Stranded with My Stepbrother Chapter 132

McKenzie

The men in the SUV suddenly yanked me out and into the street. They held up their hands to stop traffic, hustling me along as though I were an A-list celebrity. How I would have liked to tell those curious eyes watching us from all sides that I was, in fact, a hostage.

I didn’t, though, because of Will. I didn’t want anything bad to happen to him.

They brought me right up to the door of the bank and dumped me there, their leader practically skipping out of the bank. He winked at me. “Good luck, beautiful.”

Good luck? I didn’t like the sound of that. “Hey, where’s W—?”

The bank doors opened, and two guards grabbed me, one on each arm.

“Hey!” I protested.

“Things will get a lot more difficult if you make a scene,” one guard mumbled in highly accented English.

“Where is Will?” I hissed back, struggling less. We were drawing attention, I could tell by the frowns from different desks. Employees and patrons alike were watching us.

“Mr. Masterson is in a meeting. But we are bringing you there now,” the guard said, exasperated. “Now please, stop fighting, Miss Killeen.”

I ground my teeth but stopped making them drag me. “It’s Kent.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.” They escorted me to a very large set of heavy wooden doors. One guard produced a skeleton key—old school—and unlocked them. He pushed open the doors and nudged me inside.

Will stood and turned, and, despite all the other people in the room, I ran straight into his arms, knocking into him so hard he grunted. But he didn’t seem to mind. He folded his arms around me and held me tight.

“Aw, that’s adorable,” a voice I didn’t recognize said, and I felt the rumble of a growl in Will’s chest.

“Are we in trouble again?” I asked, my voice tired and unsurprised. I already knew the answer.

“Yes,” Will sighed.

I nodded against his shirt. “What’s the cost?”

“My soul. Your freedom,” Will replied flatly.

“Sounds about right.” I kept my voice bland as well.

The new captor, because that had to be who he was, laughed at our exchange. “I’m glad you’re already used to the situation. That will make this even easier. Come on, everyone. Let’s get to the jet. You’ll have more appropriate clothing waiting there. I wonder if I should call a stylist? Just in case the press is waiting when we land.”

I didn’t bother raising my head, and Will didn’t let me go.

“That was more of an order than a suggestion,” the man continued when we didn’t move.

Will reluctantly transferred me to his side, taking my hand. “You’re a real pain in the ass, Ike.”

“I know,” Ike replied unrepentantly. He stood, and the hulking man behind him handed him his jacket. “It will be good to have you back in the office. We could only make so many excuses for your absence.”

“Gee, I’m so sorry I made things difficult for you,” Will deadpanned.

“Is this a family member?” I asked Will quietly.

Will choked, looking horrified.

Ike laughed in delight. “Oh, aren’t you a little angel? No, I’m more of an associate. My name is Ike Freeborn. You can call me Ike, if you like.”

“Oh. The right-hand man,” I said, smacking my forehead. “Of course.”

“In the flesh.” Ike looked up at his bodyguard. “Are the boys ready, Tom?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Freeborn,” Tom replied. “They won’t be getting away this time.”

“Good.” Ike gestured for us to walk ahead of him. “The bank guards will escort you to the door. Then there will be another nice set of gentlemen in suits at the entrance to take you to our vehicles.”

“Black SUVs?” Will inquired.

Ike laughed. “Oh, you have been through the wars, haven’t you? No, black town cars. But good guess.” He looked us both up and down again and sighed. “I really wish we had something more suitable to dress you in now. People will be thinking all sorts of things between here and the jet. There’s no saying there aren’t already reporters in Spain parked out at the tarmac.”

“We match, at least.” Will smiled slightly and put his arm around me.

Ike rolled his eyes. “That’s half the problem.”

I had to smile right along with Will. Sure, we were in a tough spot, but at least we could try to make this asshole’s life a living hell.

To that end, Will kept his arm around me and was visibly affectionate, bumping his hip gently against mine and kissing my temple as we walked. My smile widened. It was nice that we were on the same page. I put my arm around his waist for good measure.

“I suppose we’ll have to do an engagement announcement sooner rather than later,” Ike despaired. He wanted to throw us off balance.

And I was a little thrown. I missed a step as we walked through the bank doors, but Will caught me and kissed me hard on the lips.

I melted and wrapped my arms around his neck, opening my mouth so he could deepen the kiss. Just like that, the world completely fell away.

“Oh for the love…” Ike poked me in the arm. “Let’s go, you two.”

Will dragged his lips from mine and fixed Ike with an icy glare. “You don’t ever touch her.”

“Yes, fine. I’m sure you have a big dick. Let’s get to the plane,” Ike huffed.

“I mean it,” Will said, tucking me into his side again. “You don’t lay one filthy finger on her ever again, or I swear I will make your life feel like the ninth tier of Hades.”

Ike raised an eyebrow. “I almost want to test that. But that’s for a different day.” He motioned to men in suits who had been waiting patiently on the sidewalk. “Let’s go.”

The men formed a tight ring around Will, Ike, and me. Like Ibrahim’s guards, they stopped traffic to get us to a line of three black town cars. People were now so curious, having seen me surrounded like a celebrity twice now, that they’d started taking out their phones and were filming.

I thought about screaming that we were being kidnapped. I looked up at Will.

As though he’d read my mind, he shook his head at me. “It will make things worse,” he whispered.

Defeated, my shoulders slumped. “We’re really going along with this, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” he confirmed, not sounding happy about it.

“Are we… actually going to have an engagement announcement?” I asked, not sure how I felt about the idea.

He paused while we settled ourselves in the back of the second town car. Ike was in the first.

“McKenzie… I didn’t want anything to happen the way it’s happened. And there’s going to be a lot down the road that I don’t want to happen the way it’s going to happen,” Will said slowly as the cars pulled away from the curb. “But I love you, and I want to be with you. That much I know. Engagement announcements, parties, weddings, birth announcements, christenings, I can see it all lining up like we’re going through some tunnel. And Grandfather will want it all sooner rather than later.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’d have wanted to take you to Barcelona and proposed in some hidden nook in Park Güell after we’d dated for at least two years. I’d… want you to be sure. I know none of this is going to be fair, and it’s all going to be rushed. I hate that for both of us. But I don’t know how to stop it, or even slow it down, either.”

It was a lot to take in. “So… we’re getting engaged. And married. And then I’m… going to… have a baby?” I asked, trying to make sure I understood correctly. My chest was tight with panic.

“Yes,” he responded, closing his eyes. “That’s how Grandfather will want it. I hope.”

“How else would he want it?” I swallowed.

Will looked pained. “He’d… want you to be a surrogate and carry the Masterson heir, like your mother. He’d take you away from me. I need to stay on his good side or things won’t go well for either of us, but especially not for you.”

I couldn’t breathe. I had no idea what my face looked like, but he quickly put a hand on the back of my neck and guided my head between my knees.

“She need a sedative?” one of Ike’s men asked.

Will shook his head vehemently. “No. I don’t want her being knocked out again today. I don’t think that’s good for a person.”

“It won’t hurt her,” the man assured him.

“No.” Will’s voice was firm as he massaged the back of my neck.

I wondered if it would really be a bad thing. My heart felt like it was going to pound itself right out of my chest.

“He knows I won’t be his good little grandson if he does anything like that to you,” Will assured me. “I think we’re all just going to go through the motions. It’ll be okay. I will make it okay.”

Because I wasn’t capable of anything else in that moment, I just nodded. Once I was breathing easier, Will unbuckled me and pulled me into his lap.

My mind reeled, but I was grateful for his solid presence. I wondered how my mother would feel—had felt—in a similar situation. Or my father. He certainly hadn’t had the leverage Will did to keep Mom safe. Surely, my situation with Will was better?

When the cars stopped at a hangar, I realized Will hadn’t said anything for a while. I looked up to find an expression on his face I’d never seen before. Stony.

“Will…?” I asked.

“Let’s get on the jet,” he replied. He was almost cold.

I shivered.

His arms tightened around me briefly, but he did let me go once one of Ike’s men swung open the passenger door.

“Will…” I said worriedly as we walked to the jet and climbed the stairs into it. It was a nice jet, the kind you’d see in movies—new and clean and well-appointed. The cabin was also quite large. But I didn’t really pay attention to all that.

“We’ll be in the back,” he called to Ike who came on the jet behind us.

“Of course. There’s proper clothing in there. And a shower,” Ike said.

“I know,” Will grunted.

Ike smirked. “She doesn’t.”

Will tugged me into the back of the jet and opened a sliding door. A motion-sensing light went on, and I found myself staring at a large bed with a few sets of clothes laid out on it, mine on one side, his on the other.

“Will, if you’re worried about me, I can handle it. I can handle it all because I’m going to be with you,” I said after watching him stare off into space for too long. I touched his arm. “I love you. We can get through this together. I’ll be your wife. The mother of your children. Sure, it’s a lot faster than I’d like, and there are still some college and career things I’d like to do, but we can figure it out….”

“I know why he killed himself,” he replied as though he hadn’t heard me.

I froze. “What?”

“My dad. I could never figure out why he did it. But I know now. He didn’t feel like he had any other options. He knew the people he loved were just going to get more and more hurt.” He shook his head slowly. “He knew he was going to be stuck under that man’s thumb forever.”

I didn’t like where this was going. “Will….”

He took a deep breath. “I wonder if it made anything easier or helped anyone else—”

I couldn’t help myself. I slapped him.

Hard.