Dahlia Aldridge
I think what surprised me the most about our arrival at the private airport was the amount of people waiting for us. Specifically, people dressed in dark suits with dark SUVs like we were in some type of… well, mafia movie.
I mean, to be fair, the reference was obviously fairly accurate, and despite being next to King, his hand in mine, a bit of fear trickled down my spine. There was a charged sensation to the air, and I could see the tight security around the airport, making me wonder how much of a threat faced the Ross family on a daily basis. If that was the case, then Wildberry had been very much a bubble for them to escape all of this.
As we walked down the staircase that led off of the jet, I went to put a hand up to shield my eyes from the sun, only to have an umbrella appear in front of me. I grabbed the handle and looked up to find three men in black suits—who seemed to appear out of nowhere—greeting King and Dermot. My ears rang, overwhelmed by the sudden change in atmosphere.
King placed a hand on my back, something none of the security missed, no doubt, as we walked across the pavement towards one of the cars. It was then that I noticed the other cars were positioned throughout the airport along the fence, all the men having guns drawn and facing outwards.
“Um, King?”
He looked down at me, his eyes filled with curiosity. “Yeah, princess?” He mussed my hair lightly, taking my umbrella and holding it up so I could cross my arms over my chest. How he knew that I felt more comfortable doing that right now was beyond me. I swear the man was a mind reader.
“This is intense. Are these the people…” I didn't know how to finish that sentence.
He chuckled lightly and shook his head. “No, this is security.”
“Security for the freakin’ president,” I mumbled as he flashed me a smile and helped me up into the SUV, dismissing one of the men who offered a hand to help me. I curled into the leather seat and breathed out a sigh of relief, glad there was a partition up between us and whoever was driving.
As the boys started talking around me, seemingly far more relaxed than myself, I kept an eye on what we were passing, curious about the place the Ross family still seemed to call home, to an extent. Dermot was positioned on my other side, placing me in a sandwich between King and him that I absolutely loved.
What I didn’t love? The tension rolling through Dermot’s frame, his hand gently squeezing my thigh every so often as if to remind himself that I was there. I kept looking down at it, loving how massive it was compared to my leg, his grip possessive and commanding without him even meaning to be. I snuggled into him, and he looked down at me with a soft affection. Still, there was a coolness to his gaze underneath it, and it worried me. I felt like the man was drifting out to sea, and I had no idea how to bring him back to me.
Maybe I needed to instead swim out to him. I just didn’t know how.
It wasn’t long before we were pulling past a massive stone wall that spanned as far as I could see along the road, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. When we reached a solid black gate, there were four guards who greeted us and called out for it to be opened from the other side. I sat forward in my seat as it opened to reveal a forested road that stretched forward seemingly forever.
I was finding that Ireland was not only thick with greenery, but everything here was damp and vibrant. It smelled different as well. Not in a bad way, though. Actually, I really rather liked it.
I hadn’t thought to bring my camera.Something that I was completely regretting right now. My eyes scanned the different angles that I could shoot from, the way the muted sunlight tried to break through the lush greenery. I could imagine just how beautiful the photos would turn out.
“I wish I had brought my camera,” I admitted.
“It’s packed.” Sterling offered me a surprised look as if confused that I didn’t know that. “Sorry, sugar, I should have told you that. I clearly was more tired than I realized.”
“Thanks, Sterling,” I offered him a soft smile. The returning wink he offered had my cheeks flushing with color as I turned back towards the window. Why did he have to be so thoughtful and sexy?
Trying to distract myself, my thoughts moved back to that vacation home that Lincoln had shown me. Maybe we could go see that while we were here.
The car was silent, and after a few minutes, King adjusted his jacket and leaned forward, knocking on the partition. It rolled down so he could speak to the driver, allowing me to see forward far more clearly as we circled the driveway.
Damn.I didn’t say that lightly, either. I watched as we approached what I had to assume was the Ross family compound, and holy moly was it a compound for sure.
First of all, it had to be well over ten thousand square feet because it was nearly commercial sized, yet it looked like an oversized home. More like a castle.
Wait, that was exactly what the compound was. A castle.
Lord.
The stone exterior was covered in moss, barely disguising all the security measures that had been added. The windows looked fortified, and the front of it appeared to only have one entrance, located near the grand driveway that could easily fit twelve or more cars.
I legitimately didn’t have words for this. I mean, this was… this was insane.
As I got out of the car, the doors to the estate opened, and an older man that was not dressed like the security team at all strolled out. King was relaxed next to me, so I assumed the lanky guy dressed in shades of brown and gray was okay in his book? Or at least not a threat.
“Mr. Ross,” the man’s voice rang out in a clear Irish accent, “welcome back. Everything has been prepared for you, including the extra bedrooms.”
King led me up the stairs and offered the man a small smile, clasping his shoulder in thanks as he led us into the massive home.Castle.It was totally a castle. I had the urge to go back and introduce myself to the older man like I would back home, but apparently that wasn’t a thing here?