our slimeball, my fingers grazing his arm. His smile turns my stomach. “Can you tell me where the nearest ATM is?”
His hair has more flakes than a snowstorm, his jaw is red with razor burns, and his crooked teeth reveal a cigarette-stained smile. “Yeah, sure,” he says, pointing me in the direction before deciding to walk beside me, probably hoping to rob me.
A DPD van pulls right up on the curb of the bank as we approach.
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “What gave me away?”
“The clothes. Jewellery. A woman like you should be careful around here; some scumbag might try to rob you,” he warns, eyeballing my outfit.
We stop just short of the ATM, and I turn, just enough to make him put his back to the van. “I don’t think I have to worry about anyone taking advantage of me.”
“Yeah? Are you a blackbelt or something?” He chuckles.
“Not at all,” I grin, the doors of the van open behind him. “I have an insanely protective fiancé, though.” My smile is the last thing he sees before Aiden grabs him from behind and pulls him into the vehicle, slamming the doors shut. “He really hates it when my attention is diverted from him.”
A car skids up beside me, and the door pops open. The driver offers me a boyish smirk. His blonde hair and large brown eyes give him a charming, innocent look. “Katie?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m Jay. In you get,” he winks at me, patting the passenger seat beside him. I barely get the seatbelt on when he hauls arse out of there, leaving a trail of dust behind us.
I spend a few moments thinking about how I know his name. Finally, it hits me: “Craig’s Jay?”
“Yeah, that’s me,” he replies with a wolfish grin. I remember Craig mentioning Jay as his best friend, the one who always had a wild side.
I also recall Aiden telling me that, although Jay is sound, his wife despises my man. “I take it your wife doesn’t know you’re helping us?”
He chuckles lowly. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her, or me.” He makes a series of turns, eventually pulling onto the motorway. “We need to get you out of those clothes.”
“Brave man.” I give Jay the side eye; he merely smirks at me before turning his attention back to the road.
“As much as I can admit that you are easy on the eyes there, bug-a-boo,” he teases, changing lanes to overtake an articulate truck. “I quite like having my neck intact. I’ll pull over further down and give you privacy to ditch the heels.”
“Shouldn’t we ditch the car too?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
Jay chuckles, glancing at me briefly before focusing back on the road. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of that too.”
It’s about another fifteen minutes before he finally pulls off the motorway and onto a dirt road surrounded by sheep and rolling hills. It’s bumpy as hell, I’m nearly sure I’ve given him a sunroof by the time he slows us to a stop.
Jay jumps from the car, walking away to give me some space to change out of this ridiculously extravagant outfit and into joggers and hoodie, which I find on the back seat.
Two cars roll to a stop behind us; Raven steps out of one, and Aiden steps out of the other.
Sliding into my runners, I hop out of the car and make my way over to them. Shoving the body padding and wig into Aiden’s arms, I growl, “That Barbie look is not for me.”
“Good.” The corners of his lips pull into a smirk as he tosses the items into the back of the car. “I prefer you like this.”
Jay makes a point of giving me the once over. Everything I’m wearing, my shoes being the exception, is Aiden’s. “All you’re short of doing is cocking your leg and marking your territory.”
Aiden glares at him, but I can see the amusement in his eyes. His gaze flits to Raven; a slight tilt of the head is all the soldier needs to understand the unspoken message.
“C’mon, bug,” Aiden’s large, calloused hand reaches out to me, pulling me closer to him.
“Let’s get going before we attract any unwanted attention.
” He opens the car door for me, and just before I slide inside, I catch Jay wiping away any prints while Raven grabs a petrol can from the trunk of his car.
My seat belt clicks into place at the same time Aiden starts the engine, the scent of petrol lingering in the air. “Will they be ok?” I look in the rear view window at Jay and Raven as we drive away from the scene.
Aiden’s lax grip on the steering wheel and confident smirk are all the assurance I need that they can handle themselves. “Not their first rodeo,” he chuckles, glancing at me with a twinkle in his eye. “Hungry?”
“Famished.”
“We’ll grab some food on the way,” he shifts gears smoothly, guiding us onto the motorway, heading back to Dublin. “By the way,” he reaches into his pocket, pulling out my engagement ring and holding it out to me, “I think this belongs to you.”
Sliding it back onto my finger, I watch the mini rainbows forming around the car as the sunlight catches the ring. “So,” I begin, a smile playing on my lips, “you didn’t like the plastic look then?”
“Bug, unlike you, I have no plastic or silicone toys in my life,” Aiden chuckles, winking at me as he speeds up on the open road. “Only the real deal for me.”
“You leave my bullet out of this.” I point a finger at him, and he snags it between his teeth.
“If only it were the bullet,” he murmurs around my finger. “There’s also the rabbit and that egg.”
“It’s not an egg,” yanking my finger free, I wipe it on his shirt. “It’s a clit stimulator.”
“Whatever,” he shrugs, grip tightening on the steering wheel. “They can go in the bin when we get back.”
“You can go in the bin when we go home,” I retort, crossing my arms and staring out the window.
“You haven’t needed them,” he counters.
“And?”
“You can toss them.”
“You’re not seriously jealous of a toy?” I ask incredulously.
“Not jealous,” he flicks on the indicator, changing lanes smoothly.
“But I’ve told you before, when you moan, it better be for me.
Your juices are to coat my lips, my tongue, my fingers, and my cock.
If the sheets are ruined, it better be because you’ve been screaming my name at the top of your lungs, not because you’ve been fucking a plastic toy. ”
Why do I get the feeling that my toys are going to vanish into thin air when I get home?
Turning to face him, I allow my eyes to rake over his sculpted body, a smirk playing on my lips. I really shouldn’t torment him right now, but I’m hungry, and getting under Aiden’s skin is my new favourite pastime. “What about my fingers?” I ask innocently.