Chapter 82

Mia

James was already up and ready in his sleek, powerful suit by the time I’d opened my eyes the next morning. Gosh, I felt so exhausted after last night, and this I blamed on the man standing there watching me now, urging me to get up and get myself ready before it was time to leave for LA.

Honest to God, if he hadn’t been so enthusiastic last night in making love to me, I wouldn’t have been this drained now.

I reluctantly got out of bed and went in to shower. By the time I’d finished and had myself ready, wearing a cute, floral dress and my makeup done prettily, James had already finished his breakfast.

I joined him on the couch, intending to comfortably enjoy my meal. The man, however, had other ideas. He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me onto his lap. There, he imprisoned me in his strong arms and proceeded to plant kiss after kiss anywhere he could.

I loved the fact that he showed so much affection toward me, but at the same time, I was a little annoyed today. It was because of him, after all, that I was so tired, and him cuddling me so tightly just wasn’t helping. It worked to drain me even more.

When he snuggled his face into the crook of my neck, I stopped him short and groaned. “James, can’t you see I’m extremely tired because of you? Honestly, mister, you have to stop being so enthusiastic and energetic at night.”

That got him laughing, which in turn annoyed me even more.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll take responsibility.”

I was oddly surprised he would so easily concede to my puny demand. That was easy, I thought.

“How about some shopping when we get back to LA?”

I shook my head. “No, thank you. I have enough clothes for now.”

“What do you want then?”

So him taking responsibility was to let me go on a shopping spree? Like that was going to work on me. I might be poor and in need of money, but shopping sprees weren’t my thing.

I cocked my head to one side and suddenly remembered Aria and the fact that she really missed her father and had wanted to spend time with him. I smiled at him gleefully and said, “Actually, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Oh?” He chuckled. “That was quick.”

I held my head high and snapped, “You said you’d take responsibility.”

He chuckled. “All right. All right.”

“I want to take Aria out with us. Is that all right? I mean, I want to buy her presents and everything… Like shower her with kid’s happiness, and of course, you’re coming with us and you’re paying.”

James looked a little confused over my decision and asked, “Aria? You want to take Aria shopping?”

I nodded. “What’s wrong with that?”

He shook his head immediately, but I noted a smile on his face that told me he was pleased. I continued. “Did you know she lost her cell phone the other day?” When he shook his head, indicating he didn’t know, I said, “She was pretty upset because she missed your call.”

James frowned, and the expression he was wearing, which was dark and foreboding, got me more than a little worried. I knew he was probably upset as well that he didn’t get to talk to his daughter due to work. But of course, that couldn’t be helped because of the nature of his business.

“When was this?” he asked, his voice ice-cold.

“A couple of days ago,” I said, not missing the fact that the man looked like he wanted to murder somebody all of a sudden.

“I see.” He sounded pissed.

“It’s all right,” I said, thinking my next explanation would help appease his frustration. I understood he might have thought himself a failure as a father, being so far away from his daughter the majority of the time.

I continued. “She found it again. It was in your bedroom. More specifically, in your walk-in closet.”

James nodded and then changed the subject. “Why don’t you have breakfast? I need to get things ready.”

He dumped me onto the sofa and then walked toward the door. I noticed the tension in his body in the way he walked and wondered if I’d said something wrong to upset him.

A moment later, he was gone and the door clicked shut. I presumed he must be heading to his office to get everything organized, and thus I returned my attention to my breakfast, thinking nothing further of James’ unusual behavior. At least unusual according to me.

Once I was done filling my tummy with delicious food, I went about getting things ready. I took all my luggage out into the living area, set for departure. As I was doing this, there were a couple of knocks at the door, informing me of a visitor. I quickly rushed to open it, and indeed, I found Andy there. I’d been thinking if he didn’t come to say goodbye before I was about to leave, I’d hunt him down. Thank God he actually turned up before I took action.

Andy stepped into the suite and hugged me tight in his arms. He said into my hair, “I can’t believe you really are going back so soon.”

I chuckled uneasily. “It can’t be helped. Of course, you can always make a visit.”

When he released me, he nodded. “I will.”

The two of us spent what little time I had left together before James returned, along with Matt. By then we were due to depart, and after hugging Andy once again and telling him I’d be missing him dearly, James and I got into the car and left the hotel.

In James’ sports car, I gazed at the busy streets of Las Vegas as we sped by, my eyes wide with wonder.

James chuckled and said, “Did you like it here?”

I nodded without hesitation. “Yes, it was nice here.” Then I thought to add, “Minus what happened with Andy and the…” I trailed off, wondering how such a beautiful city could allow so many dark affairs like drugs, prostitution, and kidnapping to occur in its embrace.

James reached his hand out and caressed my cheek fondly. He didn’t say anything, and I knew he couldn’t find words to console me in that regard.

We arrived at the private airport sometime later, and this time I wasn’t surprised we’d be traveling in style in James’ private jet. Needless to say, I certainly enjoyed the short journey, with drinks and snacks being brought around at my every whim. And of course, James’ company made everything even sweeter. Not to mention the fact that he couldn’t keep his hands off me, and the air hostesses kept eyeing us with interest.

By the time we arrived in LA, I was ready to meet cute Aria who had offered me a spaghetti Bolognese dinner invitation not that long ago when she didn’t even know who I was. And of course, naughty Sammy and Alfie who had chased me, butt naked and dripping wet from a shower, into James’ bedroom.

Once again, James’ sleek sports car, a different one, was brought around for us for the rest of the journey to Beverly Hills. It was sometime later, when I was achingly busting to relieve myself because I’d been indulging myself too much on delicious juice on the plane, that I had to guiltily ask James to make a pit stop.

James chuckled with amusement at my discomfort but obliged nonetheless. He chose the closest mall available, and the moment he parked the car, I rushed out and sprinted away like the devil was chasing after me.

Luckily and to my delighted relief, I found the restroom facilities were empty and urgently and gleefully worked about making myself feel better. Once I was done a few minutes later, I headed out and, to my utter surprise, found James waiting for me. I cocked my head to one side as I headed over to him.

Once close, I said, “You didn’t have to come out and wait for me. I wasn’t going to take long.”

James smirked and asked, ignoring my comment completely, “Feeling better now?”

How embarrassing it was to let James see me in such an asinine situation.

He pulled me into his arms and planted a kiss on my lips, right there in the crowded mall where hundreds of people were hustling and bustling about, doing their shopping.

Although my mind wholeheartedly protested the affectionate kiss, my body responded differently. I was literally melting into him, and my heart sang in delight.

When he finally pulled back, I was just a little dazed. As James led me to the door, his arm tight around me, I was determined not to look around at our spectators. I could feel many eyes on us, and it was certainly disconcerting.

Once we got back to the car, I was able to relax, and as James started maneuvering the vehicle out of the lot, I had a feeling I was still being watched. Curious, I glanced around the area, and my heart, for the first time in years, felt that heavy burden. My chest felt tight and constricted, and my whole body shivered in that dreaded discomforted way I used to feel when I’d been young, when I’d been living under my aunt and uncle’s reign.

My heart suddenly raced in trepidation, and I broke out in a cold sweat as I began to hyperventilate.

I felt James’ hand on mine, drawing my attention to him. I glanced over and noted him looking at me worriedly. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

Slowly I calmed myself down, and once I had regained my senses, I smiled at my own stupidity.

What was I thinking? What was I doing?

I dismissed the cold, dreadful feeling I had inside of me a moment ago and smiled at him. Being close to him, seeing his face, and feeling his touches certainly made me feel warm and wanted. A completely different feeling than I’d had all those years ago.

“It’s nothing.” I smiled at him brightly and continued. “Aria must be waiting for us. Shall we get going?”

He chuckled and said, “Yes.”

***

Los Angeles

Herbert hadn’t been in a good mood for the past twenty-four hours since he’d left his hometown in South Hampshire and flown all the way here to Los Angeles. This was all in order to search for his beloved Mia Donovan.

Fuck! But LA was a fucking huge city, and how the hell was he going to find her? First of all, why the heck did he even believe that bitch waitress back in Mystic Spring that Mia was currently in LA in the first place? For all he knew, the woman might have lied to him in order for him to leave her alone. Not that him threatening her and pointing a fucking gun at her had anything to do with her fear of him, of course.

Fuck! He was hot, and he was pissed. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, and he was about to kill someone in order to appease his frustration. More importantly, he’d need to find a fucking prostitute, preferring one with dark hair and pale skin like his Mia, to relieve his sexual craving.

He stamped his feet a couple of times in irritation as he waited impatiently for his turn to get into the bathroom. Fuck! It was so fucking busy here in this fucking stupid mall, with kids everywhere, which was fucking annoying.

Once his turn finally came, he rushed in. Inside the cubicle, he took his time relieving himself, and as he was doing so, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine his cute Mia in an utterly sexy, compromised position and him fucking her, his thick cock pounding into her vigorously while she begged him to stop.

He smiled gleefully. Yep, when he found her, he’d fucking kill to get her, and this time he finally was really going to fuck her, taking her virginity. Fuck! She had better still be a virgin, because he’d waited so fucking long until she was ripe for the plucking, and he wasn’t about to let someone else have a taste of her exotic body before him.

Once he was done, he felt better, and as he walked out of the bathroom, he even hummed to himself a happy tune. Yep, tonight he’d find a prostitute who looked similar to Mia and really fuck her just to keep him going, and he was so looking forward to that.

He was just walking past the ladies’ room and heading toward the exit when something, or rather someone, caught his eye.

Herbert did a double take, and once he was sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, he smiled with glee. That smile, however, didn’t last long because the scene that suddenly played before him made his blood boil with anger.

His heart raced, and his pulse increased as his face went red. Fuck! Who the fuck was that? And why the fuck was he holding on to his Mia like he was her fucking boyfriend or something?

No! Fuck! No! Fuck! Mia was his and his alone. That sick bastard had no rights to his Mia.

Herbert had never felt so much hate for another man in his life, and certainly, he was going to have to kill this bastard in order to get his Mia back.

He smiled darkly at the thought as he followed the pair out the door.