“What?” Ash yells, grabbing my hand and pulling me away from Loki, dragging me back to the sofa opposite like some cave dwelling Neanderthal. Or, like Loki can’t be trusted not to try and impregnate me.Sigh.
“Yeah, Lilly’s mom was standing with all of ours, at some Black Knight Gala or some shit,” Loki tells him, taking a sip from his glass which he somehow managed to keep from spilling when Ash punched him.
He pulls his phone from his pocket, scrolling a bit, and then leans over to hand it to Ash. On the screen is the picture. Mum’s dressed up in a midnight blue beaded evening dress, holding a champagne flute and smiling for the camera, surrounded by four other women, all in similar states like that of my mum.
My gaze flits back to my mum, who looks so young but no less beautiful than when I knew her. As I stare at the photograph, I can’t help feeling that although she looks happy and is smiling, there was something that was not quite right. Maybe it was because of the tightness around her eyes, and the death grip she has on the glass in her hand.
“Did she ever mention Highgate, Princess?” Ash asks me, handing the phone back to Loki, then pulling me in close again and tucking me under his arm.
“No,” I reply, frowning. “But she didn’t tell me about my uncle either, so…” I trail off, still feeling hurt at the things that she withheld from me, a painful tightness in my throat.
“Your uncle came to Highgate, didn’t he, Lilly?” Kai inquires, rubbing his chin as he looks at me.
“Yes, he did.”
“So, maybe she was just visiting him?” Loki suggests, taking another sip of his drink and wincing when it hits his split lip. “He was in our parent’s class, wasn’t he?”
“I think so, although I don’t think he’s ever mentioned them, or anything really,” I tell them, pursing my lips in thought.
“Well, it’s probably that then,” Ash says, not sounding convinced at all, and when I look up at him, his own brows are dipped, and he’s sharing a look with the others.
“What?” I question, sitting up so that I can see him fully, his arm dropping from around my shoulders. “You think that it doesn’t quite add up?”
“I just don’t trust my dad, or any of the board, as far as I could throw them,” Ash tells me, reaching out to brush some hair out of my face. “And your safety and well-being are my top priority.Ourtop priority.”
He leans in and places a gentle kiss on my lips, leaving me feeling all fuzzy and tingling whilst helping to lessen the unease that I was starting to feel. It doesn’t disappear completely, though, and I can’t help wondering what else my mother has kept from me.
* * *
The rest of the journey is pretty uneventful. We have some dinner; steak cooked medium rare, small buttered potatoes, and a colourful salad. Don’t ask me how we got this on a plane, apparently, it’s what you get for being rich bastards.
After dinner, I take a long nap with Ash once he’s made me explode several times on his tongue and fingers. I fall asleep, exhausted before I can return the favour.
We land some hours later, although because of the time difference, it’s only eight in the evening, which is all kinds of mindfuckery. Feeling slightly discombobulated, we exit the jet to find a car waiting for us on the tarmac. It’s another black limousine with a smartly dressed Balinese guy, who looks about our age, waiting by the open door.
“Good evening, sirs, miss. Welcome back,” he greets us, his speech slightly accented as he puts his hands in a prayer position and gives us a shallow bow, then straightens up. All the guys follow suit, bowing, so I do the same. “Your package is in the back, Master Matthews.”
“Thank you, Nengah,” Kai responds with a smile, indicating with a hand that I get in first.
I smile at Nengah, then climb in the back. The boys follow me in, and soon we’re on our way. Kai hands me a paper bag, and I open it to find a box. Opening that, I find a single white tablet inside. The morning after pill. My heart does a little flip, which is stupid because there is nothing to worry about either way. He hands me a bottle of water.
“Thanks.” I smile tightly at him, aware of three pairs of eyes on me as I pop the pill on my tongue and take a mouthful of water, swallowing it down. “So, when do we see Jax?” I ask them, wanting to move on from that shitstorm.
“We’re headed to the port now, and from there we’ll take the yacht to Cempedak Island, which should take just over an hour,” Ash informs me, looking down at his phone briefly.Of course they have a fucking yacht.
The car journey feels like it whizzes by, and takes an age at the same time. I’m so excited to see Jax, to have all my boys together with me again. It feels so wrong to be apart from any of them. Anxious butterflies flutter around my stomach. I’m worried about how we’ll find him. What state he’ll be in, and how he’s coping with his withdrawal. I know there will be side effects from the withdrawal, that he may be suffering from all sorts of things, but I’m desperate to see that he’s okay. That’s he’s still my He-Man.
By the time we reach the port, I’m practically vibrating, much to the irritation of Ash.
“Bouncing in your seat won’t get you there any faster, Princess,” he comments, looking at me with slightly narrowed eyes, his tone surly and sounding a tad jealous as he waits for Nengah to open the door.
“Don’t be a dick just because you’ve got blue balls, Ash,” Loki teases, earning a whack in the chest from the Ice Knight himself.
“I can sort those out for you on the boat, if you like?” I offer, my voice dropping huskily without conscious thought, and his frown lessens slightly. That is, until Loki opens his mouth again as we exit the car.
“That’s the rub of it. No sexual intercourse for the man, for six to eight weeks, rightLucifer?” Loki tells us like the shit stirrer he is, a wide grin on his face. That earns him a punch to his gut this time.
“What? Why?” I ask, looking at Ash and frowning. He raises his brows, and then it dawns on me. “The dare!” I hiss, my eyes widening as we walk towards the docked boat, which is fucking huge.