I stare down at his hand and then at Aria. “My wife is makin’ the agreement with you as head of the King family. You seal the deal with her.”
Juan’s smile tightens around the edges, but he politely shakes hands with Aria. After placing a quick phone call, he escorts us back into the hall. “All your men are waiting for you in the courtyard.” He leans closer, “You can tell your men hiding in the foothills that they are free to go. But if they ever surround my home again, I will shoot them all.”
“You should be thinkin’ twice about threatening a family you just allied with,” I say coldly, “it’s bad for business, lad.”
Laughing loudly, he turns, attempting to kiss Aria’s hand before she smoothly moves it away. Elana strides past us to get into the SUV, followed by Zed, who shakes Juan’s hand with the grace of a seasoned politician.
The ride back to the airfield is silent, aside from the occasional soft sob from Elana and Zed’s comforting murmurs. She won’t look at Aria, who tries to hold her hand until she angrily yanks it away.
***
Before we part ways at the jets, I send Aria with Gregor to mine and step in front of Elana. “I want you to think about this on the way home. Your sister risked her life to come fetch you back. You’ve been treatin’ her like shite.”
She angrily opens her mouth and I hold up a hand. “You’re dealin’ with your guilt by rippin’ into Aria.”
“Guilty?” Elana scoffs angrily, “I’m-”
“You’re guilty because she’s had to keep fixin’ your problems, over and over. She’s taken on the burdens of the family whileya’ spend your time shopping and complaining. Ya’ feel useless, then guilty, then raged,” I say. “See it for what it is. You’ve taken it out on your sister long enough.”
She looks to Zed, as if expecting him to defend her, but he turns toward their jet, walking away without a word.
“Think about it. Aria believes you’re better than this. Prove it.”
I leave her confused and seething and go find my wife.
Settling her in a comfortable leather seat that turns into a couch, I pull a cashmere throw over her knees and pour her a glass of wine before the flight attendant can offer one. After watching Camille, my former employee, glare at Aria the first time we flew together, I’d sent her back home to be dispersed among the other MacTavish flight crews. My new flight attendant Morris is a stately older gent from Nairobi.
“You were brilliant, my wife.”
“Elana hates me,” she says sadly.
“Ach, she’s humiliated that she was a pawn. She’ll get over it and realize you were there because you love her.” I stroke her hair away from her face. “Ya’ did the right thing.”
“She’s young, and she doesn't have a lot of experience with men,” Aria frets, “Juan may have the personality of a serial killer - he probablyisa serial killer - but he managed to be just charming enough to convince her that this was the noble thing to do.”
Kneeling in front of her, I take her hands. “Elana is twenty-three. Ya’ dinna raise the girl in a nunnery. She isn’t the fragile little flower you want to believe she is.”
Shaking her head, Aria frowns. “No, we sheltered her more than we should have if she fell for his cheap lines.”
“Then give her more responsibility,” I suggest, “if she thinks she’s an adult, give her more work to do in the business. Make her prove it.”
Resting her forehead against mine, she sighs. “It’s my job to protect her after losing Mom and Dad, I hate that she resents me so much.”
“It won’t last,” I promise, “especially after she’s required to take on a grown-up workload and sees how much you’ve been doing for her and the business.”
“You’re a smart man, Mr. MacTavish,” she smiles at me.
“Aye, Mrs. MacTavish, I am,” I agree modestly. She’s so pretty right now, her protective fire fading into something softer, smoldering but not completely out.
She pulls away a bit, eyeing me suspiciously. “Why are you grinning at me like that?”
“I spent the last fourteen hours thinking about you held captive by that chain-smoking Columbian arsehole,” I groan, cupping her face in my hands, “scared shitless that the evil feck might be hurting you. Instead, you’re staring him down and forcing him to ask for what he needs from you. That smug son of a bitch was all puffed up at the beginning of the meeting, but by the end, he knew who owned that deal. You, my sexy, brilliant wife.”
She opens her mouth to say something, but my lips are on hers and my tongue slides in, tangling with hers and stopping any sound but a soft moan.
“Did you miss me, baby?” I whisper, biting the tight cord on her neck, “Did you think about me while I was gone? Did you play with that pretty little pussy?”
“You know perfectly well that I did,” she mumbles, shivering when I bite the soft skin on her shoulder. “We were on the phone together.”
