05

« Does that make me weak ? » I asked quietly.

« No, Carter, » Darrell shook his head as he looked over Lea. « It makes you human. »

« Why the hell do I feel like this after only one night of talking to her ? » I was baffled.

I have had my share of women, of one night stands and paid escorts, to take the edge off of a stressful day. But I was always able to walk away regardless of how beautiful they may have been with no promises of another day and damn sure without feeling anything for them.

I had conditioned myself to be ruthless, merciless and hard. I couldn’t afford to feel, because in my line of work, feelings were enough to get you killed. Feelings made you weak and let the world know that you were vulnerable.

I should know.

I had used feelings against some of the most deadliest men and women in my business. I knew that if my enemies found out about Lea, or the intensity of what I was feeling toward her, they would use her to try and bring me down.

« I can’t answer that, Boss. » Darrell walked into the room and laid a hand on my shoulder, « It’s going to be one hell of a battle, Carter. She’s going to be pissed to the max. Expect her to kick, punch, claw, bite, throw whatever she can get her hands on, scream insults, and try to run. » He shook his head and smiled, « You’ve met your match with this one. »

Darrell turned and walked back into the main cabin, leaving me to battle my demons as I looked over Lea once more. I stood and pulled the blanket over her before turning and leaving the small room. I could hear the guys’ rare, carefree laughter from the cabin and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge before joining them. We had been in the air for less than two hours when a dull thud sounded from the back cabin.

« Ow, freaking shit. » All four of us froze as more colorful words sounded from the room.

I sat my magazine down and waited for all hell to break loose.

« DAMN YOU TO HELL, NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. WHERE THE HELL AM I ? OW, MY FREAKING HEAD. »

I threw a heated glare at the three guys as laughter erupted from each of them. I drummed my fingers on the arm of my chair and drew in a deep breath as the sounds of glass shattering sounded from the windowless room.

« FREAKING, NONE OF YOU BUSINESS, YOU FREAKING PUT ME ON A PLANE. YOU SON OF A BITCH. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. OW. SHIT. MY HEAD. YOUR FREAKING KIDNAPPING ME. SERIOUSLY. OW. »

« Boss, maybe you should go and try to talk some sense into her before she gets a wild hair to do something stupid, maybe try and calm her down some. » Darrien grinned his signature boyish smile. « And you should probably clue her in on your name, you know, since she’ll be sticking around for a while. »

« Oh, this should be interesting. » Tony rubbed his hands together and sat back in his chair as I stood. I looked over my shoulder at the guys and made my way down the hall.

« NONE. OF. YOUR. BUSINESS ! »

I pulled the door open and dodged one of the champagne glasses Lea had aimed at the entry way.

« Lea, » I put my hands in the air, « put the glass down. »

I moved to the left as she drew back her arm and threw the second glass. « Lea, » I hardened my voice as she picked up two more glasses and took aim.

« You kidnapped me, you sorry bastard. »

I ducked as the third glass landed above my head.

« I could have just as easily put a bullet in your head. » I kept my voice hard and narrowed my gaze on the fiery young woman.

« Then why the hell didn’t you ? »

Lea flung the fourth glass, catching me by surprise. I threw my forearm up, shielding my eyes, and growled as the glass shattered against my arm.

« That was a mistake, Lea. » I took a step toward her as she picked up her fifth and sixth glass.

« What part ? Kidnapping me or not putting a bullet through my head when you had the chance ? »

I sidestepped the the fifth glass. « Both, » I cocked my head and took another step, « along with you breaking every glass of a very expensive wine set. »

She flung the sixth glass.

I looked down as it shattered against my shin. « Tusk, tusk, Lea. »

She picked up the last two glasses as I took another step toward her. « You take me home right now, None Of Your Business. » She aimed the seventh glass.

« I can’t do that, Lea. »

She threw wide and cursed as the glass hit the wall behind me. « You could, you just choose not to. »

As I stepped within arms reach of Lea, she jumped on the bed and threw the glass over her shoulder and bolted out the open door.

I shook my head and followed her out, watching in amusement as Lea skidded to a stop as the three guys stood, their faces unreadable as they faced her and crossed their arms over their chest.

« There is no where to run, Lea. » I leaned against the wall of the plane and folded my hands in front of me.

Lea ignored me as she sat down across from Darrien and grinned, « So, um, how’re you doing ? »

Darrien masked his amusement as he sat down, turning his full attention to Lea. « Fine Lea, and yourself ? »

« Oh I don’t know considering I saw a man murdered, then was chased by three brutes, had a gun shoved in my face, was knocked out cold, and woke up on a plane thirty thousand feet in the air to find myself kidnapped by said murderer. HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I’M DOING ? » Lea grabbed her head and grimaced, « Do you think I can get something for this killer headache ? »

Darrell lifted the console and pulled out a bottle and tossed it to Darrien. He shook two of the aspirins out and held them out to Lea.

« How do I know you’re not trying to poison me ? » She eyed the white tablets and grimaced as another wave of pain filled her eyes.

« You can either learn to trust us now, or, »

Darrien was cut off by Lea’s scoffing, « Trust you ? You all freaking kidnapped me after you murdered a man in cold blood. How the hell am I supposed to trust you ? »

« Just take the damn aspirin, Lea. » I growled out as I pulled a bottle of water from the counter and tossed it to her. « It hasn’t been opened. »

« Boy, does somebody have their panties in a knot tonight. » Lea swiped the aspirin from Darrien’s hand as I curled my hands into fist.

« Should’ve just put a bullet in her, » I muttered as I turned and walked into the cockpit.

« Sounds like you have your hands full, Boss. » Marcus looked over at me and grinned.

« How much longer until we land ? » I ran a hand through my hair as frustration crept into my bones.

« About forty-five minutes. » Marcus looked over the navigation system, making adjustments as needed to keep us on course.

« Damn you to hell, let me go. »

I sighed as Lea’s voices sounded from the cabin.

Marcus glanced over and nodded, « Yea, good luck with that one, Boss. »

« Damn, I should have just put a bullet in her. » I walked out into the cabin to find Darrien with his hand over his eye and Darrell holding back a very pissed of Lea. « What the hell is going on ? »