Complicated
Aren’t they all?
I turn my phone to airplane mode before slipping it back into my pocket. With a deep intake of breath, I buckle my seatbelt and lean back in the seat and close my eyes. Takeoff and landing are the worst. I never processed my trauma from the army. But since the helicopter crash, I’ve fucking hated flying and avoid it all costs.
A hand rests on my shoulder. I open my eyes to the other flight attendant, Lisa Adams. “Don’t worry, sir. Only two hours and thirty minutes until we’re back in the UK. Can I get you anything?”
“I need Grace. Can you get me Grace?”
Her mouth parts, she glances to the curtain behind me, separating us from economy. “She’s busy, sir. She asked me to check on you instead.”
“She did?” My stomach does a somersault. She cares. “I’ll be fine. Just gotta get through takeoff.”
“I hate to see you like this, sir. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll just be at the front.”
I nod as she smiles and walks away.
A minute later, Rose walks down the aisle. Her colleaguewhispers to her, but loud enough for me to hear. “Mr. Inferno is asking for you.”
Rose glances over in my direction. “Mr. Inferno will have to wait. We’re about to take off.”
My lips quirk at the nickname and I grab Rose’s hand as she passes me, stopping her in her tracks. “Mr. Inferno, huh?”
She furrows her brow as she tries to escape without making a scene. “Well, you are burning up.”
I hold her hand in mine as I let out a long sigh, as if having her close brings me some relief.
“Sir, I have to get to my seat. The plane’s about to take off.” Her eyes soften as she takes in the sweat on my brow. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”
I bring her hand to rest over my heart, and the thumping against my ribs slows a little. It’s easier to breathe with her here. “Is it?” Nothing will be okay until this woman submits to me.
She leans down and whispers, “I told you before, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I tighten my grip around her hand. “And I told you, you’re mine.”
She leans down and whispers. “The only man I belong to is my son. Everyone else can go fuck themselves.” Her eyes narrow as she snatches her hand away and walks to the front of the cabin. This woman blows hot and cold. Just as I think I’m breaking through her walls, she builds another shield of armour.
Within minutes, the plane’s barrelling down the runway, the engines roaring under the wing. My fingers curl around the armrest and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to think of anything to take me away from here, and like muscle memory, my mind pulls me to where it all began—Villa Borghese.
It’s as if it were yesterday. I can still smell the fresh cut grass as Dom paces between two Italian stone pine trees, histattooed fingers scratching the rough hairs on his jaw. “Why are we wasting time here?”
I rest my head back against a tree and lower my newspaper. The sun’s rays warm my face and I welcome the small breeze coming from the direction of the lake. “I told you already. I’m waiting for the daughter. She comes here every lunchtime to read.”
Dom squints under the sunlight and whisper-yells, “Is this where you’ve been every day? Scoping out some pussy when we should be concentrating on the mission?”
“Keep your voice down.” I roll the newspaper in my hand and crunch it in my fist as I push off the tree, but she catches my eye and I freeze before I clock my brother round the head with the roll of newspaper. “She’s here.”
His gaze follows the direction of mine and a smirk forms on his face.
Now I whack him on the back of the head with the rolled paper. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. I was expecting?—”
“What?” I clench my back teeth. I know what he was expecting. He thought I was out here trying to get my dick wet with a hot woman, not a chubby girl barely eighteen. “Now do you believe she’s just part of the mission?”
He scratches his jaw again, eyes narrowing at me, then back to the Conti girl. “I mean, she’s not your usual type, but she’s not ugly.”
I shove the newspaper into his arms. “Your job is to keep tabs on the target. Leave the girl to me. I’ll get us the intel we need to make this mission go smoothly. The more we keep this on the down-low, the better.”
