Page 12 of Nothing to Beat (Nothing to… #13)

“I’VE BEEN ON PRIVATE planes, but, wow,” she said, more impressed by what was inside than the clouds or the country beneath.

A chessboard, a fireplace, thick carpets and mood lighting, this was no ordinary airplane.

“Puts the rest of us to shame, doesn’t it?” Tripp asked, reclining his chair to lay flat. “Z has class, Rox Out.”

“Yeah. Me. I’m his class.” Roxie shook up their cocktails in the mixer.

“Welcome to the Zee-Jet, Sequoia, yet another jewel in our Crimson crown. Very top-secret, exclusive clientele only. Not for public consumption. I thought the Crimson Craft would be overkill for three passengers. It’s a Triple Seven.

And I hear it’s being decked out for the wedding anyway. ”

“I should get me one of these,” Tripp said, adjusting his shoulders. “About time I had my own wings.”

“The amount you travel, I’m surprised you don’t.”

“He’s the only freeloading billionaire you’ll ever meet,” Roxie said. “He doesn’t actually own anything, just sponges off the rest of us.”

“Watching those interest digits roll over and over on the trust fund account day after day, Rox Out. Waiting to sweep the table.”

“Don’t wait too long or all my single friends will be taken,” Roxie said. “You know, the day you take a woman home to your mother, she’ll fall to her knees and kiss the floor. She needs to know you’ll be looked after because, let’s be honest, you can’t look after yourself.”

“How’d we get from money to women?”

Roxie arched a brow at him. “One is more valuable than the other.”

“Tell Brandt, boy’s still a virgin, but knows the market better than any other guy I ever met.”

“And whose fault is that?” Roxie asked. “You have a massive surplus of women and you’ve never taken pity on your little brother?

One of your harem must owe you a favor—consensually, of course.

And you know almost every female on the planet, are you saying there’s none compatible with him?

No chance any woman would be attracted to him? He’s cute.”

“I love the guy, he’s my brother.”

“You just can’t stand him.”

“Doesn’t feel right to lumber any woman with him, even for a night.”

“So tie him up and gag him, he doesn’t have to talk to her.”

“Window into your relationship there?” Tripp teased. “Always wondered how Zairn did it night after night.”

Speaking of the man… “Was Zairn okay with you leaving town, Roxie?”

Hard to believe he could be if Roxie was honest about their purpose. Maybe he’d be okay with it, if he was present. How had Roxie kept him away and stolen his plane? Woman was impressive.

Tripp stretched out, closing his eyes and locking his hands on top of his head. “She hasn’t called him.”

“I’ll get around to it.”

“As soon as she finds a charger for her phone.”

“Yeah? Laugh it up, Playboy Junior. Have you called your mom?”

“My mom knows better than to assume I’ll be on any one continent for any length of time. As long as I’m on the planet, she’s good.”

“Just follow the pretty girls, don’t you, Priest?”

“No, Rox Out, they follow me. Haven’t figured that out yet?”

“That’s right, I forgot, you’re Zairn’s redirect.”

“Haven’t returned one to sender yet. You maintain the supply and I’ll deliver on their demands.”

Their easy rapport would have more of an impact, if she wasn’t painfully aware of how impulsive decisions could backfire.

Normally, that would be okay, kind of, like when she and Breck broke their invisible, though spoken, boundaries.

That was more okay than where they were heading.

Why wasn’t she better at thinking things through?

“My father will know I’m in town.”

Better to warn them of what may await than be faced with the Great Gambatto without warning. Who was she kidding? Her father wouldn’t show up himself, even now, while bottoming out, he’d believe it beneath him. Didn’t mean she wouldn’t be summoned.

“You think he’ll track you down?”

“My security guys will handle it,” Roxie said, pouring bright liquid into martini glasses. “They’re professionals. They can handle anything.”

“Handle my father? Do you know he comes with goons and guns?”

And absolute entitlement drizzled in arrogant superiority.

The question was rhetorical.

Tripp snickered. “A shootout, a showdown, boy, am I glad I came.”

“No one asked you to come, Priest,” Roxie said, coming over to hand her a glass. “You’re a curtain-twitcher.”

“Never miss a chance to twitch.”

“No, you don’t. Certain parts of you anyway. Oh, and I meant to say, there’s a shower back there, if you want to wash Natie off,” Roxie said. “Was it Natie? Her cousin? Her sister? Best friend? All of the above? I lost track last night.”

“He told me he showered after sex,” she said, enjoying how Tripp cracked open an eye just as Roxie waved the glass in front of him.

“I’m sure he did,” Roxie said. Sitting up, Tripp took the glass. “But they tend to cry and cling when he tells them he’s leaving town. Lots of tears and boogers.”

“Can’t help that I’m irresistible. She’ll wait,” Tripp said, sipping the drink, then scowling at it. “What is this?”

“Virgin.”

After the explanation, Roxie spun on the spot to sashay back to the bar, serving admirable class with that sass.

“Been a while since I had one of those,” Tripp said, swallowing some more. “Tastes good.”

“Oh, please, you could line them up.”

“Don’t have to, Z does that for me every birthday.”

“So that’s what the auditions were for…” Roxie teased. “If we’re going to make a Breckenridge baby, Seq has to keep that system tiptop. So. Virgin.”

“Gotta make my mother proud of me,” Tripp muttered.

Usually, she was all about the banter. Nothing better than hanging out with positive people, enjoying each other, fun, frolics—did they forget where the plane intended to land?

“I must be drunk on something to be heading back home,” she said, wishing for liquor… or maybe a tranquilizer. “I can’t believe Zairn would set Trish up so close to our father. Do you know the breadth of his contacts? I’m surprised he hasn’t found her already.”

“Oh, we’re not going to see Trish. I don’t know where she is. No idea.” Roxie sank into her seat with a flourish. “Not a clue and I don’t plan to ask.”

“But I thought…”

“You want answers? Answers are what you’ll get. I know who can give them. Honest and true. No danger or jeopardy required.”

“Who?”

Smiling again, Roxie’s shoulders pushed back into the lush leather. “Trust me. I’ve got this.”

“Someone in Chicago?”

Her father wouldn’t allow two betrayers to keep breathing.

At least her sister was blood, that might earn her the right to keep her life, might , that wasn’t close to guaranteed.

Anyone else turning on him would get short shrift.

They’d be lucky if they saw it coming. Goodbyes?

Apologies? Mercy…? Ha! Not a damn chance.

“Yep,” Roxie said. “Z and your father aren’t the only ones with contacts.” Her friend crossed her legs and leaned closer. “Did you tell Breck we were leaving New York?”

“She hasn’t called him either. Not great communicators you pair.”

Mr. Tripp Know-It-All Breckenridge, she hadn’t confessed the omission, it was just coincidence he was right. Coincidence. Sigh, no, Tripp knew women. Somehow, despite growing up surrounded by males, he held the key to the female psyche.

“He’d want to be here and that’s exactly what I don’t want,” she said. “I don’t want my father anywhere near him, near anything Breckenridge.”

With her glass, Roxie gestured at their travel companion. “We’ll dress him up in disguise. He can be our groupie.”

“Not so easy to hide this magnificence, baby.”

“We’ll tell him you’re our gigolo on hand.”

“Then you better call your boyfriend, Rox Out, ‘cause the press will eat that shit up.”

“My father doesn’t like the press.”

“I bet he doesn’t,” Roxie said. “You think Breck wouldn’t support you? Is that the problem? ‘Cause Tripp will kick his ass if—”

“Of course he’d support me. Which is exactly why I said the shutters were down.” She set her certainty on Tripp. “No one is to know where we are or what we’re doing.”

“Wouldn’t worry too much,” Tripp said. “Breck’s done the whole renounce his trust thing. Dude’s pauper poor and wouldn’t take a cent from the rest of us. How’s he supposed to get here with no doubloons?”

Wouldn’t matter to Breck. Even if he had to walk to get to her, he wouldn’t hesitate.

“This is a problem I’m fixing on my own. Your brother is not allowed near this tarpit. Please, I need this kept quiet.”

If for no other reason, the more people in the circle, the more people her father could hurt.

“Don’t have to tell me twice. Your secrets are my secrets.

” And everyone got that courtesy, those who knew him, complete strangers too, hence why he was also known as Priest. “What’s the plan?

” Tripp asked, finishing his drink and getting up to take the glass back to the bar.

“Why does Trish’s testimony matter now? Didn’t matter last week, last month. ”

It did, it should’ve, if she’d been more diligent.

Yes, she’d been complacent but had reasons for burying her head in the sand.

She knew that world, the one she’d abandoned, that life, and didn’t need anyone to deliver the grimy details.

Until then. Revisiting it may not be number one on her to-do list, but lovely, wonderful Breck had forced her hand.

Maybe not on purpose, man had a way of adjusting her focus without even trying.

Still, Tripp’s query was valid and he deserved an honest answer.

“Because if all she plans to do is send my brother to prison for murdering Ava, there’s a chance of my father clawing his way back to the top.

” Or at least regaining enough stability to return to his interfering ways.

Worse than that, he’d need a major investment to do it.

And who did they know with money…? Not happening. “Dad can do it without Joey.”

“There’s been a lot of scrutiny.”

“By the media and law enforcement alike. No one’s missing this chance.”

“You included,” Tripp said. “You’ve got to get in while the going’s good.”

“You love him,” Roxie said, attracting her attention. “It doesn’t matter what anyone else is saying, or where anyone else is, you love Breck.”

“Yes.” She exhaled. “But life isn’t that easy.”

“It is.” Roxie’s smile told a story of its own. “You think it was easy for me to admit that? It took me a minute, but it’s true. You just make the decision to be together and let everything else go to hell.”

“Yes, that sounds mighty similar to the speech my guy got from yours last week.”

“That’s what this is about?” Tripp asked, downing a shot of something clear. “That’s why Breck quit the company? Z told him to?”

“I doubt he said it like that, but this whole mess was prompted by some conversation they had that night.”

“Huh,” Tripp said, downing another shot. “Explains why they were stuck in their little huddle for so long.”

And if only she’d known about that at the time. Though what would she have done? Put herself between them. It probably wouldn’t be the best moment to make the point that simply by showing up, she could sway Breck.

“It’s romantic to think love can overcome everything,” she said, appealing to Roxie. “But unrealistic. If something in your life hurt Zairn just because you were together, would you put him through that or cut him loose to protect him?”

“Zairn wouldn’t put up with that,” Roxie said, “didn’t put up with it. I’m willing to bet Breck’s of the same ilk.”

“He’s a stubborn sonofabitch,” Tripp added.

“Wonder where he gets that from.”

“Breckenridges are raised to be relentless.” But not cutthroat. They were the kindest persistent people anyone would ever meet. “You really want to stop him, Seq? ‘Cause there’s an easy way to do it.”

Quit? Cut ties? Tell him they would never happen? That last one would have to be delivered just right or he’d never believe it. They’d said it so many times and still didn’t manage to stay away from each other.

“He told me why he’s doing this.” For her. “This isn’t my attempt to stop him. It’s my attempt to get a final definitive answer once and for all.”

Was she with him or walking away?

After learning about her father’s potential fate, she’d know if there was a chance. The Gambatto empire had been slowly collapsing since the debacle began, her father wasn’t as powerful as he once was. If the law put him away for good, the threat wouldn’t be gone, but it would be minimized.

Was there a chance they could be together if that happened? She wouldn’t get her hopes up or anyone else’s either.