I WELCOMED THE CHILL OF the dark early morning of January first, and its howling wind as I carefully stepped out of the Hammer Limousine and onto the tarmac.
Trevor’s jet was already waiting, all sleek and fancy, and it made my chest fill with excitement. Something I was desperately craving since the party.
I hadn’t planned on going to Hawaii, but maybe this was exactly what I needed. A short getaway to relax and get my get my head on straight. Maybe even meet a hot, Latin man with a six pack that would make me forget about the other hot, Latin man in my life…
The car-door shut with a loud bang behind me, Antonio and Gìovanni stepping up to my side.
“Ready?” Tony nudged me with his elbow.
I smiled big. “Yeah.”
Spoke too soon.
The roar of an SUV engine suddenly caught my attention, though Gìo was already waving at the driver, signaling it down to park next to our Hammer.
“You might wanna get back in,” Tony said, nodding his head to the Limousine. “We’ll be a while.”
I wrapped my jacket tighter around me as snow and rain began falling from the night sky in a weird mix. My heart was on the edge of its seat, anticipation building low in my tummy as I waited for the unexpected guest to step out. Then…
Messily styled brown hair, dark golden eyes, and six-foot-five of muscle in an expensive black Armani suit. Matteo stepped out of the Aston Martin, closing his suit jacket as the winter wind blew his hair back. He looked like he couldn’t feel any of it, while I was shitting myself I was so cold.
Matteo began talking to my older brother, though his eyes stayed on me, full of fatal attraction and secret affairs.
“What ishedoing here.”
Tony gave me a weird look, heading off to join the guys. “He’s been friends with Zane and Gìo long before you even met Natalia.”
I rolled my eyes, starting towards the jet across the tarmac by myself.
My heels clicked against the cement, and it wasn’t long before I heard their footsteps thump behind me, running to catch up to me.
“Fuck.” Tony threw an arm around me, helping to warm me up, though I suspected he needed the warmth just as much. “It’s mad brick. Why couldn’t you wait for us to finish talking so we could take the fucking car, Frankie? Now I gotta walk all the fucking airport!”
“Can it and walk faster!”
I heard Gìo and Matteo laugh behind us, but I could barely hear them behind the shuddering of my teeth. They could laugh all they wanted. When we finally reached the jet’s open door, they were practically about to pick us up, just so they could get on faster.
“Oh,my God. Move, Gìo! You’re stepping on my foot!”
“That’s not my fault, you’re walking like a fucking giraffe.”
“Say that again and I’m stuffing you in the luggage hold, jackass.”
I stepped onto the plane first, feeling the warmth inside basically hit me in the face like whiplash. I smiled at the girls, already heading towards them.
The jet door shut with a loud bang, like a vacuum. I glanced over my shoulder out of instinct, my eyes landing on Matteo’s just as he stepped away from the door after locking it. Swallowing hard, I turned back to the front.
I faintly registered Trevor’s confused interrogation – he hadn’t been made aware about our arrival, hence our so-called high jacking – and kept walking towards the girls.
I plopped down across from Natalia, kicked off my red bottoms, and crossed my legs under a huge fluffy blanket, desperate to warm up. “You didn’t think you’d elope without us, did you?”
I chuckled at Trevor’s blank look, moving to search his jet for the fancy little bottle of alcohol, but only finding champagne.
While Trevor took a seat next to his wife, my attention was diverted to the huge man that made the couch dip next to me.
The soft material creaked faintly under his weight as Matteo settled beside me, and instantly the temperature in the cabin seemed to shift. The private jet was all cream leather, mahogany trim, and soft golden light – but the space between us was heavy, dense, charged.
Without a word, he reached into the small drawer built into the side of the seat and held out a mini bottleof whiskey.Exactly what I’d been looking for.The amber liquid caught the light, glowing like honey.
