Page 14 of Love’s Strongest Soldier

“I love the beach,” escaped from my lips, and Ghost looked over at me before grabbing our luggage.

We went inside, and I checked us in. I’d stayed here a couple times before, so I already knew what to expect from this hotel. Very rarely, I’d stay somewhere new. I tried different places but didn’t want to end up disappointed with the room or services. It was kind of like when you found a good place to eat and then someone offered the same thing and you tried it, but it didn’t taste the same or was disgusting. To keep myself from being disappointed, I stuck to what I knew.

“Hi,” a woman said as Ghost passed her with our luggage. I snarled at the way she was grinning as she looked at him. She wanted to devour all his chocolatiness. That was the thing. Anytime we were out in public, Ghost always grabbed women’s attention. I was sure that he knew he was fine as hell, but I wasn’t about to be the one to tell him that.

“C’mon,” I told him as I headed toward the door. We were staying in this beautiful hut that we had to ride a golf cart to get to it.

I climbed into the front passenger seat of the cart while Ghost sat in the back with the luggage.

“How are y’all doing today?” the guy asked when he hopped into the driver’s seat.

“Good,” was the only response he got from me.

“You two are a lovely couple,” he stated as he pulled away from the entrance.

“We’re not a couple,” Ghost and I spoke in unison.

The guy just looked from me to Ghost and kept driving. He stopped at this walkway in front of one of the huts. Twenty-six . . . It was ours.

“I hope that you guys enjoy your stay. I’m Edward. You can reach me by contacting the front desk. Let me know if there’s anything that you need.”

Edward got out the cart and helped Ghost unload our luggage. I went up to the door and unlocked it. Inside was everything that we’d need. It had a kitchen, full living room, two bedrooms, and two baths. Plenty of space to keep Ghost’s ass at a distance. With me not being at home, I was certain that I’d be able to breathe a bit more.

“Thank you,” Ghost said when Edward brought one of the suitcases inside. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of cash and then tipped him. I’d always seen Ghost with rolls of money. It never crossed my mind to ask him just how much he made doing this. Savion hadn’t told me how much he was paying him to protect me, and I never asked.

From the expensive ass suits he wore and the way that he kept himself up, I was sure that he made well. My question was, how come he didn’t have a wife or woman back at the house. I never saw him talking to anyone or smiling at his phone. In fact, I hadn’t seen him smile at all. It was weird. Never did he mention anyone either.

“I’m gonna go get changed so that we can take that necklace.”

I went to grab my luggage, but he pulled it away from me. This man really wouldn’t let me do anything whenever he was around.

“Where’s the room?”

Without uttering a word, I walked toward the first bedroom where I was gon’ be sleeping. It had the perfect view to the beach with sliding doors that led out to a patio where a hot tub was located. I couldn’t wait to wake up to the sunsets in the morning.

Ghost tossed my suitcase onto the bed and left out of the room. I shut the door behind him and opened my luggage to find something to toss on. Marco wanted me to meet him at seven to drop off the necklace. Once I was done meeting him, I planned on going to grab me something to eat. It felt like I was starving. Before I left, I made sure to eat, but my stomach was rumbling now.

I decided on this black suit with a red blouse. Anytime that I met up with a client, I tried to make sure that I looked professional. I was my brand, and no one was going to catch me slipping.

It didn’t take me long to take a quick shower and get dressed. By the time I came out of the room, I found Ghost sitting in the living room part of the suite, cleaning his pistol.

“Thought you were gon’ take longer than that,” he said without even looking in my direction.

“Nope, but you don’t have to rush. We still have a little time.”

I went into the kitchen part and opened the refrigerator to see what they had in there. It was a bottle of wine and some tequila. I wasn’t trying to be wasted by the time I made it to Marco, so I just pored myself a reasonable glass of wine and took a seat at the bar to wait for Ghost to finish up. Of course, he wasn’t gon’ leave the suite without his gun. Knowing him, he probably had another one on him.

Being able to take weapons with me on trips was another reason why I’d never take a commercial flight ever again. Some form of protection had to be on me at all times, especially in the line of work that I did. The stuff was dangerous. Even though I’d been working with a lot of my clients for many of years, I still didn’t trust them. Every single meeting I went to, I had the thought in the back of my mind that those people could fucking kill me. It was how I survived for so long.

“I’m ready,” Ghost announced as he stood to his feet and slipped his gun into his waistline.

“Kay.”

I slid the glass onto the counter and got up from the stool. Grabbing the briefcase off the counter, I handcuffed it to my wrist and headed for the door.

“You know I could’ve carried that for you,” Ghost said as he held the door open for me.

“I don’t trust anybody. You know I’m not about to give you this.”