“What’s this all about Gerard? Not that I don’t enjoy a good fight,” he says, wiping blood off of his lip with the back of his hand.
“You tell Gino that this ends now. My future wife won’t be looking over her shoulder for
the rest of her life. Got it?” I demand.
“Yeah, but Gino won’t like it. He was promised a virgin he could do whatever he wanted to,” Jensen says.
“That’s pretty fucking impossible at this point,” I say smugly.
“He’ll kill you.”
“I’d like to see him try that shit,” Gray offers.
“Not if I kill him first,” I reply chuckling. “You’ll deliver the message, and if I ever see either of you dicks sniffing around my woman again, I won’t hesitate to kill you,” I say, my voice deadly.
“We got it. Who should I say is giving him the message?” Jensen asks.
“Gerard Caswell,” I reply. His eyes widen as he nods, getting the message that I am not fucking around. I watch as he scrambles around the van into the driver’s seat. As soon as Lance is inside the back they drive away before he even gets the door closed. I am shaking with rage and adrenaline as I rush over to CeCe where she is sitting on the hood of my car. I pull her into my arms, reassuring myself that she is in one piece.
“You’ve got blood on your face,” she whispers into my neck.
“I don’t give a shit. Are you alright?”
“I am now. Thanks to you and these good Samaritans,” she says. I love the way she’s looking at me with so much love, it’s all I can do to not fuck her right here, right now.
“This is actually my brother, Gray. They were meeting us here so we could ride to the municipal airport together,” I say gesturing to Gray behind me.
“Nice to meet you. You must be CeCe. My brother spoke about you briefly on the phone.
“When did you call him?” CeCe asks.
“While I was waiting on you to try the first outfit on,” I say. The slip of a girl next to CeCe clears her throat.
“Shit. Where are my manners? Gerard, CeCe, this is my girl, Charlotte. She’ll be coming home with us,” Gray says.
“Nice to meet you,” she says. “Grayson told me all about you.”
“I’m afraid he kept you all to himself,” I reply, shaking her outstretched hand.
“It’s very new,” Charlotte replies, moving over to Gray.
“I know all about that,” CeCe says, giggling. She’s acting as if she wasn’t just about to be taken from me. How the hell can she be calm when I am about to come out of my fucking skin?
“We should get to the airport. Stephen will want to take off on time,” Gray says, reminding me of our pilot. He’s a stickler for punctuality. Checking my watch, I see that we have just about twenty minutes to our scheduled flight time.
“Of course. Let me finish paying for your things, CeCe,” I say grabbing her hand. I am not letting her out of my sight ever again.
As soon as we are in the store, out of earshot of my brother and his girl, I kiss her hard.
“What was that for?” she asks breathlessly.
“I thought I’d lost you. I can’t tell you what that did to me. Are you sure you are okay? Do you need a doctor?”
“I’m fine. Those morons didn’t even chloroform me right. As soon as I smelled it, I knew what it was and went with it. It seemed easier than fighting.”
“Good instinct. I don’t think they would have killed you, given how badly Gino wants you, but I don’t think they would have hesitated to hurt you.” She shivers in my arms.
“I hate that guy. I’ve heard nothing but terrible things about him.”
“Only ninety percent is probably true,” I say going over to the counter. I pay for the merchandise and then leave the clerk five hundred dollars in cash for the door I broke. “Sienna,” I say reading her name badge. “If this isn’t enough, have your boss call me and I’ll take care of it.” I hand her my card.
“Uh, sure thing sir. Thanks for shopping with us,” she says. “I didn’t call the police. Should I?”
“No. We’re fine now but remember what I said if your boss feels like the door cost more than that have them call me.”
“Okay. Thank you,” she says, handing me the bags. Hand in hand, CeCe and I walk out of the store. I help her into the passenger seat, while Gray and Charlotte get into the back. I stow the bags in the trunk as well as the backpack Charlotte has and get in the car. The drive to the airport is short, thankfully. One of the flight attendants loads the bags onto the plane. The car stays parked here for our use. We have cars stashed all over the country to be honest. It’s cheaper than renting. Our Gulfstream G550 seats sixteen and is perfect for international flights, so the short flight home to LA is nothing. The funny thing about this jet is that I won it in a poker game. Personally, I never would have spent sixty-five million dollars on a jet, but we have it now, so we sold our smaller one to make room for this one in the hanger.