Filed to story: Submitting to My Bestie’s Daddy Read Online >>???
“No,” James said through gritted teeth. “That’s not Neal.”
I swallowed hard and took Alessandro from the stroller, holding him in my arms as Layla held Dahlia.
James’s look of longing returned but was then replaced by a hard, ruthless demeanor. “If they approach, shoot to kill.”
“Yes, sir,” Tony agreed, taking a gun from under his jacket.
Cristofori and the other men James had brought with him did the same.
“I’d really feel more comfortable if you didn’t draw weapons around the children,” my father said, frowning at the bristling of guns around us.
“I’d really prefer we all make it to Italy alive. Guess whose preference is going to win out?” James replied harshly to him.
My father seemed about to argue further, but I put a hand on his arm. “We’ll work it all out on the plane,” I promised.
The other boat swerved away from its path towards the island when they spotted us. My heart pounded double-time in my chest.
“Don’t worry,” James said, touching my knee. “I won’t let anyone harm you or the children.”
I bit my lip, wondering if this was a promise like the ones Neal had made—sincere, but ultimately breakable. Then again, this was James, and by the determined set of his tan jaw, I knew he believed in what he said. I had no choice but to believe it, too.
Just as the boat pursuing us got close enough that we could see the number of its occupants, it veered away sharply. I thought I saw guns on that boat, but their numbers were far inferior to the number of men James had brought. They probably decided discretion was the better part of valor.
James made a motion, and all the guns disappeared into various hidden holsters.
Choppy waves bounced the boat around, but once the other boat disappeared from sight, our speed decreased, and we coasted at an easier pace to a small harbor on a side of New Zealand I’d never seen before.
We came to a stop next to an old, yet well-maintained, dock. More of James’s men met us there.
The men in the boat disembarked, with Tony snapping orders at them, informing them of the situation. Some took the bags we’d managed to get on the boat before we left.
My father helped my stepmother off the boat, and Cristofori helped Layla, who was still holding Dahlia.
James held out his hand to me.
I considered rejecting it. He really didn’t deserve to be the chivalrous knight in shining armor at this point in our tale. But I was holding Alessandro, and I didn’t want to drop the one-year-old in the water just because I’d been too stubborn to take James’s hand.
“Just so you know, I’m still mad at you,” I grumbled, allowing James to get me from the boat to the dock. The touch of his hand was enough to send fire through my blood.
It really had been a long time.
We were all packed into SUVs, James and Tony with Layla, the children, and I. My father and my stepmother went in an SUV with Alfonso and Cristofori.
James took shotgun while Tony drove. Layla and I sat in the back with the children.
“Hang on,” James warned as we started going over rugged terrain. His hand was wrapped firmly around the “oh shit” bar.
“Just where is this airstrip?” I asked, bumping shoulders with Layla.
Alessandro giggled as the SUV pitched to and fro, thinking it was the best ride ever.
Miraculously, Dahlia slept through it all.
I decided they must have James’s strong, unflappable genes.
“It’s out of the way,” James replied cryptically.
“Right,” I muttered. Even more secrets. For all I knew, it was a landing strip for a drug cartel.
When I saw the asphalt strip in the middle of the woods, with barely enough room around it for the planes to take off and land, I blinked. I decided my guess probably wasn’t too far off. It was definitely “out of the way.”
The SUVs all stopped in a long line as though it was a presidential motorcade. James got out, as did Tony and the others.
I started to open my door, but James leaned his hip against it. “We need to secure the area first.”
Seething, I waited for the men to fan out and check around the jet. Once an “all clear” call went up from all sides, James finally opened my door.
I stomped out, pushing past him to carry Alessandro to the plane, Lyla, my father, and my stepmother in my wake.
James seemed perfectly happy with this turn of events as some of his men hopped ahead of us and a circle of defenders closed around us. Cristofori stood at the top of the stairs to the jet and waved us aboard. The jet was large enough to accommodate nineteen passengers, and James made sure every seat was taken.
“What about the rest of your men?” I asked.
“They’re going to the airport,” James replied.
“Oh.” I looked around at the men who had joined us on the plane. I imagined they were James’s best. “So, we’re flying straight to…?”
“Italy. And no, we’ll have to stop to refuel in Indonesia,” James said. His eyes speared mine. “We will not be disembarking the plane.”
“Hmph.” I was secretly fine with it, but I didn’t like James making these decisions for me. “Where in Italy are we going?”
“My uncle’s compound in Sicily. Buckle up, we’re taking off,” James replied.
I buckled myself up and held Alessandro in my lap. Layla did the same, only holding Dahlia in her arms.
As we lifted off, I looked down at New Zealand with a sense of sadness. I had made my home here, and that home was being taken from me.
“It’s not as though we can never come back,” James said slowly. “I just need to get some things in order first.”
I wiped a tear from my eye and shook my head. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, James.”
“Who says I can’t keep it?” James responded, his eyes narrowing.
“I’ve been around the block too many times now to believe in any bullshit you alpha men keep trying to feed me,” I murmured. “All you do is break my heart.”
James’s nostrils flared, and he reached across the aisle to take my hand. “Becca, I swear on my life, I will find a way to make you happy.”
I tugged my hand away. “Don’t say things like that.”
“Why not?” James asked, looking at his hand in confusion.
“I’m in charge of my own happiness, and the happiness of these children. That’s my purpose now—to make sure these children have a good life. I thought I could make one for them in New Zealand. But associating with criminals has destroyed everything good I’ve ever tried to build.”
I looked James dead in the eye. “When this is all over, I want out. For me and the children.”