London

I put my two weeks’ in, but since they made the schedule by week, they didn’t hold me to the full two weeks. Crewe would be thrilled, but I hadn’t told him just yet. I arranged to have all my stuff taken from my apartment, and I put the rest of the stuff on Craig’s List. All of my valuables were slowly taken away by college students.

Crewe worked from his office in the hotel room while I was at work. When I came home in the morning, he was usually already awake and on the phone, talking about his thriving scotch business. It didn’t seem like he had much to do with his intelligence business anymore, but I’d never really asked him about it—because I didn’t want to know.

When I walked into the hotel room, he was sitting at his desk near the floor-to-ceiling windows where the natural light filtered through. Since he wasn’t going to be seen by anyone, he didn’t wear a suit, sticking to jeans and a t-shirt.

I preferred the casual look, where he could show off his nice arms and his sculpted shoulders. His ass always looked great in his dark jeans, and the dark colors he wore always complemented his brown eyes. He looked great in a suit, of course. But when he didn’t wear a suit, I could see more of the man underneath.

I walked inside and gave him a slight wave.

He was on the phone, but his eyes were trained on me. “Yeah, I agree.” He scooted the chair back from the desk and patted his thigh, beckoning me toward him even though he was in the middle of a conversation. “Let’s increase production. The more visibility we have around the world, the better the marketing.”

I sat on his thigh and wrapped my arm around his shoulders.

His arm circled my waist, and he held my gaze as he finished his phone call. “Let me know.” He hung up and tossed the phone on the desk.

“Who was that?”

“Pias.”

I was surprised it wasn’t Ariel.

“He’s my ears and eyes in the distillery. Distributor.”

“Oh, okay. I think I met him once.”

“You probably have. So, how was work?” He didn’t take much of an interest in my job, probably because he didn’t like the fact that I was gone for twelve hours at a time and in the middle of the night. If he had it his way, I’d stay home all day long and service him like a whore in a brothel.

“Hectic. There was a gang rivalry tonight, so we had a few patients with gunshot wounds.”

Crewe nodded, but his jaw tensed. I knew him well enough to understand what he was thinking, that he didn’t like me working in an environment he deemed unsafe. But there was nothing he could do about it, so he kept his thoughts bottled up inside. “I had a hard time sleeping without you last night.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have any more trouble. Today was my last day.”

“It was?” His eyes narrowed in interest.

“I put my two weeks in a while ago, but since they make a weekly schedule, they just didn’t schedule me.”

He didn’t smile with his lips, but his eyes showed his relief. “So we can leave whenever we want now?”

“I guess so.”

“Good. I’m eager to get home. No offense, but I’m not a big fan of your country.”

“You obviously haven’t seen much of it, then. Where have you been?”

“New York and LA.”

“You prefer nature and the outdoors. No wonder why you didn’t like it. When we have time, I’ll show you some of the most beautiful places you’ve ever seen.”

A grin stretched across his face. “Consider it a date.”

“Great.”

His phone rang on the desk, and Ariel’s name popped up. He silenced the call and returned his attention to me. “Should I get the plane prepared now, or do you wanna leave tomorrow?”

“How about a red-eye flight? I need to get some sleep.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Besides, you have some work to do.” I glanced at his phone before I stood up.

“I’m always working. It’s okay to take a break now and then.” He stood up and walked with me, towering over me with his masculine height and build. He followed me into the bedroom where I shed my scrubs and dropped them onto the floor.

“But I don’t want to be a distraction…and it seems like I’m always a distraction.” I stepped into the bathroom connected to the bedroom and got into the shower.

Crewe stared at me through the glass then leaned against the wall with his ankles and arms crossed. He watched the water pelt my naked body and drip to the drain in the floor.

“You’re just going to stare at me?”

“Yep.”

“Think of all the work you could be getting done.”

“Don’t give a damn about work right now.” His eyes roamed over my naked body. “Once you’re clean and dry, I’m gonna make my move. I’m just not sure what I’m going to do yet. I’m gonna take my time figuring it out.”

“Yeah?” I massaged shampoo into my hair then tilted my head back to rinse it out. “Have any ideas?”

“I think I want your ass in my face. That’s always a beautiful view.”

“Maybe can we face a mirror—that way you can get both views.”

His smile immediately dropped, and his expression hardened.

I liked teasing him. It was always so easy.

I slowed down and took longer than I had before, making the time stretch on indefinitely.

“You’re being a pain in the ass, you know that?”

“You tease me all the time. It’s my turn to tease you.”

“If you tease me any longer, I’m gonna get in there with you.”

“Shower sex isn’t bad.” I preferred lovemaking in the bed, where we had all the room we wanted. We could change positions and not feel guilty for wasting water. Sex in the shower was for a quick fuck before work in the morning.

I finally finished and patted myself dry with a towel. My hair was damp, but I didn’t think he would mind.

Crewe watched me the entire time, waiting for me to come out of the shower so he could ambush me. The longer he had to wait, the angrier he seemed. He was the kind of person who never had to wait for anything in life, but with me, his patience was seriously tested.

I finally swung the door open and stepped onto the mat.

The door hadn’t even closed yet before he lifted me into his arms and carried me to the bed. He dropped me on the mattress then ripped the towel off so my naked body was revealed. No foreplay was involved, not that I needed it. His pants and boxers were gone, and he was deep inside me an instant later, his throbbing cock soaked in my pool of moisture. “Lovely.” He grabbed the back of my neck and pressed my face against the mattress, forcing my ass to stick higher up into the air.

I liked it soft and gentle, but I also liked it rough just like this. I liked it when Crewe fucked me like he just wanted to get off, like he needed to give me his seed as desperately as I wanted to take it. “Crewe.”

He pounded into me hard, giving me every inch of his length with speed. “I’m gonna do this to you. Every. Fucking. Day.”

I gripped his wrists as he pushed me into a powerful climax. “Please do.”

The plane was already spacious with his whole crew on board, but when it was just the two of us and a few of his men, it felt like a palace in the sky. Crewe sat beside me with his tablet out, working on emails as the plane prepared for takeoff.

After flying so much, I figured I would get used to this. But once the engines thrust and we sped down the runway, I gripped Crewe’s hand for dear life. The plane lifted off the ground and headed high into the sky, carrying us away from the ground and into the deep blue up above.

Crewe placed the tablet on his lap and gripped my hand tighter. “You wanna know something?”

I knew he was trying to distract me. “Sure.”

“I’ve flown at least two hundred times in my life. On different planes, on airlines, on other people’s planes…never had a single problem.”

“Because you’re a duke.”

“Well, you’re traveling with one, so I assure you nothing is going to happen to his plane. Alright?”

“I know we aren’t gonna crash. It makes me uneasy. I wish I would just get over it…but I never do.”

He brought my hand to his lips and gave it a gentle kiss. “We’re all afraid of something, Lovely. It’s okay.”

“What are you afraid of?” The question popped into my mind automatically. The plane was still accelerating into the sky, and it would be a while before it leveled off.

A cloud of annoyance didn’t pass over his eyes like it normally would. “Betrayal. Disloyalty.”

“Nothing life-threatening?”

“Dying doesn’t scare me,” he said simply. “Dying is the beginning of peace, if you ask me. The lowest times of my life have always been caused by someone betraying me. First, it was the man who murdered my parents. Second, it was Josephine. And the third…you know what the third is.”

I hadn’t asked him about Josephine because there was never a right time. But now we were on a plane with twelve hours to kill. The plane finally leveled out, and we began to cruise at the right altitude.

Crewe loosened his grip but didn’t drop my hand.

“So…you were engaged?” I didn’t know how else to broach the subject.

“Yes.” Crewe wasn’t talkative on the matter. He wasn’t usually talkative about anything other than sex.

“What happened?”

“I told you what happened.”

“You know what I mean.” Times like these made me miss his honesty. When we were close, he opened up to me a lot more. I probably could have asked him about this if I’d known about it.

“We were introduced by mutual friends. I liked her, and she liked me. She was a good match for me because she has a lot of ties to African businesses. Her own wealth exceeds mine. But when I got to know her, I actually liked her for her. When I told her I loved her, I meant it. When I asked her to marry me, I wasn’t just interested in her connections. But six months into the engagement, she decided to leave me for Sir Andrew because he has a greater chance of being king someday if he plays his cards right. So she left.”

Damn, she was stupid.

“She came back to me a few months ago and asked if we could work it out. I said that would never happen, but she didn’t drop the subject—until she saw you.”

She better back off. I’d punch that bitch in the face if she didn’t. “Do you still love her?”

He held my gaze without flinching. “I don’t believe you can love two women at once.”

That was enough to answer my question. “When she wanted you back, did you love her?”

“No. I stopped loving her the instant she left me. All the feelings were sucked out of my soul at the snap of a finger. She left me for a man with more wealth, so she never really loved me anyway. She was using me. I consider myself lucky.”

My thumb brushed over his knuckles now that I knew the entire story. No wonder why Crewe was so wounded by what I’d done. He’d been betrayed recently, so I’d ripped open an old wound. “I’m sorry…”

“No reason to be sorry, Lovely. I know it hurts you to know I’m in pain, but I assure you, I’m no longer in pain. At the moment, I’m very happy.” He leaned toward me and pressed his forehead to mine. He didn’t place a kiss on my forehead or rub his nose against mine. But the affection was still special. It made us connected in a new way.

“For what it’s worth, she’s an idiot.”

He smiled as he pulled way. “Yes, she is an idiot—but for different reasons.”

“Does she even like the guy?”

“Doesn’t sound like it. And I know he screws other women.”

He cheats on her? “And she’s okay with it?”

“No much she can do. She can’t leave him for someone else. One scandal was bad enough, and any man besides the two of us would just be a step down for her. She has to suck it up and accept the consequences.”

I would feel bad for any woman having to marry a man she didn’t love, but I felt no pity for her. Crewe’s real estate, title, and business weren’t enough for her. More importantly, his heart wasn’t good enough for her. “You’re too good for her anyway, Crewe.”

“You think so?” He still wore the slight smile on his face.

“I know so. I’d be the happiest woman in the world if I got to spend the rest of my life with you.” It was one of those rare moments when I lived in the present, saying exactly what was on my mind the second it entered my brain. But the words were inappropriate, the meaning immense. It was a future Crewe said we could never have, and I didn’t want him to think I was pressuring him into something he didn’t want.

Crewe’s smile dropped, but he didn’t look away or show any sign that he was uncomfortable. He held my gaze with the exact same confidence, never shying away from the tension.

I was the first one to drop my gaze because my words embarrassed me. I’d never say that to any other man, even if I had been dating him for years. All I could do was change the subject and hope that was enough to clear the air. “Are you still doing stuff with intelligence?”

Crewe wore the same expression, so I wasn’t sure if he was going to say anything. “Not so much lately. I’ve been distracted with the second distillery. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. You never talk about it.”

“A lot of people are focused on hostilities in the Middle East. With their heads turned, I’ll be able to gain intel on the stuff going on in Western Europe. But that requires me to attend more social functions, or at least send someone in my stead. Lately, I’ve remained in Scotland.”

“I see…are we going back to Fair Isle anytime soon?”

“Do you like it there?”

“It’s beautiful. But I love it in Edinburgh too. That castle is something else…”

“I love both places,” he said. “Italy as well.”

“How are Crow and Cane doing?”

His eyes fell, and all he did was shake his head.

I hoped that didn’t mean what I thought it meant. “They couldn’t save Vanessa?”

He shook his head again. “She’s dead.”

“Oh…” Unexpected tears filled my eyes, sorrow for a woman I never knew. I didn’t even know what she looked like. There was no face to put to the name. “I’m so sorry…I feel so terrible for them.”

“Crow told me what happened but didn’t say much else. He got off the phone, and I haven’t heard from him. I called him a few weeks ago, and he didn’t answer. I’m sure he just wants to be alone right now.”

“How can you do business with a monster like that?” Bones raped and killed innocent women for pleasure. “You’re better than that, Crewe.”

“Business isn’t personal,” he said simply. “The second you make it about morals is the second you go out of business. I did what I could to help the Barsetti brothers. I’m not responsible for what happened to her.”

“But your hands are still dirty.”

“Bones gets me a lot of intel about the weapons arena. He’s vital.”

I couldn’t agree with him. “You can’t do this forever. One day, you’re going to have a wife and children. You can’t risk their lives with this secret business of yours.”

“When that time comes, I’ll rethink a few things. But for now, it’s nothing personal. Please don’t forget that I never claimed to be anything else but a bad guy. I never gave you any reason to have high expectations.”

I tried not to roll my eyes. “But you are a good guy, Crewe. Let’s not pretend otherwise.”

“Maybe I’m a nice guy to you, but that’s it.”

I didn’t believe that. I’d seen his moral compass, and it pointed straighter than most. “You have more money than you know what to do with. Why do you need this business at all?”

“It’s not about money. It’s never been about money.”

“Then what’s it about?”

“Power.” My tears stopped falling, so he wiped his thumb across my cheek, catching the last drop that clung to my skin. “Information is the most powerful weapon you can have. I managed to discover there was going to be an assassination attempt on the queen’s life. If I’d never uncovered that, she could be dead right now. I use information for leverage, but I also use it appropriately.”

“But you’re never going to get any good information out of a man like Bones.”

“Actually, he was the one who told me about the queen.”

Since Crewe had a response to everything I said, my points didn’t come across well. “I still think you should walk away from that life now—not later. I’m sure you make enemies that way.”

“Life is boring without a few enemies.” He smiled in his typically handsome way.

I didn’t appreciate his words, but nothing I said would make a difference.

He dropped his smile when he saw my annoyance. “I used to live a boring and mediocre life, but I lost my family anyway. I treated Josephine like a queen, but that wasn’t enough to make her stay. I treated you well, and I still got shot in the chest. I don’t play it safe because it doesn’t guarantee anything.”

My hand moved up his arm as the pity rose in my heart. “Just because the world turns dark doesn’t mean you have to.”

“Yes, it does. Making everyone fear you is the best way to keep people in line. The second I go soft, bad shit happens. In order for a king to rule over his kingdom, his subjects must fear his wrath. That’s just how it goes.”

That made me feel worse for him. “You know what I think would be nice?”

The only encouragement I got was a stare.

“Living in solitude on Fair Isle. No connection to the outside world, no people. Just the two of us. We don’t need power or wealth, just a roof over our heads and Finley to cook for us. There would be no subjects, no reason for power. It would just be quiet…all the time.”

His hand loosened on mine, but he didn’t pull away. His callused thumb brushed over my soft skin, and his eyes were trained on my face. He glanced at the spot where he wiped a tear away before he looked me in the eye again. “That sounds nice…really nice.”

Now that we were together, I kept blurting out things I shouldn’t. I said things that I didn’t realize I thought about. I talked about a future we could never have together, a future I didn’t even know I wanted. I wanted to practice medicine, to fulfill the dream I’d had since I was a little girl. But the longer I stayed with Crewe, the more I sacrificed the things I wanted. Now I was moving to Scotland to enroll in a medical program I couldn’t apply to America. I was changing everything around for one man.

But I didn’t mind it.

Everything was changing—including me. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

He tilted my face toward him and placed a gentle kiss on the corner of my mouth. The scruff from his jaw was always coarse, but I liked the way it felt when it brushed against my skin. He let his mouth linger there, absorbing my attraction through his lips. When he pulled away, his eyes were lidded with disappointment like he wanted to keep kissing me.

But he didn’t.

Maybe it was because we were on a plane with some of his men lingering about, or maybe it was for a different reason altogether.

“Can I ask you something? I’m not sure if I want to ask it or not…”

“Ask it. But I’m not sure if I’ll want to answer it or not.” The corner of his mouth rose.

“It’s about my brother. What does he do, exactly?”

“For a living?” Crewe asked.

“Yeah. He’s not like Bones, is he?” Joseph had been planning to take Ariel as a prisoner, and I hoped it wasn’t to do horrific things to her. Maybe he’d just wanted to keep her as a hostage for ransom or something…at least, I hoped.

“We’re all like Bones, honestly.”

“No, you aren’t.” Being with Bones was standing in the presence of evil. I never felt that way about Crewe, even when I was locked in a cage in his basement on Fair Isle.

“You really want to know? I’m not sure you’re gonna like it.”

“Just tell me he doesn’t kill people.”

He shook his head. “We all kill people, Lovely.”

“But bad people, right?”

He shrugged. “That’s subjective. Joseph makes his money by hacking bank accounts. He finds out when there’s going to be a large deposit from an Arabian prince or a Chinese CEO. When he figures that out, he intercepts the wire transfer. It’s complicated cyber-robbery. He relies on my intel to know when big deals are going down. But he burned that bridge.”

While my brother’s actions were illegal, I was relieved it wasn’t something worse. In his line of work, there were limited casualties. He didn’t walk into a bank with guns blazing and shoot innocent clerks behind the desk. He was committing an international crime, but at least it wasn’t murder. “I’m so relieved.” My hand moved across my chest as the adrenaline faded away and I was left feeling relaxed.

“You’re relieved your brother is a thief?” he asked with a chuckle.

“I’m relieved he’s not a murderer.”

“At least you have a positive outlook on things.” Now that the plane was cruising at a constant speed and there was no turbulence, Crewe removed his safety belt. “I’m gonna make some calls in my office. Get some sleep.”

“You can call people on the plane?”

“I can do anything on here.” He winked. “Even fuck you in the bedroom.”

It was a twelve-hour flight, so that might happen. “Can I lie down?”

“Of course. Come with me.”