Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 130

McKenzie

After I showered, Will brushed right past me without a word to take his. He didn’t even make eye contact.

Which was weird.

Then when he came out, he was wearing a towel around his waist. Like, being modest or some shit. As if I’d never seen every inch of what he was covering up.

Again, weird.

I was already dressed, but I wouldn’t have bothered covering up in front of him. Not after everything we’d done together and been through. But now, he turned his back to me—turned his back!—while putting on his clothes.

We were going from weird to insulting. Or at least in insulting’s zip code.

Something was definitely wrong. I wondered what had happened while I was in the shower.

“Hey… did Ibrahim come back and mess with you while I was showering?” I finally asked once his fly was zipped, and his shirt was tucked into place.

Will turned his head, looking confused. “No. Ibrahim didn’t come back.”

“So… what gives?” I asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Gives?” he echoed, his frown of confusion deepening.

I folded my arms over my chest. “Why won’t you look at me?”

“I am looking at you.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away, though.

“Uh-huh. Right.” I shook my head as hurt and the idea of possible heartbreak washed over me. “So… is this where we rip the band-aid off?”

“Rip the—what are you talking about?” he responded.

“Oh come on. It’s obvious something is wrong. You won’t look at me. You don’t want me to see you naked. You’re not talking to me and avoiding my questions. Before this gets serious—okay, granted, I thought we were already serious, but that’s on me—are you thinking it’s better if we were more like friends?” I braced myself. I was a big girl. I could handle… whatever.

He stared at me, his jaw slack.

Yep, I knew it. Something was different between us, and it had taken less than half an hour apart to create some kind of rift that couldn’t be bridged. That had to be it.

I felt like my guts were being ripped out, but I took a bracing breath. “I’d like it if we could stay friends.” I looked down at my hands that I was trying not to clench in my lap. “Though, you do need to know, I don’t do ‘friends with b—’”

A strong hand yanked my chin up. I hadn’t even heard him move. “Stop talking,” he said sternly. “Just stop.”

“But—”

Will’s lips crushed to mine with such force and passion that all I could do was grab his shoulders to keep from falling backward. I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t care.

When he did pull back to let me gasp in some air, he put a finger over my lips. “No more talking nonsense. We are serious. We were never ‘friends with benefits.’ And no one’s ripping off any band-aids.”

“Oh.” I felt pretty stupid but also very relieved.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel insecure in our relationship,” he continued, pulling me up into a hug and nestling his stubbled chin in my hair. “Why were you so worried all of a sudden?”

Feeling even more like an idiot, I stuttered out the signs I’d picked up.

“So, in ten minutes of me ‘acting weird,’ you decided I wanted to end things?” he asked.

I winced. “When you put it that way… I mean… we never officially started things….”

He chuckled, and his arms tightened around me. “Then we’re officially starting things. Now. And if that asshole wasn’t coming to collect us in the next five minutes, I’d make sure we sealed that deal right here and now in the best possible way. But this will have to do.” He kissed me again.

Several minutes must have passed because the rap of knuckles on wood finally broke us apart. Ibrahim was there in the doorway with five guards. “Let’s go,” he said.

We followed him out into the hall where Will put his arm around my waist, tucking me into his side while we walked. Three black SUVs were parked in the complex’s courtyard. Ibrahim, Will, and I slid into the middle one.

Will took my hand as we sat hip-to-hip. As the SUVs took off, I suddenly had a thought.

“Hey,” I whispered to Will. “What was up with your weird behavior?” He’d never explained himself, and I wanted to know.

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Later. I promise.”

The look I gave him told him on no uncertain terms that I wasn’t going to forget or let the subject drop, but I nodded my agreement when I saw Ibrahim regarding us with a slight smirk.

“It’s always an intense and vulnerable moment when a man realizes what he wants.” Ibrahim grinned. “Must be scary, now knowing you would do anything to keep it. Morals, righteous indignation, none of it matters anymore, does it?”

“Shut up,” Will growled.

“Masterson is going to be so pleased. This couldn’t have gone better if he’d planned it. He’s got you and the Killeens by the balls because of one cute little twenty-something.” Ibrahim laughed almost maniacally.

Will scowled, and I squeezed his hand. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just being an ass.”

“I have to be one now. I’m not going to have the opportunity much longer.” Ibrahim leaned back in his seat, pleased with himself. “I knew you’d realize it eventually. All the ramifications. I’m just delighted I could be here to see it.”

“He’s not going to compromise his morals because of me. Someone who actually had morals would know that,” I said.

However, Will did look troubled.

I sighed angrily. “William Masterson the Third, you will not do anything unethical just because we’re serious.”

“Is that what they call it these days?” Ibrahim was enjoying this far too much.

I wondered what kind of maneuvering it would take to kick him in the balls from the back seat. Maybe when the car stopped.

Will slid an arm around my shoulders and tucked me into his side. “As far as I know, it’s about to be none of your business what I do or what decisions I make. I think you’re pawning that one off on my grandfather.”

“It would still be something to see. Masterson crushing you one compromise at a time. You’re not going to be so self-righteous anymore. Thinking this life is beneath you.” Ibrahim tapped his chin in thought. “Maybe you’ll kill yourself like your father.”

My jaw dropped. Though Will tried to stop me, I reached out and yanked Ibrahim’s hair so hard that a fistful came away in my hand.

Ibrahim shouted, trying to swat me but hitting the driver instead.

The SUV veered wildly.

Will reached across and snapped my seatbelt into place just before the driver was able to right our course. Straight into a tree.

I threw up my hands, screaming, “Will!”

My seatbelt grabbed me and launched me back into the seat when the force of the crash tried to fling me forward. The world around me was chaos, glass flying, Ibrahim’s coffee splashing all over. The crunching noise was deafening. As were the screams.

Making sense of my surroundings proved difficult, even when it was all over. I blinked, not even remembering my own name for a second.

“... ’kenzie…” a familiar voice was saying.

A hand on my thigh brought my focus back, and, ears still ringing, I looked over at Will. Who was also, miraculously, wearing a seatbelt. I hadn’t noticed.

Relief slammed into me so hard that I couldn’t stop the choking tears from bursting out of me. “Will!”

He unbuckled my seatbelt and started to undo his own but I crawled into his lap before he could, ignoring the sprinkling of glass. I kissed him and touched him all over, reassuring myself that he was alive.

“I’m okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around me. He was scratched up, probably from the flying glass. But as far as I could tell, he was otherwise fine.

“I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. It’s all my fault. So, Ibrahim, you can blame me and—” I turned toward the front.

Will smacked a hand over my eyes. But it was too late. I’d seen there was no longer a ‘front.’ And there was no longer an Ibrahim. Or a driver.

“H-Holy…” I gasped.

“Let’s get out of the car,” he said calmly. “No doubt Ibrahim’s people are coming to get us even as we speak.” He ran his hands over me, then. “Are you hurt? You’re all scratched up.”

“So are you,” I pointed out. I looked through the back window to see Ibrahim’s guards coming down an embankment.

Will gently set me back on my seat, then disengaged his seatbelt. He opened his door with effort, having to put his shoulder into it, then got out and reached for me.

I went straight into his arms.

The guards brushed right past us and went to see what was left of their boss. I wasn’t stupid enough to think we could just run, though, and neither was Will.

“Let’s just stay put for a while,” he said, and I could feel a soft tremble in his body. That was fine by me. I was shaking like a leaf.

With a disgusted grunt, the leader of the guards gathered the others together, no doubt to discuss the situation.

Will and I just stood still in each other’s arms, waiting for the next shoe to drop.

Finally, all eyes turned to us.

“How much?” the guard in charge asked.

“How much what?” Will replied.

“How much will you give us to say you died in this accident?” the guard elaborated. “We can’t get money from him anymore.” He jerked his thumb at what was left of Ibrahim.

I was pretty sure my college financial aid wasn’t going to satisfy them, and I didn’t know how to access it from here anyway.

As far as I knew, Will was in pretty much the same boat, with his access to Masterson assets frozen.

“Where are we?” Will asked, surprising me. I wondered if he was playing along for time.

“Spain,” the guard said.

Will nodded slowly. “How does twenty-five million sound?”

“Not as good as fifty,” the guard countered.

I stared at Will. “Where are you going to get twenty-five million—?”

“Shh.” Will kissed my forehead. “For once, I’ve got this.” To the guard, he said, “Done.”

The guard nodded. “We will take her as insurance. Samson will drive you wherever you need to go. We will follow.”

Will frowned, clearly not liking the plan. “I don’t—”

“This is a one-time offer. The terms are set. Get us the money or run off, and we’ll ransom her to the highest bidder,” the guard said.

“I’m not going to run off,” Will argued.

“Good. Then we won’t have any problems.” The guard nodded to two other men.

They came forward and wrenched Will and me apart.

“McKenzie!” Will protested, reaching out, but the guard in charge smacked his hand away.

“Remember our deal. Fifty-million dollars, and you can both go free,” the guard said.

Will’s hands balled into fists while I struggled in our captors’ vice-like grips. “If you hurt her, you’ll regret it.”

The guard snorted. “Brave talk for a man in your position.” He turned to the others. “Move out.”