Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4)(32)

Dane nodded. "You know I hate paperwork, man."

"Excellent. Now, when can I use my still fully functional balls on our girl? Because the way I see it, it's going to be a long while before we can get her alone."

Dane held up the folder he'd been carrying. "That's where you might be wrong. This is the flight list for tomorrow out of the palace's private airstrip. I get a daily update and something odd happened."

"Shit," Coop said. "How many more people do we have to vet? Tell Tal to stop with all the coronation celebrations. Slap a tiara on Piper's head and call her a queen, damn it."

Lan didn't understand the need for all the ceremony, either. Spending a ton of money didn't make Piper any more official. It just created more work for them. He hated running background checks. He would rather just shoot people. "How many are there?"

"It isn't the people coming in who caught my eye. It's the people leaving, or rather the person leaving. Oliver and Yasmin Thurston-Hughes changed their plans. They've decided to stay in Bezakistan for the next few weeks. They were planning on heading for Sydney tomorrow, but now they're only sending their personal assistant."

And that affected them how? "So?"

"So? You guys need to pay more attention to palace gossip. Their assistant is that little brunette who's been fucking the hell out of Tal's valet, who told me tonight that he was very happy because she isn't leaving tomorrow after all. This is a small craft. The weight on the plane is delicate and has to be fairly precise. So when they changed the flight plans, in addition to the flight crew, they listed a single female passenger, weighing approximately one hundred forty pounds."

"But that chick might weigh ninety pounds when she's soaking wet." As far as Lan was concerned, that assistant needed to eat a cheeseburger.

"Yes. She would likely hyperventilate if her scale said that, yet she's the one who filled out the change-of-flight form," Dane finished.

"Son of a bitch, she's running," Cooper cursed.

"I don't think she can run in those heels. Yas's assistant seems really puny and unhealthy." Lan was pretty sure she wasn't a runner.

Dane laughed. "He's talking about Alea, buddy. She's the one who's the right weight. They're trying to pass it off as the other girl. They're giving her the means to leave on her own and away from all these people, including us." 

Damn, he should have caught on. That sounded like the kind of play Alea would pull. "I saw that Thurston Hugs-a-Lot fucker listening in on you and Tal. The slimy bastard told Alea that we're taking over, and she's running."

"You have a way with words, Lan," Coop said, then he turned to Dane. "So what are we going to do? Stop the plane?"

Lan didn't think that was a good idea. Alea was going somewhere private. They wanted to be really damn private with her. "I think we should get on that plane."

"I'm ahead of you," Dane said. "I've already revised the flight plan to include the three of us. I met the woman who's going to be serving on the plane and I talked to her. She's willing to help us out. We'll sneak on and be in the air before Alea can do a damn thing about it. Pack up, boys. We're headed for Australia. We're going to spend some time all alone with our girl."

It could go crazy well. It could be the apocalypse. Either way, he was ready.

Lan smiled. "I'm in."





Chapter Five




Alea cast a cautious glance behind her as she stepped onto the airstairs that would take her up to Oliver's private Boeing. She half expected to see Dane, Coop, and Landon running across the darkened tarmac to stop her, but the world was quiet now. And she hadn't seen them at all this morning.

Of course it was five thirty a.m., and they were likely sleeping. Even knowing that, a little kernel of completely perverse disappointment weighed down her stomach. She took a deep breath and ascended the steps.

"Good morning, Princess," the flight attendant Oliver had hired said in her crisp British accent, a jaunty blue and yellow scarf tied at her neck that matched her smile and the navy blazer she wore. "It's a pleasure to have you here. I hope you find everything to your liking."

"I'm sure it's lovely. Thank you." Alea handed the young woman her suitcase, then looked around the cozy cabin.

But what the small, yet well-appointed interior looked like to her was lonely. She was the only passenger. The pilot was in the cockpit, and a door between them was closed. Another door separated her from the rear of the plane, which included the kitchen and the hostess's quarters. Once again, Alea was separated from everyone else.

The flight attendant also offered to take her rolling carry-on, but Alea demurred since it held most of her entertainment for the long flight.