It might actually work out well for us. It is time for me to come home too. In order to do that I’ll have to wrap some things up and make sure there aren’t any loose ends. I won’t go after her until I can guarantee the coast is clear. I don’t need the world knowing about Kinley and me. Especially the world I’m currently working in. There is no doubt in my mind if the information got into the wrong hands, it would be used against me. But once I am done, she is going to be all mine.
I reach for her. Most of the night she clung to me. As much as I loved being inside of her, I equally loved being skin to skin with her. I craved it. Her soft body is full of sweetness and light. She’s like a drug to my system, and I need more.
When I come up empty I sit up. I know in that instant that she’s no longer here. The only thing that remains is her sweet scent. She can run, but she’s not going to get very far. Did she really think this was a one-night stand? I’m pretty sure I told her this wouldn't be a one-time thing.
I hurriedly get dressed, my eyes falling to the bed. The white sheets are covered in our love-making and her virginity. My throat goes tight, thinking that this was only a fling. Did she not feel the same thing I had? This is the first time my reputation has worked against me. I grab the lamp on the nightstand and throw it against the wall.
It feels good to get some aggression out, but it doesn’t help with the emptiness. That’s still there. I think it’s been there this entire time. I knew something was missing in my life. There had been a void that I thought was boredom with work, but I’d been wrong. Kinley had filled it and now with her absence, there’s no denying what I’ve been missing. Her. There’s a deep ache inside of me. One that I know only she will be able to fill. I’m so fucked. When I hear the sound of the hotel room door opening, relief fills me. Maybe she only stepped out for a moment. When I round the corner, I stand there for a moment staring at the stranger that’s in the entrance to my room. She doesn't look as though she’s room service or a housekeeper. Especially not with the outfit she has on.
“I think you have the wrong room.” I run my hands through my hair, and the hollowness that I’ve been feeling comes right back. I never understood how you could need someone so much. Fuck, I haven’t even known her long, and I swear it’s hard to breathe thinking about her being gone.
“We met the other night. At the rehearsal dinner? I was your server.” I take a step back because that’s creepy as shit. How the hell did this woman get into my room?
“I don’t know how you got a key to my room, but I’m calling security.”
“Maybe this will change your mind.” She drops her coat revealing how little she really is wearing. The sight of her does nothing for me. I turn to give her my back. I’m not interested in anything she’s offering.
“Get the fuck out of my room!” I bellow. I don’t think I’ve ever talked to a woman like that in my life but her being here dressed how she is feels wrong. It feels as if it’s a betrayal to Kinley.
“Are you sure?” She tries to sound sexy as she asks.
“Yeah, I’m fucking sure.” I walk toward the hotel room phone.
“Fine.”
I don’t look back at her as I make the call, wanting answers to how this woman got a key to my room. I start tossing all my shit into my bag. I should shower but I know that will wash away whatever I have left of Kinley. I can still smell her sweet scent on me. When I’m finished getting my things together, I head straight for the front desk and find out that Kinley has already checked out.
I walk over to one of the chairs in the lobby and sit. My mind is racing. I can’t chase her to Europe right now. Well, I could, but I am so close to finishing my work. I’ve done my part. For years I’ve been giving Interpol information. I need to get through one last game and I am out for good.
It’s one I couldn't turn down. This is beyond money laundering and offshore accounts. This is to stop trafficking of hard drugs. That’s where it starts, then they move on to trafficking young girls. Something Clark wanted to get his hands into before it got that far.
I call Kinley, and of course it goes straight to voicemail. Then I text her. When I see that the delivered sign never shows on my phone, I know she’s blocked me. Why the hell would she fucking block me? I make another call.
“Plane is ready,” he says before I can get a word out.
“There’s a girl.”
“Which one? The one you took to your room last night or the one that showed up early this morning?”
“You know I could walk away from this. Hell, I never have to step foot back in Hong Kong if I don’t want to.”
The line goes silent for a moment.
“We’ll keep eyes on Kinley. I already have someone on the flight she got onto.” I relax at that. Knowing that she’s safe is one less thing I have to worry about.
“And you can’t just walk away.” I know I can’t. I would never be able to live with the fact I could have stopped this from getting worse. This shit needs to stop before it gets out of hand. That shit would eat me alive. “We do this, and you’re done. You can walk away.”
“Yeah.”
“I figured. Get your ass back to Hong Kong,” he says before the line goes dead. The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can start my life with Kinley. When I first started this, I thought men would just be tossed into prisons. Some have been. But that’s not always how it works. There are layers to this shit. It’s complicated.
This time around, I have a feeling it’s going to be different. No one is going to prison. This time we're cutting off the head of the beast. I don’t only mean one, either. No one is going to make it out alive at the end except for those girls. I don't need any of them tracking me down. They’ll be six feet under. That is the only way I can start a new life. That’s the plan, at least.
But does anything really ever go as planned?
6
Kinley
I sit in my hotel room asking myself What am I doing? At the moment I’m having a pity party for one while killing the mini bar and stalking my new brother-in-law. He made Page Six today in the gossip column.
I’m not sure if I should be happy or mad about that. It wasn't me that made it with him. It was the girl that I saw entering his room the morning that I left. I knew she looked familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d seen her before. Turns out she’d been the waitress that couldn't keep her eyes off Luke the night of the rehearsal dinner. I guess I wasn't the only one he handed out keys to his room to. That thought sours my mood. I take another sip of champagne.
Had he taken her back to his room that first night when I’d shot him down? Had Luke invited her back when he realized I had taken off on him? My stomach turns at the idea. I pop another overpriced M&M into my mouth.
I knew exactly what I’d been getting myself into when I spent the night with Luke. I think I’m mixing love and sex up in my head. That has to be it. At times he was so gentle with me and then others he was ravenous. I thought he felt the same pull that I had. He’d said those words, but for all I know those are the kinds of things people say in the heat of the moment. I could barely think straight when the man was touching me.