Constantine: Focus that anger elsewhere, like on finding Bianca’s killer.
Alessandro: Yeah, sure. And hell, if this is turning into a party, I should bring a plus-one, too.
Constantine: Be serious.
Alessandro: You know me. Humor and copious amounts of sex are my coping mechanisms. Well, so the shrink says.
Since when did he see a therapist?
Constantine: We need to focus. Did Jesse give you the name?
Me: Not yet. I’ll have it by this evening, though.
Constantine’s slow reply meant he regretted not flying down to get the information from Jesse himself.
Constantine: I’ll find Carter and get it from him if I have to.
From the sound of it, that wasn’t a fight I was eager to see. And we needed to be on the same side. Jesse was right.
I looked over at Maria, and her eyes met mine. That sinking feeling in my stomach came back.
Me: Tell me one more time I’m not crazy for bringing her with me.
Alessandro: I can’t do that. You are.
Constantine: Just do what you think is right. You always do.
What I always do? That would be the opposite of bringing Maria with me today. I pocketed my phone, unsure if I really knew what was the right decision. But Maria somehow had me breaking my own rules at every turn. And after that kiss this morning—
“You’re sure about this?” Ryan asked, cutting off my thoughts.
“No, I’m not,” I honestly shared, which had Maria shooting me a death stare. “But she’s a pain in the ass, so I guess she’s coming whether I want her to or not.” And I wanted to spank that woman’s ass for this, too.
“If anything happens to her,” was all Ryan said, and it was all he needed to say. There’d be hell to pay across the board if so much as a hair was touched on her head.
“I don’t think you should go, but I know I can’t stop you.” Natalia pulled Maria in for a hug, careful not to smash her pregnant belly, and then Ryan hugged her next. “A quick word alone, please?” Natalia tugged my arm.
“I’d expect nothing less,” I said as I followed her away from the others.
“She’s persuasive.” Natalia cut to the point. “But you’re not one to roll over for anyone. And all I know is that when I came over this morning, my sister was wearing only your T-shirt. Did you two sleep together last night?”
Shit. “No, we didn’t have sex.” I held my forehead for a moment, unprepared for that question. “You should talk to Maria about this stuff, though.”
“Just keep her safe, okay?”
“That’s a given.” I smoothed my palm along my jawline.
“And don’t break her heart.” She gave me her signature stern look. “Promise?”
I swallowed, tense at the idea of ever hurting Maria in any way. Not knowing what to say, I kept my mouth shut, and I did my best to nod. Natalia gave me a quick hug, and we made our way back over to the group. We then said our goodbyes and boarded the jet.
The two bodyguards, who didn’t look all too impressive, were strapped in near the cockpit, leaving a few rows of space between where Maria and I sat. Thankfully, the jet didn’t have a bedroom on board. If it did, I’d probably drag Maria in there and spend the flight distracting myself between her thighs, torturing her with my tongue . . .
Fuck, now I wanted to add “join the mile-high club” to that list of hers.
She buckled in across from me in the leather bucket seat and said, “The last time I was on a plane was six years ago heading home from New York. I guess I need to travel more.”
And damn, I hoped one day I’d be able to take her all over the world. Show her every place she’d only read about in books to experience for herself.
“Everything will be okay,” I said once we took off, my attention trailing along her outfit. She had on black jeans with a fitted thin red turtleneck.
She fidgeted with the neck of her top, pulling at it just enough that I could spot a bruise there.
Did I do that? Hell, I probably would’ve marked more of her body in my bedroom earlier had Natalia and Ryan not been in the living room.
Maria nervously combed her fingers through her thick, curly dark hair. Knowing we were having dinner with my parents later, she’d demanded the chance to shower and freshen up before we left for the airport.
Gripping the chair arms, she locked her eyes with mine, and her tongue swept along the line of her lips.
“If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll need to throw those two men from the plane,” I said. We’d only just taken off, maybe they’d survive the fall?
“Really? Why?”
Because I wanted to sink my teeth into her skin. Mark her again, which was a special kind of fucked up, and I didn’t care. Her knees pinned together as her other hand clutched her leg, and I couldn’t help but bite my lower lip. Oh, my girl knew why.
I leaned in closer, cocking an eyebrow. “Can’t have other men looking at you while you come, now can I?”
She swallowed back a small moan, and damn if I didn’t wish it was my mouth hiding the sound instead. I was trying to behave, since we weren’t alone, and trying to not totally become the man I was before Charlotte. Because that man would’ve taken her how he wanted on the jet regardless of the eyes on us.
That man would’ve spread her out on the couch off to our left, fallen to his knees, and tossed her legs over his shoulders while sinking his mouth over her pussy.
But this was Maria, and like hell would I let any other man see her naked or hear her soft moans of pleasure while she came.
“I’m not kidding, sweetheart,” I murmured in a low voice, my patience gone at this point. My control had snapped in half as of this morning.
The only question now was when I’d be taking her and where.
“Do not look at me like that. You need to stop tempting me. Because I want to punish you for doing this to me. For making me bring you along for this fucked-up ride that you should be as far away from as possible,” I warned once we were at cruising altitude, but for whatever reason, I only seemed to provoke desire from her. Not fear.
She wet her lips as her dainty hand circled her throat. “Far away from the danger? Or away from you?”
“I am the danger,” I bluntly said. “You know exactly why you shouldn’t be on this plane. You’re looking at the reason.”
“What I’m looking at is a man who thinks he’s not worthy of love. That he doesn’t have a full heart to give because he lost his twin sister. Lost his other half,” she softly said, and her words had my chest tightening. “But that man does deserve it. And your sister would want that for you.” She unbuckled. “Now, excuse me while I use the restroom.” Shit, were those tears in her eyes?
I snatched her wrist once she was in the aisle, and her gaze flashed to where I held her, but I reluctantly released her.
My eyes closed, and I sat back, trying to dismantle the intrusive thoughts that warred with each other. Like always. The good and the bad. The dark and the light. Without Bianca, I’d lost sight of the other side for so long.
I hadn’t always been like this. After the first life I took in the army, it’d been Bianca there for me. Helping me get a handle on my guilt. We’d spent hours on the phone that night. And I’d had to convince myself the boy I’d killed had been eighteen, because if he’d been younger, I would’ve totally broken the fuck down.
Unsure how long I’d been lost in my thoughts of the past, I finally opened my eyes, discovering Maria back in her seat. There were questions she wanted to ask me, I could feel it. And why wouldn’t there be? I’d kept so much of myself from her. I’d thought it was to protect her from the ugliness of my past, but maybe I was just scared she’d see me differently, and I’d lose her forever.
“Will you tell me the truth now?” Maria’s soft request had me surrendering a deep breath. “Or you could give it to me in three acts,” she suggested while I continued to contemplate what to do. “You know, like the beginning, middle, and end of a book. Tell me the first part now. Reveal the rest when you’re ready?”