Fallen Stars and Broken Dreams - C.C. Masters Page 0,105

me in shock.

“What?” I asked. “Kingston bought the ridiculously expensive plane tickets you both insisted on.”

I slid my card into the little black folder and flagged the waitress down to take it. The guys exchanged glances.

“Even our friends just expect us to pick up the tab,” Kingston said with an uncharacteristic frown. “We’re the sons of one of the richest men on the planet.”

“Whatever,” I said with an awkward shrug. “Our plane should start boarding in fifteen minutes.”

I slept through most of the flight, and Kingston had to nudge me awake when the flight attendant needed me to put my seat up for the landing. I didn’t object when Maverik carried my bag, and Kingston slung his arm around my waist. I was starting to get used to how handsy Kingston was.

“Hey, Alex!” Kingston called out to a man waiting at the gate.

I narrowed my eyes. “Subway guy?” This was the guy who I had tried to tell Ryan about. I knew he had been following us.

Alex grinned at me. “Yeah, Sorry about being weird before, but the boss didn’t want you to know about your security detail at that point in time.”

“Security detail?” I asked in disbelief.

Alex had been shadowing us for weeks before Richard had shown up in my life. Thinking the Bratva was after me had taken years off my life.

Alex shrugged at the glower on my face. “Talk to the boss.”

“Speaking of our father,” Maverik interjected. “If he told you to put us right back on a plane to Washington, we’re going to have a problem.”

Alex laughed, but his eyes darkened at Maverik’s underlying threat. “My orders are to escort you to a hotel and make sure you don’t leave the suite.”

Kingston waved his hand dramatically. “Lead the way, my friend.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Kingston gave my arm a squeeze. “Trust Mav on this - he knows what he’s doing.”

We followed Alex to the car in silence, but I couldn’t get in the car without asking more questions. I wasn’t in a trusting mood.

“Where are you taking us?” I asked.

“To a secure location,” Alex said professionally.

“Probably the Four Seasons,” Maverik said without looking up from his phone. “Dad has an agreement with them, and their staff is highly trained on how to keep their mouths shut.”

“Then what?” I asked impatiently.

“Just get in the car, Katya,” Maverik said with a roll of his eyes.

“Let’s go, Kitty Kat,” Kingston called to me cheerfully as he hung out of the car. “Dad probably plans on coming out here since he didn’t tell Alex to force us back on a plane.”

I grumbled to myself, but let Maverik nudge me into a seat between him and Kingston. I stewed in my own thoughts as Alex drove us to our next destination. I planned to surprise Ryan when I got to New York, but now I was worried he wouldn’t come to the hotel to see me if I were trapped there. If we were face to face, I know he’d break down, and we’d have a real conversation. I couldn’t do this over the phone.

“I texted him,” Maverik told me as I gnawed on my lower lip.

“Who?” I asked in surprise.

Maverik shrugged. “Ryan’s going to meet us at the hotel.”

I was flabbergasted. “Just like that?”

How did Maverik always seem to be one step ahead of me? And how did he know I was thinking about Ryan?

A corner of Maverik’s mouth twitched in an almost-smile. “That’s how Wilders do things.”

I rolled my eyes at his arrogance, but I was also relieved. This trip wouldn’t be wasted. I’d get to see Ryan, and I’d have a chance to fix our relationship. I needed to make sure Ryan genuinely wanted to make all of these changes in his life, and he wasn’t just sabotaging himself while in a Kamikaze depression. Even though it seemed Maverik might be helping me, I still didn’t trust him.

“You were expecting Alex, weren’t you?” I asked Maverik. “You weren’t surprised to see him at all.”

Maverik gave me a blank look.

“That’s why you let Kingston get the first-class tickets,” I pressed. “Because you knew it would flag your father, and he’d immediately send someone to come get us.”

“Why would I do that?” Maverik asked as he held my gaze steadily.

“I don’t know,” I admitted in frustration. “Because you didn’t want to come, but you didn’t want to be the one to stop me?”

He didn’t want to go to New York, but then he drove me to the