Page 28 of Inside the Maelstrom: Part One
Sampson was right—if Otto wanted to woo Aviva, I’d let him. She’d give him everything I couldn’t, and probably more, you know, considering I didn’t have a vagina.
I really, really wished I didn’t have to though.
I looked back at Sampson. “Do you think it’s greedy to want them both? Is that even possible?”
He frowned. “Anything is possible, if you want it bad enough.”
Let’s hope he was right.
Otto had chilled the fuck out by the time we were ready to head to the airport. It might have been because he spent the afternoon down with Aviva in the hotel’s salon getting her hair done, then helping her pack. Sampson’s words about him liking her came back, but I mean, he’d known her like a day. She might pick her teeth with a steak knife or chew loudly, which Otto hated. Maybe she didn’t like cats or fantasy books. Pretty sure Sampson was getting ahead of himself.
We were having a summer rain burst, and I stood beside Otto under the awning as the doorman loaded up the bags. Aviva stood beside Sampson while he gave orders to his assistant, her eyes wide as she took in all the luggage we had between us.
“I’m sorry,” I murmured to Otto, and he looked over at me. His eyes were sad but he was smiling.
“I know, Drix.”
“You know I love you, right?”
He shrugged. “I do. As much as you can love anyone who isn’t your reflection in the mirror,” he teased, and I punched him in the arm.
“Shut up. Like you don’t spend ages in the bathroom getting ready every day.”
He just chuckled, and I relaxed a little. Finally, all the bags were loaded, and the trunk on the hire car barely shut. Sampson pushed Aviva gently toward the open door, his hand lingering on the small of her back.
“He likes her, you know,” Otto murmured.
I laughed. “He said the same thing about you.”
Otto looked comically shocked, but I hustled him to the car. We needed to leave, and I was excited. I’d been to Europe a dozen times, but as a kid, my brain had been too wild to fully appreciate these places for the first time. They’d just looked like another city, just likeeveryother fucking city really. So experiencing it through Aviva’s eyes would be something new in a world where nothing was ever new.
She had on a flowing black skirt that ended just above her knee, but it had ridden up a little and was showing the long length of her pale legs. I wanted to run my tongue up the inside of those thighs and not stop until she screamed my name. Otto poked me, and I realized he was waiting for me to climb through to the back row of seats.
I flopped down in the seat right behind her and leaned forward until I could inhale the scent of her shampoo. “Excited?” I whispered in her ear, and her whole body shuddered. I wondered what she’d do if I sucked that cute little earlobe between my teeth.
“Yes,” she breathed, and I almost thought she was answering my thoughts, until I realized she meant she was excited.
“Let’s go!” I yelled to the driver, and he peeled out of the park. My security detail was on a change of shift, and I wanted to be in the first class lounge sipping mimosas before they realized I wasn’t in my room. Hell, better yet, out of the country completely. Evan was cool; he hated my detail. Thought they were incompetent assholes.
Besides, no one would give a fuck about me in Europe. Why would they? Evan was enough for all of us.
Aviva’s phone rang again and she put it on mute. Sampson watched her out of the corner of his eyes, still talking to his assistant on the phone. “Just get it done,” he snapped, and then hung up. I would have hated being his assistant—Sampson could be a fucking asshole when he wanted to be. I knew he paid the guy well, probably as compensation for pain and suffering. Aviva’s phone started ringing yet again, and he looked at it pointedly.
“Should you answer that?”
Aviva shook her head. “It's my parents. They’ve been blowing up my phone for the past day. I messaged them and told them I was fine, but I don’t think they believe me.” She hesitated. “Once we’re in London, I’ll answer their call. It’ll be too late then.”
Otto was frowning, but Sampson just shrugged. “Okay.”
Aviva was a grown woman. She could live her life however she wanted. If that meant ignoring her parents, so be it. None of my business. I laid my head back and watched the sun fall behind the skyscrapers.
The trip to the airport was quick, and we managed to get our bags checked in and get situated in the first class lounge almost immediately. We had an hour or so until our flight, and I intended to wash down my meds with some scotch and nap on one of the plush recliners.
Sampson peeled off from the group, heading toward the bar. “Get me one too,” I shouted, and he gave me the finger.
“I’m going to get some food,” Otto grumbled. Good. He was a fucking grumpy asshole when he was tired and hungry, like a damn toddler.
That just left Aviva. I looked over at her, and she seemed… tense.
