Chapter 3
Chapter Three
AVA
Weddings had never been my thing, but Riley’s wedding tempted me to change my mind. Sleek and sophisticated, it was everything I wasn’t and everything Riley and her new husband were. Greyson Tides. Leave it to my new friend to land the most eligible bachelor in the city.
I straightened the gray scarf I wore around the waist of my black bridesmaid’s dress.
Of course it was a black and white wedding.
As if putting me in all black didn’t make me stand out even more than I already did.
Riley had argued that black was my color until I’d argued back that this wasn’t a rock band T-shirt or a pair of leggings.
There had been two bridesmaids, me and Angie—a tall, gorgeous strawberry blonde who looked stunning in her dress, with the gray sash emphasizing her tiny waist. I peeked over my glass of wine at her.
Her husband, Tyson, had his enormous hand behind her back and was whispering something in her ear.
That man frightened me. It was like every muscle under his suit looked like it was straining to break free.
The maid of honor, Casey, was in a matching dress, but she filled it out in curves that were closer to mine. Her cuteness juxtaposed Angie’s model potential, which left me the odd woman out with my pink streaked hair, tattoos, and nose ring.
“You look like you want to crawl under the table with a bottle of tequila,” my Uncle Den said, coming to stand beside me.
“If I have to wear this dress much longer, I will.”
“It won’t be much longer. They’re leaving tonight instead of in the morning.”
I turned my eyes to him. An equally massive presence to Tyson, I should have guessed my uncle did more than manage money for Greyson’s firm.
The truth had come out after Riley spilled the beans about Greyson’s actual job.
My uncle was a henchman. The right-hand man for the most notorious mob boss—if I had been aware of who any of them were—and today, his best man.
It had taken me time to recover, but when I pieced things together, it made more sense than it should have.
“Why?”
“A threat. They’re taking Mason’s plane instead. I’ll be leaving with them, but I’ll make sure someone escorts you home.”
I rubbed away the nudging of fear for Riley, still adjusting to the deadly world that had unfolded around me when the truth came out.
“What about Greyson’s plane?”
“Grounded for now. Mason’s team will take it home in the morning.”
Damn. Casey and I had decorated the plane as a surprise. Stocking it with Riley’s favorite chocolates and a few extra bottles of champaigne.
Greyson gestured to Den from across the room. “Gotta go, kiddo.” He gave me a peck on the cheek, then stalked across the dance floor.
Kiddo. He made me laugh because even though I was thirty, he still called me kiddo.
Riley threw me a quick wave before Greyson pulled her away. If she had thought they’d have time to say goodbye to everyone, she was wrong.
I made my way to the bar and rested my elbow on it as I watched them rush out the back door.
“You look entirely too depressed for this event,” the bartender said, setting a wineglass in front of me.
He was cute, with shaggy brown hair and big brown eyes.
He held up two bottles of wine, and I pointed to the pinot grigio.
“I’m not a wedding person,” I admitted, tugging at my hair that Riley had insisted needed to be styled so that pins were digging into my scalp. With her no longer present, I let it down.
The bartender, Billy, continued talking to me until I had downed two glasses, and the party was winding down.
“I’m done for the night,” he said, hanging there for a minute.
I glanced over, seeing one of Greyson’s men waiting for me. Gesturing to him with my head, I told Billy, “I have an escort.”
“Hmm, a lot of that going on here tonight.”
“Yeah, comes with the territory.”
“Wanna ditch him?” he asked, his thick brow arching.
The wine had gotten to me, and he looked entirely too delicious not to play with. I chewed the side of my finger, thinking of my options. I knew it would be difficult to ditch the guard, but I thrived on taking risks and this was a challenge I wanted.
“Yes. Did you drive?”
“Yeah.” He pulled his car keys out and held them up for me to see.
“Perfect. Meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes.”
His mischievous grin had my thighs twitching before he left out the main door of the ballroom.
Tugging my scarf from my waist, I looped it around my neck, holding onto both ends as I walked up to my bodyguard.
“I need to use the girls’ room and then I’ll be ready to go.”
He gave me a silent nod and followed me.
That took plan A out of the picture. But Riley had chosen an old estate for her wedding and the bathrooms had been added on the side of the estate lined with windows.
And I’d noticed earlier that someone had cracked open the window in the women’s room to let in the spring air.
After some finagling, I got the window open enough to crawl through and within minutes was racing across the parking lot to where Billy stood waiting.
Was it dangerous to leave with a stranger?
Sure, but I didn’t let fear rule my life anymore, and Billy looked yummy.
Plus, I knew of just the place for us to have some fun.
Maybe the wine was in control because breaking into Greyson Tides’ hangar had to have been the most idiotic thing I’d done. He’d likely kill me if my uncle didn’t first. And since I knew who he was, killing me was a possibility.
Thanks to Casey, I knew where the hangar was, how to get in, and how to open the plane door. It seemed odd that the guards who had stood outside the hangar last time were nowhere to be seen. Maybe they’d all been at the wedding and were now where Riley and Greyson had gone.
“Shit, this is amazing,” Billy said as he used his phone as a flashlight.
“Ignore the balloons,” I said, pushing one aside. “This was a surprise for the happy couple.”
“And we’re going to enjoy it instead?” he asked, coming closer to me.
“Definitely.” I pulled him by the tie and kissed him. I’d never had sex on a plane, but I fully intended to add that to my list of accomplishments.
My back pressed into the side of the seat, and he shoved his hands up my dress, yanking at my panties.
“We have all night,” I said, bringing one of his hands up and putting it on my breast.
“So you want to blow me first or let me do you first?”
My insides knotted because both sounded good. He tugged the strap of my dress down and cupped my breast, pulling at my nipple ring and groaning. His phone fell, the light extinguished when it landed upside down.
“Damn, you’re sexy.”
“Wait until I’m riding you,” I replied, eliciting another groan from him.
A movement in the shadows had me pausing, but he didn’t notice, as he thrust his hand between my legs. It would have made me squirm with anticipation, but the shadow moved, and I pushed his mouth from mine.
“What’s the matter, baby? You changing—”
A thud and he quieted, his body falling over just as I screamed. A hand wrapping over my mouth cut my scream short. Another hand picked my body up. Years of self-defense classes surfaced, and I broke free, but as I ran to the door, I hit a mountain of muscle.
“Bitch,” the other man said, and his hand shot out and wrapped around my neck. I clawed at his fingers, kicking and flailing, but he was too big.
“Don’t kill her. The boss wants her alive.”
“Well, you were supposed to keep Tides conscious.”
“Not so tough, is he? Maybe all those rumors about him are just lies.”
Oh God, they thought I was Riley. I tried to tell them they had the wrong woman, but the chokehold he had on my neck made it impossible.
“Knock her out and let’s go before someone finds us. I thought they weren’t supposed to arrive until the morning.”
“Looks like it’s our luck they decided to consummate their marriage on the plane tonight instead.”
They had to be idiots. I looked nothing like Riley, and Billy was far from Greyson Tides. Although it was so dark, I supposed it was easy to make the mistake. Something wet covered my mouth and nose, and I plunged into darkness.