Minutes later, two guards exit the plane first, followed by people who look like the administrative staff.
When another man begins to descend the stairs, Lake and Mr. Reyes begin to move forward. My eyes glue themselves to the exit door of the plane as I wait for Lee-ann to appear.
A middle-aged woman exits after the man and only then does Lee-ann follow. Her face is expressionless as she pauses in the opening, her eyes on the back of her father.
Her poise is unyielding as she climbs down the stairs, and she ignores the hand a guard offers to help her down the last couple of steps.
She stops a couple of feet behind her father, her eyes downcast.
“She’s like ice,” I whisper to Falcon.
“Maybe she’s nervous.”
Mr. Reyes shakes hands with Mr. Park, and says, “It’s an honor having you visit us again, Chairman Park. Welcome.”
When one of the administrative staff begins to translate the greeting, my eyes widen. “They can’t speak English?”
“How did the two of you communicate,” Falcon asks.
“Lee’s fluent,” Lake grumbles. “Now, shut up and smile.”
After all the men are done being introduced, Mr. Park says something in Korean, which has Lee-ann moving forward.
She stops a couple of feet in front of Lake and folding her hands over her stomach, she bows, her posture still stiff as fuck.
“Good afternoon,” her eyes meet Lake’s for the first time, “I will do my best as your future wife, Mr. Cutler.”
Holy fuck.
There’s so much wrong with this picture I don’t even know where to begin to make sense of it.Driving back to the Academy, I’m stuck in my head as I replay the afternoon’s events, while my eyes are on my car in front of me, which Lake is driving.
He didn’t even get a moment alone with Lee-ann. She stuck to her father’s side like glue.
“Are you worried?” Kingsley asks.
“I am. That’s not what I expected,” I admit.
“Lake seems okay with how things went,” she mentions.
“That’s his specialty. The more he worries, the more he smiles and jokes.”
A couple of miles from the campus, my phone rings. Seeing Lake’s name, I put it on speaker, “What’s up?”
“I’m hungry. I’m going to stop for pizza. You want me to bring you some?”
“Anything with pineapple on it,” Kingsley says which has me shuddering because fruit does not belong on pizza.
“And you, Mace?” he asks.
“Anything that doesn’t have fruit on it,” I joke, shooting Kingsley a grin. “Oh, and by the way, I still don’t hear the sound. Are you sure your windows weren’t open when you heard it?”
“Yeah, that’s probably it. Thanks for checking it out.”
The call ends, and at the next intersection, Lake turns left. I glance at the back of my Bugatti before I speed up to close the gap left between Falcon and me.OJAI, California – Vehicle accident kills one and hospitalizes one other.
The community of Ojai which has long been known as a haven for artists has been brutally shaken by the traumatic events which took place outside the prestigious Trinity Academy.
Ojai is a vibrant place with unique, natural beauty, nestled in the mountains just 12 miles inland from the Pacific Ocean and is the smallest city in Ventura County.
Emergency services responded to a vehicle accident outside the gates of the college late this afternoon.
A student of the Academy was killed on impact. The state of the other student is still unknown.