Page 33 of Lord of Debauchery

CHAPTER 10

Beckham

I hadn’t asked.

Her nonchalant tone and the happily said statement had stuck with me during our thirty-minute backwoods drive to the smallest airport in the freaking world. Yeah, I was cranky, more so than normal but nothing had gone according to plan and I was finished with being treated like some puppet or rag doll.

She was humming to herself as if she held additional secrets. Jeff threw me the third look of the drive, amusement in his eyes where mine held anger.

He’d even gone so far as to ask if I believed she could be orchestrating the shooting. I’d reminded him to get his head out of his ass. Even the world’s best game player couldn’t have predicted my reaction to the shootings.

“Are we headed to your parents’ place in Manchester?” Jeff asked.

I shook my head. “Directly to my house in Rye. I have a feeling time will be needed to sort this out.”

“Understood. I’ll make certain you have a full brigade surrounding the house for your arrival.”

It felt like forever since I’d been at my place on the shore. I also had a wing in my parents’ estate where I sometimes stayed when handling business. It depended on the time and my willingness to drive given the lateness of the house. I didn’t enjoy being surrounded by guards at my house and rarely called on my men to guard the waterfront property. There’d just been no need in the last ten years.

“Wow,” Kenya mused. “Isn’t that like the wealthiest town in America? Oh, wait. Don’t all you Kennedys own a house there?”

“Only those resting in the dark shade of the family tree.” I egged on her arrogant tone for sheer fun. All that got me was a roll of her eyes.

“One big happy family.”

“Yeah, real happy.”

“Two minutes out,” Camden said gruffly. All five of us remained on edge. She might want to try to fake the way she was feeling but she oozed anxiety. The very special gal had skills that even the majority of my trained soldiers didn’t have. While Camden had been in charge of getting every newly hired man ready to accept their positions, ensuring they knew how to use a weapon, I wouldn’t consider any of them highly trained at this point.

However, I’d heard enough of his stories about his time spent in the Marines to know the training she’d received likely even blew his away. She was the cream of the crop, one of the most dangerous people in the country.

And she was all mine.

The thought had driven into my mind somewhere during the last short stretch of time. Maybe I was overreacting to my surprise over never being surprised or the fact she acted as if it was no big deal. Or maybe I’d simply always had an affinity for very strong women. Whatever the case, as Camden rolled through the gate toward our awaiting jet, my cock remained pushed against the ugly sweatpants I’d chosen to wear.

At least given the number of weapons she’d kept on her premises, it could give us a fighting chance should the fuckers return. I almost laughed at my own thought. If anyone knew we’d almost been bested now three times by some unknown opponent, my reputation for being a true savage would take a direct hit. It wasn’t something I would allow to happen.

Sure, between the four of us, we’d killed somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty men sporting brands on their skin, but that didn’t make me happy. I wasn’t the sort to keep track of how many people I’d killed.

“How many killing sprees do you go on a year?” Kenya’s question came so far out of the blue that James coughed on the air he was breathing in response.

As soon as Camden jerked her car to a stop in a protected area of the surrounding grounds, my men piled out. I was fairly certain they were sick of our bantering method of communication. So was I at this point. I leaned over until our faces were less than an inch apart. “As many as necessary. You see, my little fighter, there are plenty of very bad people out there in this big world. That’s something you need to keep in mind.”

She wasn’t going to back down under any circumstances, but as with her behavior from before, she couldn’t hide one hundred percent of her true feelings around me. Perhaps I was toxic to her DNA or simply the only person who’d been able to rile her cool façade.

“You don’t scare me,” she said before blowing a swath of hot air across my lips and jaw.

I almost kissed her but stopped just short of doing so, whispering my response instead. “I assure you that you should be. You will learn crossing me isn’t in your best interest.”

“Sounds like another threat.”

“It’s a promise. And I always keep them.”

Jeff threw open the door, remaining where he was until she climbed out. I pushed from the backseat on my own, the cramped quarters making my limbs stiffer than normal. I scanned the perimeter, still feeling unnerved even though the plane was only a couple hundred yards away, the pilot ready to take off. The captain was a man I’d trusted for as long as I could remember, but I couldn’t help but wonder if our basic itinerary had been leaked to whoever was behind this shit show the trip had turned into.

Camden and Jeff had the assorted bags, already heading to the steps leading inside the private jet. I pulled out my weapon, ensuring the safety was removed before I grabbed her arm. Jeff was prepared as well, flanking one side and escorting us.

“What about my car?” she huffed, managing to pull her arm free. I would need to teach the woman some manners and lessons in protocol, but right now wasn’t the place or the time.

---