We’re at cruising altitude, gazing down at the puffy white clouds, when minor turbulence tosses her in my lap. Instinctively, I hold her while the plane shudders and shakes around us.
“Sorry,” she says, her hand on my inner thigh.
I try to think of elephants and frogs— anything to keep my cock in my pants. Once things smooth out, she slides back to her spot on the sofa.
“I had no idea,” she blushes, “that I’d bump into you like this. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s fine,” I say, keeping it short while I struggle to keep my composure and purposely avoid her eyes— the dark eyes that suck me in like water to a man dying of thirst.
Instead, I look for the guards who seem more occupied with their phones than us. I’m glad they’re armed. That’s another perk of traveling in your own jet, no airport security clearances.
“Who do you think killed my father? I mean, if you guys didn’t and let’s say, for argument’s sake, we eliminate Besnik as a suspect, who would have a motive?”
“Hard to say, unless you know the killer and what their motivation is. Is it out of loyalty, to send a message, retaliation? Debts? Skimming?”
I give her a look that says,I’m not a mind reader but I have a laundry list of motives.
We touch down outside the city of Cervinia and taxi to our limo.
“Besnik, his name actually means loyal. It hard for me to believe he’d do such a thing to my papa. But then again, he’s prepared to marry me off to an old man named Lirim.”
“What? And you’re just now telling me this?” Jealousy makes my veins swell.
If I was standing and she was a man, she’d be knocked out right now.
“What’s the big deal? I’m not marrying anyone, let alone a man I barely know,” she scoffs.
“Who is this man?”
“Some big shot, according to my uncle. When we were on vacation, he stopped by our dinner table one night and had some friends with him. He’s a bit creepy. I’m wasn’t even sure I would recognize him again but he was at the funeral. But at the hotel, both papa and Besnik seemed to suck up to him.”
“Mmm. Lirim is a man of some importance, is that it?”
“Must be. Father was very accommodating and boasted about how successful I am.”
“Right, well, that fits then,” I say, and my eyebrows knit together for a second.
I don’t know how to break it to her, but her dad wasn’t exactly a nobody in the mafia. And everyone in the Albanian family is suspect and capable of pulling off a hit. It’s as easy as putting groceries in a bag if you know a person is going to to the store. That’s why Dante is adamant about keeping his schedule private and mixing things up.
She’s pensive for a moment. “Are you mad at me?”
“Let me just say that there is going to be hell to pay when you get home.”
As I sit, I imagine Besnik having a mild heart attack as the flower store is important to his family and maybe him, but they must want this Lirim to take over.
“Like, I can’t get out of the arranged marriage kind of bad?”
“We’ll start with that,” I say and I let out a long sigh. “Obviously they want to keep you in the dark and this Lirim is the person they are sending in to keep you in check.”
I’m pretty sure nobody will be happy if we fall into lust with one another, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. I place my arm around her as we walk to the waiting limo after landing. We head to the five-star hotel I booked.
I love the best hotels, but I can’t deny I want to impress her, it’s becoming a habit lately. Impressing her, helping her, I’ve never been so interested in a girl’s life until now. I rationalize it to myself that we have common interests that are best served if we team up to find the murderer. We both have important things at stake.
Namely, her freedom, and possibly the freedom of one of my siblings.
Why do I care if she gets married? More importantly, why am I pissed at a man I didn’t know existed until ten minutes ago? Is this what jealousy does to a person?
We check into our suite with two queen beds and the guards go into the adjoining room.