Chapter 7

CHAPTERSEVEN

Thirty minutes later when we touched down in Lanai I could barely remember the details of the reports Wilson had sent me. In an effort to ignore Jane’s presence I’d read them over twice. An effort that was for naught. The words all blended together on the screen as thoughts of that kiss invaded my mind. Then there was her attitude—both the stubborn side and the part where she knew her worth and wasn’t afraid to put voice to who she knew she was. It was that side of her that almost had me convinced she disagreed with her brother’s activities yet still defended him. The contradiction put me in a tough spot, and had me fighting double time to keep my curiosity at bay.

Jane was the opposite of the women I was normally attracted to. I liked shy women. The quiet ones who took hard work to get. Women who when they finally opened up and felt comfortable to be who they wanted to be made me know I’d won something special. I was careful with the women I’d dated, slow to move a relationship to anything intimate. I had a mind to the type of women I liked and they were not the type who gave of their bodies or time unless they knew it was going somewhere. That’s not to say I hadn’t had a few one-night stands but that was not my norm.

Jane was not shy or quiet. Though I did get the sense she guarded her time, body, and thoughts to the point she’d rather live out her days alone than have to trust a man to take care of the gifts she had to give.

Yet, from the moment we’d started exchanging barbs I wanted her. After that kiss I wanted to haul her back up to the hotel room, strip her naked, and fuck the hell out of her. So spending forty minutes with her on a private plane, I was fighting the urge to kiss her again instead of memorizing the details of her father’s MC or the details of the man who was in Hawaii to abduct her.

Then there was the utterly silent twenty-minute drive to the Four Seasons. Not one peep from Jane, not even when a luxury SUV pulled onto the private runway and I ushered her into the back. Nothing as we drove through some of the most beautiful undisrupted countryside I’d ever seen. Not a house in sight. Mountains to one side and wide-open plains on the other.

The difference between Honolulu and Lanai was drastic. Pure beauty as far as the eye could see. And that beauty magnified when the ocean appeared in the distance and only got better the closer we got to the hotel.

The drive was silent.

My thoughts were not.

“Welcome to the Sensei Lanai,” the driver said as he rolled to a stop in front of the hotel.

Scratch that.

This was paradise.

A luxury resort the likes of me should never step foot in. It was also a place where Luke James would immediately garner the attention of security. As it was, Jane and I would stick out like the intruders we were. However, knowing Wilson he would’ve already had appropriate clothes sent to our room.

“Mr. McCray has already called ahead,” the driver continued confirming my thoughts. The man turned slightly and bent his arm back, dangling two black wrist bands on his finger. “Your room keys.”

I took the keys but before I had a chance to thank him or ask what instructions Wilson had given the hotel he began again.

“As instructed you’re on the second floor, corner room near the emergency exit, jungle view. You’re checked in. Mr. McCray asked for a resort map, complete with the gardens and pathways to be delivered to your room. You’ll find those as well as the contact information for Miss Lise Fisher. She’s your personal concierge and has been briefed. You will have total privacy during your stay. Again welcome to the Sensei, Mr. and Mrs. Wright. We hope you enjoy your stay with us.”

With that he exited the car, leaving Jane staring at me with wide eyes.

“Just go with it,” I mumbled as the driver opened her door.

“Last time I did that, you kissed me,” she said under her breath and stepped out of the SUV.

It was good to know I wasn’t the only one still thinking about that kiss.

“Thank you,” Jane said and took the man’s outstretched hand.

“Mr. McCray insisted on the back entrance to the hotel,” the driver weirdly stated and held up a vibrant purple and white orchid lei. Jane awkwardly lowered her head and the man brightly added, “E komo mai.”

Her eyes came to me and I shrugged at her unasked question.

“Thank you.”

I swallowed a laugh as her thanks came out more of a question than appreciation.

“It’s not a proper welcome unless you’ve been given a lei.”

Rightly the driver assumed I didn’t wish to be lei’d—at least not by him—and motioned to the entrance.

“Through there, elevators are to your left.”

I reached into my back pocket to pull out my wallet when the driver stopped me, “That’s not necessary, Mr. Wright. Mr. McCray has taken care of everything.”

What the hell?

Since when did Wilson pay for expensive hotels and gratuity? I wouldn’t call him cheap, but even on the government’s dime we never stayed anywhere that wouldn’t be considered a three-star hotel.

“Appreciate all your help.”

I glanced back at Jane to find her taking in the garden. I had to admit it was something to see with giant statues mingled in the lush foliage.

“Maybe later we can walk the paths if you’re interested.”

Jane startled as if she’d forgotten I was standing right next to her.

“Yeah, sure.”

I adjusted my backpack and double checked she had her purse then grabbed her elbow to guide her up the stairs. Surprisingly she didn’t pull away. She also didn’t speak as we walked into the lobby but came to an abrupt stop in front of a large sculpture that took pride of place in the middle of the very large space. Its mirrored polished finish seemed to clash with the warm welcoming feel of the atrium yet the beauty of the stainless-steel piece somehow worked.

“Aphrodite,” Jane whispered.

I looked at the black freestanding name plate and it was indeed Aphrodite.

“How’d you know?”

Once again she startled. Though this time her face paled and she shook her head while saying, “My father is obsessed with Aphrodite. He has all sorts of pictures up of her around our house. He even has one in his office at the club house.”

Ah, that would explain her reaction. I was getting ready to steer us away from the statue when she shockingly shared more. “He wanted to name me Aphrodite. But my mother refused. His second choice was Kore.”

“Kore?”

“Yes, as the myth goes Kore was the original name of Persephone who became the Queen of the Underworld after Hades abducted her. My mother didn’t like that name either but compromised on Corinne, a variation of Kore. Of course I don’t know if any of that is true seeing as my mother died before I got to meet her. So, the story could just be another one of my father’s mind-fucks. When he told me that story it was my birthday, he was drunk, mourning the loss of his Queen like he did every year instead of celebrating my birthday so who knows? It could be total bullshit or the truth. I learned early on to take everything that comes out of his lying mouth with a grain of salt.”

At Jane’s confession, which I knew wasn’t meant to be one but instead the story of how she got her name, I sucked in oxygen and held it in an effort to control the burning anger that had started in my gut and worked its way up to my chest and was fighting to escape.

Mourning the loss of his Queen like he did every year instead of celebrating my birthday.

Growing up I had very little.

But I had a mother who loved me. Every year from as far back as I could remember my mom did something for my birthday even if it was one cupcake. She never let the day pass without making a big deal of it. Not with presents or a party—she smiled, she sang, she skipped around like my birthday was the best day of the year.

I would bet Jane had more than I had by way of material things.

But she had less.

No mother to sing happy birthday to her.

A piece of shit father who got drunk on her birthday.

Oh yeah, my insides were boiling.

“I take it you don’t like Aphrodite?” Jane asked.

“Huh?”

“You’re staring at the statue like you want to—”

“I’m concentrating,” I cut her off.

“On what?”

I blinked and the statue came back into focus before I slid my gaze to the beautiful woman standing next to me.

“Nothing,” I lied.

Jane’s gorgeous green eyes narrowed but before she could call me out I reached down and tagged her hand. “Come on.”

Woodenly she walked to the elevator.

She was silent as we made our way to our room.

I opened the door, Jane walked in, and whirled on me as soon as the door was closed.

“Don’t do that shit again,” she snapped.

“Come again?”

“Lie to me.”

I walked farther into the room asking, “When did I lie to you?”

“Downstairs. You said you were concentrating. I asked you on what and you said,” Jane stopped, brought her hands up and made air quotes as she continued, “nothing. That was obviously a lie. If you’re too chicken shit to tell me what you’re thinking then say that. Don’t treat me like I’m an idiot.”

Right.

This was not about me blowing off a question I didn’t want to answer. Hell, this wasn’t about me at all. And knowing who her family was, it didn’t take a psychologist to puzzle the pieces together but I still didn’t like the accusation.

“Cool the attitude Jane—”

“Please tell me you didn’t just say that,” she haughtily interrupted.

“Jesus,” I muttered, remembering why I was single.

Women were fucking exhausting.

I shrugged off my pack and tossed it on the only bed in the room and looked around. A big comfortable-looking armchair in the corner that wasn’t fit for sleeping and two wicker chairs out on the balcony.

One room.

One bed.

Jane was going to have another shit hemorrhage when she was done throwing this one and she realized she would be sharing a bed with me.

I should’ve guarded my smile.

I didn’t and just as expected Jane asked, “What’s funny?”

“I’d say nothing but I’m afraid your head will explode so I’ll tell you with the preface, you asked so you can’t get pissed when I tell you the answer.”

Those fucking eyes that were going to be my downfall narrowed and her arms crossed over her chest.

“Christ, you’re a pain in the ass.” Then just because I wanted to push her buttons I tacked on, “A cute one, but still a pain in the ass.”

She leaned in and growled, “Cute.”

“Yup,” I confirmed.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Normally I don’t hear that until after the first orgasm.”

Jane’s eyes went from tiny slivers to comically wide.

“That’s some ego you got, Davis Wright.”

“I can prove it to you—”

“I’ll pass.”

“You sure? I hear orgasms are—”

“Positive.”

“Well that’s disappointing.”

“That’s me, one big, huge disappointment.”

I stilled at her comment. All humor dissipated when I said, “I’m not sure if you’re playing along with my joking or serious.”

Jane said nothing.

I broke the silence.

“So that shit you said to me at the other hotel about knowing who you are, knowing your heart, knowing your worth was just that—shit. You were quick to call me judgmental but there you stand calling yourself a disappointment. What the fuck, Jane?”

“I know who I am,” she quickly retorted.

“Then you’d know you could never be a disappointment.”

Jane’s gaze didn’t just slide away, she turned her head fully toward the windows, cutting off eye contact.

I should’ve been grateful; the pain I saw before she averted her stare cut me to the quick.

What was it about her?

One minute I was happily exchanging verbal blows, the next I wanted to pull her into my arms and protect her from herself.

“Why are we talking about this?” she asked.

Was she fucking serious?

Instead of answering I brought the conversation back around. “There’s one bed. That’s what I was smiling about.”

“So?”

“So?” I parroted.

“Yeah, so? You can sleep on the floor,” she told me.

Right.

That wasn’t going to happen.

I let that go, and went back to her original accusation.

“Just to clear the air, I don’t think you’re an idiot. Downstairs I didn’t answer you because I was pissed.”

At that her head whipped back and her eyes locked with mine.

“Pissed?”

“At your father, for being more of a dick than I already thought he was.” The confusion on her face pissed me off more. “You really have no idea why that story you told me would make me angry?”

Jane shook her head.

That didn’t piss me off. It pissed me way the fuck off.

“Your birthday?” I prompted and she shook her head again. “Baby, he was too drunk to celebrate your day.”

“So? He never celebrated anything when it came to me and Trevor. The only time my father was happy was when he was with his MC doing whatever felonious shit they got up to. He hated us, especially me, so why would he celebrate anything that had to do with me?”

“Especially you?”

“Of course. I killed his Queen. He loathes my existence. Me breathing means my mother’s not.”

It felt like the floor beneath me gave way.

It wasn’t Jane’s pretty eyes that would be my downfall.

It was the infuriating complexity that made her, her.

The beautiful woman who had multiple names, an outlaw for a brother, a father who was arguably worse, no mother to love her, and yet she still managed to carve out a decent life and be a good person.

Carl Lawrence didn’t know the first thing about treating his woman like a queen.

But I sure as fuck did.

And Jane Morgan was going to learn what it meant to reign.