“You’re kidding, right?” Jason asked.
“No, I hate to ask you two to–”
“Shut the hell up,” Jason cut him off before he could finish formulating his apology.
“I need to say this, Jason, it’s important to me–”
This time it was Jake who cut him off. “You are our brother and it doesn’t matter what’s going on in our lives; if you need us, we’ll always be there for you.”
“Yeah, what he said,” Jason agreed. “Even though MacKenzie is going to chew him out when he gets home.”
****
Lux listened intently to their conversation. From what she could gather, Jake’s partner was MacKenzie. Their reference to lovely had thrown her to begin with, but she soon caught on to what was being said.
Jason’s partner appeared to be someone by the name of Vee. From the tenor of the conversation, neither of the women was pleased by their absence.
As their discussion progressed, Lux took in as much information as she could. It was her intention, not to board the aircraft they were talking about. If she were unable to pull that off, being in possession of this type of information could come in handy.
Exiting the car at the private airport, Lux knew that getting past the immigration officials would be her last chance of escape. For a moment, it occurred to her that she was acting foolishly. That her life was in danger couldn’t be denied. Even acknowledging this, she wanted nothing more than to go back to her house and erase everything before Josh turned up.
As that wasn’t an option, she would just have to inform the approaching immigration officer that she was being kidnaped. She didn’t want to do it, but it was their fault, her brother and Josh’s.
It saddened Lux that after she spoke to the immigration official the Kingdom brothers would probably be thrown into prison. There, they would find hardened criminals with nothing to do but sit around and await new flesh. Always having a propensity of the dramatic, Lux reeled in her thoughts and focused on the man walking towards them.
Attempting to make eye contact with the man, her thoughts trailed off. The official wasn’t male, she was a lovely looking young woman and by the looks of things, she was having difficulty deciding which slice of her twin sandwich she wanted to bite first.
Lux couldn’t help sucking her teeth at how much of a fool the woman was making of herself. Having seen enough, she rolled her eyes and began to move forwards. If the foolish woman were lost in her fantasy, she would just have to set her straight.
When she tried to move forward a hand snagged her around the waist and held her firmly in place. Lux knew exactly what he was about, he thought he was slick, but she wasn’t about to be maneuvered.
Pulling in air, she made ready to gain the official’s attention. Before a sound left her mouth, Josh plastered his lips against hers. She didn’t even have time to notice if the dumb-ass woman knew she was there, or if all her attention was still on the blond men.
Madder than hell, Lux kicked Josh in the shin. By the time she remembered she was wearing flip flops it was too late, pain already shot up her leg. Grabbing hold of the front of his shirt, she closed her eyes in the sure knowledge her toes were broken.
“It’s okay, Luxie, just ride the plane, I mean pain,” Josh corrected himself with a laugh.
Opening her eyes at his comment and laughter, for a moment, Lux forgot about her throbbing foot. “That woman may be a damn fool for your brothers, but I bet she’s still going to do her job. I don’t have a passport, so–”
“Actually, that’s not technically correct–”
“What are you talking about?” She eyed him suspiciously.
“Umm... well, when we were at your other place, I umm... sort of found your passport and birth certificate, and kept them safe for you,” he finished in a rush.
“You damn creeping thief. How could you do that to me Josh, go through my things! My God, I feel violated, I feel as though–”
“Hold that thought,” Josh said. By his unconcerned expression, Lux knew he’d tuned her out. She’d done it again, overplayed her hand.
Following his gaze she soon realized that his attention was on what was taking place with his brothers. The official was still smiling at the twins, but the way they kept moving their bodies appeared to Lux that they were attempting to block her from view.
Vexed beyond belief, she again readied herself to shout to catch the woman’s attention. This time Josh didn’t employ the same tactic as before.