♫ In the Name of Love - Martin Garrix and Bebe Rexha ♫
Landing in Heathrow was surreal.
The last time I’d been here was more than ten years ago, and even the fifteen-year-old version of myself never imagined I’d come back. In fact, that was the plan as Suki and I barreled through the terminals, hoping we’d make it on the flight without incident.
Neither one of us had anything here, and we surely weren’t going to miss it either.
But plans change, and now, Rome needed me.
Despite what he’d done to me, despite how it all ended, he needed me.
It was that simple.
Vic was dangerous, so was Liza, apparently. Together they’d likely best me without question.
Yet I couldn’t leave the man I loved to die. If I didn’t come after him, he’d take his final breath under their rule.
And that was no way for the King to perish.
“So, do you have a plan?” Suki asked as we exited the airport, throwing on our coats. Unlike Miami, the U.K. actually experienced all four seasons.
I slipped my carry-on over my shoulder. “No, but we should probably get to a hotel in the mean time. Vic hasn’t text me the information yet and I’m not about to wander the streets waiting for him.”
“Well, let’s get a taxi then, shall we?”
Nodding, I glanced around in search of one as well. “Did you tell Rams?”
Suki froze for a beat, then turned back toward me with an exaggerated smile on her face. “No.”
“Suk, really?!”
“I didn’t want her worrying!” she explained, drawing several eyes in the near vicinity our way.
“Because leaving without telling her isn’t going to worry her?” I whisper-hissed.
Reaching for my hand, Suki pulled me to her side and laced her fingers with my own, offering a supportive squeeze. “I’ll call her, okay? What we need to focus on is a plan.”
“And yet, we can’t do that without that damned information. I can’t map shit out if I don’t know where they are.”
“Have you text him since landing?” She waved an arm manically as a cab slowed within the airport traffic.
“No.”
“Do it then. Let me worry about about the taxi.”
As Suki went about whistling and bouncing around to get us some transportation, I fished my phone out of my bag, powered it on, and opened my thread with Vic. He still hadn’t responded to my last message before take off, but I assumed it was done with purpose, as was the way our call ended so abruptly after I’d bought my ticket.
Scare tactics and all that shit.
Me: Just landed.
I waited and waited, boring into the screen impatiently, but nothing came through until we were actually in the back of the cab several minutes later.
Vic: Excellent.
Me: Where’s the info?
Vic: What info?
“Really?” I muttered aloud, indignation striking deep in my gut.
Suki shifted her attention away from her phone and glanced over at mine. “What happened?”
I let her read the message.
When our stares met, she rendered the same dubious look already settled on my face.
Me: Don’t play stupid now.
Vic: Call me.
My eyes almost rolled out their sockets.
Of course he was going to make this more difficult than it already was.
Clicking through a couple of screens, I selected his number and set the phone to my ear. It rang only twice, but I didn’t give him the chance to speak even a word.
“I should’ve known you weren’t going to give me those details, you lying bastard,” I snapped.
His voice never followed, though. Instead, a woman’s sultry chuckle met my ears.
“So angry…”
I knew who it was immediately, my heart-rate spiking to a dangerous degree.
“Liza…” I gritted out, whipping Suki’s head toward me as Liza hummed appreciatively.
“The one and only.”
“Where’s Rome?”
“He’s a bit tied up at the moment,” she mused, evoking a growl so savage within me, even Suki’s eyes widened in alarm.
“If you hurt him I sw—”
“Settle down, little girl. I have no plans to hurt him.” Another chuckle. “I just want to love him.”
Sure you do.
“How do you plan to make that work when he doesn’t love you anymore?” I questioned, noting Suki was holding out her earbuds beside me.
Taking them from her open palm, I plugged them into the jack and passed one side so she could listen in.
“Oh, he does,” Liza cooed, sounding so sure of herself. “Deep down, he still does. He always will. I am his first love and all.”
“You sure about that?”
“Positive. And should he deny it, should he try to play hard to get, I have little ways to remind him of where his heart stands.”
Suki twirled a finger beside her head, depicting my exact thoughts.
“You really are insane,” I stressed.
“Is that what he told you? Did he tell you Liza was crazy?” she queried, cackling maniacally.
“Not verbatim, but he might as well have.”
“And you believed him… Bless,” she crooned.
My blood boiled.
I’d had enough of her mind games. The chick was clearly unhinged and I was not about to feed into it.
“Where are you, Liza?” I barked.
“Oh, you know, around,” she sang childishly.
“You know that’s not what I meant… Tell me where the fuck you are!”
Suki shook my arm in haste, typing something out furiously on her phone when I cut my eyes to where she sat. Turning the phone toward me, I read the message on her notepad.
CHECK HIS LOCATION!!!
My best friend was a fucking genius.
I had to refrain from taking her face in my hands and smacking a million kisses all over her.
Of course—tracking his location! Why hadn’t I thought of that?
“What do I get in exchange for our location?” Liza asked as I got to work on my phone.
“What do you want?”
“Hmmm? How about fifty-thousand pounds?”
I scoffed. “Is that all he’s worth to you? Fifty grand?”
“Oh, no—he’s worth much more. That should be enough to get us out of here, though,” she clarified, knocking me still.
“Umm, I’m not handing over fifty grand for you to leave with him. You want the money? Let him go.”
“For a business woman, you really have shit listening skills,” she jeered. “The money was in exchange for the location, not for Rome. I’m not releasing him to you or anyone else for that matter. He’s mine. You can try taking him from me but I promise you, you won’t make it out alive.”
Suki and I both rolled our eyes. Poor girl clearly thought she was invincible. Too bad she didn’t know how crazy my girl and I could be.
“We’ll see about that,” I countered.
“What’s it going to be, Lux? The clock is ticking. Am I to expect fifty thousand at some point today?”
“No—I’ll find you my damn self. Be prepared, Liza. You have no idea what you’re up against,” I warned her, grinning triumphantly as Vic’s location popped up on my screen.
“Neither do you, babe. Neither do you. Speak soon, I guess.”
Click.