Chapter 33

Charlie

Something doesn’t feel right. I hate that Lacey is anywhere but with me.

The plane jerks as the wheels hit the runway. Finally.

I jumped onto my private plane as soon as I could. No way was I going to sit back and not be as close to her as I can be in case she needs me. So now I’m in Switzerland.

I told no one I was headed here, especially not Adam and Sam. Fuck them. Lacey is all mine.

I won’t have any chance with my plan to screw them over and end up on top with Lacey by my side if they get wind of what I’m up to.

Lacey is mine. She’ll always be mine.

The plane stops completely, and, soon, I’m rushing down the plane’s stairs. I go inside the airport to wait for Lacey’s plane. She hasn’t arrived yet, but she will be here soon.

I find a bar and order a drink while I wait. I take a big gulp to help calm some of my nerves.

Usually, I don’t have nerves that need calming. I have my shit together. Plus, I’m the biggest and baddest motherfucker out there with no reason to be nervous around others; it’s others who should be nervous around me.

But this is Lacey we’re talking about. The woman makes me feel and experience things I’ve never experienced with anyone else before. She is the light and joy in my life.

I can’t lose her. I refuse to lose her.

My eyes scan the crowd lazily, not really taking in the details of any one face.

I glance briefly over a man who stands out in the crowd, but then jerk my head back towards him so quickly I feel like I just gave myself whiplash.

I go still. What the fuck?

Sam is here. He shouldn’t be here.

My nerves are all burned away by the anger now raging though my veins. That motherfucker should not be here. Screw the fact that I’m technically not supposed to be here, either.

I burst off the bar stool and rush towards the asshole.

I come up behind and grab his shoulder furiously.

“You motherfucker!” I yell. “What the hell are you doing here?”

When Sam turns around, though, it isn’t Sam. It’s a stranger who’s starring back at me—and he’s pissed.

“What the fuck did you say, asshole?” he growls. His face is pinched in pure annoyance and anger.

“Sorry, man,” I reply. “Thought you were someone else.”

“I don’t give a fuck who you thought I was. Maybe you should make sure you know who you’re calling a motherfucker before you attack them.”

Jesus. Really? It was a mistake, asshole.

“Like I said, I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to get all up in your face.”

“Well, you did, asshole,” he states as he comes closer to me until we’re practically on top of each other. “I should deck your ass for the shit you just pulled. I was already having a shit day and then your dumb-ass self had to come along and make it worse.”

I do not have the time or energy to teach this asshole a fucking a lesson. I want to beat the shit out of him already for blowing a simple misunderstanding out of proportion.

Reaching into my back pocket, I pull out my wallet.

“Okay,” I say in a placating voice. “I’m sorry for making your shit day even shittier. So here. This should pay for the trouble I’ve caused you.”

I hand him two one hundred dollar bills. Fucking douchebag.

He looks a little stunned at first when he grabs the money.

“Thanks,” he mumbles.

“No problem,” I reply before walking away.

Asshole. He was going to start a fight in the middle of the damn airport all because I “made his day shittier than it was before.” I shake my head.

Some people are straight-up fucking idiots.

I go back to the bar and return to the barstool I was sitting on before I mistook the jerk as Sam.

God. I’m so high-strung right now that I’m going crazy, thinking I’m seeing a man who wants my woman all to himself.

I wish Lacey was already here and by my side. I want her safe and happy in my arms. Far away from Denham, Adam, and Sam.

It feels like ages since I last saw her. Really, though, it’s only been less than twenty-four hours.

I gulp down the rest of my drink, slamming the glass down onto the bar. I run my hand through my hair out of frustration and irritation.

Where the hell is she?

I glance down at the Rolex on my wrist. Fifteen more minutes. Great.

I order another drink.

Once more, I look out at the people milling around the airport. All these people without a care in the world. No worries of a sleazy CEO or the person they cherish the most in possible danger.

I’m ready for this whole situation to be over and done with. I’m ready to have Lacey basking on the beach of our island with no bathing suit on. I want to be having my fill of her all day long on any and every surface of the house we’ll build on our island.

Just me and her, with nothing and no one to bother us.

I begin to turn back towards the bar, where the bartender has just set my new drink, when I stop short at the sight of another man. Another man that once again I think looks like Sam.

Jesus, Charlie. He’s not fucking here. Neither is Adam.

Pull yourself together and stop going crazy. Neither of them knows you’re here, and neither of them is as clever as you to think to come to Switzerland like you. They’re both back home sitting around ready for things to just work out.

Shit, Adam was just saying on the phone earlier that everything was going to be fine.

I shake myself off the crazy feeling of thinking I saw Sam again.

Focus, Charlie. Your head can’t be all over the place right now. It needs to be focused.

For your sake and for Lacey’s sake, you have to be at the top of your game.

I take a deep breath.

Lacey’s plane will be here in a minute. I stand up and leave cash for the bartender before heading off in search of Lacey.