Chapter Six - Weston
“Vlad?” I ask the pilot as I make my way onto the beach and towards the sea plane. What kind of guy is called Vlad in Miami? Well, if he’s Pax’s friend, you never know. The guy is probably some international criminal. “Are you Vlad?” I call again when the guy ignores me.
He looks up from whatever he’s doing to his seaplane and squints his eyes. “That’s me,” he says, in a perfect American accent. He looks a little bit familiar.
Well, at least he’s not some displaced Romanian.
“I’m Weston Conrad. We spoke last night.” I pause to look him over. Why does he look so familiar? “Have I met you before?”
Vlad wipes his hand on his jeans and extends it. We shake as he says, “Nope, never seen you before in my life. Nice to meet you. We’ll get started as soon as the other guest arrives.”
“Other guest? This is a private charter, Mr.… Vlad.”
“I told Pax I’d take other clients since this was a favor. And I have one. Here she comes now.”
“She?” But I know who it is the moment before I turn and look in the direction he’s pointing.
Victoria Arias’ long dark hair is billowing out behind her, her heels clasped in her fingertips, swinging as she walks across the sand to meet us. She’s wearing a silk lavender shirt that ripples in the ocean breeze, giving me… and Vlad… a nice peek at her matching bra between the buttons.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I ask.
“This was the only Sandcastle Cay charter available, Weston. Do you really think I didn’t know where Wallace Arlington would be today?”
“You two know each other?” Vlad asks.
“Yes,” we say together, sneering the word with equal amounts of contempt.
God, just what the fuck?
“Back off, Victoria. This is my contract and you know it.”
“It’s not,” she says, flipping her hair in that way that drives me crazy. “We’re vying for it, Weston. The sooner you get that through your thick skull, the sooner you come to terms with the fact that I will be the one who gets this contract when this is all over.”
“Like hell.” Goddammit.
“Is there going to be a problem?” Vlad asks. “Because if so, one of you has to stay behind. Since this is a favor for your friend, Conrad, that would be you. Miss Arias paid me in cash last night.”
That bitch. “No,” I say, the word rumbling out like a growl. “Everything is fine.”
“Good,” he says. “Stow your… oh, you don’t have any gear.” Vlad turns to look at Victoria and notices she has no gear either. “You’re not staying overnight?”
“No,” we say together.
“Day trip only, I told you that last night,” I say. “It’s a one-day corporate event on Sandcastle Cay. I’ll only be an hour. You can just wait.”
“I’m not waiting,” Vlad says. “I have clients on another cay who need a ride back this afternoon. I’m gonna head over there, get lunch and a drink with them, then fly them back to Miami.”
“Pick me up on the way home,” Victoria says. “I’ll be ready.”
“I won’t have room, Miss Arias. This is a four-passenger plane and there are three of them plus luggage.”
“So we’re just going to be stuck out there?”
“I can come back. But it won’t be until late afternoon.”
“Fine, that will work,” I say.
“Good,” Vlad says. Then he winks at Victoria and points to the co-pilot seat. “You can sit next to me if this guy creeps you out. We’re gonna land during low tide today, so the beaches will be nice for whatever you have going on out there. Perfect, actually.”
Victoria smiles that beautiful smile and says, “Why, thank you, Vlad. I think I’ll take you up on that. And thanks for the tip about the tides.” She slips those high heels back on and makes a big show of getting in the plane and crossing her legs.
I get in the back and pretend that the blatant flirting going on up front isn’t pissing me off. She’s doing it on purpose. In fact, I think he’s doing it on purpose too.
It’s one day, Conrad. One day and then you’ll get the contract signed and never have to see Victoria Arias again.
“Are we stopping at customs?” I yell once we are taxiing on the water.
Vlad shoots me a grin over his shoulder as he pulls back on the control wheel and we take flight. “What do you think, Mr. Corporate?”
I’m going to kill Mr. Mysterious for this. Kill that crazy motherfucker. Why does he have to live on the edge all the time? Why does he have to court disaster and jail time? Does he regret that we were never found guilty for the rape accusation back in college? Does he want to go to prison? Sometimes I wonder. Sometimes I think that guy has ‘suicide mission’ listed as his main goal in life. That’s his five-year plan. Get arrested for the stupid fucked-up shit he does to earn money in the world.
I should never call him again. I should forget I ever met the guy. I should cut ties with all of the Misters, now that I think about it.
Weird shit is happening. Weird shit that makes me think way too much of the past.
And the fact that Victoria Arias has suddenly appeared back in my life isn’t making things look any better.
In fact, it looks a lot like a setup. It looks a lot like someone really is fucking with us again. It looks a lot like a mistake.
And if I get arrested because Paxton Vance’s pilot is some kind of international criminal, I’m definitely taking him down with me.
Victoria and Vlad chat back and forth on headsets after that. I stew in the back wondering just exactly what brought her back in my life. It’s suspicious. I know what’s going on with the rest of the Misters. Match filled me in about Nolan’s whole trainwreck of a night a few weeks ago and that alone is enough to make me suspicious.
But add in Perfect’s drama and we are starting to see a pattern. People have been appearing from the past and starting shit. Some of it, like the stuff with Perfect, was fairly benign. But the Romantic stuff wasn’t benign at all.
So… Victoria.
We dated for a long time if you add up all the weeks and months consecutively. Not so long if you don’t. We broke up a lot. She is wild, and arrogant, and hot-tempered. She’s a control freak, and a workaholic, and self-righteous.
She always has a reason for her behavior, too. She’s always painting herself as reasonable.
I can’t even muster up a laugh at that idea. Reasonable. Please.
The two of them up front laugh about something and when Victoria leans over and puts her hand on his shoulder, I grit my teeth and try to stay focused on the job as I look out the windows.
The Exuma Cays is an archipelago of mostly uninhabited islands just east of the Bahamas and they are breathtakingly beautiful. Especially now, in late summer when the temperatures are just thinking about cooling down, but winter isn’t yet here.
I vacation here often. In fact, the first time I ever came to the Exumas was with Victoria.
Is that a coincidence? Is anything a coincidence these days?
Vlad yells over his shoulder, startling me out of my mood. “We’re landing.”
And just as I look out the window and get a glimpse of the neighboring islands, he drops altitude and my stomach sinks.
Victoria laughs, and her fucking hand is back on his shoulder.
I grit my teeth again just as we touch down on the water and he makes for the beach.
Calm, Weston. Be calm, dude.
I know Victoria is doing everything she can to push my buttons, but Wallace is here. I’m going to get to him first. I don’t care what kind of crush he had on my girlfriend back in college, he has to know I’m the more legitimate business.
I’ve heard the rumors about Victoria’s company. I’ve heard that she’s laid off her entire office staff to make the bills. I’ve heard she’s about to lose everything. I’ve heard that she’s been placing people in jobs that don’t even make a hundred grand a year.
I can’t imagine how little she makes off those kinds of contracts. I’ve been making seven-plus-figure deals since I was twenty-three. I’d retire if I had to go back to that kind of hustle again. That would be my signal to call it quits. Get a new five-year plan.
Their laughing continues as the door is opened and Victoria makes a show of slipping off her shoes before jumping down onto the pontoon and splashing into the clear, knee-deep water. It’s not just turquoise. This water is so many shades of blue and green, it makes me lift my sunglasses up so I can see it without the filter.
I roll my pants up to my knees and slip my shoes and socks off, holding them in my hand as I jump down and walk up to the beach where Vlad and Victoria seem to be having regrets about parting.
“So,” I say, bringing Vlad’s attention back to me. “I think I’ll be done here in an hour. Can’t you just wait?”
“Wait?” Vlad laughs. “No. I already told you. If you want a ride back, I’ll be here late afternoon.”
“That’s no problem, Vlad,” Victoria says, blinking her eyes at him. “I’m sure I’ll have this contract wrapped up in no time and then I’ll just work on my tan for the rest of the day.”
“Sounds good, sweetheart. Then we can get that drink when we get back to Miami.”
“Sounds like a great time,” Victoria purrs. I wait for her to grab his shirt collar and pull him in for a dramatic goodbye kiss. But she doesn’t, just turns away, looking back over her shoulder with a smile.
Vlad and I both watch her make her way towards a track in the sand that leads up a dune and then he turns to me.
“So you don’t have a problem with that, do you? Us having drinks later? I mean, she said you two were never serious and you broke up years ago.”
“Did she?” Bitch. “Well, don’t worry about me. I’m immune to her charms. But you, buddy, I worry about. She’s got you wrapped around her pinky finger.”
“Hey.” Vlad smiles as he walks off into the water, ignoring the fact that his pants are soaking wet up to the knees. “Don’t you worry about me, man. I can handle anything.”
He gives me a little salute and slams his door closed as he starts the engine.
I don’t bother watching him take off. I head up the beach by way of the path to catch up with Victoria. I’m not letting her get the jump on Wallace. And if she thinks she’s going to play dirty by using her female assets on him, well, I’ll just have to use my male assets on her.