Page 54 of A Man of Prestige

“How much longer?” she whines like a petulant child.

The road gets bumpy as I turn off to the property. I place my hand on her thigh to keep her from bouncing around, but I don’t miss how her tits move with each dip in the road.

“Stop staring at my boobs,” she says.

I chuckle and squeeze her thigh. “Busted.” I lean over and whisper in her ear, “But I do love to look at what’s mine.”

I know she’s rolling her eyes beneath that mask. “You are incorrigible,” she says, but I see her lips fighting to smile again.

“I know, but you like me that way; don’t you, curious cat,” I say as I kiss her cheek and then focus back on the road. I’m not sure you can even call it a road, but it’s at least enough of a clearing to make it passable.

She’s quiet for a few seconds. “Do the others know where we are?”

I take her hand in mine and bring it to my lips, planting a kiss on her palm before answering. “Yes, gorgeous, they know. We’re safe.”

She gives a small nod and I move her hand to the stick shift and cover it with mine. It’s been a while since everything came to a head. After funerals and formalities, we’ve had to figure out our new lives. It’s uncharted territory. The brotherhood continues, but the true evil that was seeping through its veins has been purged. The council met and took a special vote. All three of us were asked to be the new elite. They would only replace three members for now, if we accepted. We grappled with this for a long time, but in the end, we accepted because we want to change things. We still want power, wealth, and prestige. Maybe that makes us assholes, but once you taste those things, it’s nearly impossible to let them go. Now, convincing our women that we were going to do it, that was another thing altogether. There were one-on-one conversations and group conversations, and in the end, they relented, each with their own conditions.

And today, I’m following through on Vivienne’s. Only, she has no idea.

I look over at my gorgeous lady. I still can’t believe she’s all mine. I never thought I’d experience true love, but she’s changed me. She’s made me a fucking softy when it comes to her. I’d never admit that I’m fine with that, thus our games and pretend arguments so we can have amazing makeup sex. But every morning, I wake up before her and watch her sleep. I promise her things in those quiet morning hours. She doesn’t know the promises I’ve made yet, but I’ve made a lifetime’s worth.

I pull up to our destination and park the car.

“We’re here!” she says, an air of excitement in her voice. I love hearing her excited. My first order as an elite was to financially cripple her father, and in the process, transfer his wealth to his son. Jeff and Vivienne still speak. We’ve even been to his horse farm to visit. It’ll take years to mend their relationship completely, but at least now, they have a chance. Her parents had to move in with her grandparents. I had to explain that her grandfather was changing her articles related to the brotherhood and covering it up, so both she and her editor were unaware. She screamed, then cried. I bought her a horse to keep at her brother’s horse farm to help ease her pain. She told me I was too much. I took her to bed and showed her just how much I am.

“We’re here,” I answer as I go around the car to help her out. I walk her forward. She lifts her head and her nostrils flare as she sniffs the air.

I grin. She’s well aware that we are at the beach. I can’t exactly hide the sound of the crashing waves in the distance.

I scouted long and hard for years for a property. It was Felicia who ended up helping me find this island. Her cousin is a fisherman nearby, and she mentioned it to me.

It came just in time because Vivienne was not happy about the fact that I was staying in the brotherhood. After many nights of arguing, Vivienne and I had lain in bed one night, actually discussing the brotherhood’s request like rational adults. She finally said she’d maybe, just maybe be alright with it, if we had a place to escape, an off-the-grid escape property. At her request, I made love to her again because it was exactly what I’d been planning all along. I told her I’d been searching for a property where we could all go if we needed to make a quick exit. And now, we’re here.

I had to take her on a private jet, a boat, and this old four-wheeler to get here, but we made it. Fuck, we made it in so many ways.

I bring her to the front and stand behind her, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her shoulder. “This is all for you, Vivienne. I’ll always try to give you everything you desire. And it starts with this, my love.”

I take off the bandana that I tied around her head, letting her take her first glimpse of paradise.

Vivienne

I squint as my eyes adjust to the light. And when they do, I’m treated to the most spectacular view. We’re on an island and there are three tiny homes and what looks like some sort of garage or shed unit. The homes are beautiful and modern and look like they could withstand a hurricane. There are solar panels on top of them and wind turbines behind them.

“Where are we?” I ask as I turn around in Conner’s arms.

“We,” he starts and kisses me. “Are.” Another kiss. “Home.” I pull back and feel my eyebrows go up in surprise.

“Home?”

He grins. “It’s Lerna Key.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

He laughs. “I couldn’t help myself. They can try to take us down, but we’ll come right back to life. I wanted to…” He trails off for a moment as he gazes into my eyes. “Reclaim some of it as my own. I wanted to take a bad thing and make it good.”

I frown at his words as I reach up and cup his jaw. He leans against my hand. “You are good,” I state.

He gives me a knowing look.

---