Chapter 14
“I can’t believe the fucking bitch just left us!” Killian towered over Rhian as she sat at the table.
“Why not? She told you she would,” Rhian said, her eyes locked with his, refusing to back off. Jayden was right. These two needed to learn a little respect, or they were going to get themselves, or someone else, killed.
Discipline was an essential tool for survival when operating in extreme conditions. If you didn’t have enough to arrive at a designated meeting on time, you didn’t have enough to be a part of a team. While there would be only two winners in the end, they would have to work as a team to stand any chance of getting there.
“But she isn’t the one calling the shots here, darlin’.” His Irish accent was getting thicker and more pronounced the angrier he got. “You’re the boss. Call her back and tell her to come and pick us up. Now.”
Rhian slowly rose out of her chair. Killian wasn’t a tall man, only five foot five, if he was lucky. She topped him by a good inch, and she had no qualms about using it to her advantage. “No.”
“What?” He tipped his head back to meet her gaze, and clearly resented having to look up at her. “You can’t do that. I signed up for this fucking challenge. Signed every fucking bit of paper you and those stinking lawyers put in front of me. I’m here to win this thing. And you’re trying to put me at a disadvantage. You know I’m the best climber here. You know I can run rings around the rest of these arseholes, so you’re trying to give them a better shot at it.” Spittle caught at the corner of his mouth.
You owe me for this, Jayden. But, damn, he was obnoxious, and, to her surprise, standing up to him actually felt good.
He wasn’t finished. “I’m gonna fucking sue you when this thing is over and I’ve won it. I’m gonna sue you and that fucking lanky bitch.”
Rhian merely waited until he stopped talking, well, shouting. When he did, she said, “Since you signed every piece of paper, you can try to sue us all you like. But you’ll find in those documents an agreement to abide by the terms of conduct as set out by myself or the head guide, Jayden Harris.”
“That bitch had it in for me from the start. Everyone could fucking see it.” He balled his fists at his sides. “I don’t know what her problem is, but she’s got it in for me.” He sneered. “Maybe she’s afraid of a little competition.” He held his arms out to indicate the kind of competition he thought he represented in a crude display of macho insecurity.
Rhian frowned. “Killian, trust me when I tell you that Jayden would never be afraid of you. In any way.”
He growled low in his throat, and his arms moved so quickly she didn’t have time to react. One hand wrapped about her throat, and the other whipped back to strike.
The stinging slap of his hand across her cheek brought tears to her eyes and memories clamouring to the forefront of her mind. It was no longer Killian who had her by the throat. Eyes wrinkled slightly with age that had once gazed at her with affection now blazed with malevolent intent. Spiteful words filled with hate spewed from his lips, and the rejection in his blow scarred her so much deeper than the flesh that throbbed.
“Who’s afraid now, bitch?”
Killian’s heavy Irish accent snapped her attention painfully back to the present. This wasn’t her father. Killian stood there with one hand gripped around her neck and his other in a fist, cocked and ready. She closed her eyes as she lifted her hands to grab the fingers pressing into her throat, even as she waited for the next blow to strike.
There was a roar of frustration and a jerky movement, followed by her quick release and a loss of balance. She landed on her backside on the dining room floor. A burly security guard stood at one side of her, a second twisted one of Killian’s arms up his back, while Luiji held the one that had been about to strike her by the fist.
Killian roared again, trying desperately to break the hold. Rhian stared at him, heart pounding, chest heaving as she dragged one lungful of air after another into her body. Swallowing heavily, she tasted blood on her tongue. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand and stared for a moment at the smear of scarlet across her skin. Summoning all her willpower, she gulped back the sob that threatened to tear itself from her aching throat. Rhian would not let him see that. She was the one in control here. Not this pathetic excuse for a human fucking being.
The more he struggled against the restraint, the more detached she began to feel. Slowly but surely, she got her emotions and her breathing under control and levelled him with a glare she knew Rachel would’ve been proud of.
“Pack your crap,” Rhian said, balling her own hands into fists, determined not to let Killian see her shaking. “A driver will be taking you to the airport. Today.”
“You can’t fucking do that!” Killian raged and struggled against the two men holding him.
“I think you will find, my angry little friend, that she can,” Luiji told him.
Rhian pointed to the CCTV camera overhead. “Every second of that has been recorded, Killian.” She pointed to the stairs. “You get on a plane, or you can meet the Argentinian police. Your choice.”
“Ma’am, I think we should call the police and report this regardless,” the security guard said.
She knew he was right. She should report Killian to the authorities, but she was equally sure she had more than enough to deal with as a result of this, never mind the time she’d waste with the police. Plus, Rachel was going to go apeshit about this anyway. Add to that the bad publicity a call to the police would probably cause… Having to explain how she’d let the situation get so out of control was going to be humiliating enough. Containing her fuck-up was definitely the way to go. That meant getting him out of the country was the quickest and cleanest solution to the Killian issue.
She shook her head at the guard. “I’d prefer not to.”
“But he assaulted you, Ms Phillips.”
She nodded.
“I’m supposed to call in the police in the case of any incident like this.”
Rhian offered him a small smile. No doubt the man was worried about his job. I’ll have to make sure Rachel knows it wasn’t his fault. She grimaced internally and hoped it didn’t show on her face. It was my fault after all. I just have to remember not to insult angry little men in the future. “I understand what you’re saying. But I’m a busy woman, and I think Mr O’Leary will learn that his actions have consequences, regardless of police involvement. He’s lost his chance at this show, and with it any hope he might have had of using this to further his career.”
Luiji pulled Killian away from Rhian and pushed him roughly into a chair. Killian started to get up, but Luiji pinned him in place with his hands on both shoulders from behind. “Learn when you’re beaten, man. Do you think she’s fucking around with you? Haven’t you learnt anything? You’re getting off easy. So stay down, or it won’t be the airport you are going to.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are, Rasta man? Fucking brown-noser. You were all for teaching that frizzy-headed bitch a lesson, same as me.”
Luiji nodded. “Yes, I was. But it is I who am learning the lesson from her. It is a shame you cannot learn it with me, but I fear it is beyond you, no?”
“Fuck off.”
“Indeed.” He shook his head and looked at Rhian. “Are you okay?” he asked her quietly.
She nodded but didn’t say anything. The adrenaline of the moment was wearing off, and the shock of it was hitting her. Sweat ran down her spine even though she felt cold inside.
Luiji cocked his head to one side. He clearly didn’t believe her, but instead of calling her on it, he twisted his hands in Killian’s shirt and tugged him to his feet. “Come. You have a flight to prepare for.” He hauled a kicking Killian towards the doors. “Would I be able to discuss matters with you later today, Rhian?”
Rhian nodded. Just once. And watched them disappear out the door and up the stairs. She shook her head again in an attempt to clear it and refused to let her legs give way. The urge to sit in a chair while the world carried on around her was strong, but there was no way she was going to let a tosser like Killian O’Leary see how much he’d gotten to her.
Determined, she put her anger and the grain of fear into a box in her head, labelled it “to be dealt with later”, and crossed the floor to the reception desk. After requesting a driver to be outside waiting to take Killian immediately to the airport and sit with him until he was checked in and through security, she called Mellissa.
“Need you to make some more arrangements. We’ll be needing the male alternate ASAP and a flight back to Dublin for Killian O’Leary.”
“Bloody hell. What happened?”
Rhian quickly filled her in on the details. Sparse details. No mention of hands-around-throat details.
“He hit you?”
Yup, no question about it. “It was just a slap, Mel.” Mellissa didn’t need to know how close it had been to being more than that. It would only make her worry. The older woman had long since taken on the role of big-sister-slash-aunt in Rhian’s life, and she knew without question that Killian would find himself on the end of some elaborate revenge scheme if Mel thought Rhian had been in real danger. They didn’t need any more aggravation. Well, Rhian didn’t. Better to play it down and brush it off.
Mellissa giggled. “I’m glad Luiji stepped up.”
“Me too. Sounds like they’re coming back. I’ll let you get the flight sorted. I don’t care how indirect a route he has to go. I just want him out of Argentina before the end of the day.”
“No problem. I think there’s a route that goes via Nairobi. I can get him stuck on a nice long layover.”
“Christ,” Rhian said. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
“What would be the fun if I reminded you?”
Rhian chuckled. “Good point. Speak to you later.” She ended the call and watched as Luiji, with Killian’s bag on his back, manhandled a now-sullen Killian out of the hotel and pushed him into the waiting car. He handed the bag to the driver and shook his hand. Rhian couldn’t hear the conversation between them and didn’t really want to know what Luiji might have to relay about the passenger they were both watching through the car window. She made a mental note to make sure the driver got a tip for this job. A big one.
When the car had gone, Luiji straightened his shoulder and walked back into the conclave. “Is it convenient to speak with you now, or would later be better for you?” he asked politely.
“Now’s fine, Luiji.” She waved her hand to the empty communal area and the table she’d sat at before. Taking her seat, she waited, ignoring the throbbing in her cheek. She could tell by the way Luiji’s gaze kept dropping that it must be bright red, and she wondered if an actual handprint was visible.
He sat opposite her and leant his elbows on the beech-wood surface, clasping his hands. “First of all, are you really okay?” He gazed into her eyes, and he seemed to read her.
She couldn’t hold his gaze. Not if she wanted to keep herself from crying on him. “I’m fine. Thank you for what you did. I appreciate it. A lot. I know you’d become friends with him, so that couldn’t have been easy—”
“He was not a friend. I am ashamed to even be associated with a poor excuse of a man like that.” He reached for her hand but stopped himself before he took it and instead clasped his fingers on the table. “I am a man with four sisters, with two young daughters and a man who expects every man to do what I did this afternoon without thought or question. Not for thanks or reward or recognition, but because it is the right thing to do.”
“That is a wonderful sentiment and an ideal I think every decent human being shares. But we both know that isn’t always the way the world works. And even if that was, I’d still want to thank you for your intervention this afternoon. Because that’s also what decent human beings do.”
Luiji grinned. “This is very true.” He clapped his hands on his thighs. “Good, that is one matter resolved. Next, I must apologise. For myself, my behaviour has been nothing short of arrogance itself. I was overexcited and allowed my machismo, my—how you say—bravado?”
“Yes, bravado. Ego.”
“Yes, that is the word. I let my ego do my talking for me. I must let my climbing do it instead.”
“I’m very glad you realise that, Luiji.”
He nodded, his face still serious and solemn. “I have much to learn and would wish to learn from Jayden Harris. I have looked at her on Google and on YouTube.” He drew in a deep breath. “There is much, much I can learn from a climber like her. I was too eager to show her I was worthy of her respect to remember that I had first to earn it. Will it be possible for me to rejoin the group? Please.”
“Not today.”
He stared at his hands and nodded. “I understand. I will try to make amends with her when she returns with the group.” He started to push his chair back.
“We’ll be heading to meet her and the group the day after tomorrow. There will be two alternates coming with us. We’ll be carrying additional supplies to supplement the team already out there, as we won’t need to take some of the technical equipment they already have. For example, there are enough tents already, same with cooking equipment, and so on.” She stopped, hoping he would follow what she wanted and seize upon the opportunity he was being offered.
“If you can show me where the stores are, or direct me, I will make sure we have all we need ready for the trip. I can prepare the equipment for each pack too.”
“Good. That will help me a great deal.”
He smiled for the first time since he had walked out of the conclave to see the empty parking space. “Is there anything else I can do to help?”
She shook her head. “Not for me. But you could see if the camera crew need anything. They always seem to have heavy equipment that needs humping around.”
“Of course.” He stood and reached for her hand. Instead of taking it to kiss, as he seemed to do all the time, he shook it. “I will redeem myself. You shall see.”
She watched him go. The bounce was back in his step, but the arrogant swagger was gone. “Jayden,” she said to the empty room, “you sure handled that one right.” She paused. “Come to think of it, Rhi, you didn’t handle that pile of shit too badly yourself.” She stretched her right hand over her left shoulder and giggled as she gave herself a little pat on the back.